Surrender to Me (Boggy Creek Valley Book 4)

by Kelly Elliott

  That had me sitting up straighter. “Now I’m curious. Tell me, Brighton.”

  “Fuck off, Turner. I’m not telling you shit.”

  “You’re no fun,” I replied.

  “Am I interrupting?”

  Bella’s voice had my heart dropping straight to the bottom of my stomach, while Brighton closed her eyes and mouthed the word “shit.”

  I quickly slid out of the booth. “Bella, no, not at all. I was trying to get Brighton to tell me who the guy is that she’s leaving Boston to avoid.”

  Bella’s eyes grew wide with surprise. “Guy?”

  Brighton shot me the finger, then turned to Bella. She gave her a warm smile before pulling her in for a hug. “Hunter said he was meeting you for lunch. Sorry, I wanted to ask him to help me move some things from Boston.”

  Bella smiled that caring smile she had, instantly going from cold to warm. “I heard you were moving back to Boggy Creek. It’ll be nice to see you more often.” Her eyes darted to me and then back to Brighton.

  Shit, why hadn’t Brighton just left when I said I was meeting Bella?

  “I’m happy, and my folks are over the moon. They really need the help at the bed and breakfast. But listen,” Brighton said as she clapped her hands, “I need to get going. Hunter I’ll call Kyle and work out all the details. Thanks again, and see you Tuesday.”

  Before she turned and headed off, she stopped and pointed down at the table. “You do know what happened here, don’t you?”

  I shivered and held up my hand. “Yes. Yes, but it was the only option.”

  Brighton gave a half shrug before she blew a kiss to Bella. “Toodles, guys. Enjoy your lunch.”

  Arabella watched as Brighton made her way through the restaurant and out the front door.

  “Here, let me get your coat,” I said.

  She jerked away from me when I went to reach for it. I instantly took a step back.

  “I’m sorry,” she said with a fake laugh. She turned to let me help her out of the coat. I hung it up on the hook at the end of the booth and motioned for her to sit first.

  “Sorry I’m early.”

  “I’m not,” I said with a wink.

  This time when she smiled, it didn’t reach her eyes in the least bit.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This is not starting out how I wanted it to.

  “Bella, I need you to know that Brighton and I are only friends. That’s it.”

  She sat up straighter. “It’s really known of my business, Hunter.”

  Confusion hit me like a brick wall. “Well, I just…I mean…we have a past, and I didn’t want you to…” My voice trailed off.

  “You didn’t want me to what?”

  Clearing my throat, I said, “I didn’t want you to think there was anything between us but friendship. That’s all.”

  She stared at me for the longest time before the corners of her mouth turned up. She didn’t say anything, but I felt the vise that had been around my chest loosen some.

  Tess arrived back at the table and placed waters down for me and Arabella. She took our order and then promptly slipped away.

  “I’m glad you agreed to have lunch with me, Bella.”

  A soft smile appeared on her face once more. “Me too.”

  She fiddled with the napkin, looking everywhere but at me. I was so goddamn tired of beating around the bush, pretending that there wasn’t a conversation between us that needed to be had.

  “Why now?” I asked.

  Her head jerked back up, and our eyes met. “I’m sorry?”

  “Why now? After all these years, why are you finally talking to me again and not ignoring me?”

  “I never ignored you.”

  A bitter laugh slipped free. “Okay, avoiding me. You’ve done a hell of a good job avoiding me.”

  She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry about that. It’s just…I didn’t know what to say.”

  “How about you start with the real reason why you broke up with me.”

  Bella looked over her shoulder and surveyed the people in the restaurant. When she focused back on me, she lowered her voice. “This isn’t really the place to have that conversation.”

  I sat back in the booth, realizing I had been holding my breath. I nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  She looked down at the table and then back up at me. “How’s Jack?”

  Okay, so this was going to be a lunch with nothing but small talk. At least she was talking to me; I needed to remember that.

