“I don’t know what kind of assholes you’ve met—”
“Some pretty spectacular ones.” Tia lifted a brow. “And even though Mackenzie says you’re one of the nice ones, I’ve learned not to trust the nice-guy package.”
“When it comes to Mackenzie, you can trust me.” Even as he said it, his chest became uncomfortably tight—and the freaking lie detector went off again.
Yap yap yap.
Hunter had been honest when he said Tia could trust him. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t do to ensure Mackenzie’s safety and happiness.
Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of uncertainty and helplessness slammed through him, twisting and churning until it created one hell of a complicated knot of emotions in his chest.
He could almost picture Hadley in front of him, shaking her head at his Superman complex. Reminding him that stunts like this were one of the main reasons their marriage hadn’t worked.
Christ.The knot tightened until he could barely breathe.
Mackenzie had given an almost identical reason for why she’d kept her condition a secret in the first place. Yet he’d just planned an evening for her that she’d never willingly attend. After what was going to be a trying night.
Shit.It was as if he hadn’t gotten a fucking clue over the past few years—the past few weeks.
He looked up at the universe and took a breath.Got it. Message heard loud and clear.
Hunter might have been slow on the uptake, but he was tuned in and listening now. First step: he needed a new plan.
“When it comes to Mackenzie, you can trust that I will annihilate you if you hurt her,” she said, and just like that the dog stopped barking, highlighting just how serious Tia was.
Hunter was serious too. He was going to make sure no one ever hurt Mackenzie again—even Mackenzie. And especially not him.
All he needed was to find the perfect opportunity to get her to de-compartmentalize, expand her world, and prove to her that life could still be fun. And he would make sure that she could explore it on her terms. Not his.
He looked at Tia, a walking encyclopedia of solutions. “What’s the next step in her therapy? And how can I be supportive and not suffocating?”
Tia smiled. “And here I thought men were all untrainable.”
