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But that meant more than I wanted to admit.
Because we were being too normal. We were acting like a couple with no need to. We had no one to impress, no one to take our picture. So why were we all over each other? Why were we holding hands? Why was I kissing him in the middle of the sidewalk as if it were the last time? Why had he stopped and bought me a long-stemmed, thornless red rose from a local florist?
“I think they might know what sleep is,” Hunter said, pulling me from my spiraling thoughts and back to the moment.
“What?”
“Horses,” he clarified. “If they didn’t know they were falling asleep, they’d be scared every time they woke up.”
I stopped, my boots skidding against the cement of the sidewalk. I knew it didn’t mean anything, that it was a silly comment I’d brought up earlier simply to change the subject, but somehow, his mentioning it again made my chest ache. It meant he was listening. It meant he cared what I had to say, no matter how ridiculous it was. He hadn’t brushed it off as complete nonsense even though on every level it was.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. None of this was what I expected from him. Not a single part.
“Oh,” I said, feeling a blush coming over me. I feared I was too obvious, and there was no way on earth he couldn’t tell exactly what was going on inside my head. I was fucking falling for him. “Yeah, I guess they would.”
Chapter 19
Hunter
With one towel hanging low on my hips and another in my hands as I dried my hair, I left the billowing hot steam of the bathroom in our penthouse bedroom. Across the space, Lottie slept soundly on the bed, the blankets pulled up and bunched in front of her bare chest. Rays of sunlight reflecting off of the taller building beside us filtered in through the open blinds, covering the skin of her back and her hair, an extra bit of warmth for her nap.
She deserved the nap. I’d lost count of how many times she’d come unraveled because of me, how many times she’d moaned my name, how many times she’d clung to me like she never wanted to let go. When we weren’t fucking, we were talking or sleeping or eating, always close, always wrapped around each other.
I had never experienced anything like this before with any other woman.
There were times I’d come close, times I’d fallen, but never this quickly and this hard. The warmth that bloomed in my chest as I watched her breathing was familiar, but so wholeheartedly different. If this were any other woman, I’d have run the second that spark flew. But two things were holding me in place: the unavoidable agreement we had that would keep us together for at least the next few months, and the terrifying realization that I wasn’t afraid of it this time. With her, it felt good.
That feeling made me want to hold her, keep her close, go above and beyond for her.
Silently, I grabbed the new phone I’d picked up during our outing yesterday from the nightstand, taking care not to rouse her from her nap. She snuggled in deeper, tucking her chin into the bundle of blankets.
I grabbed a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt, and my old, shattered phone and tiptoed to the bedroom door, cracking it open without a sound and slipping through. I knew what I wanted to do, knew what it meant for me.
I swapped over my SIM card and I called in a favor.
————
While I waited for Lottie to wake up, I spent the majority of my afternoon putting out fires.
“I understand you’re worried about the changeover,” I said, trying to keep my hands from balling into fists from the number of times I’d said that exact phrase in the last two hours. “But I can assure you that nothing will be different. Edward Harris will still be around.”
“But he’s retiring.” Chris, a long-time client, wasn’t happy about any of this. We’d been supplying him with horses, feed, crops, and machinery for nearly twenty years to his farm on the outskirts of Colorado, and now, because of the Keelings, he doubted us. We’d never failed him before. “Whoever takes over will inevitably want to change shit and I don’t think I want to be around when you crash and burn because of it.”
“Nothing will be different,” I repeated, trying to drive home the point. I only partway believed it myself. If my brother managed to win over my father, there was a good chance the company would crash and burn. “Either me or my brother, Fred, will be taking over.”
“Edward hasn’t chosen a replacement yet?” Chris boomed, irritation dripping from each word. “Christ. The Keelings were right—you are underprepared.”
“The Keelings are very good at what they do,” I ground out. I flexed the muscles of my hand, pain blooming from the tightness. “This is how they thrive. They convince a company’s clients that the company will fail. They convince them to bring their business to their company instead, and when the former company eventually crumbles from a lack of clients, they swoop in and purchase the business for pennies. Do you honestly believe that sticking with us will be more of a hassle than changing hands twice?”
A moment of silence hung between us as he mulled it over. All I could hear was the whistle of his nose as he exhaled and the scraping of something metal against concrete. “I guess not.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and stood up from the couch, watching as the people below, small as ants, made their way toward their destinations. “We’ll be here every step of the way to reassure you that nothing will change.”
“I’ll give it some thought.”
“Chris,” I groaned, dragging my hand down my face. “Please. You’ve no idea the amount of fires I’m having to put out behind the scenes because of this nonsense. The Keelings are just desperate for your money. I’ll have my father send over some of the outlines for the changeover, alright? That way you can feel a bit more secure knowing we’re handling it.”
The bedroom door creaked open behind me.