  “He’s good. He’s at my folks’ place, and let me tell you, he was not happy he didn’t get to come.”

  Bella laughed and it sounded so sweet to my ears. “I bet. And how’s your job? Things busy as a sheriff?”

  I chuckled. “I guess so. The local game warden is leaving in a few months, and I’ve been tossing around the idea of moving into that position.”

  “Wow. What would you do with Jack?”

  “Keep him with me. There’s no way I’d give up Jack. But, like I said, I’m just tossing around the idea.”

  Tess walked up and placed our orders in front of us. A BLT and a side of fruit for Bella and a hamburger and fries for me. “Anything else you two need?” she asked.

  I gave my stuff a quick once-over and replied, “I’m good. Bella?”

  She looked up at Tess and grinned. “I’m all good, Tess. Thank you.”

  Tess excused herself and went to the next table while I poured out some ketchup for my fries.

  “What made you decide you might want to be a game warden?” Bella asked.

  Before I could answer, I heard my name.

  “Hunter? Oh my God. I can’t believe it!”

  I looked up and saw a redhead coming toward the table. Son-of-a-bitch.

  Instantly, I remembered who she was. I had hooked up with her a few years back, and Kyle had slept with her cousin. Their father owned some property north of Boggy Creek up near the country club. They had come to town to hit up some smaller bars.

  She walked up to me and flashed a smile that said all the memories of that night were fresh in her mind. “I was just telling Carrie I hoped we’d run into you and Kyle again. I’ve thought about you a lot since that night we spent together.”

  My mouth nearly fell open. Did she not fucking see Bella sitting there?

  I looked at Bella who was staring up at Mandy. No, Mindy. Melinda? Shit.

  “Um, Melinda, this is Arabella Adams.”

  Melinda turned and jumped back at little, totally putting on a damn show. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you sitting there.”

  “Apparently not,” Bella stated, giving Melinda a fake smile.

  “Are you two dating?” Melinda asked Bella before swinging her attention back to me. “I’m so sorry, Hunter. I wouldn’t have said anything if I’d noticed her.”

  Wow. What a bitch.

  Bella cleared her throat. “Don’t worry, we’re just friends.”

  Melinda looked at Bella again, then back to me. “Oh great! Then are you free tomorrow night?”

  I blinked a few times and wished like hell this was a bad dream. First Brighton, now Melinda. “No, I’m sorry, I’m not free.”

  “How about Saturday?” Melinda asked, digging her teeth into her lower lip. “We could get to know each other again.”

  Bella slid her plate away and reached for her purse. “Why don’t I just leave you two alone.”

  “No!” I said as I reached for her hand. She quickly pulled it away. “Bella, we’re having lunch together and Melinda is leaving.” Looking up at Melinda, I said, “I’m not free any day, and I’m not the least bit interested.”

  It was a dick move, but the only way I knew to get her to leave was to be blunt—and it worked.

  Her face fell. “Oh, okay. Well, cool. It was nice to see you again.”

  She took another look at Bella, smiled, then turned on her heels and made her way back to the counter, where three other girls were sitting. One of them was her cousin, the girl Kyl
e had hooked up with.

  Looking back at Bella, I sighed.

  She stared at her plate. “I should probably leave.”

  “Don’t.”

  It came out harder than I wanted it to, but for fuck’s sake, I was so tired of her running away from me.

  She tilted her head. “I don’t need to stand in the way if you want to make plans with her.”

  Frowning, I said, “Don’t do that. It’s not fair, Bella. I had no idea she was going to come over here.”

  Bella looked toward the counter and then back down at her plate.

  “What in the hell do you want me to do or say?” I asked. “Do you know how many years I sat around and waited for you? How many nights I sat at the end of your driveway, just hoping to catch a glimpse of you because you wouldn’t take my calls or even see me?”

  Her eyes went as round as saucers. “You did that?”

  I jammed my fingers through my hair and sighed. “Of course, I fucking did. I loved you. I was heartbroken you just ended it with no explanation. Do you know what ran through my mind, wondering all the different reasons you could have broken up with me?”

