Hunt felt his stomach sink to his toes. Was that disappointment he felt? God, he’d been rejected before—not often, but it had happened—but it had never stung like this before. What was it about this slight, quirky woman who pulled unidentified and strange feelings to the surface?
One long kiss and she’d be begging for more...
So would he.
But he didn’t want Adie like that. He wanted her to have no reservations, no second thoughts. He wanted her to be fully, utterly, wholly in the moment with him. Nothing less was acceptable. For that brief time, he wanted all of her and he wouldn’t get it if she had the smallest doubt niggling at the edges of her mind.
Hell.
Adie jumped off the desk and walked over to the sofa. “It’s been a long day and I have a bit of a headache. Do you mind if we get to work?”
Hunt was frustrated. He supposed he was spoiled. He’d never had to work this hard with Griselda, or any other woman. Once a man obtained a certain level of power, things usually came easy. Adie was anything but.
And, admittedly, she did look tired. Hunt could see the fatigue in her eyes, the strain around her mouth. He’d worked through fevers and migraines, and back when he’d been a professional ballplayer, he’d played with a cracked ankle and a concussion. Long story short, he never allowed anything to get in the way of what he needed to do. Maybe Adie was the same. But she obviously needed rest, an early night. If he suggested that she take off, he knew she’d insist on working.
Adie, he was coming to realize, had a helluva work ethic and a mile-wide stubborn streak.
“Look, I’m really beat and I’ve had a horrible day,” Hunt lied. “Can we pick this up in the morning?”
As he knew it would, relief flashed through Adie’s eyes. “Sure. I need to go over the final arrangements for the urban treasure hunt race with you tomorrow so I’ll see you in the morning.”
Hunt remembered that he had an early breakfast meeting and that the rest of his day was equally busy. “Sorry, I’m going to have to miss that. What about tomorrow evening, the same time again?”
Adie shook her head. “I promised Kate I’d go to her folks’ house and be the referee as the Williams family argues about the best way to decorate Christmas cookies.”
A long, hard shudder hit Hunt. Icing cookies plus memories of being with Steve and the Williams family was a combustible cocktail. “And you think that’s a fun way to spend an evening?”
“I’m staying with Kate and it seemed rude not to accept the invitation,” Adie replied. “Are you going?”
“I was invited, but no. You should know that Kate’s clan is nosy and noisy and competitive and loud—”
Adie smiled. “Will there be wine?”
“Lots of wine. And Richard’s eggnog, which is, I have to warn you, strong enough to strip the enamel off your teeth.”
Adie clapped her hands, excited. “I love eggnog!”
It wouldn’t take much for Adie, who didn’t weigh more than a feather, to become intoxicated. Maybe he should go along to keep an eye on her...
“You’re connected to Kate through her brother Steve, right?” Adie asked before Hunt could examine why he was feeling protective over this English girl who would be leaving the States in a couple of weeks.
Hunt nodded. “Yes, Steve and I played ball together. He was my best friend and business partner. He died a while back.”
Hunt remembered attending the Williams clan’s Christmas cookie bakeoff for years before Steve died. It had always been one of the happiest nights of his year. He’d enjoyed listening to the raucous, loving family argue and tease each other. They were the family he’d always dreamed of as a child. Many years had passed since Steve’s death, but Hunter still received an invitation every year. He hadn’t been back. He’d attended other functions with the Williams family, but he always found an excuse to miss the Christmas cookie bakeoff. And most of their other Christmas festivities too.
“I should make an effort to see them since it’s been a while. But I prefer to meet them at restaurants or at neutral venues.”
“Because being around them, in the place where you can visualize Steve, hurts too much?”
Exactly so.
Hunt expected her to dig for more, to put her fingers into the small crack he’d presented and widen the fissure, but Adie surprised him when her only reply was an understanding smile. Good. Because he had no intention of talking to her about Steve, about how gutted he still felt, how much he missed his friend, especially at this time of year.
Adie had dropped into his life, and in a few weeks, she’d drop out. One didn’t talk about best friends and how much one missed them to people who wouldn’t be permanent fixtures in one’s life.
Okay, that meant not talking to anybody about Steve, but that was okay. Hunt wasn’t a heart-to-heart-conversation kind of guy. What was the point of talking, anyway? Steve was gone and talking wouldn’t bring him back, wouldn’t replace what Hunt had lost.
A friend, a brother, a strong connection.