Chapter Nine
HUNTER HAD BEEN in a rotten mood all day. It started last night when Jana had ended their FaceTime call without a word. After what they’d done, he’d assumed they’d talk or something. Then he’d texted her this morning, and she hadn’t texted back. Had he pushed her too far? Crossed a line she was too embarrassed to come back from? He hoped not.
Last night he’d realized just how brave Jana really was. Boxing was nothing compared to the trust she’d shown in him, the way she’d completely given herself over to their sexy video call. But what he hadn’t realized until after she’d failed to return his text this morning was that he’d opened himself up to her, too. He’d trusted her and given just as much of himself as she had.
He tried to work out his frustrations through metalwork, but even the pounding, twisting, shaping, and in the end, mangling, just left him even more annoyed. It didn’t help that Clark and Nina were arguing again. They’d had a nice time last night, and when they’d returned this morning it had seemed like they were making amends, but by noon Clark had already taken three calls from Nina, and every one of them had ended in an argument.
What was it about women and arguments?
With one last look around the shop, he grabbed his hoodie from his office and stormed up front.
“Taking off?” Grayson asked as Hunter stalked past the drawing table.
“Yup.”
“Want to grab a beer?” Grayson set down his pen and leaned back, crossing his ankle over his knee. He looked so relaxed it magnified how stressed Hunter felt.
“Not tonight.”
“What’s up?”
Jana’s got me tied in knots. “Nothing I want to talk about.”
Grayson leaned over the table. “Okay, but I’m around if you need an ear. Or a wingman.”
“Thanks.” Hunter blew through the front doors. Clark had already left for the evening to meet Robert for pizza, and he’d been in an equally bad mood by the time he’d left. Hunter wondered if women were worth all this hassle. He had no idea how Jana had gotten under his skin, but he was bound and determined to get her out.
He texted her on the way to his truck. Where are you?
He waited for her to respond, and when she didn’t, he started the engine and drove to her house. The empty driveway made his gut churn. He knew she wasn’t boxing. She usually boxed in the morning. Was she out on a date? Was that why she’d ignored his texts?
Why do I even care?
He paced her front yard for a while, trying to figure out what he could do to forget her, but the harder he tried to push thoughts of her away, the more he wanted to see her. Even if it was only to give her grief for ignoring him.
He called Undercover to see if she was filling in there. Colton answered on the third ring.
“Hey, Colt. It’s Hunter. I, uh…” Now he was checking up on her? What was he thinking? He wasn’t thinking; that was the problem. He grasped for an excuse for the call. “Jana left a sweatshirt at the bonfire the other night. Is she working tonight? I thought I’d drop it off.”
“No, man. She’s teaching at the studio, I think. But you can drop it off here if you want. She picked up tomorrow’s night shift.”
How could he have forgotten to check the dance studio? “Maybe I will. Thanks.” He ended the call and drove over to the dance studio. Jana’s car was in the lot, along with a handful of others. He parked along the road and waited, not wanting to interrupt her class and unwilling to leave without talking to her.
He rested his head back and closed his eyes for a second, replaying the night before in his mind. Jana had looked so sweet lying in the tub, and of course, beyond beautiful. He’d felt his heart wake up as he’d watched her, talked to her, seduced her. He opened his eyes. Maybe that was the trouble. But didn’t women want to be seduced? Certainly she could have ended the call if she hadn’t wanted to go there.
He chewed on that thought until women began filing out the front doors of the studio, and by then guilt had settled into his gut. He didn’t want Jana to feel used, or cheap, or whatever it was that she might be feeling.
Hunter waited until all the cars were gone before stepping from his truck. His heart was beating so hard he couldn’t think. Thankfully, he didn’t need to think to end things with Jana. He simply had to tell her that whatever was going on between them needed to stop, because it was totally messing with his head.
And his traitorous heart, but he’d never admit that.
He crossed the parking lot and pulled open the front doors. The sound of hip-hop music filled his ears. He followed the music across the hardwood floor to the entrance of the studio. If the sight of Jana wearing skintight black booty shorts that barely covered her butt and a sports bra wasn’t enough to stop him cold, the way she was moving her body was.
He’d seen her dance at crowded bars, and he knew that she could move that slinky body of hers. But the way she swayed her hips in one direction while her shoulders moved in the other, accentuating each move with a thrust of her pelvis, made him instantly aroused. She faced the opposite wall, and as the music slowed, she pointed in front of her and moved her arm in a half circle, as if she were performing for an audience. Hunter took a step back, not wanting to be noticed as she strutted across the floor like she owned it. With his artist’s eye, he studied the fluidity of her moves, the sleek lines of her body as she swiveled her hips, seeing more than her sexy movements, but her femininity and in contrast, her power. The delicate way her fingers lifted and stretched, the strong angle of her chin as she used it to emphasize certain moves. She sank to her knees. Her head fell back, eyes closed, and her body began to sway, like the ebb and flow of the ocean. Her long blond hair swept across the floor, and he couldn’t help but think about tangling his hands in her thick mane as their bodies joined together.
The music sped up, snapping him out of his reverie. Jana did some sort of moonwalk, then moved into the type of fast-paced, jerky dancing he’d seen professional dancers do in music videos. She was in total control. Each move was clipped and determined, as if she were sending a silent message to the universe. I am Jana. Hear me roar. The rhythm ended in a loud crash, and she collapsed to the floor in a heap. Hunter’s instincts took over and he ran to her.
