I listened to my heart as it told me everything was going to be fine and that I could trust him with my life. I already had once, although I wasn’t consciously present through most of it. However, my head was telling me otherwise. For the first time in my life, I told my head to take the night off and chose to go with my heart.
I just hoped I wouldn’t regret this.
I made my answer loud and clear as I removed my hairclip and let my long, blonde hair tumble down over my shoulders. I reached for the helmet and placed it over my head, sliding the visor down and doing a little twirl. “Well, how do I look?”
Hunter took his bottom lip between his teeth, holding back a smile. “Babe, you look like you’re ready to ride.”
I giggled, pleased with his reaction. That was the first time he had ever used any form of endearment toward me, and I had to admit, I kind of liked it.
I pulled the helmet off, shaking out my hair. “Well, let’s go! I’m starving and I have a hankering for some chimichangas!”
“Have a good night you two!” Robbie slid my purse over my shoulder and as he did, whispered in my ear, “And behave yourself, baby girl.”
Hunter stepped back, waving his arm out and motioning for me to walk ahead of him. “Ladies first.”
Honestly, I had to hand it to him. From what I’d observed so far, he really was quite the gentleman, which kind of caught me off guard, because I wasn’t used to being treated with such… respect.
When we reached his bike, he grabbed the helmet slung over the handle and popped it on over his head. He swung his leg over the side with ease and sank down into the soft leather of the seat, using the heel of his boot to nudge the kickstand up. Okay, the hotness factor just spiked up another notch… he looked too damn good on that bike!
“Hop on.” He motioned to the tiny space behind him, and I struggled to stretch my tiny legs over the bike.
I slipped the helmet back on and looked around for somewhere to place my hands, but he took it upon himself to reach back and wrap my arms low around his abdomen. I could feel just how toned his lean muscles were beneath my fingertips, even through his thick, leather jacket, and a shiver ran down my spine as I imagined him shirtless and slathered with baby oil…
I shook the thought from my head, reminding myself to keep my libido in check, and returned my attention back to him.
“Now make sure you hang on tight. When I lean to take a turn, lean with me.”
“Got it.” I nodded, bobbing my head from the weight of the helmet. I wonder what would happen if I didn’t lean with him. Shit, what if I make him crash?!
The motorcycle roared to life, and I tried to shout over the deafening rumble, but he still couldn’t hear me. His feet lifted off the ground, and we quickly made our way down the road with me clinging on to him for dear life. I closed my eyes and leaned the side of my head against his back. Digging my hands deeper under his jacket, I balled up the hem of his shirt until my hands touched his bare skin. The warmth of his skin had a soothing effect on me, and I was finally able to enjoy the ride.
Suddenly everything went quiet, and I felt Hunter begin to shift. “You still alive back there?”
I lifted my head and took in my surroundings, quickly realizing we had pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. As I slowly peeled the helmet off my head, I shook my hair out and ran my fingers through it a few times.
“Wasn’t so bad after all, was it?” He looked back at me with a smirk.
“Yeah, I guess you get brownie points for not killing us on our first date.”
The second the words left my mouth, I immediately regretted them. Dammit! Why couldn’t I just bite my tongue? Hunter didn’t seem upset in the least. In fact, his smile grew wider, and he reached out his hand to help me off of the bike. After taking the helmet from me, he set them both on the bike and motioned me toward the restaurant with his hand placed on my lower back. I was gradually becoming accustomed to his hand being there, as if it had always belonged in that exact spot; like he had staked his claim to it, and it was his and his alone. As much as I hated to confess, I was beginning to like it… and maybe even like him.
The hostess seated us in a semi-circular booth in the corner of the restaurant, away from the noise of the mariachi band they had lined up for the night. The delicious, spicy aromas that surrounded us had my stomach growling, and Hunter and I looked at each other with laughter in our eyes. I was surprised at how comfortable we were with one another, as though we had known each other for years, and yet, I still knew nothing about him.
