by Marie Force
“True, and for the record, I’m not complaining. I think you always look really nice. I thought so long before yesterday, too.”
He smiled at her. “Is that right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Goddamn it.” Hunter swerved to avoid a huge dark object in the middle of the road. “What the hell is Fred doing out at this hour?”
“Doesn’t he do his best work at night?”
“Yeah, just ask Cameron.”
“I thought people in town would hate her for running into Fred,” Megan confessed as they drove around the immovable town moose, tooting at him as they went by. “Instead they fell in love with her.”
“She’s a really nice person. There’s nothing about her not to like.”
“That’s what I hear.”
“You might like her, too, if you give her a chance.”
“I wouldn’t blame her if she never speaks to me again after the way I acted when she first started seeing Will. I’m ashamed of how I behaved with her.”
“It’s in the past now. You apologized. She and Will accepted it, and they’ve moved on. You should, too.”
“Yes, I suppose.”
“Besides, I want you to come to dinner at my parents’ house on Sunday.”
“This Sunday?” Megan asked, her voice squeaking.
“Why not?”
“Um, well, I, ah … Let me get back to you on that.” The thought of going completely public with his big and boisterous family so soon after they started seeing each other made her stomach ache with nerves.
They rode to the grocery store in comfortable silence, which was a revelation in and of itself. In her past dating life, she’d always felt the need to fill the silences with some sort of mindless chatter because she worried about the guy losing interest in her. With Hunter, there seemed to be no risk of that happening.
Relaxing into the soft leather seat, she pretended to look out the window while Hunter drove to the grocery store on the outskirts of town. But really, she took every chance she got to look at him.
“What’re you in the mood for?” he asked while they waited at a red light at the entrance to the parking lot.
Megan was on the verge of a suggestive reply when bright lights filled the windshield as a car came straight for them across the divided highway. Before she could get out the scream that tore from her chest, Hunter floored the accelerator. The SUV shot forward, through the red light and into the intersection, missing a direct hit by the out-of-control car, which landed in a ditch by the side of the road.
Hunter turned into the parking lot and took the first empty space he could find. “What the hell?”
She couldn’t seem to get air to her lungs.
He tuned into her distress, released his seatbelt and came across the center console to her. “Megan, sweetheart, look at me.”
Trying to contain the panic, she forced her gaze to meet his.
“Breathe.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a small shake. “Breathe, Megan.”
She forced air into her lungs, which seemed to relax the stranglehold on her chest. Once she was able to breathe again, she broke down into sobs. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh God, honey, don’t be sorry.” Somehow he managed to fold himself into the small space in front of her and gather her into a tight embrace.
“Scared me.”
“I know.” He ran his hand over her hair. “It’s okay. We’re both fine, and I’m so sorry you were scared.”
Despite his soothing tone, she couldn’t seem to stop crying as the close call kept replaying in her mind. Wanting to think about anything other than what had nearly happened, she burrowed into the curve of his neck and breathed in the sexy, masculine scent she’d become addicted to in the course of one memorable night.
The sound of sirens and the red flash of emergency lights were a reminder of just how close they’d come to potential disaster.
“I’m right here,” he said. “Hold on to me for as long as you need to.”
“I feel so stupid. Nothing actually happened, and I can’t stop crying.”
“Please don’t say that. You have every reason to be upset.” He pulled back from her and wiped the tears from her cheeks and then kissed her softly.
Looking down at him, her tears became laughter when she realized how he’d twisted and contorted his long legs to fit in the small space.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, seeming baffled by her seesawing emotions.
“You’re going to be crippled if you sit like that for much longer.”
“I’m fine. Are you?”
She used her sleeve to wipe the remaining dampness from her face. “I am now. Sorry I overreacted.”
“You didn’t.” He took her by the chin and looked into her eyes. “It scared the hell out of me, too, and I haven’t lost the two people I love best in a car crash.”
“You get it.”
“I got it as it was happening.”
She looked around him to the scene playing out in the intersection. “Do you suppose anyone was hurt?”
“I hope not. They’re in good hands with the paramedics.” He tucked her hair back behind her ears. “Do you want me to take you home?”
She shook her head. “Let’s continue with our plans.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“I might need to be surgically extracted from the car.”
Megan giggled and opened the door, sliding out of the car and then reaching out to help him.
Groaning, Hunter unfolded himself and then jumped around in the parking lot to get the blood flowing to his extremities again. “Note to self: Get a car that allows front-seat snuggling.”
“Thank you,” she said softly.
He put his arm around her, kissed her temple and walked with her into the store, where people were talking about the crash at the intersection.
“Did you hear if anyone was hurt?” Hunter asked the manager, who was watching the action across the parking lot.
“From what someone heard on the police radio, they think the guy in the car that crashed had a stroke or other medical emergency, but he’s alive and talking to them.”
“Wow,” Hunter said.
Megan shuddered as she remembered the close call. “Hope he’ll be okay.”
