“My sister lives out there.” The woman beamed. “I’ll be sure to tell her to go to your salon.”
Cyn sprayed the woman’s hair, handed her a mirror and turned the chair so she could see the back of her head in the mirrors. “What do you think?”
“Perfect. Now to knock my husband’s socks off.”
Cyn pulled the drape off the woman and she stood in a pretty dark blue dress. “Enjoy your anniversary dinner.”
Hunt made a show of checking the woman out. “You definitely kill in that dress.”
The woman blushed and waved her hand at him. “Oh, you. Thank you.”
“It’s the truth,” Hunt assured her, then watched as Cyn processed her payment and showed her out the door with a smile.
She locked up and turned off the lights at the front of the store, then walked back to him, raking her fingers through his hair and leaning in for a soft kiss. “Are you done working for the day? Or are you on break between shifts?”
He hated to disappoint her. “Unfortunately, I’m on break for the next two hours. I thought I’d catch up with you here and we could have dinner together.”
“I really should go through the paperwork that accumulated over the last few days and get a jump on running payroll. But . . . dinner with you sounds great. Mind if we order something and eat it at my place, though? I really need to stop by there to pickup some things and clean out my refrigerator. I don’t even want to think about what I’ve left in there that’s now rotten.”
“It’s probably not that bad. What do you feel like eating? I can go pick it up and meet you at your place.” He didn’t really want to leave her alone, but they both needed to eat and it sounded like she didn’t have anything at her place they could make quickly before he had to go back to work for yet another double shift.
“Let’s go together. We’ll order pizza and have it delivered.”
“Sounds good to me. You have everything you need for this little one?”
“I brought more than enough formula.” Cyn checked her watch. “She needs to eat in about twenty minutes. So we can get home, order the pizza, and I can have her fed so you and I can spend a little time together.”
“Are you going to stay at your place, or take her back to ours?”
She tilted her head. “You really do think of the house on the ranch as ours?”
“It finally feels complete when you’re there.”
She shifted her weight and stared at him. “Are we crazy for leaping like this?”
“Will we regret the missed opportunities if we hold off doing what I think we both want to do?”
“I do want to be with you, Hunt. All the time. When you’re not with me, I’m thinking about you and anticipating when I’ll get to see you again. But with all the good we’ve shared, we’ve had a lot happen in a short amount of time. We’re still in the thick of things untilRad is found. The last thing I want is for something to happen to you because of me.”
“None of what’s happened is because of you. I don’t know what happened to the friend I used to know. I don’t recognize the abusive, vengeful man he’s become. I never would have thought he’d hurt a woman, let alone kill her. I never thought he’d dump his child with someone who was no more than an acquaintance. I never thought he’d break into people’s homes and hurt them, let alone murder someone. I’d like to believe that somewhere inside him is the guy I used to know and that he’ll turn himself in for the sake of his daughter and his parents, who are frantic and afraid he’ll end up dead.”
“You talked to them today?”
“His father called asking if there was any new information. He and his wife wanted to know if Lana was okay.”
“Did you tell them I filed for custody?”
“Yes. They seemed fine with that and asked if you would be willing to let them see Lana.”
She scoffed. “I don’t blame them for what Rad did.”
“I didn’t think you would, but they fear that you’ll punish them by not letting them see the baby because of Rad.”
“I just want him caught. I want him locked up before he hurts anyone else.”
He saw deep fear in her eyes. “What is it, Cyn?”
“I’m afraid he’ll take or hurt Lana, especially because he knows there’s no way out of this. What if he decides to end it and take her with him?”