After the waitress took our drink orders and dropped off some complimentary chips and guacamole, a long pause settled over us until Hunter finally took the initiative to speak up.
“So.” He clasped his hands together and set them atop the table in front of him. “Abnormal Psych, huh? Pretty crazy that we happened to end up in the same class together.”
I finished swallowing the mouthful of chips, feeling slightly embarrassed, and cleared my throat. “Yeah, small world.”
“Well, what made you decide on taking that class? Doesn’t seem like something you’d be interested in.”
“Oh really?” I quirked an eyebrow curiously. “Well, I guess that goes to show how much you think you know about me. For your information, I just so happen to be a Psych major. Actually, what I really want to go into is counseling for kids who come from broken and abusive homes.”
“And why is that?” He took a sip from the bottle of Dos Equis the waitress had just brought over.
“I guess because I grew up in a normal, happy, loving home. Not all kids have the benefit of being raised in such a loving environment, and it’s no fault of theirs, but they don’t always see it that way. I want to be able to help them work through their issues and show them that they are loved and capable of loving, too.”
Hunter paused mid-sip and set his drink back down. He reached over, taking my hand just as I was reaching for another chip, and held it there in the middle of the table. For a second, I thought about pulling away, but when I looked up and his eyes connected with mine, there was a sense of tranquility that had enveloped around us, and I didn’t want to lose the contact we shared in that moment.
“You’re right, Maddie. I don’t know that much about you, but I have to say, I’m happy with what I’ve learned so far. I think it’s extremely selfless of you to want to give back to kids who need help the most and make a career out of it.” He gently rubbed his thumb across the top of my hand before placing it back on the table. Goosebumps continued to spread up my arm even after the loss of contact.
“Well, I love kids. I always have.” I smiled sheepishly. “When my high school guidance counselor asked me what I wanted to do with my life, it was a no brainer.”
“You know,” he said, leaning back and spreading his arms wide across the top of the booth. “I can tell you’re going to make a great mom some day.”
My eyebrows pinched together. “You really think so?”
“Hell yeah! I can hear the excitement and passion in your voice, and your gorgeous brown eyes light up just at the mention of working with kids. I can only imagine how awesome you’ll be with your own kids. I have no doubt that you’ll be a kick ass mom.”
If it weren’t for his warm, inviting smile that was beaming back at me, I probably would have had a full-blown panic attack just listening to this conversation. Me? A mom? My heart began to race just thinking about it, and I knew I had to change the subject before I let my wandering mind get the best of me.
“So what about you? What made you decide to choose pre-med?” I took a long, self-medicating sip from my margarita.
“My dad’s a neurosurgeon, and I guess you could say I’m following in his footsteps. Cliché, I know, but I’ve always loved neuroscience anyway. It’s crazy to think how each individual portion of the brain controls every aspect of our lives, from every breath we take all the way down to the raw emotions we feel at any given moment.”
�
��Wow,” I said in surprise. “That’s deep.”
“Yeah, you probably think I’m a total nerd now.”
“Not at all. In fact,” I said as I inched closer to Hunter until my leg just barely grazed his, and I trailed my fingers across his hand and over the tattoo on his forearm, “I’m curious to know what emotions you’re feeling right now. At this exact moment.”
I gazed up at him through hooded lashes and could hear his sudden intake of breath. To some it might appear that I was being a bit of a tease, drawing slow circles as I traced over the outline of his tattoo, but I couldn’t help myself. Some force of nature was drawing me to him, and I needed to be closer to him. I needed the contact. I craved it. God, if Robbie were here right now, I had no doubt he’d be scolding me for the way I was behaving.
“Babe, there are so many emotions coursing through me right now that the synapses in my brain are firing off like it’s the Fourth of July!”
I laughed at the medical reference and gave him a satisfied grin before diverting my attention back to his tattoo.