Hunter kept his arm around her while she pushed the cart through the produce aisle. Despite the recent scare and subsequent meltdown, Megan wanted to purr from the pleasure of his nearness, the heavy weight of his arm on her shoulder, making her feel safe and cherished at the same time.
They decided on salad, chicken he’d cook on the grill and potatoes.
“Do you drink OJ in the morning?” Hunter asked.
“Sometimes.”
“Let’s get some.”
“You’re making a lot of assumptions, Mr. Abbott.”
He raised a brow as he looked down at her. “Am I?”
Her entire body, which was still sore and tender from the night before, tingled with awareness of how this evening would probably end. “No, not really.”
“We need to check out the ice cream aisle, too.”
“A man after my own heart.”
“Yes, he certainly is.”
The comment, while flippantly delivered, made her heart flutter and her body heat with desire. How he managed to do that with only a few words was a mystery to her. They turned the corner to the ice cream aisle and came face-to-face with Mrs. Andersen, one of Butler’s resident busybodies.
“Oh,” she said, obviously delighted to have nearly crashed into them with her cart. “Hello, Hunter. Megan.” She looked from him to her and then to him again. “Hunter and Megan.” She clapped her hands gleefully. “Together. Isn’t this something?”
To his credit, Hunter kept his arm around her, which told Megan he didn’t care in the least that Mrs. Andersen had caught them together or that she’d be back in Butler within the hour to spread the news about them through town
with the speed of a drought-fueled wildfire.
“How are you, Mrs. Andersen?” he asked, always polite.
“Just fine, Hunter. And you?”
He squeezed Megan’s shoulder. “More than fine. In fact, I’m fantastic. Never better.”
Way to throw gas on the fire, Megan thought as she subtly nudged his ribs with the elbow that was plastered to his side.
“We’ve got to get going,” Hunter said. “See you soon.”
“Yes, you will,” Mrs. Andersen said. Her round face wore a delighted smile when they moved past her.
“Fine, fantastic, never better,” Megan said in a mimicking tone the minute they were clear of big ears.
“You liked that, huh?”
“The words gas and fire went through my mind when you said that.”
“She does like to spread the good word. That’s for sure.”
“We made her year with this encounter.”
“Good,” he said, “because this ‘encounter’ as you call it has made my year, too. In fact, I think it’s possible it’s made my life.”
“You really like me that much?”
“I adore you.”
Right there, in the middle of the ice cream aisle, with prying eyes all around them, Megan turned to him and kissed him square on the lips without a care in the world as to who might see them. He adored her. What could be better than that?
CHAPTER 18
It turned out, his chocolate chip cookies were almost better than being adored by him. She ate four of them, one right after the other. His company and attention had helped her to bounce back from the earlier scare. She’d enjoyed the dinner they’d prepared together as well as the cookies he’d made while she nursed a glass of wine and watched him bake.
“I take it you approve of my cookies?”
“Oh my God. Approve? Yes, I approve. I want more.”
“You’re going to get sick.”
“What a way to go.”
With the kitchen cleaned to his exacting standards, he took off the apron he’d worn to amuse her and hung it on a hook by the oven. Bringing the bottle of chardonnay with him, he went around the counter to join her on the other stool and topped off her glass.
“Are you trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me?”
“Do I need to get you drunk so I can take advantage of you?”
“Hardly. I think I proved how easy I am last night.”
“Easy?” He laughed. “Yeah, right. You put me through hell, woman.”
“I did not.”
“Um, yeah, you did. Do you know how many times I’ve had to order a second cup of coffee because I was so hard from watching you run around the diner that I’d embarrass myself if I got up to leave?”
“That’s not true!”
“It’s absolutely true. I would sit there and try to think about anything other than how badly I wanted to kiss you and touch you and … I wanted more than anything to be able to talk to you.”
“You talked to me all the time.”
“About what I wanted to eat or whether I wanted more coffee. I wanted to talk about you. I wanted to know what you think about, what you care about, what you dream about, what you look like first thing in the morning.”
She cringed.
He tapped on the furrow between her brows. “Don’t do that. I’ve seen what you look like first thing in the morning, and it’s a thing of beauty.”
“Right … Sure, it is.”
“Megan, look at me.”
She forced herself to look into eyes that seemed to see right through her. With any other man, she might feel exposed or vulnerable, but Hunter made her feel safe and wanted in a way that was all new to her.
“You’re beautiful, inside and out,” he said, right before he kissed her. Then he leaned his forehead against hers and took hold of her hand. “Want to see the rest of my house?”
“Any part in particular?”
“I thought I’d show you my piano.”
Because she hadn’t been expecting him to say that, she laughed. “You play the piano?”
“Yep. Not very well, but well enough to accompany Nolan when he sang to my sister at their wedding.”
“He did? Oh wow, that must’ve been amazing. What did he sing?”
