“It’s yours,” Hunter blurted out.
Mal froze, took one picture, then lowered her camera. Slowly, almost horrified, she turned to face him. “Say what now?” she asked, her voice barely controlled.
Hunter scratched the back of his neck anxiously. “Well, not yours, not like that. I’m not giving you a house, that’s … That would be ridiculous. But I could, if I wanted to. If you wanted …”
“Hunter.”
He sighed and put his hands into his pockets. “I reserved it for you. You’re staying here now.” He shrugged, his eyes never leaving hers. “I thought you’d like it.”
She blinked once, then again, and put her hands on her hips, looking down at the floor. “My stuff is already here, isn’t it?”
He winced. “Yeah. It’s in the master bedroom downstairs.”
“And what about Jenna?”
“I told her you needed more privacy and personal space for work and easier access to various resort locations, but you didn’t want to say anything to upset her.” He gave her a knowing look. “All of which is the truth, I might remind you.”
She looked up at him, and the green glint in her eyes, enhanced by her emerald top, only made her more captivating. “And who said you got to make those decisions? Seriously, Hunter? People are already talking, and your interference is going to make more of a spectacle of us than there already is.”
“So what?” he argued, coming over to her. “Mal, you were miserable over there! I just wanted you to be happy, and I know you will be more comfortable on your own.”
“Yeah, and it’s very sweet, and the house is perfect, but the fact that you knew that, that you even thought that …” She exhaled and rubbed at her head. “It’s too much. With everything else, it’s all too much.” She looked up at him again, her expression unreadable. “I need this to be private too. I need to not be the topic of conversation, and I need to not give Sophie or Alexis or the blonde two I can’t keep straight cause to poke me more. It’s crazy enough as it is. Can you do that, or do I need to file a restraining order?”
He wanted to laugh, but she looked completely serious.
“I’m sorry that I’ve made you uncomfortable,” he said softly. “I never meant to do that. Well, maybe a little, but only in a good way.” He gave her a hint of a smile and was relieved when she returned it. He looked at her for a long moment, then admitted, “I can’t seem to let you out of my sight. I told you yesterday that I like you, Mallory. And today I like you even more. And you’re going to have to get used to it because I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.”
Her eyes widened, and her mouth gaped for a moment. “Oh … ,” she finally whispered.
He took two steps closer to her. “Still want a restraining order?”
She cleared her throat briefly. “I—I plead the fifth.”
He wasn’t sure he heard her correctly, but he caught the tone of her voice. “That’s not a yes,” he pointed out, keeping his voice steady.
She nodded once, her eyes on his. “Correct.”
His heart lurched against his ribs. “So … no?”
“I didn’t say that.” She tilted her head, as if considering her options.
Hunter let a slow, sly grin cross his face. “Sweetheart, that’s a wide-open invitation to a guy like me.”
Mal smirked up at him. “A guy like you? What are you?”
He reached out a hand to touch hers. “Determined,” he murmured, daring her to pull away.
She inhaled slowly, once, twice, then swallowed. “One Mississippi, two Mississippi…”
He chuckled and waited, then smiled when she interlaced their fingers. “Okay. Let me show you the rest of the house.”
It didn’t take long, as the house was small, but Mal was so delighted with everything that it took twice as long as it should have. She raved about the kitchen and refused to let him bring in an employee to cook for her. He’d seen to it that the basics had been supplied for her, along with her precious Nutella and Froot Loops and a massive selection of cocoa. According to her, that was all she would need.
He paused in the kitchen, still holding her hand, the tour of the place finished. He needed to get back to Tom and the guys, and dinner was at the lodge in an hour and change. But something else needed to be said before he left, before she was apart from him and back in her own head.
“Mal,” he said quietly, stroking her hand. “I need you to stop fighting me. I need to know that the version of you I leave is the one I get back. Decide now if you are in or out, sweetheart. Because I’m not going anywhere. And with how you’re holding my hand right now, I get the feeling you’re okay with that. Am I right?”
