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I'm surprised when his lips tuck up into a lazy grin. “I thought you might say that. You know, when we first met, you reminded me of her.”
I can barely contain my own silly grin. I love that I remind him of someone who cares about him. “Oh yeah?”
“Yep. You're both...just really nice.”
I smile, and I love the way his eyes caress my face. “I think you're the nice one, Mr. Southern Gentleman.” I take his hand and pull him close. His other hand curls around a piece of my dark hair.
“You think I'm a gentleman?” he smirks, then kisses me soft and low. His eyes burn when he pulls away.
“I want a rain check,” I murmur.
“What do I get when you cash it?”
I stroke my finger down his chest. “You get what you paid for.”
I'm shocked when he pulls me close. His arms close hard and firm around my back, and his face is buried in my hair. “I already got it and more.”
He holds me for the longest time, and I hold him. My eyes are hot with tears.
“I wish things weren't like this,” I whisper.
After I say this, my heart pounds. I've never been so open with anyone, and if Hunter sees me as nothing but a bed buddy, I think my heart will break in two. I'm holding my breath when he says, “So do I.”
My voice cracks when I start to speak. “Will you call me sometime soon?”
“As soon as I can.”
I look up at him, and I'm surprised to see the sadness in his green eyes. He's still got one arm around my back; the other hand is smoothing my hair off my forehead.
“I could stay here with you,” I say. “I don't mind if you're busy getting everything sorted out.”
He slowly shakes his head. Before I can argue, he brings a finger to my lips. Then his mouth meets mine for a kiss so gentle it makes me shiver. “I won't forget this.”
I nod. “I'm going to miss you.”
Half an hour later, I'm gone.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
~ELIZABETH~
“Seriously, Lizzy. You just can't make this stuff up.” Suri looks at me from behind the wheel of her lavender Land Rover. We're driving on the lonely, two-lane roads between Crestwood Place and Napa Valley Involved Rehab, and I've just finished my story—or at least, the censored version. Suri doesn't know all the heavy details, and she probably never will, which kind of sucks, because I don't think she has any clue how ripped up I am over leaving Hunter.
This is confirmed when she shakes her head in wonder. “Do the girls from the ranch know yet? That it didn't happen?”
“Yet?” I snort. “You think I'm just going to call and tell them? No way.” Sarabelle's funeral is today. I'm sure they're all too busy to care about how my sex life isn’t going.
“Are you going to tell the truth if one of them asks you?”
“I don't know.” I look out the window, at the bleak gray day. “I can't see myself lying, but it is kind of embarrassing.”
“I don't think so. I think it sounds like he really likes you, Liz.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” It's been three days, and I haven't heard a word from Hunter. With every hour that passes, I worry that he was too gentlemanly to take my V-card, but his care never quite reached the next level.
He's got his own life and I've got mine. Yeah, he has a vineyard home, but that doesn't mean he has time for or interest in having a California girlfriend. “There's no question, we have chemistry, but chemistry isn't everything.”
“Isn't it?” Suri murmurs.
