“I like to have fun; I just don’t feel like I have to travel to do so!”
“Okay, so are you seeing how this is maybe not the right relationship for you?” his father asked carefully. “I’m not saying you can’t have feelings for her, Hunter, but relationships take compromise and they take time to grow. Why are you rushing this? Take the time to get to know one another better.”
“How can I do that when she lives 700 miles away?” Slouching in his chair, he sighed. “I just…I want more time with her.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Kyle said, “but maybe try doing the long-distance thing for a while and then see if she wants to move here.”
“Maybe…”
“Of course, that will mean you’ll have to give a little and travel to her,” he added slowly. “So…think about that.”
“I guess…”
“Dude, please tell me you didn’t ask her to move here so you wouldn’t have to travel to Nashville!” Kyle blurted out.
“It never even crossed my mind! Geez!”
“Okay, then.”
With a curt nod, his father said, “Alright. That’s settled then.” He glanced at Hunter. “Or is there more?”
Again, why deny it.
“When she left here on Saturday, she said she was going back to Katie’s, but…she didn’t. I wanted her to spend the weekend, but she said she promised Katie she’d be back that night.”
“How do you know she didn’t go home?”
“Because her phone kept going to voicemail, I got worried, so I called Katie and…she told me Violet was away for the weekend.”
“Damn,” Kyle muttered.
“Son, I hate to say it, but…”
“You are totally freaking this girl out!” Kyle finished.
“I wouldn’t put it quite like that,” Dominic corrected. “But it does sound like maybe you’re moving a little fast for her.”
Yeah, he had a feeling that’s what it was but was afraid to admit it out loud.
“So now what do I do?”
“Wait for her to call you. Chances are Katie’s going to tell her you called,” his father reasoned. “Just…be patient.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Sure. Okay. I can do that.”
Hunter prided himself on not being a liar. But he feared that’s exactly what he was.
Fourteen
Staring down at the big pink box in her hands, Violet was seriously second-guessing herself. Unfortunately, she’d already knocked on the door so it was too late to run.
Hunter opened the door, looking all kinds of sexy–messed up hair, athletic shorts, and no shirt. It was enough to almost make her forget how to speak.
“It’s seven-thirty in the morning, Violet,” he said, his voice low and gruff. “What’s going on?” His body filled the doorway and as much as she knew he was always up early, it almost looked like she had woken him up.
“Um…I brought breakfast,” she said lamely, holding up the box to him. “I know I should have called…”
“You mean this morning or Saturday night or yesterday…?”
Okay, he wasn’t going to make things easy on her and she knew she deserved it. “Can I come in, please? I’d really like to talk to you.”
“You sure about that?”
She let out a frustrated breath. “I get it, Hunter. I screwed up.” Shoving the box into his hands, she turned and walked away, cursing herself the entire time.
Why had she thought this was a good idea? None of this should be a surprise. Of course he wouldn’t want to see or talk to her. She had run out of here Saturday afternoon and hadn’t talked to him since. It was obvious he was pissed off and she should have just…she should have known better. People don’t like to be messed with and she knew better than to wish for second chances.
Lesson learned.
Pulling open her car door, she screamed when Hunter’s hand slammed against it to stop her. Whipping around, she stared up at him, breathless. “What are you…?”
“You don’t get to just throw a bakery box at me and leave, Violet,” he said with just a hint of weariness.
“I came to apologize, but it’s obvious you’re not in a very forgiving mood, so…”
“I just woke up!” he argued. “I didn’t expect you to just…show up here after ghosting me all weekend!”
“I wasn’t ghosting you…”
The look he gave her told her he didn’t believe her.
Hell, she didn’t even believe herself.
“Okay, fine. I kind of did. But in my defense, you freaked me out on Saturday!” Hell, if he could be mad and vent his frustration, so could she. “You started talking about buying a bigger house and me moving here and…and…we both know I’m a rebound person for you! Why would you ask me to move here when this is just casual?”
“Rebound person?! Is that seriously what you think?”
And right then and there, Violet knew she had completely misread the entire situation and possibly ruined everything.
“Um…”
Arms flexed, Hunter raked both hands through his hair and she had to fight the urge to lean forward and kiss his chest and let her hands roam. It was a completely inappropriate time to even think of something like that, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Dammit, Violet, why would you even think that?”
But before she could answer, he was talking again.
“We talked about this–do you think I would have invited you to spend the night here or…or move in with my son and me if this was just casual?”
“I…I thought you just said it in the heat of the moment and were going to regret it! It didn’t seem possible you would want me like that!”
“Like what? Like I have strong feelings for you? Like I enjoy being with you? Like I’m falling in love with you?”
Gasping, her hands instantly flew over her mouth.
She waited for him to take the words back or to try to clarify how he didn’t mean he was really in love with her, but…he didn’t.
Slowly, she lowered her hands. “You…you don’t mean that. You can’t.” And dammit, she hated the tremor in her voice.
His expression softened as he moved in close. “Yes, I can.” Cupping her face, he rested his forehead against hers. “I’m falling in love with you, Violet.”
Men had told her they loved her before, but never like this–never with such earnest and raw emotion. Reaching up, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. It was slow and sweet and the perfect combination of happiness and lust.
Because…yeah. Seriously, a shirtless Hunter was the stuff of fireman calendars.
When he broke the kiss, his smile was almost blinding. “As much as I’d like to keep kissing you, I’d rather do it in the privacy of my house.”
“I like the sound of that.” Together, they walked hand in hand back to the porch where she spotted her box from Henderson’s Bakery sitting on the ground. “Oh, no! Did you just drop it there?”