She looked at him for a long moment. But he never felt anxious, never doubted for a second. Her hold on his hand was secure; he knew where her heart was.
The question was whether her head was willing to follow.
“Yeah,” she finally admitted, allowing a smile to curve shyly across her perfect lips. “You’re right.”
He grinned. “I know.” He brought her hand up and kissed the back of it. “See you at dinner.” He released her hand and headed for the door.
“What, you aren’t sending a car for me?” she teased, following curiously.
He half turned and gave her a look. “You said private, Mal. I can do private. In fact, I am very good at private. I may be better at private than I am at public. But you’ll have to forgive my eyes. They’ve never been very good at keeping things private.”
He winked and left the cottage, smiling at her choked laughter as he did so.
Chapter 8
Feeling better about how she was dressed for this dinner and more chipper than usual, Mal sat in a corner of the room, observing the others as they entered.
Hunter was a genius, really. One hour in her new place, and already she felt rejuvenated. She would have to talk with Jenna tonight, just to make sure she was okay with it. It had been so important to her to have Mal there, and this hardly seemed like an appropriate thanks.
Mal waved at her aunt and uncle as they entered and earned waves and a wink in return.
“Can I sit here?”
Mal turned in surprise to see Tom indicating the chair next to her. “Where did you come from?” she asked.
He grinned. “I was out on the terrace there. Came in to greet Cady and Drake, but I saw you and wanted to come here first. We haven’t had a chance to get to know each other.”
Mal couldn’t help but smile back. Tom was that kind of guy. “Of course, please sit.”
“Thank you,” he said as he did so, leaning back casually in his seat. “So, Mal … I’m sorry. Can I call you Mal?”
She laughed and waved her hand. “Please do.”
He chuckled. “Jenna never calls you anything else, so I got used to it. It means a lot to her that you could come.”
Mal sighed and twisted her fingers. “I was stunned when she asked me. It’s … it’s been years. And there are other photographers, better-qualified ones.”
“She wanted you, Mal. And after I saw your work, I was almost as excited. The fact that you were family was just a bonus.” He gave her a half smile that probably melted kneecaps. “You really are very gifted. I trust you know that.”
There wasn’t a good way to answer that, so Mal murmured, “Thank you.” Then she asked the question that had been eating at her for months now: “How in the world does a UNC boy get a Tennessee girl? How does that even work?”
Tom laughed out loud and rubbed his ear as he glanced over at his soon-to-be in-laws. “Well, it hasn’t been without its difficulties. Drake and I don’t ever talk about sports, and Caroline lords over me whenever she can. Lucas doesn’t care; he’s just happy I’m not from Florida or Georgia.”
Mal had to laugh at how perfectly her family fit into the stereotypes she’d pegged them for.
“Cady’s just happy there’s a wedding,” Tom added, smiling fondly. “And Jenna doesn’t say anything about it unle
ss our schools play each other, so it’s safe most of the time.”
“How did you meet?” she asked, feeling more comfortable with him by the minute.
He turned back to her with a raised brow. “You don’t know the story?”
She shook her head. “All I know is the public version, of which there are at least seven, and I know Jenna better than to believe you guys met at a Tough Mudder.”
Tom threw his head back for one barking laugh. “Yeah, that one is the most ridiculous of them all. Truth is, we met at a hotel in Lexington. I was in town for business meetings; she was getting ready for the Kentucky Derby. One morning, we were both in the workout room at the same time—she was wearing a UT tank top and I was wearing a UNC shirt, and somehow it didn’t matter. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, and she ‘accidentally’ broke the treadmill, so I offered my assistance.” He grinned, and his eyes twinkled at the memory.
“Of course you did.” Mal laughed, shaking her head. “Did you fix it?”
He smirked and made an amused noise. “No. It turns out she actually did break it in her enthusiasm. So we ran away and agreed to meet up for lunch to see if we got caught. The rest is history.”
