Losing myself to this woman was a bad fucking idea.

I wasn’t the kind of man they expected her to end up with. I wasn’t clean collared and professional. I had baggage in my heart and skeletons in my closet.

Yeah, I knew she deserved to be with a good man; one who led a wholesome, clean life. She would never have that with me. I had too many enemies. But no one would ever come close to loving her like I did. She would be safer with me than anyone else. And I sure as hell could love her better than him.

The moment I saw her, I knew she was going to be trouble.

I should have heeded Noah's warning.

I should have stayed away.

I didn’t.

And now, I was fucking hooked.

She was expecting me to leave.

She was fully prepared to watch me walk away from her.

That man she called her husband had fucked her up so badly, she didn’t believe she deserved to be loved.

Eight years of abandonment had fucked her up so badly, she was settling, living in a life she thought she deserved.

She deserved better.

More.

And I planned to give that to her.

I knew I must be fucked in the head, because instead of being angry at her cruel jabs and low blows, I was fucking thrilled to see her finally come to life.

She was erupting like a volcano, right here in her father's office, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

It was about damn time.

* * *

Hope

Hunter leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk, and stared at me.

I sat back in my chair and just stared right back at him.

Why wasn’t he leaving?

Why wouldn’t he go?

"Someone like me?" he finally said, smirking.

"A criminal," I accused.

"I sure am," he shot back with a grin. "I've killed before and, chances are, I'll do it again."

Gah! He was so frustrating. He pissed me off so much I wasn’t sure I could look at him again without losing the battle with good and scratching his eyes out.

Immediately, I slapped a censor sticker on that thought and scolded myself. I didn’t think like this. I wasn’t that kind of girl. That kind of wild and crazy was all Teagan. I was the mature, composed friend.

What was he doing to me?

What was he making me become?

"Don’t you see how wrong that is?" I hissed.

The smile that spread across his face only fed the fury inside of me and I couldn’t stop myself from hissing, "You burnt down a house with an innocent woman inside."

Hunter nodded, not even trying to deny it. "I sure did, sweetheart, and you gave me an alibi."

He shifted in his seat again, but made no move to get up and leave.

Quite the contrary; he looked like he was getting comfortable.

That aggravated me to levels I'd never known before.

"And another thing," I snapped. "My father didn’t want me to know about David, but you told me!" I spat the words like I was listing a crime he'd committed.

I had no idea where this sudden aggression had come from, but I couldn’t seem to reign it back in. I was being reckless with my words, desperate to provoke a reaction from him.

Again, I had no clue why. But he was and, right now, he was the target for my pain.

He stayed.

He always freaking stayed.

Regardless of how indecisive and irrational I was being.

He didn’t leave me.

He didn’t walk away.

He stayed.

I hated that!

"You knew it would upset me to know and you still went ahead and laid it out there. Why'd you do that?" I demanded. "Jordan would never do that. He would never tell me something he knew would upset me."

I was baiting him by bringing up Jordan.

Why, I had no clue.

But I was definitely baiting him.

"Of course, he wouldn’t," Hunter shot back, jaw clenching. "Because he prefers to leave you in the dark and lie." He sniffed before adding, "Real fucking stellar guy, he is!"

"He's a good person," I snarled. "And all he's ever done is try to protect me, which is more than can be said for you, friend!"

"So, because I give you full disclosure I don’t have your back?" he asked. "I’m a piece of shit for that?" He ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. "I'm not going to lie to you to protect your feelings, because it's bullshit! You're not a child, HC. You're a grown ass woman and deserve to be treated like one," he hissed gruffly, not giving me a chance to respond. "When you are with me, you are my fucking equal. There has never been any bullshit gender politics between us. You've never been one of those flailing women who want to be treated like a wallflower and shielded from the world because you possess a pussy, so don’t start pretending to be one now."

When I didn’t respond, he threw his head back and laughed humorlessly.

"I don’t know, Hope. I really fucking don’t." With that, he stood up and turned towards the door.

"Finally," I choked out, ignoring the pain in my chest as I watched him walk away from me. "You're taking the hint and leaving."

My words caused Hunter to halt mid-step. "You want someone to spar with, HC? Someone to take your pain out on?"

Swinging around, he walked right back to the desk and leaned over it.

"Fine. Give me your worst, sweetheart. Let it all out. Blame everything that fucking asshole's done to you on me. Because unlike your fantastic fucking husband, I won't walk away from you when you need me. I'm a horrible, selfish bastard like that."

"Just get out!" My heart was racing so hard in my chest right now, I feared it might burst. He was towering over me, closing in on my personal space, making me feel tiny in comparison to his huge frame, and I didn’t like it. "Leave!"

"Not a chance," he shot back tauntingly.

"Hunter, go away!"

"No."

Fury coursed through my veins, igniting much deeper and complex feelings that he was bringing to life inside of me.

Without giving a second thought to the repercussions of my actions, I swung my hand back and whacked his cheek. "Go away, dammit!"

"You call that a slap?" Hunter laughed, not even flinching. Lowering his face to mine, he taunted, "Come on, daddy's girl, you can do better than that!"

Losing all common sense, I stood up, reached across the desk and grabbed a fistful of his hair. Sinking my nails into his scalp, I dragged his face roughly to mine.

"You're an asshole," I hissed.

And then I kissed him.

The moment my lips crushed against his, I knew I was making a terrible mistake, but every ounce of common sense I possessed evaporated into thin air, replaced with a jolt of scorching heat in my core.

And when he kissed me back, and I felt his tongue touch mine, a ripple of pure, unadulterated pleasure shot through my body, causing me to moan into his mouth.

One of his hands was knotted in my hair, the other on the curve of my neck as he kissed me back with violent passion.

With his lips still on mine, and his tongue in my mouth, Hunter reached over the desk and dragged me towards him.

I went willingly; scrambling over the mountain of paperwork and other important documents on my father's desk in my rush to get to him.

To get to where my body so desperately wanted to be.

The flame I hadn't realized I had been holding for him had ignited like a fire ball in my chest.

His hands came around my middle, tugging me closer. Unable to stop myself or talk myself down from the ledge I was inching towards, I knelt on the edge of the desk, shuddering at the wonderful feeling of having his hard, muscular chest pressed against mine.

It was only when a loud sound came from somewhere nearby that I realized what the hell I had done.

"Mr. Carter," Mrs. Brimble, my father's elderly secretary, called out from the other side of his thankfully closed office door. "Marcus is here for the quarterly report. Shall I send him up?"

"Fuck," I gasped, wrenching my mouth away from Hunter's.

"Don’t answer her," Hunter groaned, moving to kiss me again.

Balking, I jerked my head to one side, avoiding his lips. "I can't…" I shook my head in horror. "I'm so sorry for doing that."

Hunter stared at me like I'd lost my mind. "What?"

"I…" My voice trailed off and I looked at his swollen, thoroughly kissed lips before whimpering in shame. "I shouldn’t have kissed you."

Hunter glared at me. "Are you serious right now?"

I nodded in disgust.

"Mr. Carter?" Mrs. Brimble called out again with another impressive knock for an old lady. "He's waiting in the lobby. Shall I send him up?"

"Dad's not here right now, Mrs. Brimble," I croaked out, eyes locked on Hunter. "He went out for uh…for, um, lunch."

Every inch of my body trembled as I unattached myself from Hunter and scrambled off the desk.

"Hope, wait," Hunter growled. "Talk to me about this."

I couldn’t.

Not right now at least.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Shoving past him, I ran to the door and threw it open.

"You should call him on his cell," I muttered to my father's secretary before darting past her.