Weird.
Making my way over to the table, I greet the other officers first, taking their orders with a smile. When I get to Hunter, I try to act casual as I shift my body toward him, letting my hip brush against his side.
“What can I get you, Hunter?” My voice is a little more flirty than usual, but that’s okay, right? We can flirt now, can’t we? I mean, the man had his tongue down my throat last night.
Except Hunter doesn’t react like it’s okay.
No. He actually shiftsawayfrom me and doesn’t even look up when he answers. “Coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Thanks, Kat.”
I stand there frozen, my mouth open for a second or two before snapping myself out of it. “Right. Got it.”
Keep it together. Just keep it together.I chant to myself, blinking away the confusion and hurt that’s building, thanks to how he just responded to me. Dropping the order off, I mumble to one of my coworkers I just need a minute. Then I hustle back to the staff room which is, thankfully, empty.
I close the door and sink down onto one of the chairs. What the actual heck just happened? Did he really just give me the cold shoulder?
The door to the staff room flies open and Hunter drops down to his knees in front of me, his hands coming to the arms of the chair.
“Kitty Kat, I’m so sorry. Fuck. I didn’t know how to act or what to do, and we haven’t told anyone, and I was a total shithead to you, and I’m so sorry.” He drops his head to look at the floor.
When he looks back up, the guilt I see etched on his face destroys me. This vulnerable side he showed briefly last night is making me realize the happy-go-lucky man everyone else sees, that I used to see, might be covering something else up.
“What was that out there?”
He lets out a long sigh, finally taking my hands in his. “That was me being a goddamn coward. It’s just, we never talked about telling people we went out last night, and I guess I figured if we decided this was real for us, I’d talk to Leo and let him know first. Y’know, as my boss and your cousin.”
I debate telling him what Leo said earlier about his suspicions, but this isn’t the time.
Instead, I focus on something Hunter just said. “Is it real for you?” I ask quietly.
His tongue darts out and moistens his lips. Then slowly, he nods.
A small, relieved smile creases my face. “It’s real for me, too. Which means I want to tell people we’re dating. I want to be able to kiss you hello.”
Hunter’s eyes darken and he leans in.
“I want that, too.”
I put my hand against his chest. “But you’re right.”
He jerks back in surprise.
“We do need to talk to my family, so they know to back the heck off and let me live my own life.”
A flash of worry crosses his face, but it’s gone before I can even think enough about it to question him.
When Hunter picks me up the next day for a snowshoe hike, it’s a very different situation.
As soon as I walk out of my front door, he runs up to me, swinging me up into the air and crushing me into his body.
“Hi,” he mumbles, the word muffled given his face is crammed into the collar of my winter coat.
“Hi.” I giggle in return, swatting feebly at his shoulder. “Put me down, please?”
He slowly lowers me to the ground, then cups my face and kisses me deeply. When he finally lets go, we’re both breathing heavily. “That’s how I wanted to say hi to you yesterday.”
“Uh huh,” I say, still a little dazed from the intensity of his kiss. Hunter laughs and pushes me toward his car, slapping my butt gently as we go.
“Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t. How could you possibly handle serving all of Dogwood Cove the food they so desperately want if you’re reduced to a pile of goo from one kiss.” His cocky, teasing tone is so full of light and joy; it’s the exact opposite of the scared, vulnerable man from yesterday. The two sides of him are dizzying and I need to make sense of it, sooner rather than later.