He kissed her quickly, as if relieved she had stopped teasing him. “I love you, too. Pizza it is. Now, get in the cab, woman. I have a lot of time to make up for.” He reached behind her, making her yelp as his surprisingly warm hand brushed her hip, and opened the door.
She slid into the seat, reaching out her hand for him. Hunter grabbed her coat and bag, shoved them into the space between the front seat and theirs, and slammed the door shut, taking her hand and lacing their fingers.
The cabbie was already grinning as he turned to look at them, thumbing his cap back. “Where to?” he asked in a not-at-all-innocent voice. “I thought I heard something about pizza, but…”
Hunter looked at Mal. She brought her finger to her mouth and ran it over her bottom lip softly. “One Mississippi…” she whispered slowly.
Hunter groaned and hauled her into his lap. “Oh, just drive around for a while. We’ll figure it out later.” And then his lips were on hers again, her hands clamped around the back of his head, and his latched around her hips and back.
The cabbie chuckled, pulled away from the curb, and slowly turned up the radio, his head absently moving along to the beat of Barry White as they ventured off into the Chicago night.
And apparently, there were some acceptable excuses for missing brunch the next day.
Epilogue
One year later.
“Hunter! Where did you put the cereal?”
“Baby, I didn’t stock the kitchen. I called ahead.”
“You know how I feel about that!”
“There wasn’t time, love! If you remember, I was with you the entire time you were doing the Farmlands piece for what’s-his-name, and we came here together. When would I have been able to stock the kitchen?”
Mal grumbled under her breath and began opening random cabinets in the kitchen. It wasn’t as though she really expected him to do his own shopping for the house when they hadn’t really planned out the trip extensively. It had been a whim of his to get away, considering things had been so insane with his job and her contracts, and heading back to Lake Lure had seemed like the perfect answer.
“You did tell them to get Froot Loops, right? And not the generic kind?” she called out as she opened another cupboard.
She heard Hunter laugh. “Yes, Mallory, I did. I know better than that.”
“Good,” she grunted, though it really wouldn’t make much difference if she couldn’t actually find the cereal. Then, miraculously, it was there in front of her, though she was positive she’d already looked there.
“Whatever,” she muttered, reaching for a bowl that somehow was in the same place the bowls had always been, despite the food getting changed around. She opened the cereal and poured it in, shaking her head.
“Wait.” Hunter suddenly popped his head into the kitchen and gave her a wry look. “You’re hungry?”
She turned and leaned against the counter, taking a handful of the dry Froot Loops. “Yeah. Why?” she asked as she tossed them in her mouth.
“Why?” Hunter repeated, chuckling and coming farther into the room, sliding his hands into his fitted jeans. “Because you were sick this morning, and on the plane too. You were green the entire way through the airport and most of the drive in.”
Mal tried to raise a brow but didn’t have his skill of moving one at a time. “I don’t travel well.”
He knew better than that, and a sly, too-attractive smile crossed his lips. “Liar. You travel amazingly well, as evidenced by the turbulence we had on the way into London last year. I can count on one hand the number of trips we’ve taken where you have been anything less than perfect.”
She shrugged and moved to the fridge for the milk. “I was queasy last night, you know that. And today, I delivered.”
Hunter blocked the fridge and smiled even more. “And now you’re hungry?”
Mal looked up at him, torn between irritation, amusement, and more than a little attraction. It was the usual conflict of feelings where he was concerned, and she still hadn’t fully adjusted. “Yes,” she told him. “I am.”
He shrugged and folded his arms. “Pay the toll.”
She snorted once. “For the milk? I didn’t know there was one.”
“There’s a toll for everything, babe. Come on.” He gestured with his hand.
Mal rolled her eyes and went up on tiptoe, kissing his cheek.