Gabby stared at her best friend Kate and willed her to show a reaction. Any reaction at all. Something for her to go on. Laugh? Tell her she’s an idiot? Something....

“Would you please stop?” muttered Kate.

“Well, read faster! I want to know what you think!”

Kate scoffed. “You already know what I think. I think you’re crazy.”

“I’m not crazy. I thought about this a lot, Kate. I can’t fully move on until I get closure. I’m not going to get closure until Hunter and I are face-to-face. Since I don’t know how to find him, I need to get his face to me. I don’t see crazy anywhere in that plan.”

Kate tilted her head, and those brown eyes were immediately filled with judgment. “You’re emailing some security company that has nothing but some fake-looking website, and you’re planning to lie to them and ask them to come and save you from a shady organization that wants you dead.”

Gabby was more than ready to refute this. “One, a website can’t be fake. It’s obviously a real webpage.” Even if the only information on the page was an email address and the notification that demand was more than supply and not everyone would get a reply. Which meant that this crazy—er, rational—plan probably wouldn’t work anyway. “Two....” She was at a loss to explain the logic that had made so much sense to her last night as she’d furiously typed up her damsel in distress story to lure Hunter back to town. “Two, Ryan has been all over town with that tramp, and I feel like this is a necessary step.”

“No, Gabby. Online dating is a necessary step. Using deception to get in touch with some long-lost ex-boyfriend is definitely not necessary.”

“He wasn’t my boyfriend,” said Gabby so quickly that she only belatedly realized that it didn’t help her case in any way. Hunter and she had a sordid past, but she’d never touched him. Not once. And that was why she needed closure so badly. Maybe if they’d kissed and it had been horrible, she wouldn’t feel a pit in her stomach whenever she thought of him. Maybe if she knew that he was happily married with a horde of children, she wouldn’t feel the wet blanket of guilt every time she remembered the way he’d looked at her as he’d been carried away in that police car.

She couldn’t move on from her disaster of a marriage and try to figure out where the hell her life was going without getting rid of this baggage first. All of a sudden, Gabby reached forward, grabbed the laptop, and hit the Send button.

Kate’s lips tightened, but she thankfully didn’t say anything.

“It needed to be done,” said Gabby, feeling the need to defend herself from the silence.

“Well, there’s no turning back now. What do you think you’ll say to this mysterious Hunter if he does show up on your doorstep?”

Gabby had imagined Hunter coming back for her thousands, if not millions, of times over the years. And after a long time, she’d finally come to the perfect conclusion. “If hell freezes over and this actually works? I’m going to kiss him the first chance I get.”

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Hunter pulled himself up until his chin just reached over the bar and then made sure his descent down was controlled. Once his arms were straight, he started on another pull-up. Normally this was easy for him, but his chest was aching and the pain shot through his body, causing his muscles to shake at the effort. He barely managed one more pull-up before he let go of the bar and dropped to the ground.

“Did the doctor give you permission to do that?”

Hunter straightened and willed his body to cooperate. “I don’t need somebody to give me permission to work out. I know what I’m capable of.”

Melissa eyed him up and down, an action that reminded him all too much of her brother, Slade. Melissa might only be a buck twenty soaking wet, but she was capable of making most men shake with just a bad look. And if most people knew exactly what Melissa’s brother was capable of, they would understand exactly how afraid they should be of those looks.

“You know what you were capable of,” she said sternly. “You had a bullet rip through you just a few months ago. You remember how close it was to your heart, right?” She held her thumb and pointer finger up with just a millimeter of space between the two so she could visibly demonstrate.

Hunter turned his back to her and bent to pick up his water bottle and towel to wipe down his face. He didn’t need her to remind him how close he’d come to dying. He was well aware of the sliver of luck that had saved his life. The sniper who’d shot through the window had been aiming to kill. He distinctly remembered coming back to consciousness after the intensive surgery to repair the damage. The doctor had stared down at him with a look of shock before shaking his head and saying, “Welcome back, son. I thought for sure you were bound for the angels.”

If Hunter hadn’t been so drugged up, he would’ve laughed at the thought. When someone finally did take him out, he’d be going to the downstairs version of the afterlife. His time working for Sterling would’ve seen to that.

