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But the ding of my phone as I walked down the hallway toward my shared office with Hank made me stop in my tracks. I’d assigned Hunter his own ringtone so I’d know when he was messaging me, and suddenly, I wished I hadn’t. I could of at least assumed it was another one of the many texts I’d received from an unknown number in the last two days telling me that I was making a mistake. Instead, it was the ding of dread, one that I knew the source of without looking.
Dreams were bullshit.
Meet me in Stable 4.
I guess he couldn’t run anymore.
My rain boots squished in the mud for the fifth time that day as I made my way through the field and out to Stable Four. The weather had finally seemed to calm down after two days of thunderous rain, and as the sun peeked its way out from behind a cloud, it only made me feel an inkling better. I was missing the warm sun of Hawaii.
Mud slid from my boots as I kicked them against the side of the stable door. No use tracking in extra for Dana and the others to have to clean up later. But when I made my way inside and found her leaning against a wall, chatting happily with the man who was actively making my life a living hell, I kind of wished I hadn’t done her that decency.
Hunter stood tall with a wicker basket in hand. It clashed horribly with his suit, completely at odds with the corporate version of him that simultaneously made me angry beyond belief and dredged up wicked thoughts of him wearing that damn suit while I wore nothing at all.
Get yourself together.
I cleared my throat to get their attention. Dana grinned as she slipped from the wall and headed toward two saddled horses.
“Nice of you to join us,” Hunter called over his shoulder, lifting his left hand to check the time. “Only took you, what, twenty minutes? Could have sworn the walk from the office was only five.”
“Excuse me for not being a fan of being summoned places,” I mumbled. I stepped around a bucket, nearly toppling it over as I approached him.
Dana looked back from where she stood beside the two horses, a clipboard under her arm. The gaze she leveled in my direction said something to the tune of you’re going to hate this, and her wiggling brows and little smirk made me want to punch a wall. Before I could even ask what it was about, she had slipped out of the stable door as silently as a mouse.
“We need to talk.”
I forced myself to look at Hunter. His face was contorted into harsh lines, a wrinkle between his brows deepening. “You’re the one who’s been MIA for two days,” I snapped. “You could’ve reached out, could’ve shown up in the office, could have come to me instead of dragging me out here?—”
As if some spell broke, his rigid form moved one step in my direction before stealing again. “For once in your goddamn life, Lottie, can you not be stubborn and just listen?”
I blinked up at him. I knew he was capable of being demanding, but that was a lot.
“Sorry,” he grumbled. Placing the weird basket on the ground, he dragged his fingers through his short black hair, taking deep, calming breaths. I didn’t dare say a word. “It’s just, you know, you’ve been a fucking brick wall since Hawaii. And it has to change, Charlotte. I need that to change.”
I pressed my lips together. He wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t an easy person to get along with in general. I thought he’d picked up on that when he’d shown up at the stables back in Oahu.
“You and I need to find some middle ground. Away from the cameras, away from other people. Alone. We need to find a way to get along.”
I nodded. He was right. If this was going to work, we needed to be okay being around one another for more than ten minutes at a time. “Alright but I sense there’s more.”
“We’re going on a picnic.”
I snorted. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m dead serious,” he snapped, those dark green eyes snapping to mine before turning apologetic. “There’s a nice spot about a mile and a half back into the property.”
“Can’t we just stay here?”
“Nope. Did you miss the alone part?”
I watched as he slid the basket into the darker horse’s saddle bag. Suddenly, the saddled horses made clear sense. “We’re riding?”
“Of course we’re riding.”
“I don’t even know these horses,” I said, stepping up toward the light brown quarter horse with a dark mane. A female, fairly calm, only letting out a light sigh as I approached her. But I’d never ridden her before, and I had no idea what her temperament was like with someone on her back.
“That’s Elizabeth. This one’s Darcy. Now you know them.” Hunter put one foot into the stirrup and hoisted himself up effortlessly. The sight of him in a well-fitting suit on a horse was… nope. Don’t go there, Lottie. You don’t need new fantasies.
“Pride and Prejudice? Really?”
