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“Me.”
“Seriously, Hunter.”
“Wait—are you serious about this? You’d leave Long Island and the salon behind?”
“Let’s not get carried away. This is only hypothetical.”
He repositioned himself, and I took a deep breath in, filling my lungs with his wild scent. “Hypothetically, if you wanted to work, you could open a salon in the village. They love you down there.”
“You know, a baby would keep me busy in the beginning.”
“I guess we could adopt.”
“Adopt? You wouldn’t want kids of your own?”
“I don’t think that’s in the plan for me.”
“Why not?”
“Grace… Just… I don’t want you to get your hopes up. What about your fertility treatments?”
“I… I haven’t thought about it much since coming here. You’ve kept me busy.”
“Because if we moved here, you’d be likely giving that up too, and I never want you to give up on your dream.”
“We could make it work, Hunter, because I’ll never give up on you again.”
* * *
I woketo the sound of macaws squawking nearby. I swept my hand over the pillow beside me and found the spot empty.
“Hunter?” I sat up.
Bright sun shone through the wall opening, and the smell of coffee pushed my eyes wide open. I hurried out of bed. A French coffee press with steaming java was waiting on the kitchen counter, along with a heap of bananas, mangoes, and two coconuts. I dressed, poured myself a cup, and stepped onto the viewing platform by the kitchen.
The rainforest swayed to the wind’s push. Down in the valley, Hunter was sitting on a rock, fishing by the river. His wide back hunched forward as he rested his arms on his knees. God, the man was a beast. Our little adventure was messing with my head. How could I even consider living in a jungle?
Something moved in the bushes behind him, and I set my coffee on the table, focusing on the area. A beige coat snuck in between the foliage, advancing toward Hunter.
Oh, my God.
“Hunter!” I screamed, but he couldn’t hear me over the rushing water.
I grabbed Hunter’s flare gun from the backpack, jumped into my runners, and swung down the tree rope like Jane, a little surprised I stuck the landing. I ran down the path, pushing through the bushes. Leaves and branches slapped against my arms as I screamed, “Hunter, there’s a cougar behind you!”
A loud splash echoed from the river. I reached the rock where Hunter had been sitting earlier, but he was gone. He surfaced to my right, along with a cougar. The cat leaped into the air and landed on top of Hunter.
Oh, my God.
I fumbled with the flare gun, frustrated that it kept slipping from my grip.
“What are you doing here, Grace? Go back to the house.”
I looked up, waving the flare gun in my hand. “Not letting it kill you.”
“Put down the gun and go back to the house, Grace. Now.” His command struck my body like lightning. The cougar surfaced and turned to the shore, focusing on me.
I backed away in slow motion and turned on my heel as soon as I was out of view. On my way back, a branch cut my arm and a giant leaf that looked like Swiss cheese slapped my face red. I was pretty fit, but by the time I got to the tree house and climbed up the fifth step, the wild roar behind me sent me shooting to the top in a blink. I hurried to pull up the ladder as the cougar circled underneath the opening.