He’d been Sterling’s willing enforcer for years and never thought twice about it until Toni and her boyfriend, Scott Hart, had taken Sterling out of the picture. He was no longer required to work for someone he hated. He was no longer forced into anything.

The freedom would feel great to most men. But not to him. It was easy to write off all his actions when he had excuses. Now every action he made was his own, and he couldn’t shake the idea that he was behind all of this. His decisions, every decision he’d ever made, was his own, and he couldn’t blame Sterling for a damn thing.

He took a deep swig of water and rolled his shoulders. Goddamn introspection. He never had thoughts like this before the shooting. Suddenly Melissa didn’t seem like the worst part of his day, and he turned back to face her. “Did you just come out here to scold me?”

She tilted her head and looked at him with disapproval in her eyes. “Of course not. The agency just got a request.”

He waited for her to continue. There had to be more, because Hart Securities would get inquiries every day and he was never the first to hear about it. Scott and Toni, who ran Hart Securities, got final approval of every job. “Yeah?” he asked.

“I wanted to let you know about this one first since they asked for you by name.”

“What?”

“Some girl in this town in Michigan. Brighton. Have you heard of it?”

Hunter’s blood turned cold. “I know of it.”

Melissa narrowed her eyes and handed him a piece of paper. “Let me know if I should forward it on to Scott. I think it all seems a bit contrived, but since she mentions you, I didn’t want to write it off.”

Hunter forced himself to take his time as he took the printout from Melissa. She was already suspicious enough. He didn’t need to alert her to the true urgency of the situation. “Thanks,” he said carefully.

They both stood still for a moment. If Melissa was waiting for him to read the email in front of her, she’d be waiting a long damn time.... Finally she seemed to get the hint and gave him a quick nod before she walked away. Once she was out of sight, Hunter turned his back to the windows so Melissa wouldn’t see any reaction. The makeshift gym was in the detached garage of the temporary base of operations for Hart Securities, but the oversized windows gave shit for privacy.

He hadn’t exactly had a choice when Hart decided to set up a permanent base for Hart Securities. Hunter had mixed feelings about Hart setting down roots. Until now, every time they had a job, Toni would find a good foreclosure for their group to “borrow” for a few days, weeks, or months. However long a job took.

He liked that system because he could get in and get out without ever catching anyone’s attention. It also helped that the places Toni picked were usually multimillion dollar estates. Who wouldn’t want to stay in a place like that?

Not that he had any right to complain. The new place was worth just over seven figures, with enough bedrooms for any of them to have their own room, or rooms for that matter, and Toni had plenty of space to fill up with her computers.

Hunter strode out of the gym and walked across the pristine green lawn until he reached one of the back entrances to the main house and found Melissa at her little desk. “Where’s Hart?”

She looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “They went out of town this morning. There’s a unit down in Miami that Hart wanted to get some personal time with.”

“Did they say how long they’d be gone for?”

Melissa snorted. “Do they ever? I’m sure it won’t be that long.”

He had his doubts. Lately the couple had been spending more and more time away from this fancy new home base they’d set up. Which made sense, he supposed. He’d known that Hart Securities was composed of more than just his unit. Even though Slade was mostly out of the picture with his new family life, Tristan, Gage, and he could handle most jobs on their own. Slade had been their leader and teacher for years, but lately they’d all found themselves less in need of teaching and more in need of maintenance. Hunter would never be one to claim he knew everything, but he sure as hell knew a lot by now. And all of the other guys he worked with could say the same. The best way for them to learn was to keep doing jobs, and as long as they kept one another on their toes, they would keep one another alive. With or without Slade to guide them.

“Do you want me to give you their current phone numbers? I think they trashed their last set.”

Those two went through cell phones faster than he could believe. “No. I’m going to take a few days off, though. They know how to reach me if they need me.”

Melissa pursed her lips and looked at him questioningly. “Do you happen to be heading to Michigan?”

“That’s a possibility,” he said cagily.

“Well, if you get a chance, bring me back a car.”

He stared at her in confusion for a moment and she continued, “From Motor City? In Detroit? Car? Get it?”