“Now what’s the deal with the tattoo? That’s one of the only things I can remember from the night Tucker…” I trailed off, catching myself before I could go any further. I removed my hand from Hunter’s arm and slid back across the seat, creating some distance between us.
Hunter’s eyes appeared sympathetic, picking up on my uneasiness at the mention of that night.
“It’s a caduceus.”
I looked at him puzzled. “A cadu-what?”
A soft chuckle rose through Hunter as he further explained what it was. “A caduceus. It’s actually from Greek mythology. It was a staff carried by Hermes, who was believed to be a protector and conductor of souls into the after life. There are several meanings behind it, but it’s most commonly associated with medical practice. Sometimes it gets confused with the traditional medical symbol, the rod of Asclepius, but that only has one snake entwined around the rod and isn’t depicted with wings.”
I sat there in awe of how much he knew about the subject, and even more taken aback by the meaning behind it. When my eyes settled on the tattoo etched into his skin, I immediately felt safer around him. Safe. My mind was reeling as flashbacks from that fateful night came flooding back to me, and I remembered this strange feeling had washed over me as though he had been sent there to protect me. At the time I couldn’t quite understand why, but now, knowing the irony behind that symbol, it explained so much.
“You’re like a walking encyclopedia. What other useless knowledge are you hiding up there?”
Hunter chuckled softly. “What else would you like to know? I’m an open book, babe.”
“All right, now that we have the medical side of things cleared up, why did you decide to join ROTC?” I asked as I swiveled the straw in my drink aimlessly, my eyes never leaving his.
“Well, the answer to that is simple. I got a full-ride scholarship when I joined. My grades were good enough, and I’ve pretty much always been in great physical shape from sports, so they offered me a scholarship right off the bat. I couldn’t pass that up. Med school is going to be expensive enough. I might as well have my undergrad covered.”
I smiled at his honesty. It was nice to finally meet a guy who had his priorities straight. Most college-aged guys I’d encountered cared more about how much beer they could consume and pussy they could score. I would like to say that I’d been looking in all the wrong places, but had I not been in the wrong place at the wrong time, I never would have met Hunter. Seeing this side of him was refreshing to say the least.
When our food arrived, we took a break from interrogating one another and dove into the mouth-watering meals in front of us. We shared subtle glances and playful smiles while picking at the food on each other’s plates. As the evening continued to pass by with comfortable ease, I was beginning to second-guess this whole idea of pushing Hunter away. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I could make this work between us. In life, there were no guarantees, but for a moment, I felt as if opening my heart up to someone wasn’t as far-fetched as I had once thought. Maybe I wasn’t so broken after all.
We ate until we were stuffed to the brim and decided to pass on dessert. Had I eaten another bite, he would’ve had to roll me right on out of the restaurant. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that not once was the topic of tutoring brought up throughout dinner, and I had a sneaking suspicion that Hunter had used that as an excuse to get me to go out with him without labeling this as a date. Well played. Either way, the details of how he got me here were no longer a concern of mine. The entire night had flowed effortlessly, and I wasn’t ready for it to be over yet.
I invited Hunter back to my apartment for coffee, and he accepted the invitation eagerly. This time, I loosened my death grip around his waist as we rode back down the winding streets on his bike. I still managed to tuck my hands under his shirt, however, feigning that my hands were a bit cold. His skin was warm beneath my fingers, and I could feel the soft trail of hair that gradually dipped below the waistband of his jeans. I was so tempted to slip my fingers just a bit lower, but Robbie’s advice reverberated through mind, and I chose to keep my hands a safe distance away until we made it back safely to the apartment.
