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“I’m the last person who can suffer from this situation,” he said, releasing his hold on her room key. Snow folded the card in her fingers as his lips quirked enough to break his stoic expression. “My reputation is just fine. I own the company, remember? You are the one I’m worried about.”
“Why?” she asked. Snow couldn’t believe how badly she wanted his answer. There was no explanation, yet she found she needed to know his reasoning.
“Why what?”
“Why do you care so much? I refuse to believe it’s because I’m your responsibility.”
Hunter pulled at his neck. “I don’t know,” he said, sounding as though the reality of that answer troubled him more than he liked. “But I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt. You’re a vibrant personality, Snow. And not just for TV. You radiate. You’ve got a glow and an inclination for positivity in life I haven’t seen many others have. It would be a shame to let that light go out.”
Snow could only stare at him. Was he this attentive no matter who his client was? She got the feeling that, thoughtful as he’d been, the emotion she felt behind this admission wasn’t something he experienced with everyone.
13
“Thank you,” she finally said, gripping her room key. “So…do you need to get anything before you come over?” All at once, she was fidgety about this handsome, heroic man staying in her room for the night.It’s no big deal,she told herself.He’s only coming to keep me safe. The fact that he’s steady and attractive and that I’m more aware of him now than I was before is completely irrelevant.
“Yes.” His lips cracked out a little smile. He inclined his head in the direction of his room behind him. “Come with me. I’ll get my things and we’ll come back to your room.”
Her steps moved seemingly of their own accord as she followed him in. Snow waited in his outer suite while he slipped into the bedroom and changed. She couldn’t wait to do the same—her wet clothes stuck to her like sap. He emerged several minutes later wearing a pair of jeans, a fitted t-shirt that did him all kinds of favors, and carrying a small black duffle bag.
“Good thing I haven’t really unpacked any of this yet,” he said, holding up his bag.
She supposed since he’d only just moved into the room a few days ago, that was to be expected. Snow admired the pictures situated around the TV. A framed portrait of an adorable girl with her dark hair bunched into two curly balls on top of her head.
“Is this Kassie?” she asked. “She’s cute.”
“Thanks,” he said. His eyes burned with the word. He loved his little girl; that much was evident, which made the situation that much worse. In helping Snow, he had to step away from his responsibilities as a father. That wasn’t fair to Kassie.
“You sure she’ll be okay?” Snow said, giving voice to her remorse about the situation. “Without you, I mean.”
Hunter inclined his chin and offered that smile of his again. “She’s fine. Probably having a fun time being spoiled by my parents.” He gripped his bag and opened the door leading into the hall. Snow made her way toward him but stilled at the sight of something new: a gun was holstered at his waist.
A shaky exhale escaped her lips. “Is that necessary?”
Hunter closed the door once more and placed a hand on the gun in its holster at his belt. “I hope it won’t be, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. In my experience, I prefer to be overprepared than to be caught off-guard.”
“In your experience as head of security?” she asked. It made sense that he would walk around armed and ready while scoping the station’s grounds for potential threats.
“I’ve been a bodyguard for others before, and I started out in police academy before that.”
This information helped her breathe easier. It was a relief to know she had someone caring for her and looking after her. “The police force didn’t appeal to you?”
“At first it did. I inherited HMW from my grandparents and decided to take it on as head of security while letting Eloise and the others oversee the magazine and the show itself.”
“So you’re the owner, but you leave the management to others?”
“Exactly.” He gestured for her to precede him out the door. “Shall we?”
Snow stepped out first, but after a few steps, she halted again. Hunter hooked a hand around her elbow and guided her to stand behind him as he put his hand on his hip at the ready.
A group of men filled the hall. Her gaze tripped from one to the next, taking in the bundles of pillows and blankets in their arms and the steady, assuring faces.
She met their expressions one by one. Carter’s sweet features. Clayton’s chiseled jawline, beard, and steely eyes. Marcos’s pleasant face set with determination—and his typical smile. Eric’s muscular arms folded across his chest.
She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth as chills skated over her entire torso. “What are you all doing here?” she asked.
“We came to see if you were okay,” Carter said, grasping the pillow to his chest.
“No one hurts our girl,” Clayton added.
