“Hunter!”
“What’s so bad about what I’m saying? You like the house; I can afford to buy something else and move out once I receive the papers. You just said it would be perfect to raise a family.”
How would this even work out? What sane man would like an ex-husband hanging around, being his wife’s best friend? Perhaps if we told him the truth?
The thought of a nameless man being able to give her what she needed made me want to punch something.
She pointed a finger at me, then poked my chest.
“I just want to make you happy.”
She sighed, letting her hand drop. “Why do you say these things? I can’t fight you when you do that.”
“Does that mean you’ll accept?”
“No.”
“Josie—”
“Hunter. I am not just going to accept a house.” She held her chin high, crossing her arms over her chest. I nearly kissed her, right then and there. Then she flashed a wicked smile. “What’s your stance on foot rubs?”
“What?”
“You said you want to make me happy. Foot rubs make me happy. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn the skill. At the end of the day, when I’m tired, sitting on the couch and reading or watching TV.”
My heart started beating faster again at the image she was painting, at this version of our life together. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was actually looking forward to this, crazy as it was.
“Want me to put you in contact with Leonie so you can take care of decorating the house?”
Josie blinked, shaking her head. “My taste isn’t that great. Just have Leonie deal with everything, as usual.”
Leonie was my assistant and overall lifesaver. She held the keys to my life. She’d taken care of decorating every place I’d lived in over the last seven years.
I couldn’t keep the disappointment at bay. I’d wanted Josie to decorate it. I wanted her to feel at home... make a home for us? For a split second, it had seemed she’d wanted that, but maybe I’d just been imagining... projecting.
“Okay. I’ll have her coordinate everything.”
We were already looking around for cabs when I remembered I wanted to run something else by her.
“Josie, I don’t think we can keep the wedding small.”
“Why not?”
“Everyone’s getting wind of it.”
“And let me guess, they’re all checking their mail already to see if they’ve got an invitation.”
“Something like that.”
She bit her lip, running a hand through her hair. “So... how many guests are we talking?”
“Two hundred, give or take.”
“Wow. Okay. Okay. I guess everything’s going to be at a grander scale than I imagined. The wedding, the bachelorette party....”
“How’s that coming along?” I tried to sound casual, not like I was already a jealous, possessive bastard.
I wasn’t fooling her. She looked at me suspiciously, smiling slyly.
“I’m not telling you anything.”
“Josie...”
“What? Are you going to make me tell you, fiancé?”
“You know I can do just that.”
I leaned in closer, touching my fingers to her cheek, resting my thumb right under her lower lip. She gasped, widening her eyes. There was no one with us. No one to pretend for. But I couldn’t be next to her and not touch her. Hell, I was barely refraining from kissing her. She exhaled sharply, licking her lower lip. I very nearly took what I wanted but stopped just in time.
There would be plenty of occasions to kiss her, and I was going to take advantage of them. A lot.
Chapter Eight
Josie
On Wednesday, Hunter surprised me yet again. An employee from my bank called me at 8:00 a.m.
“Ms. Gallagher, someone by the name of Hunter Caldwell has transferred one hundred thousand dollars to your account. We just wanted to check a few things. Our internal compliance requires us to ask a few things when sums this large are transferred.”
I nearly fell off my chair. “That’s my fiancé... I think our wires got crossed somehow. But don’t approve it.”
What was he thinking? He’d said that he’d take care of all extra costs that arose because I was married to him, but I hadn’t explicitly agreed to this. And we weren’t even married yet. After ending the current call, I pulled up Hunter’s number on my phone but disconnected before it rang.
No, I wanted to talk to him about this in person. The money weighed on me the entire day, as I shifted through statutes for my clients, billing hours like crazy.
I was on track to become partner—my bosses had heavily hinted that I was in the running to be promoted by the end of this year. I couldn’t wait for that to happen. It came with a hefty salary increase. I’d already budgeted the extra dollars for the first year—I was going to reimburse my parents for helping me with law school.
I left work at seven o’clock and headed to Hunter’s office. I wasn’t even sure he would still be there, so I called him.
“Hey, fiancé,” I greeted when he picked up. “Where are you?”
“Not sure you want to know.”
“Oh?”
“On second thought... wait a second. Ryker’s been killing me with planning my bachelor party for the past hour. Care to rescue me?”
I chuckled. “You can’t rescue yourself?”
“Not after I just asked him to be my best man.”
“Right... that does require outside intervention. Where are you?”
“At the Greek restaurant near my condo.”
“I need about twenty minutes to get there. Think you can handle Ryker on your own?”
Hunter groaned. “I’ll try.”
“Won’t he be suspicious that I’ll just show up there?”
“No, he’ll just think we’re madly in love.”
“Of course he will. Can you order a moussaka for me? I’m starving.”
I took a cab to the restaurant, pressing the side of my head against the cool window. When we’d visited that house, I could practically see myself living there, raising kids, growing old... with Hunter. My heart was getting involved in this already, and that was dangerous.
When he’d suggested I decorate the house, I’d been dying to say yes but couldn’t. That house already felt like a home. I didn’t want to get even more invested in it. It would just make it harder to say goodbye. Or... maybe we’d become a real family. Could that happen? Could he fall for me? Jesus, thinking like that was going to lead me to heartbreak... and yet, I couldn’t stop.
When I climbed out of the cab in front of the restaurant, I drew in a deep breath and nearly choked. New York was stifling hot in July, even in the evening. And the humidity was inescapable. My hair had already curled at the temples.
The restaurant boasted Corinthian-style columns and alabaster statues at the corners. Hunter and Ryker were sitting at a table for four on the left side of the room.
“Hello, boys.”
Ryker tilted his head, smiling. “I see I’m on my way to becoming the third wheel.”