“So… did you guys finally bump uglies?”
I spit my lemonade clear across the bar and stared blankly at Liberty who was looking down, fixated on a chip in her nail polish.
“Jesus, Liberty! I just told you someone threw a brick through my window last night, and your biggest concern is whether or not Hunter and I did the nasty? Unbelievable. I’m glad you’re so worried about my well-being. Really, I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” I shook my head in disbelief. Seriously, what the hell?
“I’m sorry, Maddie. I didn’t mean for it to come out like I wasn’t concerned about you. You know I love you like a sister, and I’ll always have your back.” She rubbed my back. “But let’s be honest… you guys have been going around sharing flirty glances, touching one another every chance you get, and not to mention there’s a nice, fresh hickey… or five on your neck. So out with it. Did you finally let him stick his P in your V?”
“In my… dear Lord, woman, I’ve corrupted you! What happened to my sweet, innocent Libby Poo?”
Liberty slapped her hand down on the counter in a fit of laughter. “Well, you see Maddie… I got laid! And more than once I might add. I think that cured me of my innocence.”
“Touché,” I snorted, laughing right along with her. “But no, we haven’t bumped uglies. We’ve only kissed… and maybe shared a shower together,” I said under my breath and watched Liberty’s eyes grow wide.
Brett came out through the back door and snuck up behind me, pulling me into a big bear hug and spinning me around. “Hey sis, what’s shaking?”
“Apparently me! Put me down!” I giggled and threw a straw at him as he slipped behind the bar. “I didn’t know you were working today.”
“Yeah, I picked up a few extra shifts. Still haven’t found another job yet, so Bob’s been giving me as many hours as possible. So what’s new with you? Fill me in on the latest developments with Hunter?” He cocked his head to the side where Hunter was seated in a booth on the opposite side of the restaurant, looking over the menu.
“You guys are like two gossiping old biddies. Is my love life really that interesting to you?”
“Ohhh, she used the word love, Brett. That can only mean one thing.” Liberty wiggled her eyebrows, leaning in closer to him.
Brett rested his chin in his hand with his elbow propped up on the bar. “Dare I say, is my sissy in love? Gasp!”
“F*ck off, both of y’all!” I turned away, ignoring their silly antics. My eyes fell on Hunter who appeared to be still studying the menu; except now he had a wry grin on his face that let me know he had heard every word they said. Shit.
I slid back in the booth across from Hunter and gave him a weak smile. “Sorry about that. Liberty has a tendency to run her mouth.” I looked back to find Liberty grinning and wiggling her fingers at us. Has that girl ever heard of subtlety? Apparently not.
“No worries, babe. I was still deciding on what to order.” His tongue dipped out, tracing across his lower lip as he pulled it between his teeth. I closed my eyes, imagining his lips and tongue and teeth exploring every curve and contour of my body…
“You guys ready to order?”
My eyes shot open, and Liberty appeared out of thin air, snapping me out of my daydream. I shut my menu and smiled up at her. “Yeah, I’ll have the mind-your-own-damn-business with a side of keep-your-trap-shut.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. We stopped serving that last week. You must have missed the memo, Maddie. Would you like your usual instead?” Liberty said with a huge, cocky grin on her face, and all I could do was nod in response.
“What about you, Hunter? What’ll you have?”
He looked back and forth between us, his eyebrow raised. “Uh, I’ll just have the fried catfish sandwich. Thanks, Liberty.”
“Sounds good. I’ll have those out for you in a jiffy.” She turned on her heel and skipped back to the kitchen while I shook my head.
“Everything okay between you two?”
“Oh yeah, just peachy.” I rolled my eyes. “She and Brett, along with everyone else, love to stick their noses in my personal life, and they’re all convinced we’re madly in love and going at it like rabbits. I’m beginning to think she’s letting those wedding bells get to her head.”
Soft laughter passed through his lips as he reached across the table and took my hand, gently brushing his thumb over my knuckles. He opened his mouth but quickly snapped it shut when his cell phone rang in his pocket. His forehead creased when he looked down at the number flashing and tapped the screen to answer.
“Hello?” Hunter held his finger up and slid out of the booth to let me know he’d only be a minute.
Brett came over to the table, looking back at Hunter as he stepped outside before returning his attention to me. “Why didn’t you tell me about the shit that went down last night? Jesus, Maddie, I swear you’re going to be the death of me,” he said, keeping his voice low.
“Hey, you think I like being scared shitless in the middle of the night, because someone threw a brick through my window with another message calling me a slut?
“Shit, Liberty didn’t tell me that part…” he trailed off as he ran his hands over his face and through his hair, tugging at it nervously.
