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She swept her hand over her eyes, blinking her wet lashes.
“All right. So what’s the plan now?”
“We go home.”
CHAPTER 6
GRACE
The smell of coconut and cold water filled my house. A hint of disinfectant hung in the air. Hunter had driven us home and immediately run upstairs to shower. He used to live here, unofficially. The day after his eighteenth birthday, he came over to change the oil in my car. Two days later, he cleaned up the pool and fixed the cracked window in the pool house. He playfully sprayed me with a garden hose that afternoon, got all muddy, and washed himself in the same shower where he was now in upstairs. That first time, I didn’t know he’d step out naked. I didn’t know I’d want to see him that way again. The second time, he went skinny-dipping in my pool at night and didn’t know I watched him through the window, touching myself. When he surprised me half-naked in the gardens the third time, I couldn’t let him go. It all seemed like yesterday.
I put on the kettle and searched the downstairs for my laptop. Silver Securities had installed surveillance cameras inside the house and through the exterior gardens. The team updated all locks and entry codes, lit up the driveway, and changed the front gate to reinforced steel. I rummaged through my home office, checking the bookcase and all cabinets, but came up empty. My phone remained at the salon, but the laptop had to be in the house. I wanted to update my cycle tracking and get in touch with Emma, asap.
I couldn’t find it downstairs and went to the master bedroom. Hunter had left the washroom door half-open. The sound of the running shower stirred butterflies in my stomach. It had been a while since I’d had butterflies anywhere. Five years of worry and regret had not passed quickly enough. My days filled with his absence and nights with dreams I’d once had and lost. And now that he was here, all different andbeary, completely in control, I couldn’t shed the flicker of hope. His bright eyes pierced through me, igniting sweet memories. I couldn’t stop looking at the changed man.
Bear.
A bear with two stacked columns of abs that narrowed into a v-cut near the hips. Melon-sized biceps ripened around his arms, and when he turned around, chiseled carvings ran down his backside. Bullet scars marked his abdomen, rising questions I was afraid to ask. But he was beautiful to me and would remain beautiful no matter how many scars he had. The silver streak of hair, shared by all the Silver brothers, curled through the darker locks. I looked nothing like my brothers.
The shower turned off, and I lost my train of thought. I couldn’t let him crawl back into my life. I was on track with my fertility treatments and everything had been going well, until he came back. And now I couldn’t find my laptop.
I shut the nightstand drawer, turned around, and startled. Hunter was standing in the bathroom door frame, drying his hair with a towel. Thankfully, he’d already put on a pair of joggers, and judging by the solid hang to the side, nothing else underneath. Again. The view of him sent warmth swirling through my veins, collecting everywhere it wasn’t supposed to. I didn’t know penises grew along with body mass. Hunter would gloat that it was due to experience. Was that why he was so large? Because he fucked so much?
“Are you just going to stand there and stare?” he asked.
My head flew up. “Ahem, no. I’m looking for my laptop. Have you seen it?”
He looked down. “It’s not on my dick.”
Right.
I covered my eyes with my hand. He was too distracting. “Do you have to parade around naked?”
The sound of thunder rolled in the distance, and rain splattered against the window.
“I’m dressed, Grace, and you’ll get your laptop tomorrow. Gabe’s adding security software.”
I lowered my hands from my face. Hunter was wearing a t-shirt that did little to cover the bear underneath.
“Is Gabe going through my files?”
“No. He’s reading code that has nothing to do with you. Trust me, it’s boring stuff.”
“I’m not boring.” I followed him out of the bedroom and down the stairs, trotting along. The width of him took so much space, I could barely squeeze in beside him. He stopped at the bottom of the staircase, and I bumped into his hard arm.
“Sorry.”
“You’re not boring, Grace, but you are more feisty than I remember. I like a challenge.”
He continued to the kitchen, and I quickened my pace. Challenge? I was a challenge? Frustration surged through my veins, heating my blood and surprisingly, awakening arousal with each step as my hormones hummed out of synch.
“I believe we’ve had enough challenges, Caveman.”
He turned around at the counter. This time, I bumped into his chest, bouncing off.
“This is a unique challenge. I like this one.”
“Okay, I’m confused. What challenge are we talking about?”
