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“I didn’t always live in the city. I’m a country boy at heart. I prefer the woods.”
“So why live here?”
“It’s complicated,” he grunts. “Work, mostly.”
“And what do you do?”
“Besides owning Google?” I grin, blushing. “I invented something called the AirCleanse. They use it on trucks and busses to cut down emissions and improve gas mileage.”
“Wow, that’s…”
“You’ve never heard of it, have you?”
I blush. “I mean…”
Hunter smiles. “It’s not flashy, but it pays the bills.”
“Um, yeah, I think you could say that,” I choke, turning to ogle the gorgeous rooftop garden and sprawling penthouse.
“And what do you do?”
“College. I’m at NYU. Aside from that, I work down the street at Cafe Roma.”
I turn back, and I tremble when his blue eyes hold mine. He frowns slightly. “How old are you?”
“Nineteen.” His shoulders seem to lose a little tension, and his jaw grinds slightly.
“You?”
“Thirty.”
For some reason, the gap seems scandalous, even though we’re just talking. But this is more “just talking” than any “just talking” I’ve ever talked before. There’s something else here, and it has my heart racing.
“What are you studying?”
“English Lit.”
“So you want to be a professional barista.”
I giggle and smile widely. “No, a writer. I think, at least. That or an editor.”
Hunter nods, and he looks at me with this genuine interest in his eyes. “And what do your parents think about that?”
“No idea. My mom is gone, and my dad couldn’t care what I do, really. He works a lot. He’s a miner.” I turn my head to look out over Hunter’s paradise garden. “And a drinker.”
Hunter doesn’t push the issue, but I can see him swallow it. “That apartment,” he says with a frown.
“Oh,” I laugh. “Not mine, it’s my aunt’s. She lives in Paris, so I rent it out from her.”
“She makes you pay rent?”
“Yeah,” I roll my eyes. “It’s not cheap, either.”
Hunter’s brow lines deepen. “That’s absurd.”
“It’s cheaper than the dorms, actually.”
He takes a deep breath and looks away. His big hand comes up to rake his fingers over his perfect jawline. Slowly, he turns to look at me again.