Mal burst out laughing and put a hand over her eyes. She could see Jenna trying to be smooth, pretending to break something, but ending up actually breaking it in the process. She was a cute and uncoordinated person when she got excited, though she was all grace and poise at every other time.
“I’ve been addicted to her ever since,” Tom said with a smile. “She could ask me for anything in the world, and I would get it for her.”
“Does she?” Mal asked, turning in her chair to face him more. “Ask you for things?”
Tom gave her a look, his eyes seeming bluer for the pinstripe in his shirt. “What do you think?”
Mal considered that. “Honestly, I can’t see Jenna asking for much. She’s pretty much the most perfect person I know.”
“Try getting perfection to fall for you.” He shook his head and took a drink of the water on the table.
“Try being related to it,” Mal muttered.
Tom smirked and turned thoughtful. “I get the impression you don’t ask for much either, Mal.”
She shrugged and sipped her own water. “I’ve learned not to. For all my ambition to be someone in the world, I try to live as quietly as possible. Which reminds me,” she added, sitting up, “why didn’t Hunter know I was Jenna’s cousin?”
Tom exhaled and craned his neck. “Yeah, he asked me that one too. Jenna would have told everyone in the entire world that her cousin was taking the pictures, and that would have been enough for some people. Not her bridesmaids, of course,” he admitted, “but everyone else. I’m afraid the decision to keep that a secret was mine.” He gave her an apologetic look.
She frowned. “Why, though?”
“Business,” he said simply. He put his glass back on the table and sat forward. “You see, Mal, I know what it’s like to be tossed into the Hudson world when you’re not ready for it. I come from a wealthy, high-end family in North Carolina, it’s true, but I didn’t have Jenna’s star appeal until I was dating her. I’m used to it now, so I don’t mind. But when she wanted to bring you in, I was hesitant. No reservations about you, but this is a big thing, and for someone who doesn’t have any connections to this world, it would be hard to sell it to you. I didn’t want your connections to be an issue. And I figured if we could get you something that might appeal to your artistic and professional side …”
“The resort contract,” Mal said, nodding in realization.
“Uh-huh.” Tom smiled. “I knew this place well enough to know that someone with vision could have a lot of success. I mean, the place is beautiful enough for hobby photographers to have once-in-a-lifetime shots; what could a professional do? But again, I didn’t think you’d want someone to bring you on just because of Jenna. So we kept that under wraps. Sold it to them on your skills and portfolio alone. Hunter looked at them himself and was convinced, and the lawyers did the rest.”
Mal shook her head and sat back in her seat, crossing an ankle over her knee. “So I really did get it on my own.”
Tom’s smile grew. “You really did, kiddo.” He winced. “Sorry, you’re not that much younger than me. I shouldn’t call you that.”
She chuckled and took her glass of water again. “You can call me whatever you want, Tom,” she assured him. “We’re family now. Anything goes.”
He inclined his head in thanks.
Mrs. Yardley came by then, looking much more relaxed than when Mal had first seen her. “Mallory, dear, thank you so much for sending some of those pictures to me. My house is covered in photos of my grandkids, and none of them look that amazing.”
Mal blushed in embarrassed pleasure. “I’m glad you like them.”
“Like them? I love them! I may use them as a Christmas card mosaic and leave my adult children out entirely!”
“Hey!” Tom protested with a smile for his mother.
Mrs. Yardley patted his cheek fondly. “It’s all right, dear. Not everything is about you.”
“So Dave and Trent tell me.”
“Leave your brothers alone,” she scolded, patting his cheek again.
“But it’s my wedding.”
Mrs. Yardley sighed and looked at Mal. “If you can manage a picture of my three sons without one of them punching the other, it would be much appreciated. I’ll pay you double if it happens.” She winked at Mal, then went to her husband, who stood quietly across the room.
“You sent pictures to my mother?” Tom whispered, laughing.
