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He purses his lips and thinks for a moment. “I was… around. But if I’d known we had company, especially company that looks like you, I’d have come in Sunday best.”
It’s then I realize how opposite the two brothers are. I don’t say anything and simply pull the cookies from the oven. They still need time to cool before I start dipping them in icing.
“You’re too good for this place, you know,” he tells me, reaching for the tray. I smack his hand away. “Ooh, feisty. I like that.”
I swallow hard.What the hell have I gotten myself into?I’ve brought my son to some cabin with a man, or as it turns out,menwhom I don’t know. My throat runs dry.
“I thought I told you to stay away, Daniel,” Hunter’s voice booms from over my head.
When I turn, Hunter stands in the doorway, knocking off his boots like his brother did earlier. He holds the door open, and Preston rushes inside. His face is pink from the cold, but he jumps up and down excitedly.
“I was getting to know Everly here,” Danny says, gesturing toward me. “She tells me you two aren’t together.”
Hunter lets out a sound between a sigh and a grunt before walking past me and to the sink. He washes the dust off his hands and flicks them dry but then makes room for Preston next to him. “She’s right.”
“She is?” Preston asks, looking up at Hunter and then at me. “You don’t want to date him?”
Heat flushes my face, and I’m sure I’m as red as a tomato. “I didn’t saythat—”
“Don’t wait around for him,” Danny advises, shooting a smirk in my direction. “You can dosomuch better. Like maybe, someone younger.” He lets out a wry chuckle.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Hunter says, walking over to his brother.
Daniel holds up his hands in defeat and walks out of the door with a smirk.
Hunter closes it behind him. “Sorry about him. He doesn’t have a filter. He’s got a cabin on the other side of our property.”
“Right. That’s okay,” I tell him. “I was thinking it might be time for Preston and me to get out of your hair anyway.”
Hunter ignores this last part and walks toward the oven, mouth gaping. “You made cookies?” He steps back and looks around, surveying the living room since there are no walls dividing the two rooms. “You also decorated the house.” He chuckles.
Immediately I’m hit with guilt. I’m bad at this whole dating thing. “Yeah… I hope it’s alright. I can change it back if you’d like.”
He shakes his head, and a grin spreads over his face. “No, I love it.”
He holds my gaze for a few moments longer than necessary, and my cheeks burn up again. I turn away.
For the next twenty minutes, Preston gushes about everything he and Hunter made together. I love seeing his enthusiasm. When Hunter offers to make dinner for us, I insist on heading down the hill for the day.
Hunter takes it in stride, walking us to my car. Preston clambers into the backseat amidst protests, and I close the door behind him.
When Hunter walks around the car and puts a hand on my door handle, he hesitates. “How would you like to come to dinner tomorrow?”
I jolt, looking at him startled. “Are you asking me…?”
“On a date, yes. For the second time, if you're counting. I didn’t like the sound of us not being an item when Dan asked, and I want to change that.”
My heart flutters in my chest. Hunter is too good to be true. Am I ready to date? Do I want to open this door? Can I depend on Hunter? Will he be a better man than Spence was? Can I trust my judgment?There’s so much at stake here. It isn’t just me. I’m making decisions for Preston too.When I look into Hunter’s eyes, he’s staring at me, and it drowns out all my worries.
“Say yes.” Hunter inches closer.
My heart beats out of my chest. “Yes.”
Chapter Four Hunter
There’s still half an hour before Everly arrives, and I’m quaking. I’ve never been so jittery before, and the knowledge that I’m nervous only makes memorenervous.
It’s just a date.