“Would you like another cup?” I peeked over my shoulder and caught Hunter leaning against the counter with his shirt pulled tight across his chest and torso as he stretched his arms above his head. I unconsciously licked my lips, remembering what it felt like to have my hands pressed against his warm, smooth skin. God, what I wouldn’t give to have my hands on him again. Just from what little I had seen of Hunter, I knew he had an incredible body and I couldn’t deny that he was probably the sexiest man I had ever laid eyes on, but continuing to push him away was proving to be harder and harder as the night wore on. I needed a distraction so I went with the first thing that came to mind…
I spun around and stumbled across the kitchen floor, falling flat against Hunter’s chest and spilling the remnants of my coffee down the front of his shirt. “Ohmigod, I’m so sorry!”
I grabbed a dishtowel and soaked up the coffee that was quickly seeping into his shirt, but thankfully, he was wearing black. I continued to dab at his clothing, moving further down until my knees hit the floor, and I found myself front and center with the zipper on Hunter’s jeans. Hello!
“Shit. Um, I’ll… I’ll let you finish this up.”
“It’s okay. Accidents happen. No worries,” he said, brushing it off like it was no big deal.
“I’ll go check and see if Robbie has anything you can borrow. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind lending you something of his.”
I quietly padded down the hallway, hoping Robbie and Lance were fast asleep so I could slip into his room unnoticed. After knocking a few times with no answer, I tiptoed in and grabbed the first two items I could find. I stepped back out into the hall, carefully pulling the door shut as to not wake them, and looked down to find a plain t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants in my hand.
“Hey, this was all I could find, but they should…” I trailed off when my eyes landed on a bare-chested Hunter, who was just about to reach for the zipper of his pants. I was beginning to think there was some kind of energy in this kitchen that made men want to strip down, because he was the third man in the past week that was about to get naked in my kitchen… and with a huge grin on his face, no less.
“Thanks. These are perfect.” He accepted the clothes from me, but not before he continued to push down his jeans and step out of them right in front of me. He turned around, bending slightly as he pulled the sweatpants up and over his delectable ass. Oh. Sweet. Baby. Jesus. Robbie was right. He did have buns of steel, and I instantly felt a pool of warmth low in my belly as I pictured myself digging my fingers into his firm derriere and screaming his name while he sank into me over and over…
Oh God, I was in such big trouble. I tried to shake the mental image that was now burned into my brain, but all I could think about was what Hunter would be like in bed. Wa
s he a slow and gentle lover or did he prefer things to be hard, fast and totally uninhibited? Did he like to take the lead, or was he comfortable with having a woman take the reins in bed?
“You okay over there? I’m pretty sure I just saw, like, twenty different expressions flash across your face,” he chuckled softly.
“Huh? Oh, no I’m fine. I just… I uh…” What could I possibly say? Oh, I’m sorry, I was just fantasizing about what might be your preferred method of fucking. Subtle enough? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
“You look so adorable when you get all flustered.” He ran his finger across my cheek, and I knew my complexion instantly grew a few shades pinker. Just as he slipped the shirt over his head, I heard the same rumble of thunder I had heard earlier, only this time I knew it wasn’t Hunter’s bike.
He scratched at the stubble that was just beginning to form along his jawline. “Shit. I was hoping the rain would hold out a little longer. Do you think you can give me a ride home?”
Oh, I couldn’t have planned this better myself. “But then you wouldn’t have your bike with you. Why don’t you just spend the night here? That way you can ride home in the morning.”
“You sure you don’t mind? I don’t want to intrude. I can always find someone to bring me back here to get my bike tomorrow.”
“It’s no trouble at all. You can have my bed, and I’ll sleep on the couch. Besides…” My eyes ran up the length of his body. “There’s no way you’d be able to curl up even half of your body on that tiny couch.”
“I couldn’t do that to you in your own apartment. Look…” He scratched the back of his neck apprehensively. “I have no problem sharing a bed, if you don’t.”
“All right, as long as you behave yourself and stay on your side of the bed,” I teased, leading him down the hallway toward my bedroom.
He looked over at me with a smug grin plastered across his face. “For some reason, I don’t think I’m the one you need to be worried about.”
Unforeseen Heartbeat Page 7