“Yeah, well I’m pretty sure it was the same a*shole who trashed my car. Brett… I don’t know what I would have done if Hunter hadn’t been there, but he seems to think it isn’t safe for me to stay in the apartment, and I agree. I’m going to be crashing at his place until this all blows over.”
Brett nodded with his head dipped down. “And if it doesn’t?”
“I haven’t exactly planned that far in advance.”
Hunter stepped back inside just as Liberty was coming out of the kitchen with our food. “Well I’ll let y’all enjoy your lunch. Call me if you need anything, Maddie. I mean that. You know I’ll be there for you in a heartbeat.”
“I know.” I smiled and kissed my brother’s cheek. “Love you, Brett.”
Brett gave Hunter a slight nod and patted him on the back as he passed by.
“What was that all about?”
“He likes you.” I shrugged, grinning at him. “You should be happy. He doesn’t really like any of the guys I hang around with.”
“I guess it’s good to know I don’t have to worry about my girlfriend’s brother coming over in the middle of the night and threatening to chop my balls off.”
I was in the middle of unraveling my napkin, and as soon as the word “girlfriend” left his mouth, my hand slipped and the silverware went crashing to the floor. Girlfriend? Did I miss something?
“Girlfriend? You want me to be your girlfriend?”
“Well, yeah. I figured we were heading in that direction anyway. Is that okay with you? I mean, if you don’t want to put a title on it, that’s fine, but I kinda like the idea of everyone knowing that you’re mine.”
My heart melted, hearing him refer to me as his. Normally that would have my feminist panties in a twist, and I’d be chewing his head off for thinking he could claim me like some kind of commodity, but I wanted to be his. F*ck it, I already was his!
“Wow. I uh… sorry, you kinda caught me off guard there.” I shook my head. “I-I’ve never had a boyfriend before.”
A smile tugged at Hunter’s lips “If it makes you feel better, I haven’t had that many girlfriends, either. It’ll be a learning experience for both us.”
Liberty came over to drop off some more silverware and winked before heading back to the bar, most likely to gossip some more with Brett. Those two, I swear…
I started picking at my fish and chips and remembered the phone call Hunter had received just a few minutes ago; he didn’t look too happy about it either.
“So who was that call from earlier?”
Hunter answered, keeping his head down, “It was Officer Michaels. He was calling back about some evidence they found at the apartment.”
Now, that had my attention.
“And…? Did they find the guy?”
He slowly set his napkin down, and his steely gray eyes bore into me. “No. But they did find a partial fingerprint on some of the glass that was still left in the window. It was enough to run it through the database, but they couldn’t find a match.”
I nodded, disappointed that they weren’t any closer to finding the guy who was responsible for f*cking with my life.
“I’m sorry, babe.”
“It’s all right. I just hope they find him soon.”
“You and me both.” He slid out of the booth and came around the other side, squeezing in next to me. “But you know I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, right? I’d never let anyone hurt you.”
“I know.” I nodded again, and this time the tears were pricking at the back of my eyes. He wrapped his arm around me, and I leaned my head against his shoulder, loving his warm, strong hold on me.
“I’ve got an idea,” Hunter whispered, his hot breath tickling my ear. “Why don’t we sneak away for the weekend? I think we could both use some time away from all of the drama surrounding us here, and I know just the place to set our minds at ease. Plus, I think I owe somebody a real first date.”
I tilted my head back to find that his handsome smile had returned. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
“That’s for me to know, and you, sweet cheeks, to find out.” He dipped down and kissed the tip of my nose.
I sank back against the booth and groaned. “I probably should have warned you that I hate… no, I loathe surprises.”
Hunter’s hands flew up over his heart. “Such little faith… you wound me.”
“Hey, if you found out that your brother was surprising you with a kitten for your fifteenth birthday, and then you went out and bought supplies for said kitten, only to find that he got you a damn baby catfish that ended up dying the next day, you’d probably loathe them too. So if you plan on surprising me, you’ll have your work cut out for you.”
“Note to self: never buy Maddie anything with a pulse,” Hunter chuckled under his breath after I elbowed him in the ribs. “Seriously though, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed with what I have planned.”
“Planned?” I leaned back with my arms crossed over my chest. “You seem pretty confident there, mister. I never even agreed to go.”
“Oh, you’re going.” His voice lowered seductively. “You definitely won’t want to miss out on this little trip, babe. Trust me.”
“When did you find time to plan anything?” I shook my head. “I’ve been with you for the last twenty-four hours.”
