“Good. And will you be bringing a date?”
“Maybe.” Perhaps he could find some slutty blonde in an inappropriate dress to bring. His father would love that.
“If you do, let us know as soon as possible, please. Liz will be finalising the seating plan in the next couple of days.” Philip sounded as if he were speaking to his PA or some other work minion.
The sun-warmed metal of the truck burned against Hunter’s bare skin. But this time he didn’t move. “Sure, Dad.”
An uncomfortable silence fell.
“It will be good to see you, Hunter,” Philip said after a moment. “You hardly ever visit these days.”
“I have a lot of work on. You know that.”
“I didn’t think the construction industry was that busy.” Philip’s usual distaste for what he saw as manual labour was more restrained than usual. “It’s been nearly three months since we last saw you.”
Three months? Christ, it felt like only yesterday. “The business is growing. It’s time consuming.”
“Yes, well. I suppose we can talk about that at the wedding.”
No, they would not talk about that at the wedding. They would not talk about anything at the wedding. Not if he had anything to do with it. “Fine, Dad. I gotta go.”
After he’d finished the conversation, Hunter flung himself into work for the rest of the afternoon, using the escape his job gave him. Hard physical labour and intense concentration a way out from the usual trepidation he felt whenever he had anything to do with his family. A trepidation he didn’t want to feel. Yeah, he didn’t get along with his father or his brother, but that was because their attitudes didn’t fit with his. Because he’d never wanted to follow his father into law the way Philip had expected. Because he’d hated the phoniness of his father’s social circle and the expectations that came along with it. Not for any other reason.
And as for Elizabeth, his father’s second wife… Well, he didn’t think of her at all.
Much later, his head buzzing with the pleasant, empty peace that always came after a day’s hard work on site, he drove back to the company’s offices, situated in a renovated warehouse along Auckland’s waterfront.
The reception area was empty, the office staff already gone home, apart from Vin sitting behind the reception desk and scowling at something on the computer monitor.
“You look pissed,” Hunter commented, leaning one hip on the desk. “Porn not loading right?”
Vin didn’t look up. “Bugger off. I need Tina. The application form isn’t fucking printing.”
Tina was their office manager and could do anything with computers.
“Why not give her a call? I’m sure she’d be happy to take an hour and a half ferry ride from Waiheke just to come and print out your form for you.”
Vin glowered. “Yeah, thanks for the input, buddy.” Cursing, he pushed back his chair, running a hand through his dark hair. “Hey, Ellie? Get in here, I need your help.”
Hunter stiffened. Ellie? What the hell was she doing here?
The door to Vin’s office opened. Ellie stood in the doorway, frowning. “What now? I’m in the middle of—” She stopped dead, startled gray eyes meeting Hunter’s.
The black-haired, green-eyed vamp who’d unzipped her jumpsuit in his truck was gone. In her place was the Ellie he knew, Vin’s little sister Ellie, with her long, copper-red hair in a loose ponytail at her neck, eyes wide underneath her heavy fringe. She wasn’t wearing her usual Gothic makeup, freckles scattered over her pale cheekbones like a sprinkling of gold dust. Even her clothing was low-key. A pair of black skinny jeans with a heavy, silver-studded belt and a tight black tank top.
A flood of something that surely couldn’t be arousal pulsed suddenly in his veins, his attention zeroing in on the tank top and how it clung to the small, perfect breasts underneath. He knew what those breasts looked like. It had been three weeks but he still remembered them bare in his truck.
Don’t fucking touch me...
He made himself speak. “Hey, Ellie. How’s it going?” And thank God his voice sounded normal because that’s how he wanted things to stay between them. Normal. As if that night hadn’t happened.
A bright flare of pain sparked in her eyes, swiftly hidden by the fall of red-gold lashes. “Fine,” she said flatly, not looking at him. “What is it, Vin?”
If her brother had noticed the sudden tension in the room, he gave no sign. “I can’t get this damn application to print out and it needs to be in tomorrow.”
