Chapter Six
IT WASN’T THE words Jana said that sent him into action—although he loved hearing his favorite request coming from her. It was the look in her eyes the moment before she’d said them, a look of trust that stirred something deep inside him. And made him realize, maybe for the first time ever, that the thundering in his chest was coming from his heart. His heart had never come into play with women before, and it took him a moment to process that and finally move past it and regain his momentum.
He loved being with Jana, seeing the desire in her eyes, and knowing it was all for him.
At least tonight.
That thought usually didn’t bother him, but now his gut twisted with it.
As he carried her into the bedroom and made love to her, he bit back the urge to tell her that he hated thinking about her with other guys. That was too weird. Too foreign. Too much. He wanted to love her until she wasn’t able to remember ever being with another man.
He told himself she was with him now, and that should be all that mattered. The here and now. But the lines he’d always drawn in the sand blurred.
They lay together afterward, and he gathered her in his arms. “I’ve got you,” he whispered, his heart making itself known again with fast thumps and a tightening in his chest.
He held her for a long time, brushing her hair from her cheeks, stroking her arms to ease the ache he was sure she felt from holding him too tight. Cradling her against him, he tried to make sense of the unfamiliar emotions washing through him. Gone was the urge to roll away from her and fall asleep, or leave. He wanted to sit right there, holding her until she had her strength back, until he was sure she was okay.
And that rattled him to his core.
“We’re supposed to be at the bonfire,” she said softly against his chest.
Part of him wanted to cling to that excuse, wash up and get out of there, but a bigger part of him wanted to stay right there holding her. Which was exactly why he needed to force himself to move.
“We missed the sunset, but we can still make the bonfire,” he said, reluctantly setting her beside him on the bed in the dark room. She looked sweet with the sexy afterglow pinking up her cheeks and the hazy look of a satiated lover lingering in her eyes. Aw, man. She had that trusting look in her eyes again, too.
With a groan he pushed to his feet. “I’m going to wash up.”
He stalked into the bathroom and took a cold shower. When he came out with a towel wrapped around his waist, he expected to find Jana clothed and moving around, but she was sitting on the edge of the bed looking tired and sweet.
His heart did that notice me thing again.
“Come on, pretty girl.” The tenderness in his voice was new, too. What was she doing to him? “You need to get cleaned up so we can go.” He pulled her upright.
She pressed her hands against his chest, and after smiling sleepily up at him, she rested her cheek against his skin and said, “You shaved.”
His heart beat a little harder.
“And showered. Twice.” He didn’t mean to sound so rough, but she was talking all mushy-voiced with him, and that wasn’t Jana. Jana was snappy and fierce, not sensitive or the kind of girl who noticed things like whether he’d shaved. He liked that she noticed, but he hated the way it made his insides go soft.
He took her by the shoulders and turned her toward the bathroom, then smacked her butt. “Go on. Get in there or I’ll climb in there with you and we’ll never get out of here.”
“Just like a man,” she said with a little more energy as she sauntered toward the bathroom, looking devastatingly tempting. “Promise me sunsets and give me pleasure instead.”
FORTY MINUTES LATER Jana and Hunter pulled up in front of Pete and Jenna’s house. She’d hoped that the ride over would help clear her head, but the rumbling of the motorcycle between her legs only reminded her of Hunter making her feel all sorts of wonderful. When she was showering and dressing, she’d gone through a bevy of emotions, from curiosity—she was dying to know what other tricks Hunter had up his sleeve—to feeling way too many positive emotions toward him. He’d been sweet and careful with her after they’d had sex. He’d never done that before. Usually they either parted ways without a word, or they fell asleep without touching and she snuck out, as she had the other morning.
She liked that softer side of him. She always knew he had a caring side. He was protective of Sky, and he always seemed to be asking after her, or touching base with one of his brothers, but she’d never seen him that way with any other woman. Not that she’d ever seen him with the same woman twice, and that didn’t escape her mind either. They’d been together too many times already, hadn’t they? Too many for both of them.
And then there was the anger that laced her every thought for giving in to her desires. Anger at herself for wilting beneath his heat and anger at him for kissing her in the first place, and for looking so hot that it was impossible for her to deny him. He’d even shaved, not to mention the cologne. She’d hoped the cool night air whisking across her skin on the ride over might quell her reaction to him, but as Hunter helped her from the bike, looking every bit as sinful as he did when he’d first arrived at her door, she felt renewed lust simmering inside her.
He lifted her helmet off her head and ran his finger over her hair. “I like your braid.” He grabbed hold of her thick plait and gave it a little tug. “Should have thought of that earlier.”
“Geez, you’re such a—”
He smirked as he draped an arm over her shoulder. “Come on, pretty girl. Blink away that desire in your eyes, or they’ll know you want me.”
“Ugh! I don’t want you,” she said as they walked past the house and across the dune. She couldn’t even fool herself. How would she fool anyone else? A breeze swept off the bay, and she shivered. He drew her closer, and as big and warm as he was, she tried to push away, because that’s what they did, wasn’t it? They didn’t snuggle. But he held on tight, and heaven help her, she loved it.
“That’s not what you were saying an hour ago. I seem to remember the words more and yes coming out of your mouth several times.”
“Shut up and take your arm off of me. I thought you didn’t want people to see—” She let the sentence hang in the space between them.
“It’s not my eyes they’ll see want in.”
She pried his hand off her shoulder and groaned. “You’re infuriating. You think I don’t see how much you want me in the way you look at me?” She stopped walking toward the group and stalked closer to him. “You think they won’t be able to tell that we’ve just had sex?”
