She still wouldn’t give him the time of day.
He’d be happy if she ever simply smiled at him.
But why would she? She didn’t like him one bit.
“I think there’s a spark there,” Mrs. Phelps said, breaking into his thoughts. “You may not see it, but it’s there.”
“Everything I know about her says she’s looking for a good time and nothing else.”
“Are you sure about that? Maybe she just hasn’t found the one who makes her want more. Everyone wants to be loved.”
He thought of how happy Chase and Shelby were together with their little girl. Rehab, therapy and the right medication had saved his brother’s life, but love had made him want to live and he was happier than Hunt had ever seen him.
Hunt felt as if his life had shrunk to endless days and a lot of nights filled with work and little else. He was tired and restless and wanting more.
He opened his car door and looked back at Mrs. Phelps. “Let’s get you checked out and back home.”
“All right. But just one more thing. If somethingdoes come of that spark, don’t try to tame her. Leave her wild, like she is. She’ll make your life interesting and keep you on your toes. A man like you, steeped in responsibility, needs to cut loose once in a while. She’ll help you do that and be happy about it. She’ll remind you how to have fun.”
Hunt couldn’t remember the last time he’d had fun.
Cyn would probably laugh in his face if he asked her out on a date.
Chapter Four
Cyn pulled into the driveway where her sister lived with Rad and immediately spotted his truck. “Damn my luck.” She didn’t want to get into anything with him. She just wanted to check on her sister and beg her one more time to leave the scumbag and come home with her.
It hadn’t worked the first time Rad hit her, or the last time. Cyn didn’t expect it to work today. But she’d keep trying and hoping that one day soon her sister chose a better life.
Which reminded her of her phone call with Mrs. Phelps this morning. She’d checked on her the last three days after her harrowing incident with the intruder in her home. She’d spent all those calls recounting how kind and wonderful Hunt had been to her.
Cyn had no reason to disagree that he’d been very helpful. It was his job, after all.
Still, she did give him credit for going the extra mile, not calling an ambulance that would have cost Mrs. Phelps an arm and a leg and probably her other foot to pay. He took Mrs. Phelps to the hospital himself. He’d stayed with her the whole time, and when the doctors gave her the all clear to return home, he drove her back.Before he’d left, he’d checked all her doors and windows to be sure they were securely locked. And he’d even given her his cell number, just in case she got spooked or something happened.
Cyn wasn’t immune to the man. His good deeds melted her heart.
She’d laughed out loud when Mrs. Phelps said, “You should climb that tall drink of water and guzzle him down.”
It still made her smile.
But she’d told Mrs. Phelps, “The last thing I need in my life right now is a guy who thinks everything I do is scandalous, or at the very least too uncivilized for him.”
“That man could use a reckless escape once in a while.”
And that was the thing. She was tired of being someone’s wild night.
She wanted to be someone’s safe place.
Yes, she wanted passion and wild abandon, but she also wanted comfort and safety and someone to talk to and be with in quiet moments of togetherness. She wanted someone to binge-watch TV with and share a meal where they talked about their day. Someone she could tell all her hopes and dreams and who stood by her side while she made them a reality. Someone to tell her secrets to and know that he’d keep them for her.
Hunt was not that man.
Even if she had seen a different side of him.
He was her best friend’s soon-to-be brother-in-law. There were rules against that. Right?
Didn’t matter.