Hunter decided to take the weekend off and try not to think about work, Mack Finley, or black rose tattoos. For the first time in years he was distracted by a woman he wanted to get to know better, a woman he craved to see again. He left work early on Friday and drove to Lafayette, going to the only place he knew where to start looking for her—the restaurant where they had spent most of the festival together. The only thing he knew for sure was that she worked in the building across the street but had no idea what floor she was on.
The manager who had tried to remove them from the restaurant during the festival recognized Hunter when he walked in and took a seat at the window. Hunter met the manager’s eye, smiled, and inclined his head in greeting. The manager gave him an uncaring look and turned away. It only took a few minutes for the same young waitress to approach his table with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. He could only conclude that if she was that happy to see him, she was hoping for another hundred-dollar tip.
“Hey there!” she said, setting a drink napkin on the table in front of him. “Welcome back. Are you meeting anyone in particular today?”
“I hope so. In the meantime, I’ll have a beer.”
Hunter was trying to be optimistic, but as the hours passed, the odds of finding her weren’t looking good. It was almost seven o’clock on a Friday night; the daylight was beginning to fade, the restaurant was getting crowded, and people had stopped coming out of the building an hour ago.
It was about the time that Hunter decided to give up that the bartender approached him. “The woman you were here with at the festival—a couple people at the table back there know her. Tenth floor.”
Tossing a few bills on the table, Hunter faced the bartender and shook the man’s hand with a glimpse of hope in his eye. “Thanks, man.”
As Hunter crossed the street, his body slightly stiffened, then relaxed in what could only be relief as Chloe slowly stepped out of the building to meet Hunter with a smile. Hunter felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. Tired as she looked, she was beautiful as she stood across from him with a look of surprise and a rush of unanticipated elation on her face. The bags hanging over her shoulder had slipped down her arms and Hunter took them, hefting them over his shoulder, wondering what to do next.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, wary but happy to see him.
He never thought it would be possible for him to be breathless without exerting himself beyond his bodily limits, but there he was trying to catch his breath, stepping closer to her as he spoke. “I knew there was a possibility that we wouldn’t see each other again, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you and I wanted to see you.”
He leaned in and kissed her softly. Even though the kiss was brief, it seemed to last for hours and the taste of her lingered in every nerve of his body.
***
Chloe had never imagined she would find so much contentment and peace with another man. Hunter and Chloe lay tangled together in the sheets of her bed, facing each other, Hunter slowly running his fingers through her hair and she trying desperately to keep her eyes open.
“What are you grinning at?” Her words were slightly slurred with exhaustion.
“I always thought it was the guy who fell asleep right after sex.”
She let out a soft moan and snuggled closer to him. “It’s not my fault. You wore me out.”
Her stomach growled loudly, clearly telling her to tend to something important like feeding it, and her eyes popped open, suddenly awake.
“Was that your stomach?” Hunter asked with a laugh.
“Apparently missing lunch and dinner, combined with post-sex munchies, is catching up with me. I’m sure there’s the possibility that I have something deliciously unhealthy in the kitchen, I just don’t feel like getting up to go get it.” She snuggled closer, holding him tighter. “And, no, you’re not allowed to leave this bed either.”
Hunter kissed the top of her head and let out a deep breath. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Chloe could have said the same thing but decided to keep quiet. She couldn’t let herself get swept away by the emotion of everything because she knew she would be gone in a few days. At the same time, the longer he held her, the more she considered changing her mind about leaving. After Christopher died, she vowed to never fall in love again, so what scared her the most was that she was falling in love with Hunter. And she couldn’t control it. She didn’t know how it happened, and she certainly wasn’t expecting it. They hardly knew each other. Just like when she was sixteen years old, she didn’t believe it could be possible to have happened this fast.
With just one look, with one word, he could try to keep her in Louisiana and she would want to stay. But she couldn’t go to New Orleans or stay in one place for the rest of her life without feeling like she constantly had to look over her shoulder. She also knew that so long as she was living this life, there could be no possibility for a relationship. Just like Alice and Reggie, there would be too many secrets, and she couldn’t do that to Hunter. He was a good man and he deserved better, but she wanted to know if what she was instinctively feeling about him was true. Did he feel the same way about her? Her gut was telling her without a doubt that he did.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “I’m just thinking.”
“Are you sorry that I came to see you?”
She lifted her head and looked at him with glistening eyes. “Absolutely not. In fact, I was invited to New Orleans next weekend for a dinner and have been debating on whether or not to go.”
He smiled up at the ceiling. “Oh yeah?”
Chloe covered a yawn and her belly growled at her again. “It’s a work thing. I don’t want to go to the dinner, but thought if I were able to find you—you know, stalk you outside your office building…”
He laughed and held her tighter as she melted into his body. He grabbed the sheets and fluffed them, letting some air in. She grabbed for the sheets, trying to cover her back.
“Hey!” she playfully exclaimed.
“Jesus, it’s a thousand degrees in here. Aren’t you hot?”
She settled the sheet back where it was and gave him a sly, flirtatious look. “It’s only hot because I’ve got you in my bed.”
Hunter stretched like a cat just waking from a nap. He was right about the bedroom being hot, yet he seemed to be happy and content. Chloe watched him, propped up on an elbow. He suddenly got a very serious look on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“The last few weeks have been a bitch, and I do mean bitch,” he said, rubbing his hands over his face. “The thought of what I have to deal with next week just jumped into my brain.”