“Are you okay?” He searched her eyes, taking stock of her heavy breathing, the sweat glistening from her skin as she blinked up at him, confused.
“Hunter?” Pushing to her feet, she snagged a towel from a table by the door and wiped her face. “What are you doing here?”
“I…” The anger that had driven him there had been replaced by desire, but her response reminded him of why he’d come, making him angry with himself for being turned on, and he snapped, “You didn’t return my texts.”
She wiped the back of her neck and walked toward the lobby. “So?”
“So?” Do I mean that little to you? Is everything I’ve been feeling totally one-sided? He didn’t know if he was hurt or angry.
“I was busy.”
He followed her into a crowded office, annoyed that she could write him off so easily. She pushed between a rack of dance outfits and a stack of mats and leaned across a desk in the center of the room, giving Hunter a great view of her butt.
“What did you need, anyway?” she asked, straining to reach farther.
He should take the hint. Walk away. Chalk it up to his emotions being as messed up as his creativity lately. But as if his body had a mind of its own, his legs carried him forward and his hands went to her hips, dragging her body against him. He felt the demand breaching his lungs and gave in to it all—the emotions, the desires, the unbelievable hold she had over him. “What do I want?”
“Hunter.” Her warning was tentative at best, and it made him smile despite his rattled brain.
His fingers dug harder into her hips as she straightened to her full height.
“Jana.” He loved the way her name felt as it burst from his lips, full of want and need and so much more. Could she hear it, too?
“What do you want?” she whispered.
“I don’t know, Jana. What do you want?” He spun her in his arms. His lips hovered over hers. He could feel her heart beating frantically against his. Did she feel it? Did she know how much of him she already owned?
“I…” She licked her lips, and he pulled her tighter against him, wanting to follow that swipe of her tongue with one of his own. “You came to see me, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.” He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “The trouble is, I can’t remember why I was so angry when I came to see you, because right now there’s not a speck of anything close to anger inside me.”
“No anger,” she whispered.
“Not anymore.” He nipped at her lower lip. “You’re killing me, pretty girl. The way you moved out there. Last night on the phone. Your voice tears at my insides. When you deny me, it cuts like a knife.” He wanted to kiss her so badly he couldn’t take his eyes off of her mouth. “You’ve gotten so far under my skin, you’re a part of me I can’t escape.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she trapped her lower lip between her teeth. Her fingers dug into his waist. He leaned forward and tugged her lip free with his teeth.
“Do you want me, too?” He felt his lips curve up, realizing what he’d asked and how naturally the question had come.
Her eyes flared with heat. She was trying to be strong. He could feel it in her body as she tensed against him, and he knew she wasn’t going to give him the answer he wanted. Her stubbornness was definitely one of the things he liked most about her.
But he wanted—needed—to hear the words from her.
“I’ll give you sunsets. If you tell me the truth. Tell me you want me, Jana.”
“We don’t”—she licked her lips again—“do sunsets.” Her eyes fluttered closed, then opened again.
“Maybe we should.” He could hardly believe what he was suggesting, but he was thinking that everything would be better with Jana by his side. The prolonged anticipation of kissing her, tasting her, was unbearable. “Tell me what I want to hear, pretty girl, and I’ll give you what you want.”
He couldn’t wait another second. Not even long enough to hear her response. He traced her soft lips with his tongue, earning a sexy whimper from her. It was killing him not to strip her bare and make love to her, but he no longer wanted to be her hookup. He didn’t want to share her with anyone, and he had no desire to kiss another woman. He wanted more. With Jana. Only Jana.
Her fingers climbed the muscles on his back, digging into his skin as she sealed her lips over his in a demanding kiss. He lifted her onto the desk, never breaking their connection. He couldn’t resist touching her hip, squeezing her thigh.
“Admit it, pretty girl. You do want me.” He was never going to get her to say it, not if every time they were together he gave her what she wanted, and for some reason, hearing her say it suddenly mattered a heck of a lot.
It took all of his willpower, but he pulled away. The pit of his stomach clenched tight with desire and a sense of loss.
“Hunter—” She reached for him, but he gently grabbed her wrist and shook his head.
“When you’re ready to tell me you want me, you know how to find me.” He lowered her leg from around his hip, and it seemed neither one of them moved for a full minute before he turned to leave.
“Seriously?” she called after him. “You’re leaving?”
He strolled toward the front door feeling like a jerk for leaving her hot and bothered, but he was just as ready, and for the first time in his life, he wanted more than a good roll in the hay, and he wanted that with her. “Yup.”
“Hunter, what on earth…?” She grabbed his arm, and he turned to face her.
He willed himself to act casual, which was torturous when there was nothing casual about what he wanted to have with her.
“We’re not even dating, Hunter. Why do you need to hear anything at all?”
She crossed her arms, and the hurt in her eyes nearly took him to his knees, but he dug deep and remained strong, somehow knowing he needed to, for both their sakes.
“I have no idea,” he said honestly, “but with you, I do.”
As he walked out the door her voice trailed after him. “Then maybe you should figure out this romance stuff first!”
Maybe I just did.