“After I got off the phone with Officer Michaels. I checked with him first to make sure we weren’t required to stick around town, and he even encouraged us to get away for a while. So I called and made some reservations…”
I leaned in closer to Hunter’s side, anticipating where we might go.
“You thought I was going to spill the beans there, didn’t you?” He winked, and I huffed in frustration.
“Let’s get this food wrapped up to go so we can get back to my place and pack up the car. Check-in time is around three, and I don’t want you to miss a single second of what I have planned.”
He dragged out the last few words, and my body was tingling from the shiver that ran down my spine as he nuzzled into the curve of my neck. If he kept that up, maybe this “surprise” weekend wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“Sounds good to… Wait, you don’t have a car, Hunter.”
“Of course I do. How do you think I get around when it rains?”
Good point. “Okay, so, how come I’ve never seen your car before?”
The corners of his mouth slowly curled up like a Cheshire car. “Because she gets jealous when I have another woman riding in her. Besides, I like having you pressed up against me on the back of my bike.”
She? “Oh, you’re not one of those guys, are you? So totally obsessed with your car that you have to name it? It’s just a car.”
“Don’t be hating on my baby. She’s fine as hell and purrs like a kitten, but I’ll let you get the full on experience when you meet her.” He boxed up our food and left money on the counter for our bill. “And for your information, her name is Lola.”
Oh my God, I couldn’t believe I was actually going to admit this, but I was jealous of the way he spoke so adoringly of his car. A freakin’ car! Stupid Lola.
Hunter grabbed our food, and I said goodbye to Liberty and my brother, letting them know we’d be gone for the rest of the weekend. Liberty shot me a knowing look that screamed, “Get it, girl!” and Brett narrowed his eyes on Hunter, sending him a silent message… or maybe a warning. I shook my head, laughing. Men. They thought women were hard to read, but they were just as bad. My brother was the worst of them all, and Liberty could attest to that.
We rode back to his apartment, and Hunter pulled up to a row of garages lined up behind the complex. He clicked a button and one of the doors lifted, revealing the sexiest black Stingray Corvette I had ever laid eyes on. Hellooo, Lola!
“This is your car?!” I slowly spun around to face him with my jaw falling to the ground.
“Yup. This is my pride and joy. You like?”
“Uh, I more than like. This is my favorite car! How did you manage to find one, let alone afford one?”
He grinned, proudly beaming his pearly whites at me. “Found her in a junk yard a few miles from here, and she was basically just skin and bones. Got her for a steal, too. I worked on building her from the ground up, used all original parts, and gave her a new paint job. I think she turned out pretty good.”
“I’ll say. Lola is a sexy beast!” I walked over to the car and ran my fingers over the smooth hood.
“Is it bad that I’m getting extremely turned on watching you fondle my car?” Hunter’s hand lowered to adjust the front of his pants, and I giggled.
I carefully slid up on the hood of the car and propped myself up on my elbow, placing my other hand on my hip while I attempted to pose like a pin-up girl. “How about now?”
He groaned, and I smiled appreciatively. “Woman, you are seriously testing my self control, because right about now, I want to spread your legs, slide in between them, and take you on the hood of my car.”
Ohmigod, I think I just came. If Hunter wanted to take this relationship slow, that was not the way to go about doing so, but I was ready and willing to have him f*ck my brains out right here, right now.
He stalked toward me, and my heart began to pitter-patter. My eyes fluttered closed as his hands came down to rest on my knees, and I tried to spread them for him, but he kept them locked together with a vice grip. Slipping his hands behind my knees, he tugged my body down the length of the car until my feet hit the ground. I slowly peeled my eyes back open, and he was right in my face with his delicious breath cascading over my lips. “Not right now, baby,” he whispered, brushing his lips along my jaw and down my neck. “But one day I will have you just like this, with your gorgeous body spread across my car, in nothing but those sexy as f*ck stiletto heels you were wearing the night we met, while I worship every inch of you.”
F*ck. Me. I think I just came again.
“Hunter,” I said breathlessly. “I…”
“You… need to get your suitcase so we can hit the road.” He kissed my lips softly and took my hand, helping me off of the car. Damn, and I thought I was a tease.
Hunter quickly threw some clothes in a duffle bag, and I sat on the end of the bed, patiently waiting and wondering where he could possibly be taking me on such short notice. It was only two in the afternoon, and if he wanted to check in by three, we must not have been going very far. He grabbed my suitcase beside the bed and threw his duffle bag over his shoulder.
“Ready to go, babe?”
“I guess, but I still want to know where you’re taking me.”
Hunter brushed his finger along the side of my cheek with a devilish grin on his face. “You’ll find out soon enough. We should be there in under an hour.”