“Not by my eyes.” He shifted his gaze casually to the group at the bottom of the dunes and waved.
“Well. They won’t see it in mine, either.” She stomped down the dunes and tried to force a smile, ignoring his chuckle behind her. She was not going to look at him. Not one single time. Not even a glance.
Their friends were gathered around a roaring fire. She drew in several calming breaths and finally managed a real smile when Sky jumped up and ran to greet her.
“You made it! I thought my brother hijacked you or something!” She embraced Jana, and when Sky walked toward Hunter, Jana made a point of not looking over. She kept her eyes locked on baby Bea, nestled in Pete’s arms, fast asleep.
“Oh my goodness. She’s so precious.” Jana knelt beside him and admired the baby’s tiny pink lips and long eyelashes.
“She’s precious, all right,” Pete said, his gaze shifting over her shoulder.
She assumed he was watching Hunter, but Jana wasn’t about to turn around and check. She felt Hunter approaching. Felt his presence as tangibly as the sand beneath her feet.
Hunter leaned down and took the sleeping baby from Pete’s arms. “Let me hold my beautiful niece.” He smirked at Jana and snuggled his freshly shaven cheek against the baby. Bea had a fluff of dark hair, like Pete and Jenna. The baby sighed as he held her within his heavily muscled arms. Jana had never seen anything sexier than that pigheaded, beautiful man holding the tiny baby. Jealousy tiptoed through her. She kind of wanted to be the baby, all snuggled in safe and warm against Hunter’s chest. His smirk had been replaced with a genuine smile as he lowered his lips to Bea’s forehead.
Her insides went soft at the sight, and she fell a little harder for Hunter.
“Sit down,” Amy said, patting the blanket beside her. Tony, her husband, sat on her other side, with one arm draped over the back of her chair. “We forgot to bring extra chairs, but you and Hunter can use Hannah’s blanket. She’s in the playpen fast asleep.” Amy pointed to two playpens behind Tony. “Summer’s asleep in the blue one.”
“Thanks.” Jana sank down to the blanket, determined not to keep staring at Hunter as he reached one hand into the cooler beside Grayson and somehow managed to grip two bottles, while still holding Bea with one arm.
“So, did you figure out the whole romance thing?” Grayson asked.
Jana’s eyes leaped to Hunter. Romance thing?
The annoyed look in Hunter’s narrowing eyes told her that Grayson had just slipped up.
As if he’d heard Jana’s thoughts, Sawyer asked, “Romance thing?”
Hunter sat down beside Jana, still cradling Bea, and handed one of the drinks to her. When she didn’t take it, he arched a brow and smirked, as if to say, Take it, or they’ll know something’s up.
She reluctantly took the drink, trying not to let her heart swell at the scent of the baby and Hunter mixing together.
“Clark’s having trouble with his wife,” Hunter explained. “I was trying to find ways for him to help their relationship.”
Sure you were.
“Romance will usually do it.” Sky leaned her head on Sawyer’s shoulder. “That’s how Sawyer won me over.”
“I think everything Tony does is romantic.” Amy reached for her husband’s hand.
A wisp of her blond hair blew onto Amy’s cheek, and Tony tucked it behind her ear, then leaned over and kissed her. “What was it that you said last night? Seeing me changing Hannah’s diaper was like watching mommy porn?”
The girls laughed and Caden, Bella’s husband, said, “Bella tells me that listening to me sing to Summer is better than listening to Adam Levine or Luke Bryan.”
“Bella?” Jenna said. “You lie to your man like that?”
“Hey!” Bella leaned in to Caden’s side. “Neither of those guys could look as hot as my hubby does with Summer. They couldn’t hold a candle to him anyway. You’ve never seen my man wearing nothing but his holster and police boots.”
“And she never will,” Pete said as he pulled Jenna onto his lap.
Jana glanced at Hunter, who looked hot as sin no matter what he wore, and even more handsome holding a baby. It had been almost a year since they’d first hooked up, and in the months since Sawyer and Sky came together, she and Hunter had continued hooking up—and arguing like cats and dogs.
Was that why she always snuck away while he was sleeping? To avoid a morning argument? To ensure he knew they’d shared nothing more than a night of fun? She had no idea what the reason was, but she knew it irritated Hunter. Mostly because he claimed that escaping was his modus operandi, and Jana thought that made doing it even sweeter. She loved having the upper hand.
“Tell them the truth, Hunter,” Grayson urged. “He and Clark were looking up how to be romantic.” He laughed, and Jana felt her jaw drop open at his unknowing reveal of Hunter’s truth.
Hunter shrugged and sucked back his drink, like it was no big deal.
Now, as she thought of Hunter searching how to be romantic after she’d thrust the challenge on him, she felt a little bad for always sneaking off.
She shouldn’t keep watching him, but she was unable to look away as the others rattled on about romance and online information. She shouldn’t feel like she wanted to reach out and touch him and tell him that looking up how to be romantic might just be the most romantic thing she’d ever heard in her entire life. But it was, and as her hand touched his arm and the words fell from her lips, she discovered that a moment of silence mingled with a single look could hold a million meanings. Tangled up with surprise and disbelief, she saw gratitude in Hunter’s gaze. Genuine, heartfelt appreciation, and that made her body warm for a whole new reason. She liked that reason a lot. In fact, as a smile spread across her lips, she realized—or maybe accepted—that she liked Hunter a whole lot, too.