Ellie crossed over to the desk and went behind it, moving to where her brother sat, her attention very firmly on the computer monitor. Giving no sign Hunter even existed.
It shouldn’t have bothered him in the slightest but now, somehow, it did. Ellie had never ignored him. She’d always said hello, given him a hug. Given him her special, sweet smile. The one he’d never seen her give anyone else. The one he’d always thought of as his.
But not now. Not today.
Are you surprised? Considering she told you how she felt and you threw it back in her face?
Hunter shifted uncomfortably against the reception desk.
He’d acted badly toward her that night. Pretty much on purpose. But he’d had no other choice. She couldn’t want him. Shouldn’t want him. Because there could be no possibility of anything between them. None at all.
Ellie had been a child when he’d first met her. Sweet and fresh and innocent. Like a bright burst of sunshine, she’d lit up what had been a very dark time for him and even if he’d been interested in her, he wouldn’t want to do anything that would screw up that relationship. Taint the brightness of her. And that wasn’t even considering how Vin would deal with any liaison between them. Not well, in all likelihood.
Yeah, it was a pity he’d hurt her but shit, the alternative didn’t bear thinking about.
“Get out of the way,” Ellie murmured to her brother and obediently Vin slid his chair sideways to make way for her. She bent down to peer at the monitor, red hair sliding over her pale shoulder, the neck of her tank top gaping.
Hunter looked away.
Beautiful breasts. Smooth white skin. Her hand on his cock. The heat…
Fuck. Why did he keep thinking of that? He’d never thought of her in that way before and yet the past couple of weeks, every time he closed his eyes, that’s all he could see. Like that one night had opened something inside him that should have stayed closed.
Was it only because she’d unzipped that bloody jumpsuit? The prospect of the wedding stirring up old and painful memories? Whatever, those thoughts couldn’t continue. He wouldn’t let them.
Ellie and Vin were arguing about something, but Hunter didn’t pay any attention, his gaze focusing on a drawing pin sitting on the desk. Idly he picked it up, held it in his palm. Then slowly he closed his fingers around it and squeezed tight, pain blossoming as the tip of the pin dug into his hand. But he didn’t let go. Only squeezed tighter. Letting the pain in, letting it obliterate the memory of Ellie’s white skin completely.
“Jesus, Hunt. What the hell have you done?”
Ellie jerked her head up from the monitor at the sound of her brother’s horrified voice.
And went cold. Across the desk, Hunter stood looking down at his hand, blood making a slow, purposeful trail down his wrist. “Chill, Vin,” he said casually. “It’s only a bit of blood. I caught a nail on site. No big deal.”
She took a small breath, disturbed by the oddly detached look on Hunter’s face. As if the blood dripping down his arm was an interesting experiment that had nothing to do with him.
Vin frowned at him. “Go get cleaned up then. Don’t stand around getting blood on the new carpet for Christ’s sake.”
But Hunter was already moving, heading toward the bathroom.
The tension that had gripped her twisted tighter as he disappeared through the door. Why had he said that about the nail? She hadn’t noticed any blood when she’d first come out of Vin’s office
to find him standing by the desk. So why had he lied?
Discomforted, Ellie stared at the doorway Hunter had vanished through.
She’d been bracing herself for the moment they’d meet again, knowing it would arrive, especially when she’d come to the company office to use Vin’s computer. But no amount of bracing had made the moment any easier. In a dusty black T-shirt and denim cut-offs, tanned skin still gleaming with sweat, he was her every fantasy come to life and it wasn’t fair.
Then he’d looked at her like he always did. Greeted her casually, like he always did. And the unfairness of it all had overflowed. Her gut reaction had been to walk away, get as far from him as possible. But that was the coward’s way out. And since the moment in her kitchen three weeks ago, she’d decided she was done being a coward. Running away from him didn’t work. Neither had being upfront and honest. The only option left was to ignore him completely.