Hunter nodded, only belatedly realizing how clouded his head was. “Yeah, sure. I’ll bring you back a car.”

He started for his room and faintly heard Melissa calling behind him. “That was a joke!”

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Gabby grabbed another long-stem rose out of the packaging and ran her razor-sharp knife over the stem, quickly taking off all the thorns before setting it into a new, pristine vase. She repeated the process on another two dozen or so until the vase was practically bursting with the high-quality, perfect flowers. Then she moved them from the back of the shop and into the glass-faced refrigerators up front. She was just closing the door when she saw the dark reflection of someone behind her. Letting out a yelp of surprise, she slammed the door shut while she jumped around to face the intruder. Only it wasn’t an intruder at all. It was Kate, who had somehow gotten inside without the little bell ringing. Gabby pressed a hand over her rapidly beating heart and stared at her best friend. “When on earth did you get here?”

Kate’s eyes were wide, as though she were as shocked as Gabby. “I just walked in, like, two seconds ago.”

Gabby shook her head and let out a sigh. “Sorry. I’m just really jumpy for some reason.”

“Well, of course you are. You keep on waiting for the stud from your past to show up. I’d be nervous too.”

Gabby rolled her eyes. “I’m not counting on that stud to show up any time soon. It’s only been a day, and I haven’t even gotten a form response back from that security company we emailed.” She shouldn’t be surprised they hadn’t heard anything. Even when she’d been typing the email, she knew the chance of failure was high. Hell, after how she and Hunter had left things, she wouldn’t be surprised if he never wanted to see her face again. She’d been selfish back then and she was being selfish again.

Lying and playing on his sense of responsibility to get him to come back. She couldn’t also lie to herself. Nothing she was doing was for his own good. This was purely her looking for some sense of closure to a horrible part of her past. How could she expect to move on while her past was still holding her back?

“It’s okay,” she said finally, probably talking more to herself than Kate. “Even if he doesn’t show up, at least I can say I tried.” The thought of not getting through to Hunter somehow seemed unacceptable.

Kate approached and put her nose so close to the glass it was almost touching as she studied the flowers out for display. “I can’t believe they still sell carnations. If a guy ever brought me a bouquet of those, I’d kick his ass right to the curb.”

Gabby snorted. “I’d be happy just to have someone to bring me flowers.” She opened the door next to Kate and reached in to grab a simple red carnation. “Now stop hating on the carnation, okay? This baby is one of my favorite flowers.”

Kate raised an eyebrow and took the flower from Gabby while eyeing it suspiciously. “Your favorite? You’re kidding.”

“Well, maybe not my favorite favorite. But it’s so reasonably priced, and these babies last forever. You’re not going to get a rose to keep its color and shape for nearly as long as a carnation. And for the price of one rose, you can get two to five carnations. And if you get enough in a close enough space, they hardly even look like carnations anymore. They’re transformed into something wholly original.”

Kate didn’t seem convinced as she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I get it. That doesn’t mean I want a bouquet of the cheapest flower.”

Gabby let out a little laugh as she set the carnation back into the refrigerator. “So are you on break?” Kate was a receptionist at the real estate office across the street. It wasn’t enough to live on, but Kate lived alone in a house she inherited, so her bills were minimal.

Gabby lived on her own and not only worked at the florist’s, but also picked up side jobs cleaning up after weddings to make her rent and utility bills. But she wasn’t exactly hanging in the wind. She’d been working as the main assistant to Edna Flowers—real name, not made up—since she was eighteen, and Edna had promised that she’d one day pass the shop down to Gabby. When Edna had made that promise, she’d been seventy-five years old and that hadn’t seemed so far away. Now Edna was eighty-three and healthy as a horse. Gabby would never wish ill on anyone, especially someone she loved and respected as much as Edna, but it still put her future plans in question. She didn’t want to be an assistant forever. Hell, at the rate her savings account was dwindling, she couldn’t afford to be an assistant for much longer.

“Yeah,” said Kate, answering Gabby’s earlier question about her break. She glanced at her phone and groaned. “And it looks like it’s time to head back.”

Gabby looked over her shoulder at the oversized clock on the wall. “You’ve only been here a few minutes. Your break can’t be that short, can it?”

