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Their gazes drift to me, Hunter’s eyes dark as they roam over my body, causing my stomach to tighten involuntarily. Will I ever get used to this strange, new relationship? It’s a good thing I won’t be home as much with my new job, because the more space I can put between him and me, the better.
“How’d it go, kiddo?” Earl asks, Claire biting her lip anxiously beside him as she looks at me in waiting.
“I got the job. I start after Thanksgiving. I am now a fourth-grade teacher at Cannon Falls Elementary,” I say joyously, trying to keep my gaze away from Hunter’s as I speak.
Claire rushes to me, pulling me in for a tight hug as Earl claps a hand over my shoulder, Hunter’s gaze burning me at my spine.
“I knew you could do it, sweetie. I am so proud of you,” Claire whispers, kissing my cheek before she releases me.
“Celebratory dinner tonight! Your choice, Ms. Bailey,” she says with a wink and I laugh, shoving my hands in my coat pockets as we stand on the porch.
“What were you guys talking about?” I ask Earl, still avoiding Hunter and his overwhelming presence.
“Just finalizing some details over the new compound. We already have a flood of applications for volunteers. I think we’ll be ready to launch the program in early spring,” Earl says proudly.
“That’s amazing news! Let me know if you need me to do anything,” I say before Earl and Claire go inside.
I move to follow, but Hunter’s hand snaps out to stop me, his touch burning through my thick coat, branding my skin.
“Ali, wait-”
“Hunter, it’s cold and I want to get inside,” I say, trying not to meet his eyes.
“I just wanted to say congratulations. You deserve every bit of happiness and I just want you to know that I am incredibly proud of you,” he says earnestly, shocking the hell out of me.
I let my eyes travel from his dirty work boots and up his large body before I let my eyes finally meet his. There’s so much pride in them, making his sapphire blues gleam in the daylight. It renders me speechless.
“I…thank you, Hunter. That means a lot,” I whisper, not wanting to break from his gaze as he runs a hand through his thick, dark hair in an awkward gesture.
He’s nervous. The strong, angry Hunter Brooks is nervous. Has hell frozen over?
“Well, that’s all then. Good luck and let me know if you need anything,” he says after looking at me for a while, his mind and body waging a war that he wears all over his beautiful face.
He turns to leave and walks down the porch steps. Suddenly, deciding to go against my better judgment, I give him a kind offer and I have no fucking idea why.
“Why don’t you come to dinner tonight? You know Claire cooks for an army, and I don’t want it to go to waste. You can bring some of your wine, she’d like that,” I say, locking eyes with his as he turns to give me the brightest smile I’ve ever seen him wear.
A thousand-watt smile made and aimed directly forme.
“Can do,” he says with a nod, tipping his hat before he looks at me longingly one last time.
He walks back to work with the contractors, and I feel a bundle of nerves creep up my throat. An overwhelming amount of nerves that make me wonder how in the hell I can maintain a strictly platonic, friendly relationship with Hunter Brooks.
This is going to take more strength than I bargained for.
47
Dinner went welland was delicious as usual. I love my mom's cooking, but Claire’s is top notch. The woman puts her heart and soul into her food, and you can feel it in every bite.
Hunter and Rob came for dinner, the rest of the workers taking portions home to their wives and families before they left for the day. Marley couldn’t make it due to a late house call, but she did text me informing me that I had no other obligations but to see her tomorrow, and after my absence and the good words she put in for me to the school, I owe her more than just a day.
Rob has told me that they started dating officially two weeks ago and it makes me smile with how he gushes over her. He is truly smitten, and I firmly believe that he and Marley will last forever. They just…fit. Like they were made for each other. Something I envy but can’t focus on because I have so many other things to be excited over.
We finish our meal and chat over the wine Hunter brought, the dark red liquid bringing me back to that amazing weekend we spent at the resort together. I had to opt out of drinking it because I worried it would make me reminisce way too much, especially since Hunter hasn’t stopped staring at me with those dark blue eyes all night at the dinner table.
We walk him and Rob out to the porch, saying our goodbyes and freezing when we see two trucks pull up the driveway, one of them belonging to none other than Ezra Brooks. All the men at my side immediately rest their hands on the guns strapped to their belts, blocking Claire and I from view.
Jesus, I haven’t even been back an entire day and there’s already more bullshit.