“So tell me. If you talk about it, you’ll get it out of your mind.”
She was genuinely concerned about what was bothering him. He rubbed his palms over his face again and put an arm under his head.
“There’s this guy I busted my ass to arrest and now he wants to turn state’s evidence. But here’s the kicker. He won’t give any kind of statement or confession unless I’m in the room with him and his lawyer.”
“Yikes,” she said in a flat tone.
“Yeah. So now I have to go meet with this asshole and his lawyer next week.”
“Why does he want you there?”
“Because, apparently, he thinks I’ll be interested in what he has to say. On top of that, there are other murder cases that I’ve been working on for years. And just when I think I’ll finally find the piece of the puzzle to put them all together, another one falls in my lap and it starts all over again. This sick bastard gets worse with every one, and it’s never the same way twice. I know—I know—there is something I’m missing that’s right in front of my face.”
“It’s like a puzzle piece was left out of the box,” Chloe said.
Hunter threw his arms in the air. “Exactly!”
Chloe lay next to him, giving him the silence he needed before he was ready to speak again. Finally, he let out a frustrated growl and turned to Chloe, kissing her soundly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t even be thinking about work right now.”
She smiled at him. “It’s okay.”
The eruption that came from Chloe’s stomach could have woken the dead two states over. Hunter threw the sheets off, got out of bed, and began searching for his pants.
“That’s it,” he said as he pulled his boxers over his hips. “Let’s go find something deliciously unhealthy to feed you.”
***
After opening and closing every cupboard and the refrigerator, Hunter turned to Chloe and stared at her in disbelief.
“Shall I start calling you Old Mother Hubbard?”
She laughed and gave him a crooked grin as she stood in her living room wrapped in the bed sheet, watching as he investigated the nakedness of her kitchen. “I work a lot, so I don’t cook very often.”
Hunter asked in a teasing tone, “Do you know how to cook?”
She gave him a look of playful indignation. “I can burn water, if that’s what you mean.” He was smiling at her as she pointed to the smoke detector above the front door. “And I’m pretty sure that is the oven timer.”
Hunter burst out laughing, shaking his head at her most probable honesty. Then he said it before he knew it was coming out of his mouth. “Oh my god, I love you.”
Smiles immediately left both their faces as silent tension filled the room.
After a moment, she cocked her head toward him and asked, “What?”
“What?” he parroted.
Hunter saw the fight or flight look in her eye. She was frozen in place as he walked over and stood in front of her, neither one reaching for the other. He didn’t mean to say it, but he did. As he studied her face, the realization hit him—ridiculous and unbelievable as it was after only knowing each other for one night, he absolutely meant what he said and she felt the same way.
He stepped closer to her and she didn’t move. “I love you.”
She took in a shuddering breath, terror in her features. He took one more step closer to her, silently searching her face. “Why are you afraid?”
She pulled the sheet tighter around her like a cocoon and spoke softly. “Because I’m leaving soon, and if I don’t say it, then only one of us would be in pain.”
Hunter took a step closer so they were close enough to feel their breath on each other’s faces. “Chloe, that’s not true and you know it. For the past few weeks I have done nothing but think about you. I woke up this morning and did something I have never done before. I blew off work to come find you. Even if I didn’t find you today, I would have hated myself for not trying. I know you’re leaving after your work is done. I get that, but it’s a choice. You don’t have to leave if you don’t want to, and I don’t think you do. I think you’re letting whatever it is you’re afraid of dictate your decisions. But I’m not going to pressure you. I will take whatever I can get, whether it’s just for tonight or longer. I just want to be with you. I just want to spend time with you. I want to remember you.”
He leaned in and kissed her softly, waiting for her to respond. When she returned the kiss, she told him she loved him without words. He wrapped his arms around her as she placed a hand on each side of his face, the bed sheet slipping down her body and resting on her breasts that were crushed against his body. He could feel the warmth of her tears as they slowly slid down her face and he could taste the salt of them as he kissed her. This was not a kiss that said goodbye; this was a kiss that said the possibility of forever was real as long as he had time, understanding, and patience—which he would happily give if it meant having Chloe for the rest of his life.
Hunter broke the kiss and held her to him, staring deep into her eyes. She’s not just afraid. She is haunted—tormented—by something that won’t let her love. She wants to, but she can’t.
As if perfect timing to break the emotional tension in the room, Chloe’s stomach reminded them that she hadn’t eaten in almost twenty hours. They both gave a nervous laugh.
“We need to get you some food,” he said, “and since you don’t have any food, there must be a twenty-four-hour place around here somewhere.”
Chloe let out a breath, smiling at him. “Thank you for not pressuring me.”
“When the time is right,” he said with a shrug, meaning to cut some of the anxiety out of the room. “I meant what I said. I just want to spend time with you. Come on. Food. I may not be as hungry as you are, but I could stand to eat.”
“Okay, you win.” As she started to walk to the bedroom, she stepped on the sheet and, too late, tried to wrap it around her before it slid down her back. Hunter momentarily froze in place. He was dumbfounded. He felt like he had just been gut punched.
“What the hell is that?” His voice roared throughout the room.
Startled, she turned back to him. “What is what?”
“You have a black rose tattoo.”
In an instant, Chloe’s demeanor went from happy and playful to almost icy, coldly staring him down. “Is it a problem?”
“Is it a problem? Yeah, it’s a problem. It’s a big fucking problem! You are my goddamn missing puzzle piece!”