AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Bye, Hunter. I gotta go look for the wig. Nan keeps that stuff in the attic.”
“Night, don’t stay up too late!”
I stroll to the bathroom and climb in the hot shower with my head full of mixed thoughts. It’s almost too much for one man for one night.
I let the hot water soak away my confusion about Rachel and stress around being an unexpected parent.
But, by the time I crawl in bed, Rachel has wiggled her way back into my brain. Four years have been kind to her.
Her hair is longer but everything about her looks just like I remember. All those curves in all the right places.
As I close my eyes, I recall the first night I saw her. The lifeguards and the pier employees met up on the first weekend night of the summer. The air was cool, but the bonfire and the beer made us forget all about it. She caught me staring. Had the nerve to walk right up and clink her beer can against mine. “Here’s to getting an eyeful. Hope it was good.”
Of course, the guys busted a gut laughing. But that didn’t chase her off. Instead, she measured me up and down with those chocolate brown eyes of hers.
“Like what you see?” I asked.
“Not sure. I haven’t seen you without a shirt yet.”
With one hand, I grabbed my sweatshirt and yanked it over my head.
Her eyes danced across my chest. Dropped to my layers of cut up abs. Slid down the trail of dark hair that dropped into my jeans. She raised a brow and her smile turned sly. “Not bad, rescue boy, not bad at all.” She tilted her head and batted her eyes at me. I knew I was done for. “I’m Rachel, by the way.”
“I’m Hunter.”
“What are you hunting?”
“Nothing, now.”
And that was the beginning.
We lasted five long and hot months. It was a raging, blazing, scorcher of a summer fling that left us both with scars.
CHAPTER 5
I cover my eyes and hang my head down. A wave of thick brown hair cascades over my face giving me a shield from Maddy’s shocked, disapproving eyes. She gasps, “You didn’t!”
Groaning, I admit that yes, I did lure Hunter onto the beach, and I did indeed leave a blow-up doll for him.
“Girl...”
“I know. It’s terrible.”
Maddy scrapes a stool across the floor and climbs up. I resign myself to looking at her. She crosses her arms over her cooking apron. Her face holds a mix of horror and hope when she probes, “What did he do?”
I growl, “He acted like it was no big deal. He sat on my picnic blanket, ate my food, and drank my champagne.”
She snickers, “And what did you do?”
“Lost my head. I was watching him from behind a tree until I couldn't take it anymore.” I sigh, “I yelled at him, then, like the world’s biggest idiot, I let him kiss me. And the mistakes don’t end there…”
Maddy laughs so hard I’m sure she’s going to fall off the stool.
I drop my head to the table in the workroom of our store. The cold steel feels good to my flaming face. “It sucked.”
“How did it end? Oh, wait! If it ended with you getting it on, I do not want to know the smutty details. Ick!”
“Oh, no, it didn’t go that far… well, actually, he did—”