He tossed our bags behind the seats, and I slid in next to him. “So when do I get to drive Lola?” I looked over at him, batting my eyelashes.
“You want to drive Lola? Are you sure you can handle her?” He revved the engine, causing me to jump in my seat. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“I’m sure I could handle her better than you on any given day,” I retorted with a bit more attitude than I had intended. Looked like my inner bitch might make an appearance after all.
Hunter threw his head back, laughing boisterously. “We’ll see.”
He pulled out of the garage, and a few minutes later, we were flying down the highway. I rolled my window down, letting my hair blow freely in the breeze, and breathed in the salty sweet air. I loved being so close to the ocean, and from the looks of it, Hunter was taking me somewhere along the coast. We passed a “Welcome to South Carolina” sign not long ago, and I had a small hunch where he might be heading.
It was just under an hour later that we pulled up to the Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort. Holy hell, this place was freakin’ gorgeous! I sat there with my mouth gaping wide, leaving Hunter to manage our luggage. He shut his door, came around to the other side of the car, and knelt down beside me with his arms resting on the window ledge. “You planning on getting out of the car anytime soon, or would you rather enjoy the view from here for the remainder of the weekend?” He placed his finger beneath my chin and closed my still fully agape mouth. All I could do was nod, taken aback by the sheer beauty of this place. Hunter opened my door, extending his hand out for me, and I entwined our fingers as we walked to the lobby to check in.
The young woman at the front desk looked up from what she was doing and smiled alluringly at Hunter, but I didn’t miss the extra button she just so happened to undo before he tore his eyes away from me and gave her his full attention. I knew Hunter was an attractive guy, and I’ve seen firsthand what he’s hiding under all of those layers of clothes. My panties were soaked just thinking about it, but the girl was making herself appear a little too desperate with the way she was leaning against the counter and pushing her breasts up, and I was in no mood to have to tear some skanky bitch’s claws out of my man.
“Welcome to the Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort. Do you have a reservation?” she purred at Hunter.
“Yes, it should be under Hunter Bryant.”
“Hmm, yes it appears we have one suite booked for you. Will your friend be checking in separately?”
Oh, no she didn’t. I was about ready to jump over the counter and show her just how friendly I could be.
“No, my girlfriend and I will be checking in together.” He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side. I placed my hand on his chest and smiled up at him, silently thanking him for saving me from beating her ass. And I would have, too.
“All right, here are your keycards. You’ll be staying in room 302. If you need anything at all, feel free to buzz me down at the front desk. I’ll be more than happy to fulfill any of your needs. Enjoy your stay, Mr. Bryant.” Her slender fingers lingered a bit longer than they should have on Hunter’s hand as she slid the keycards across the counter. I flinched next to him and tried to take a step toward her, but he was already pulling me back and spinning me around in the opposite direction. I looked over my shoulder, glaring at her, and the bitch had the nerve to roll her eyes at me.
“Easy there, Little Rambo,” he smirked, tugging me along to the elevators.
“Hey, I could take her.”
“I have no doubt you could. I’ve taught you well.”
“You should’ve let me have a go at her.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“And have you miss out on swimming with the dolphins while your ass spends the night in jail? Yeah, I think I made the right decision holding you back, sweetheart.”
“Dolphins?” My mood instantly lightened as the elevator dinged open on the third floor. Hunter slid the keycard into our door and let me slip past him into the suite. The room was absolutely stunning, with splashes of blue and white filling the massive space. The king size bed was the main focus at the far end of the suite, and I made a beeline for it, jumping on it like a little kid on Christmas morning. Hunter set our bags down on the sofa and flopped down on the bed, causing me to tumble over on top of him and land directly in his lap. His hands flew to my hips, and the heat emanating from his touch seared through my skin as he held me in place.
“Did you happen to pack a swimsuit before we left your apartment last night?” His fingers traced over my ribs one at a time as though he were strumming a sweet melody.
“Y-yes,” I breathed out, leaning into his warm touch. His hands were slowly making their way further up, brushing against the underside of my breasts.
“Two piece?”
“Of course.”
He looked up at me with lust-filled eyes. “I think you should go put it on.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded. “Okay.”
I was about to climb off of his lap, but he buried his hands in my hair and pulled my face closer until I could feel his fiery breath rush over my lips.
“I can’t wait to kiss those beautiful lips.”
“Hmm, why don’t you kiss me now?”
His mouth descended on me like a starved man begging for his last meal. He pulled back, brushing his thumb over my bottom lip, and looked up at me with a wry smile. “Not those lips, babe.”
Oh, sweet baby Jesus, this man was trying to kill me! If there was ever a female version of blue balls, that was exactly what I had right then.