Mal shrugged. “I’m trying to get on her good side. Thought it might help.”
Tom chuckled and sat back. “You succeeded.”
They sat there in a companionable silence, watching the rest of the group trickle in for dinner. Jenna saw them together and grinned, waving at Mal, looking much more at ease than she had been earlier.
Tom whistled low under his breath.
Mal glanced at him in surprise, but he grinned.
“Just when I think she can’t get any prettier,” he murmured, shaking his head.
Mal laughed. “You are completely head over heels, aren’t you?”
“So far gone,” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Three years with her, and I still can’t breathe.”
Mal shoved at his knee, making an exasperated noise. “You sound like a Hallmark movie.”
He laughed and shrugged his broad shoulders with ease. “I know, and I fully admit it.”
Mal looked over at her cousin, mingling and smiling nonstop. “That’s good,” she said quietly. “Jenna’s that sort of person.”
“Hunter really likes you, you know.”
She jerked and gave Tom a strange look. “Say what?”
Tom glanced to the doorway, and Mal followed his gaze to where Hunter and two of the guys had come in, talking to each other. Hunter was engaged in conversation with the others, but his eyes were on Mal. For several heartbeats, she couldn’t move, couldn’t look anywhere else.
This guy was single? And looking at her like that? In public?
She swallowed and dropped her gaze to the table. “I’ll kill him,” she muttered.
Tom chuckled quietly. “Somehow I doubt that, Mal. Hunter likes you, and he doesn’t like anyone.”
“He told you?” she asked, meeting his eyes.
“Didn’t have to. He’s my best friend, Mal. I know him. He’s private about just about everything in his life, perfectly composed, professional, reserved almost to a fault. But in addition to being generous and ambitious, he is driven; he makes things happen.” Tom shifted and nudged Mal with his foot. “In college, they didn’t have a rowing team at UNC. Hunter wanted to row—something to get him on the water and keep him in shape for rugby. The school wouldn’t sanction it, so Hunter started a club. Raised the money from frats and other organizations at school, and before you knew it, there was a club rowing
team. He was a freshman at the time.”
Mal choked on her water. “Good heavens,” she gasped, coughing.
“What Hunter wants, he gets,” Tom said simply. “No matter how much work he has to do for it.”
Mal twisted her lips and considered the man in question for a moment. “You’re saying I should give in.”
“No way.”
She turned back to Tom in surprise. “No?”
He shook his head with a mischievous grin. “No. A little fight never hurt anyone. Make him work for you. Trust me, it’ll be worth it.”
She gave him a look, and he laughed. “I know,” he said. “You’ve known me for like a minute, and I said trust me.”
She grinned, as that had been her thought, more or less. “I’m willing to take you on good faith,” she told him. “Any advice?”
He mused on that for a moment and eyed Hunter in thought. Hunter caught both of them staring at him and looked between them in confusion, then concern, then outright wariness.
Mal smiled at Tom. “Well?” she prodded, seeing the rest of the girls come in and knowing that Tom would have to go make nice soon.
“Don’t let him take control,” Tom said slowly. “Not all the time, anyway. He’s used to being in charge. Throw him off a bit. Could be fun.”
She raised a brow as he got up. “Fun for me or fun for you?”
He smiled. “Hopefully both.” He looked at her for a long moment, then added, “I’m glad you’re here, Mal, and I’m glad Hunter likes you. Like I said, he doesn’t like anyone.”
“He likes you,” she pointed out.
“Well, I didn’t give him much of a choice there,” he scoffed, his smile going crooked. “And neither did you.” He winked and pushed off the chair, going toward the rest of the group and slipping his arm around Jenna’s waist as if were designed to fit there.
Taryn and Dan were suddenly on one side of her, chatting about something or other.
“What were you doing?” Taryn asked absently as she set her purse down.
“Getting to know my new cousin,” Mal said, nodding her head at Tom as he pointed at her from across the room.
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