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He glared at her. “We aren’t that kind of friends. You want to date Grady, go ahead and date him. But don’t try to make it okay by assuming every pretty girl who crosses my path somehow turns my head. They don’t.” He took a small step toward her. “They haven’t.” The gap between them narrowed to a mere breath. Brown eyes blazed with a strong concoction of anger and determination. “They won’t.”
Janie’s heart thundered at his proclamation, at his electrifying nearness. The allusion of his words were both heady and frustrating. Hunter’s heart had never wavered ...
Who could believe that? Years had passed before he’d come back—and even that had been forced by a medical discharge. And in that space of time? The only thing she’d ever had from him had been resentful texts and disapproving glares when he’d actually been there in person.
Love? No, that wasn’t love. That was a man scorned and eternally mad about it. And yet there she stood, swooning at the idea that he still held her in his heart.
Foolish.
She chose to ignore her flighty reaction and focus on his implied insult. “I don’t need to make dating Grady okay.” She steadied her breath, demanded her pulse settle back into something closer to normal. “Itisokay.” Her chin lifted, and she crossed her arms. “It’s better than okay.”
Who was she trying to convince?
“Great. That’s terrific.” He pulled back, wiped his hands on the towel, crumpled it into a ball, and then launched it at the wall. Without another word, he stalked to the door, ripped his coat off the peg, and stormed out into the semidarkness of the just-breaking day.
The door clapped shut. Loudly. Janie startled at the bang. Then she scowled at it, willing her heated anger to penetrate clean through the solid metal door and into Hunter’s back.
Twenty-Two
Thefoodwasashe’d expected—delicious and exactly right for this event. The party had been exactly what Gemma had stated—precisely what his lodge needed to start with.
Using a bottle of cheap champagne, they’d christened the newly drilled footings as the Lake Shore Splendor. Then John and Victoria Brighton, who had generously made the trip all the way from Nevada specifically for this event, quietly gifted Hunter with a much nicer bottle of wine.
“Don’t drink it alone,” John had warned.
Hunter understood his concern, as John knew Hunter’s family history. “I won’t. I’ll save it to open when you come next. Perhaps when the Splendor is open in the spring?”
John exchanged a look with his wife, who smiled in her lovely and approving way, and he nodded. “You can count on it.”
It all should have made Hunter swell with pride and happiness. As it was, though, Hunter couldn’t keep his focus on the excitement of a dream in the works or even on how kind it had been for all of these people to come up the mountain on a cold October evening, through the blanket of fresh snow, and to an outdoor celebration. His mind repeatedly veered instead to the dark-haired, blue-eyed beauty who had catered his party.
Janie hadn’t let him down. At least, not with her catering. But there was the issue of her plus-one.
Hunter’s attention clamped onto the stocky dark-haired man who had accompanied her. Grady was quietly accommodating. Attentive. Respectful. And Janie rewarded him with sweet smiles, lingering looks, and her hand tucked through his arm. Which all seemed over the top from where Hunter was standing.
Hadn’t she said they’d only gone on a few dates? Hadn’t she implied that it wasn’t serious at this point?
Then what was with this show?
Hunter stood near the bonfire, brooding in the few moments that he’d been left to himself. As it had at least a hundred times already that evening, his gaze sought the woman who possessed his thoughts. Wasn’t hard to find her, as her hearty laugh drew his attention as easily as it gripped his heart. There, near the southern footings, Janie stood with Grady, engaged in some story with Jeremy and Leslie Yates. By Grady’s expression, whatever tale had been told had been mildly amusing but not laugh-out-loud funny, as Janie’s reaction had been. She was putting on a show. For Grady or for Hunter?
Janie turned her head, and her eyes met Hunter’s stare. She held still for a breath, then turned her face back toward Grady.
A clear message if he’d ever seen one.
“Did you want a moment alone, or have you been rudely abandoned?” A smooth feminine voice filled the space behind him.
Hunter turned toward the unfamiliar voice, then managed a tight grin at the petite young woman it belonged to. “Hi, Isa. You’re enjoying the evening, I hope?”
“Of course.” She eased to his side, her expression sweet. Such a pretty girl . . . and not a shy one at all. Up until Janie’s comment about seeing a spark, Hunter had enjoyed the young woman’s company.
Now he was as comfortable with it as he would be with a rattler in his boots.
“You look like you might be exhausted though.” One small, gloved hand landed on his arm. “Bennett says Hazel gets worn out by people. Is that a family trait?”
Why had Bennett shared that about Hazel with this girl? Hunter doubted Hazel would appreciate being discussed. Especially with Isa, as Hazel had given the distinct impression of dislike for this girl when she’d come to help Bennett and the kids move into the Elliot house.
Bennett had better be cautious with this one.