Then again that was difficult when he was bleeding all over the place. What the hell had he done to himself?
“You okay, Ell?”
She glanced down at her brother, his dark blue eyes rather too perceptive for her liking. “Yeah, why?”
“I’ve never seen you give Hunt the cold shoulder before. You guys have an argument or something?”
She shook off the image of Hunter’s bleeding hand. “Oh, just a minor disagreement. No biggie.” God, she’d never tell Vin what had really gone down between them. There were some things her brother definitely didn’t need to know.
Vin tilted the chair a little. “What about?”
Bugger. Why was he so bloody interested? And what the hell kind of reason could she give him? “Uh…he didn’t like my con costume.”
Vin raised a brow. “I didn’t like your con costume.”
Ellie decided not to say anything to that, pretending to be busy fiddling around on the screen with the printer drivers then trying the print button again. After a moment, the printer on the desk next to the monitor whirred to life.
“Finally,” her brother muttered, his big, rangy body leaning forward in the chair to check his university application form was printing out okay. “You’re a godsend, Ellie.”
She grinned. “I know. Have you got your portfolio sorted?”
Vin was applying to get into architecture school, something he’d been meaning to do for years. Only now, when the business was doing well and their mother relatively stable, had he finally decided the time was right. She was glad he was finally making a move. His and Hunter’s plans for their business—getting into building eco-homes—was an excellent one. The pair of them wanted to handle all aspects of the process, from the design to the building stage, which meant that at least one of them had to have some kind of architectural training. And of course Vin wouldn’t take the easy route and do a draughtsman’s course. No, he had to take the whole four-year university route. But then that was Vin, a complete control freak.
“Yeah, I have. It’s all done. Only got to fill out this bloody form now.” He lounged back in the office chair. “So you found a place to stay yet?”
Ellie sighed. The past couple of days had been busy with packing up her apartment and putting all her stuff into storage while she was away. But the timing of it had sucked. She’d been left with three weeks of having nowhere to live before she left for Japan, and finding a place to stay had proven more difficult than she’d thought. Vin was in the process of building his own house and had ended up bunking in his office until the place was livable, so staying with him wasn’t an option. She’d tried to hit Kara up for a place on her couch, but her friend had someone else staying with her and there wasn’t enough room. Which only left her with the expensive hotel option. Not something she wanted to do given how little money she had and how expensive Tokyo was.
“No,” she said, leaning back against the desk and pulling a face. “I’m going to have to pay for a bloody hotel, which sucks because I need the cash for Tokyo.”
Vin frowned. “Hmmm. What about Hunt? He’s got plenty of room.”
Ellie opened her mouth to say no freaking way would she ever stay with Hunter Chase. Not even if there was a blizzard outside and it was the only way to stop from freezing to death.
“You need a place to stay, sweetness?” Hunter’s deep, husky voice came from behind her.
Her mouth closed, her teeth digging into her lip. Silently she wished her brother to hell. “Uh…yeah,” she said eventually, gearing herself up to actually turn to look at him.
He was back from the bathroom, standing on the other side of the reception desk, a thick paper towel held in one fist, black eyes unreadable. “You can stay with me if you like. Vin’s right. I’ve got plenty of room.”
And he did. He owned a big old historic villa, situated on a bush-clad hillside in the suburb of Titirangi, and currently in the process of being done up with an eye to selling. She’d been there lots of times, hung out on the wide veranda with its views over the smoky blue of the Waitemata harbour, drinking beer and talking crap with him. Eating Chinese on the floor of his lounge while he and Vin argued about sports. Going to the occasional party he’d thrown and sitting in the corner, feeling shitty as some gorgeous woman flung herself at him while he smiled that lazy, sensual smile of his.
Oh sure, she’d love to stay. Not. And most especially not after what had happened that night in her kitchen.
Ellie stared at him, searching his face for any kind of sign that he understood what he was doing to her and coming up with nothing. “Seriously?”
“Of course seriously. Why not?”