Keeping his hold on her hand, he led her into the room he used as an office where his upright piano sat against the wall. “‘I Won’t Let Go’ by Rascal Flatts.”
“I love that song. What did Hannah think?”
“She cried. We all did. It was amazing. Until he asked me to accompany him, I didn’t even know he could sing. He’s got an incredible voice.”
“What a perfect song, considering the circumstances.”
“I thought so, too.”
“Will you play for me sometime?”
“Anytime. But I don’t sing. Ever.”
“Sounds like there’s a story behind that.”
“No story, but if my siblings are to be believed, I sound like cats fighting when I sing.”
Megan cracked up. “Nice.”
“It’s a tough crowd, especially for the oldest and wisest.”
She rolled her eyes and followed him up narrow stairs to the second floor. He showed her the guest room and guest bathroom. Everything was perfectly clean and orderly, nicely decorated and visually appealing. She expected nothing less from him.
“And now for the main event,” he said, leading her into his room, which was done in shades of blue with red accents.
“This is really nice. I love your house. I can tell you put a lot of time into making it yours.”
“I’ve painted every square inch of the place. It was a mess when I first moved in. Took about two years of nights and weekends to get it the way I wanted it.”
“You cook, you bake, you iron, you balance the books, you paint. Is there anything you can’t do?”
He put his arms around her and cupped her bottom, drawing her in tight against his arousal. “You left out a few of my favorite skills.” Nuzzling her neck, he made her crazy with only the touch of his lips against her fevered skin.
Megan couldn’t seem to get close enough to him. She wanted to drown in his rich, appealing scent. She wanted to feel, again, the way he’d made her feel the night before when he’d treated her like the most precious thing in his life. It was a heady feeling, she’d discovered, to be on the receiving end of that kind of attention from a man who was as sweet as he was sexy.
“What’re you thinking right now?” he asked against her ear, making her tremble.
“That I like the way I feel when I’m with you.”
“How do you feel?”
“Safe, happy, amused, aroused, intrigued.”
“Don’t forget adored.”
“How could I forget that?”
“Don’t forget that. Don’t forget any of it. I love that you feel all of that when you’re with me. I feel the same way. I can’t get enough of you.” He undressed her slowly and reverently, worshiping each new bit of skin as he revealed it. His kisses and caresses set her on fire and had her clutching a handful of his thick dark hair as he kissed his way down the front of her, kneeling before her to remove her jeans and panties. Watching him remove them made her forget she hated that word.
He ran his hands up the back of her legs, cupped her bottom and drew her in closer until his face was flush against her belly.
Her legs trembled while she waited to see what he would do. She combed her fingers through his hair, loving how soft it was. “You’re overdressed for this party,” she said, hoping to move things along when he seemed perfectly content to stay right where he was while she burned for more.
Hunter squeezed her bottom and then dragged two fingers through the dampness between her legs, making her gasp when he touched her swollen clitoris. “Are you sore from last night, honey?”
Her head fell back and her lips parted from the incredible pleasure of his touch. “Mmm. So sore.”
“I’m so
rry about that. I’d never want to hurt you.”
“You didn’t. It’s a good kind of sore.”
“Sit back on the bed.” He helped to arrange her the way he wanted her with her bottom at the edge of the mattress, her legs spread.
Megan was already on the brink of explosive release and he’d barely touched her. And then he pressed her legs farther apart with his hands on her inner thighs and bent to give her his tongue in soft, soothing caresses that made her cry out from the pleasure that zipped through her body.
“Hurt?”
“No. God, no. It’s incredible.”
He did it again and again and again, licking and teasing and coaxing with only his tongue.
She came twice, one right on top of the other, the second time nearly giving him a bald spot from the frantic way she pulled his hair.
“I could do this all night,” he said after her second orgasm.
“Get naked and come here,” she said when she could speak again.
“I’m happy right here.”
She laughed nervously at the idea of him actually pleasuring her all night. She had no doubt he’d do it if he thought she wanted him to. “Hunter, please. I want you.”
Never taking his eyes off her, he stood and unbuttoned his shirt, letting it slide off his broad shoulders. The T-shirt under it followed, landing on the floor.
As he reached for the button to his jeans, Megan sat up and pushed his hands away. “Let me.” She pulled the button free and slowly unzipped him, a task that was made difficult by the rock-hard erection behind the zipper. Pushing the jeans and another pair of silk boxers over his hips, Megan leaned in to take him into her mouth.
“Oh God,” he whispered as his cock hit the back of her throat.
Megan let it stay there for a full minute before she withdrew and did it again, this time adding her tongue to the mix.
“I didn’t think I’d ever come again after last night, and you’ve already got me right there.”
“Do it,” she whispered against the tip, making him arch into her. She took him in again, grasping his ass and digging her fingers into the dense muscle.
He cried out, pumping his release into her mouth.
Megan sucked hard, triggering a second wave.
“Holy fucking shit,” he whispered.