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Thud, against her thigh.
What?
Thud.
Wrenching her mouth away from the maelstrom threatening to drown her, Brenna jerked out of Hunter’s hold. ‘Poppy.’
Thanks for the wake-up call.
She’d just made the most horrendous blunder. Thankfully they hadn’t gone too far. Her fingers slid across her bottom lip, already swollen from that kiss. ‘Hunter, I...’ Words failed her. They’d kissed as though six years didn’t lie between this and their last one.
‘Don’t, Bren. Let’s not dissect what happened. We got carried away when we shouldn’t have.’ Regret scored his words and darkened his eyes as he turned for the door. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow when I come to make sure your car fires up.’
‘I can do that.’
‘I’m sure you can, but I’ll be here at five-thirty.’ He disappeared out of the room, his heavy tread the only sound in her house until the front door clicked shut behind him, leaving an eerie silence in the hallway.
So, he wasn’t going to avoid her after that kiss. Then again, he couldn’t when they had to work together. She needed to take immediate vacation leave. Starting now, and not finishing until Hunter began his hospital job. Brenna sank onto the nearest chair before her shaking legs dropped her in a heap on the floor.
‘What the hell just happened?’ Her teeth dug into her bottom lip, making her wince when she bit too hard. The absolute last thing she’d wanted to do was to be anything more than friends, not even close ones, and she’d gone and kissed him.
Poppy dropped her head onto her knees, her big brown eyes staring at her.
‘Thank you, girl. You saved me making a total moron of myself.’ Who knew how far they’d have gone if she hadn’t got a head butt from her dog?
Thump, thump went Poppy’s tail.
‘What? Oh, walkies?’
Thump, thump, thump.
‘Let’s go,’ Brenna sighed. She could think about Hunter and his soul-destroying kisses just as easily walking the streets as she could here. If her legs actually managed to gain enough strength to hold her upright. Who’d have believed that after all this time Hunter would still have the power to knock her off her feet?
She needed to toughen up. Fast. Before tomorrow morning. Because, awkward or not, she would be going into work and doing what she loved most in the world, flying around saving people.
What she loved most, not who.
Hunter had no part of the who bit. He was the past, had to remain there, could not be given the opportunity to come back into her world only to leave when it suited him. So, if anyone was leaving the rescue service during the next three and a half weeks it would be him, not her.
She was being harsh, but harsh had got her over him, and into a life that had brought adventure, fun and even another man for a couple of years. Shane had proposed on a skiing holiday in Banff and she’d believed she loved him, had been pleased for a second chance at happiness. But somehow her hours at work had increased and setting the wedding date had never happened.
When Shane had said he couldn’t continue the way they were going she should’ve fought harder to keep him by cutting back hours to be with him more often and settled on a wedding date so she could move into domestic bliss, where she’d be immune to Hunter. Seemed she’d reacted instinctively, protecting herself again, only it hadn’t hurt with Shane the way it had with Hunter.
Fabulous man that Shane was, he wasn’t right for her. Or she wasn’t right for him. One or the other, it was the same result. They’d split up amicably and could have a coffee together without the world exploding into a star storm of lust. Or anger and arguments. They were better friends than a couple. Hell, she even got on fine with his new squeeze.
Stars twinkled through the bare branches of the elms, no exploding going on up there. Brenna shivered in the chilly air and lengthened her stride to outpace the ghosts of her previous life. ‘It’s you and me, eh, Pops?’
At the sound of her name, Poppy wagged her tail and a reluctant smile lifted Brenna’s tender lips. ‘Perhaps I should find you a big bruiser of a mate and breed puppies. We could have a complete family of four-legged brats to keep us happy.’
Poppy stopped abruptly, her nose checking out a pile of leaves.
‘You don’t like that idea? Me either.’ What she really needed was to call up her single girlfriends and go out. Not happening this weekend, though. Unfortunately, a weekend with her mum and sisters in the beach cabin wasn’t going to produce a sexy man to play with.
Any man whose name wasn’t Hunter Ford.
Not one to fall into bed with a guy within hours of meeting him, getting some fun and light relief wasn’t happening any time soon.
No, Hunter Ford was not an option.
* * *
‘Daddy,’ Dylan shrieked, charging at Hunter. ‘I coloured in a picture of a horse today. Want to see it?’
Hunter swung his little man above his head and held him there, smiling up at the excitement in his eyes. ‘Of course, I do, but you’ve got to get down first.’
Dylan tried to swing his legs downward and laughed when his dad held him tighter. ‘Let me go.’
‘Tell me what else you did at preschool first.’
‘I did three wees and had chocolate cake because it was Amber’s birthday. We sang “Happy Birthday” and clapped. Put me down.’
‘Okay, kiddo.’ Reluctantly Hunter set Dylan back on his feet. If he had it his way, he’d never let him go, but he wasn’t going to stifle him, even when he wanted to protect him from absolutely eve
rything, including tripping over his feet in his rush to get the coloured-in horse.
Dylan yelled, ‘Ow!’ and straightened up just before he crashed into the wall.
‘Slow down,’ Hunter called after him.
‘Here, get this on board. You look like you’ve had the day from hell.’ Dave was handing him a beer.
Nothing wrong with his day. It was the early evening that had tipped him sideways and had him questioning every damned thought about returning to Vancouver to settle down properly. He would not think about helping Brenna or going inside her house. Definitely not thinking about that kiss. Not for a moment. Or how her body had turned his brain to mush whenever he’d touched her, which he’d done way too often, once being more than necessary.
‘He’s late. Wonder what kept him from getting home on time?’
‘We don’t always finish bang on the dot of six, Jess,’ he growled, before swallowing a large gulp of beer. He hadn’t got to tasting his wine back at his last stop, the distraction in the room being too huge to focus on anything else. He didn’t even remember putting the glass down, but he must’ve since it hadn’t come home with him. Why had he kissed Bren? Brenna. As if he’d had any choice when she’d been so close, smelt delicious, looked like the woman of his dreams. That’s because she was the woman of his dreams. He swore and downed half the bottle of beer.
‘Tsk, no swearing in front of children,’ Jess growled, before saying, ‘Let’s try who got you in such a sweat. Wouldn’t be Doc Williamson, by any chance?’
‘Want another beer, bud?’
Thank goodness for sensible pals. ‘Please, Dave. That one hardly touched sides.’
‘I’m taking that as a yes.’ Jess smirked and sipped her wine. ‘I have to meet this woman who gets you in a twist.’
‘Take it any way you like,’ Hunter gave back, focusing his annoyance on her and away from the images of a kiss that had knocked his knees out from under him and set his blood racing through his veins, bringing memories and longing and putting a hex on his careful plans for the future.