She could think of several reasons. But if he wasn’t going to mention them, then neither was she. “I don’t know….” She broke off, realising Vin was frowning at her, puzzled. And of course he’d be puzzled. Refusing Hunter’s offer wasn’t something Ellie would normally do.
Which meant she either had to accept his offer now or come up with some good reasons why not. And there weren’t any good reasons. At least, not any believable ones.
Shit. She was going to have to accept, wasn’t she?
Why is that bad? You’ll see him every day. Be near him. And remember, you don’t have anything to lose…
Ellie’s breath caught as a slow realisation filtered through her. No, it didn’t have to be a bad thing. Okay, so he’d told her nothing would ever happen between them and that she wouldn’t be able to change his mind. But that hadn’t been the whole of the story.
Her palm burned with the memory of the heat she’d felt beneath the denim. The flash of desire she’d seen in his eyes. Oh, he might have told her no, but that’s not what his body had said.
Hunter had been sidelining her for years. Keeping her in the little sister box. Perhaps it was time she broke out. She had nothing left to lose, right? Because in another three weeks, she’d be gone.
Ellie leaned against the desk and smiled at him. “Okay, Hunter. You’re on.”
Chapter Four
Ellie sat back in one of the old, worn armchairs Hunter kept on his veranda and watched as his black truck powered its way up the steep, gravel driveway. The hazy summer twilight had started to set in, long spears of sunlight lying over the veranda and glinting off the front window of his truck as he swung it into the parking area near where she sat.
Great. He was home early for a change.
In the two days she’d been staying there, she’d barely seen him. He seemed to spend a lot of time at work, and when he wasn’t at work, he was out running or on the phone or fiddling around in the garage underneath the house. In fact, if she hadn’t run into him the past couple of mornings and evenings in the kitchen, she’d have thought he was avoiding her.
Then again, those moments they’d met he’d been his usual self. Giving her his typical lazy smile and a greeting. A few questions about her day. Some observations about this and that. Gentle teasing.
It annoyed the crap out of her. In fact the way their whole relationship seemed to be going annoyed the crap out of her.
<
br /> She narrowed her gaze, shading her eyes from the sun as he got out of the truck.
Oh boy. He’d come from a site in his jeans and a dark green, close-fitting T-shirt. Sweat-soaked and sexy. Dammit.
Ellie shifted on the seat as a fit of nervousness went through her. She’d never gone out and seduced anyone before. Never openly tried to attract anyone’s attention.
Even with Cam it had happened gradually, working on a few university assignments together, sharing mutual interests. Only after a month of them being a couple had she found out he really got off on her Goth look.
Hunter, she knew, didn’t care what she wore because he’d never seen her in those terms. Until, of course, she’d worn her Dark Shadow costume and then she’d made him. Which was kind of why she’d gone all out today. She was sick of being ignored. Sick of being avoided.
She wanted him to look at her again. Look at her and see.
So she’d put on some of her more outrageous clothing—with a few minor adjustments. A tartan mini that barely grazed her thighs, but instead of the two sets of tights she normally wore with it—a coloured pair underneath her black fishnets—she’d left her legs bare. Along with her feet, exposing freshly painted copper toenails. She’d spent ages deciding which top to put on because, shit, she didn’t have the cleavage Kara had. Then again, for the brief half second he’d actually looked at her breasts when she’d undone her jumpsuit, his jaw had gaped, so obviously they weren’t a total loss. She’d settled for a black see-through mesh top with a bright red push-up bra underneath.
She shifted on her seat again, watching as Hunter came up the stairs of the veranda. He gave her a lazy grin. “Hey, sweetheart. Getting into my beer again?”
He didn’t even look at her legs, which she’d stretched out in front of her, crossed at the ankle. Bugger it.
“Yeah,” she said. “But I got you one too.” She tipped her head toward the armchair next to her and the second beer bottle sitting on the little table between the chairs.
Taking Him (Lies We Tell) Page 4