  “Hunter,” she whispered before pressing her lips into a tight line.

  “Are you honestly going to sit here and be mad at me for being with other women when you were the one who left, Bella?”

  She started to speak, but then shut her mouth again. Fuck. Why wouldn’t she talk to me? I needed something. Anything.

  I laughed gruffly and leaned back in the booth. “Do you know how many times I wished…I wished I could hate you?”

  “What?” she asked on a whisper, blinking rapidly to keep her tears at bay.

  “God, Bella…I don’t know how long I can keep waiting for you. Every time I see you and you treat me like I’m nothing special, as if we never had anything special, it feels like you’re taking another piece of me with you when you walk away. Do you have any idea what that feels like? Then, to have you get mad at me because I’ve tried to move on…” I slid my hand down my face in frustration.

  Fuck. I feel so goddamn tired.

  Letting out an exasperated sigh, I said, “I can’t do this anymore, Bella.”

  Her brows lifted with a questioning look.

  “You need to tell me the truth about why you broke up with me, and if you…if you don’t want me, you need to help me let you go. Because as hard as I try to move on from you, I can’t. I close my eyes at night and see your face, every single time. Dream of what your touch feels like. Picture you in my head when I’m having sex with another woman.”

  A sob slipped free as she begged, “Please don’t say things like that, Hunter.”

  Leaning toward her, I said, “Why not? You don’t want me to tell the truth, simply because you can’t do the same? Yes, I slept with other women. I’m not going to apologize for that—but not one of them meant a damn thing to me. None of them were you.”

  “I’m not asking you to apologize for that.”

  I felt my face pull into a frown. “Then don’t sit here and judge me, Bella. You can’t spout off those comments and make me feel like absolute shit. It’s what you did with Brighton a few months ago, and now here again.”

  Her chin trembled and she looked down at her fidgeting hands. “I never meant to make you feel like that. I was just…hurt, I guess.”

  I let out a humorless laugh. “You were hurt? You’re hurting? How do you think I’ve felt ever since the day you broke up with me for no goddamn reason at all? You have no idea what the last ten years have been like for me!” I was so angry, I had to fight to keep my voice low.

  Her head popped up and anger filled her eyes. “You honestly think I haven’t been living in my own hell?”

  I hated that her voice cracked, but it felt good to finally get our feelings out on the table. “If you won’t tell me the reasons why, I can’t have sympathy for you.”

  The anger in her eyes instantly slipped away and something else I couldn’t read replaced it. Sadness? Despair? Devastation? Her entire body sagged in defeat, and I inwardly cursed myself. It looked like she was slowly retreating back behind the wall she’d put up ten years ago.

  Fuck, it nearly stole my breath from my lungs, knowing my words caused whatever just happened to her. I felt like a complete asshole. This wasn’t how I wanted this conversation to go.

  Bella quickly wiped away a tear and softly said, “I don’t think I, um…have an appetite anymore. If you’ll excuse me, Hunter.”

  She moved so fast, I could hardly process that she’d even slid out of the booth. Grabbing her coat, Bella made for the exit as fast as she could.

  I pulled out a couple of twenty-dollar bills and tossed them onto the table before I grabbed my own jacket and followed her. Tess watched as I nearly ran from the restaurant. I looked to my left and right and saw Bella turning left on Main Street. I ran to catch up with her.

  “Bella, wait!”

  Reaching her car, she turned to face me, and I stopped like I had run into a brick wall. Tears streamed down her face. If I’d felt like an asshole before, I really felt like one now. What in the hell was she running from? And why was she so upset?

  “I can’t right now, Hunter. You’re angry…and I…I don’t want either of us to say things that…that we’ll regret.”

  I took a step toward her, and she slowly shook her head. She pressed one hand to her stomach, and raised the other one up, holding me off.

  “Please,” she whispered in a voice so weak it nearly brought me to my knees. “Please just let me go.”

