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I looked out the window and saw the white columns of the manor house rising in the darkness, the cicadas singing a welcoming lullaby.
“Fucking finally,” I muttered. I swung the door open and stomped out, slamming it behind me. “You drive like my grandma. What, are you afraid Chuck’s going to send a damn helicopter to survey your cautious driving as**s?”
It wasn’t my greatest parting shot in my history of parting shots, but I’d take it. I whirled around and headed for the guesthouse, intent on collapsing into bed as soon as I made it through the door, dreams of sugar plums and recriminations dancing in my head.
Only it seemed that Hunter had no plans to let me make it to the guesthouse.
He planted himself in front of me, blocking the path.
“I can actually go around you, you know,” I pointed out. “You’ve got broad shoulders, but it’s not like you can block all points in space and time.”
“I don’t need to,” he countered, moving to intercept me as I tried to go around him as I’d threatened. “I just need to wear you down until you finally give me a straight answer on why you’re acting like a bratty teenager instead of my brilliant-minded work colleague and personal guest.”
My fists clenched. I could feel a tremble working its way outward from my heart, working its way into my voice. “I don’t owe you an explanation, Hunter Knox. I don’t owe you anything.”
“Maybe so,” he said, his voice a dark rumble. “But I’m going to get one regardless.”
I tried to shoulder past him, but he threw out his strong arm and I ran right into it, that hard muscle under his tailored tuxedo, the fabric crisp and smooth and smelling of his cologne and of him, and oh God, he smelled so good, oh God, he was so warm, I just wanted to taste him, I just wanted to melt into his arms…
His arm wrapped around me, pulling me to his chest.
My heart was beating a million times a minute.
“Admit it,” he growled, his voice darker than midnight, and my knees wobbled as arousal swept through me. “Admit it, Ally: you’re jealous.”
“Of course I’m jealous!” I exploded, ripping myself away from his grasp. My tiny fist hammered onto his chest. “I’ve just been trying to be professional, because goddamnit, some of us have to earn every inch of our way to the top in this business, and I didn’t want people to think I’d earned mine on my back! But—but you as**shole—” tears were threatening to choke my voice now—“we shared something good, something, something real, and now you’re just—goddamnit, just onto the next girl, and it’s my goddamn sister, how could you—”
“So you don’t want me dating Paige?” he asked, an emotion I couldn’t identify flitting behind his stoic mask.
“No!”
“Okay, then.” And then he smiled. “I won’t.”
I gaped at him. “What…?”
“I won’t,” he repeated, more gently this time. His hand reached out, cupping my cheek. “I didn’t want to hurt you…I never want to hurt you…”
“You did a good job anyway,” I whispered.
His eyes were molten pools of gold, and I was falling into them. “You’re all that I want…”
He leaned closer.
My lips parted, my breath stolen from me by his mere presence.
Our lips met, hesitantly at first and then with growing passion. His arms pressed me against his hard body, my hands clutching possessively at the small of his back, bunching the fabric there as I claimed him with my mouth. He nibbled at my lower lip and I moaned against him, parting my lips invitingly until he thrust his tongue inside, tasting me, exploring me, making me squirm against him in desire.
And then—
And then he pulled back and gave me a gentle peck on the lips, a wistful smile on his face before he walked away, leaving me reeling and more confused than ever.
But also a little bit…hopeful?
Until I realized: what the hell had I just done?
And what was I going to tell Paige?
SIX
I fussed with the edge of my napkin and tried not to feel guilty. It was tricky. I had a lot of things to feel guilty about. Number one on that list was either making out with Hunter after I’d sworn that I wouldn’t get in the way of his and Paige’s budding relationship, or else it was all the things I could vaguely remember telling Chuck last night—I just hoped I hadn’t told him any more things that I now forgot. And I hoped he’d been as drunk as me. With any luck, he wouldn’t remember a thing.
Unfortunately, Paige was unlikely to ever get drunk enough to forget that she had been dating Hunter Knox, so I’d decided that my first stop on the damage control tour was going to be brunch at our favorite local diner, where I’d break the news to her as gently as I could, and hope she could find it in her heart to forgive me.
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