“All right, you got me. I wanted to run to the coffee shop and get one of those fancy frozen lattes.”

“You don’t drink coffee,” pointed out Gabby.

“I don’t, but the super-hot Realtor does. I figured I’d let him know that the receptionist has been paying attention to details.” Kate winked.

Gabby smiled. “Good luck with that. And may he never buy you a single carnation.”

Kate smiled before she ran out the door.

As soon as she was alone, Gabby turned around and looked at the empty shop. She’d already removed the older flowers and made some sale bouquets with them, set out new inventory, and arranged a large assortment of premium bouquets. The bulk of the money they made was off arrangements for weddings and, unfortunately, funerals, but she still wanted to be prepared for anyone who came through that door. However, it was Monday, so that meant it would be slow.

It was too early to start working on the weekend’s weddings. So the only traffic today would be a few guys trickling in for apology bouquets for whatever stupid things they did over the weekend and a few older ladies who liked to have fresh flowers showing at all times in their homes. Gabby was lucky enough that she was able to take the older flowers home whenever she wanted, so she was able to constantly surround herself with the flash of bright color and the comforting scents of the flowers.

Ryan had never appreciated the flowers. At the slightest hint of brown, he’d insist the entire bouquet be thrown away. Even though they smelled fresh and clean, he’d insist that all he could smell was rotting flowers.

What a baby.

When Ryan first left her, she’d been shocked that she felt so much resentment toward a man she used to love. But every time he’d done anything to upset her, she’d buried her hurt deep enough so she could continue being the picture-perfect wife. Now that he’d left her, all of that hurt had burst out and poisoned anything good they’d ever had.

And in all honesty, she liked it. She didn’t want to miss the nice moments. She was perfectly happy to let the anger take over as she thought back on their sordid history.

Letting out a deep sigh, she approached the front door and looked up at the bell that hadn’t made any sound as Kate had entered or exited the shop. The bell was necessary because the shop wasn’t usually busy enough to necessitate two people working. So if she was in the back, which she was often, the bell was the only warning she had that someone might need help.

It looked like the little ball that would hit the sides to cause the loud ringing had somehow gotten jammed on one side. Gabby reached up to unjam it, but because it was so high above her, she couldn’t get a good enough grip to free it. She cursed under her breath before she headed to the back to pick up a step stool and screwdriver just in case she needed extra help in freeing the bell. When she came back, she set up the stool and climbed up to the top to work on the bell. Once she had the height to help her, it was easy to get everything back to working order. She smiled in victory at her handiwork. “I don’t need no man to reach things for me,” she said to herself.

“Gabriella,” said a voice behind her.

Under different circumstances, she would’ve handled herself better. If she hadn’t immediately recognized the voice, she probably would’ve maintained her balance. If she had remembered that she had a screwdriver in her hand that could function as a weapon, she probably wouldn’t have jumped in fear. If she hadn’t been on edge all day because of that email she sent, she probably would’ve kept her cool. But instead, a bolt of surprise shot through her and she jumped in fear, which quickly sent her off the stool and falling toward the hard tile floor.

Except she never hit the tile. She fell straight into the hard, strong arms of Hunter Cornell.

Gabby stared in shock. She didn’t know whether she couldn’t think of anything to say or whether she was simply incapable of speech at that moment. Hunter was so... Hunter. He looked so different and exactly the same at the same time. The years had been good to him. His strong cheekbones were somehow even stronger. Every part of him was stronger, actually. He had always been lean and muscled, but now he was muscled. The arms holding her felt huge, and she could see the veins pulsing on the side of his neck. And the way he was looking at her made her feel as if she’d been transported back in time. Before anything had torn them apart. He was just the kid from the wrong side of the tracks and she was the good girl who would give anything for a few minutes alone with him....

Abruptly Hunter set her down and stepped away, looking guiltily at the floor. Gabby bit her lip and tried to pull her mind away from the fantasy and into the real world. She brushed at her apron, even though she knew full well that there was no debris on her at the moment. She just needed something she could do with her hands. Or her legs. Really, she had no idea what to do with any part of her body. Every nerve seemed on hyper alert as she stood just feet away from Hunter. He’d come. She could barely believe it. Not only had he come, but he’d come almost within twenty-four hours. She had expected maybe an email or phone call. Not him just... here.