  I leaned toward her. “Will you tell me one thing, Bella? Just one thing.”

  She sniffled but didn’t respond.

  “When did you fall out of love with me?”

  It was clearly not what she’d been expecting me to ask, because she stared at me with a lost expression. “What?” she whispered in confusion.

  “You at least owe me that much. When did you fall out of love with me?”

  Her chin trembled as she sucked in a few short breaths. It was clear she was struggling to even speak, but I needed the answer. I’d waited too damn long for one, so I stood there and watched while she looked down at her feet. I wanted to fall to the ground and beg her to tell me.

  “Bella,” I pleaded, taking a step closer. Her face lifted and her eyes pierced mine. She swallowed, then drew in a deep breath.

  “Never. I’ve never stopped loving you, Hunter.”

  I stumbled back a few steps, her words hitting me square in the chest.

  Wiping fiercely at her cheeks, she repeated, “I never stopped loving you, Hunter. N-never.”

  Without even thinking, I closed the distance between us, cupped her face in my hands, and kissed her.

  She stiffened at first, then opened her mouth to me and took hold of my jacket. I deepened the kiss, letting out a soft moan as I gently drew her body against mine, and she wrapped her arms around my neck.

  I’d never been a fan of winter. These fucking winter coats were making it hard to feel her against me, and God knows I wanted to feel her.

  Bella let out a soft moan when the kiss grew more intense. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a more perfect moment. I didn’t even care that everyone who drove down Main Street could see us. That folks would most likely start gossiping. None of that mattered. Bella was in my arms, and she was kissing me as if she needed the air from my lungs.

  This very moment was what I’d been waiting for. Something to tell me she how she felt about me. And now I could feel it in her kiss.

  She loves me.

  Arabella Adams still loved me—and I was not going to let her push me away ever again.

  Arabella

  Hunter was kissing me.

  And for the sweetest moment in time, I forgot everything. Every nightmare, every pain-drenched memory was wiped from my mind, and it was just the two of us.

  I moaned slightly as he drew me closer. I moved my fingers through his hair, longing to feel
more of him. I had forgotten what Hunter’s kisses were like. It was as if time itself had stopped the moment his soft lips pressed against mine. He invaded every single one of my senses, leaving me feeling weak in the knees. I could feel him. Taste him. Desire him. Lord, how that made my heart beat harder in my chest.

  Hunter pulled back from the kiss and leaned his forehead against mine. We both let out puffs of white clouds from our mouths as we worked to regain our breathing.

  “Please stop running from me, Bella. Please. I can’t take it anymore.”

  I moved my hands and grabbed onto the front of his jacket while I drew in a few deep breaths. “I’m terrified, Hunter.”

  He drew back and looked into my eyes. “Of me?”

  “No. God, no. It’s just…I’m…I don’t…I don’t know how… God. You’ll hate me if I tell you.”

  Hunter pressed his finger to my lips. “I need you to know I’ve never stopped loving you, and there is nothing you could do to make me hate you. Remember…I’ve tried, for years, and it hasn’t worked.”

  I felt more tears slip free, and Hunter used the pads of his thumbs to wipe them away.

  “Whatever it is you’re scared to tell me, please…just tell me. I don’t want to waste another moment of this life without you by my side, Bella.”

  “It’s not something I can… I can’t just…”

  Hunter drew me into his arms again and held me. “I love you, Arabella Adams. I love you.”

  I buried my face in his chest and simply let my tears go. Hearing him say those words, after a decade, was like a balm to my soul. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed being in his arms. Having him hold me and feeling his warmth surround me.

  I wasn’t sure how long we stood there as I cried tears I thought I no longer had inside of me.

  When I finally stopped, he stepped back. “May I have your car keys?”

  Without thinking, I dug into my purse and handed them to him. He opened the driver’s door and put the keys in the glove box before shutting it. Then he reached for my hand and we started down the street.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I’m taking you home. I don’t want you driving when you’re this upset.”