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Granite lodged in Hunter’s chest. He’d come in yesterday? And the day before, for pie? This guy was definitely after something more than pastry.
Let the battle begin.
Rolling his fists, he fixed an unwavering gaze on Janie until she couldn’t ignore him anymore.
“Morning, Hunter.” Her smile faded into nearly nothing. Those blue gems held cool distance and maybe a touch of warning. “Cinnamon roll and coffee?”
“You know.” She knew exactly what he liked. And she knew that he wasn’t there for the food. Not entirely, at least. She knew every corner of his heart. She also knew, Hunter felt certain, that she was throwing darts at it right then. Sharp ones loaded with poison—the kind of toxin that would make a man writhe in agony.
Cruel. It was just . . . vindictive cruelty.
She had to know, and she was doing this intentionally. Janie had been able to read Hunter since they’d been fifteen and thirteen. It had been one of the reasons he’d never kept a secret from her. The exact reason, in fact, that he’d been stunned by her shock and anger at his desire to leave Elk Canyon.
Janie looked toward the floor and then shifted her attention toward the dining room. “Hazel snagged the table by the window. The one you usually like.”
Was she . . . dismissing him? Telling him to get lost, let her flirt with Game and Parks alone?
Heck no.
“Think she was expecting a call from Bennett.” Hunter crossed his arms and kept his stare pinned on her face. “I’ll just let my sister have some time alone for that.”
The man to Hunter’s right cleared his throat.
Janie shot Hunter a quick scowl and then let sunshine back into her expression as she looked back at the other guy. “Two coffees. Two cinnamon rolls. Anything else?”
“Made my day already.”
Hunter turned a slow glare onto Game and Parks. He was met with easy cordiality.
“Grady Briggs.” The offer of his name was joined by his extended hand.
Hunter took it with a firm grip. Maybe a little firmer than usual. “Hunter Wallace.”
“I guessed so.”
“Did you? Why is that?”
“Hazel—you said she was your sister. I met her day before yesterday.”
“Why would you remember Hazel or need to know me?”
“I’m running a study on the western spotted skunk up on the BLM land that borders your property. We tend to know who owns property where we’re working.”
“Is that so.” Hunter kept his tone flat.
“Right. And we like to know the landowners—let them know we’ll be working in the area. And I’ve been told no one knows the area like the Wallace siblings. We might need to borrow your expertise.”
“We? Who else do you have coming here to sniff out the skunks?”
Game and Parks—Grady—itched his ear. “On this study, it’s just me.”
“So you’ll be out wandering near our land on your own.” Hunter smirked. “Good to know.”
“It’s not going to be a problem, is it?”
Hunter shrugged. Depended on how this guy behaved. Specifically with Janie. “My sister has been known to remove trail cams if they’re aimed toward one of her traplines.”
“I’d rather she didn’t.”