“Hello,” she said awkwardly.

“You said you needed help,” he said in a rough, growly voice.

Oh Lord, she’d forgotten what he sounded like. She’d kept the high school yearbook, so she’d always been able to form a picture of him in her mind, but she’d had nothing to remind her of how sexy his voice was. Even back when she’d been so young and inexperienced, she’d known exactly how special that voice was.

Help.... Shit. She’d lied to him. Well, she couldn’t come clean now. The second she admitted the truth, he’d go running out that door and never look back. “I, um, hello,” she said simply. “Let’s.... Let’s get out of here.”

He looked over his shoulder and through the large windows that surrounded the shop. “I think it would be best to talk here. You said you were in trouble.”

Of course Hunter would get right to the point. He’d never been one to beat around the bush. In fact, it had been one of her favorite things about him.

She pushed aside all her fear and remembered that she worked retail. Not only retail, but retail in the wedding industry. If anyone could turn on the charm, it was her. She planted on a fake smile and started to take off her apron. “Hunter, please. It’s been years. Let’s at least catch up before we talk business.”

He eyed her suspiciously, and it sent her self-consciousness into a whole new stratosphere. She found herself sucking in her stomach as she moved across the shop to hang up her apron. Her jeans were loose enough so she didn’t show a hint of muffin top, but that also meant they sagged around her legs, her favorite body part. Her shirt was tight enough to show off her size ten midriff. She was self-aware enough to know that she wasn’t fat by any means. But Ryan had made a point of letting her know how much he appreciated toned and fit bodies and always tried to get her a new gym membership every birthday. Somehow he’d been unable to realize this was an asshole move. “I’m getting you the best gift of all! The gift of health!” Asshole.

Even so, she sucked in her stomach a little more as she looked back at Hunter. He didn’t have to suck in a thing. His heather-gray T-shirt was stretched over his tight chest and stomach, probably showing more than it was concealing, and his jeans hugged his legs in a way that had her drooling to see him turn around. She’d love to hear Ryan imply she was fat with Hunter hanging around her....

No. She did not call Hunter here to make Ryan jealous. Sure, that would be a great plus, but it wasn’t the point. “Do you want to get coffee?” she asked. The thought of taking Hunter out for coffee filled her with a mixture of excitement and anxiety, and both for the same reason. Brighton wasn’t exactly a small town, but it was still hard to go anywhere without seeing someone you knew. If she went out with Hunter, word would quickly spread. As much as she wanted to be seen on a date, no matter how casual, with a guy like Hunter, she wasn’t looking forward to the type of questions that would raise. Especially considering Hunter wasn’t likely to hang around long. Not after he found out that she’d lied to get him here in the first place.

“I don’t want to be seen.”

Well, that was an odd answer, but she knew more about his past than most. It would make sense that he wouldn’t want to draw attention. Gabby nodded. “Of course. How about a walk then?” Being alone with him was somehow not an option. He seemed too big. As though he invaded her personal space, no matter how far away he stood. She wasn’t afraid of him, per se. More afraid of his effect on her.

He shifted his weight and she could tell he wasn’t happy about that option either, but he eventually nodded. “All right.”

He picked up a hooded sweatshirt she hadn’t been aware he had and slipped it on, bringing the hood up to mostly obscure his head. He was apparently serious about not being seen.

“My... my father doesn’t have ties here,” she said softly. It was tough to say the words. Admitting in any way what her family had done to him. But any conversation wouldn’t go far if they pretended the incident hadn’t happened.

Hunter didn’t reply, but he didn’t take the sweater off either. She didn’t fight him on it. If he thought keeping his identity concealed would keep him safe, she wasn’t going to take that safety away. She grabbed her purse and set up the Out to Lunch sign on the window before she opened the door for him. After he walked out, she took a deep breath. He was here. She was finally going to get a few minutes alone with Hunter Cornell. She bit her lip as she locked the door.

God help her, this could either be the best day of her life or end in tragedy.