After he released his grip on me, I climbed off of him and made my way over to my suitcase. I knew I had seen my bikini somewhere in the deep abyss of my clothes when I was digging through them earlier, and… Bingo! One black and turquoise string bikini! I slipped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me, and took a deep breath. My heart was racing, and I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why I was so nervous. These scraps of material didn’t leave much to the imagination, but it wasn’t like Hunter had never seen me naked. I quickly stripped down, sliding the bottoms on and tying the strings around my neck and back. I took in another shaky breath and stepped out of the bathroom.
Hunter was lying on his side waiting for me, and his hooded gray eyes gradually grew wider as they trailed up the length of my body. His gaze finally latched onto me, and the corner of his mouth turned up in a mischievous grin that I found oh so sexy.
“C’mere.” He crooked his finger, motioning for me to come closer.
I slowly drifted toward him, only to find myself tripping on the edge of the carpet and losing my footing. Hunter flew off of the bed and caught me in his arms before I face-planted and made a complete fool of myself.
“Almost lost ya there, sweetheart. You okay?”
I loosened my hold on his biceps and ran my hands up the sides of his arms, finally settling on his shoulders. “Yeah. I’m f-fine.”
His fingers traced over the edge of my top, dipping over the swell of my breast. “I really like this.” He leaned his forehead against mine and brought his hands up, brushing them over my cheeks. “Do you even realize how devastatingly beautiful you are?”
I sucked in a breath, and he kissed me slowly, soundly. Thank God he was there to hold me up, because I was quickly drowning in him and I never wanted to come back up for air. I whimpered softy as he broke the kiss and stepped away from me.
“Ready to swim with some dolphins?” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“Wait… you were serious about that?”
“Babe, why would I lie about something as awesome as swimming with freakin’ dolphins? Now let’s get going. Echo and Nikita are waiting for us.” He grabbed a few towels and slung them over his shoulder.
“Echo and Nikita?”
“Yeah, those are their names.”
“Oh my God, that is so cute! Well, what are you standing around for? Let’s go!” I ran to the door, and Hunter was hot on my heels, laughing his ass off at how excited I was. I couldn’t believe we were actually going to swim with dolphins, and the fact that Hunter had set this whole thing up had me swooning even harder for him.
The hotel was set right on the beach, and a few yards down there was a dock that extended into the ocean. Two trainers were ready and waiting for us in their wet suits with a bucket of fish. Hunter held my hand all the way from our suite down to the dock and only released me so that we could put our life jackets on. Once we were all ready and situated in the water, the trainers went over a few instructions regarding the dolphins. They called out to Echo and Nikita, signaling for them to come over, and it was then that I noticed two greyish fins approaching us. The moment I saw them bob their huge, melon heads out of the water, I squealed just as highly pitched as they did.
“Oh my gosh, they are so adorable. Hunter, look. Ahhh, he kissed me!” I looked over at Hunter who was feeding a small fish to Nikita, and the expression on his face said it all; he was just as in heaven as I was.
One of the trainers asked Hunter to place his hand on Nikita’s dorsal fin and when she made a sweeping motion across the water, the dolphin took off with Hunter in tow. When they came back around, Hunter was grinning from ear to ear.
“That was f*cking awesome!” He swam over to me and gave me a quick peck on the lips.
“Oh, I want to try that, too!”
The trainer positioned me in the water and warned me not to freak out. Okay, just for the record, it’s never a good idea to tell someone not to freak out ahead of time, especially after all of the shit I’d had to deal with recently and always being on edge. I bobbed in and out of the water like a buoy, my heart racing and my body tensing. I felt a ripple of water hit my back, and without warning I was flying across the waves. My body was halfway out of the water with Echo pressing against my feet, and I spread my arms out to the side, feeling the wind rush over me. God, it was so exhilarating! We circled back around, and I came to a stop, sinking back down into the water. Hunter swept me up in his arms and spun me around, splashing both the trainers and Nikita and Echo.
I giggled into his neck as he held me tight against his chest. “That was so much fun! I can’t believe you came up with the idea to surprise me with all of this. No one has ever done anything like this for me.”
“Well, the day is still young. I’ve got a lot more planned for you.” He brushed his lips across my forehead.
“Do your plans include me and a huge ass bed?”
“They might.”
Ohmigod, did that mean that he’d changed his mind? With the raging lady boner I’d been rocking all day, I could only hope (fingers crossed)!
“Let’s head upstairs so we can shower and get changed before dinner. I hope you brought your appetite,” he said, winking down at me.
Oh, I brought my appetite all right… and Hunter Bryant was destined to be the main course!