They drove over the one-lane covered bridge on the way out of town.
“That’s where I grew up,” he said, nodding to Hells Peak Road.
“Everyone knows about the Abbotts and their red barn full of kids.”
“You can get away with a lot in life when you grew up in a barn.”
Laughing, she said, “How’d you end up a fashionista when you grew up in a barn?”
“I like nice clothes. Why does everyone have to make a thing of that?”
“Because no other man in town dresses like he just stepped out of the pages of GQ.”
“That’s their problem. Not mine.”
“True, and for the record, I’m not complaining. I think you always look really nice. I thought so long before yesterday, too.”
He smiled at her. “Is that right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Goddamn it.” Hunter swerved to avoid a huge dark object in the middle of the road. “What the hell is Fred doing out at this hour?”
“Doesn’t he do his best work at night?”
“Yeah, just ask Cameron.”
“I thought people in town would hate her for running into Fred,” Megan confessed as they drove around the immovable town moose, tooting at him as they went by. “Instead they fell in love with her.”
“She’s a really nice person. There’s nothing about her not to like.”
“That’s what I hear.”
“You might like her, too, if you give her a chance.”
“I wouldn’t blame her if she never speaks to me again after the way I acted when she first started seeing Will. I’m ashamed of how I behaved with her.”
“It’s in the past now. You apologized. She and Will accepted it, and they’ve moved on. You should, too.”
“Yes, I suppose.”
“Besides, I want you to come to dinner at my parents’ house on Sunday.”
“This Sunday?” Megan asked, her voice squeaking.
“Why not?”
“Um, well, I, ah … Let me get back to you on that.” The thought of going completely public with his big and boisterous family so soon after they started seeing each other made her stomach ache with nerves.
They rode to the grocery store in comfortable silence, which was a revelation in and of itself. In her past dating life, she’d always felt the need to fill the silences with some sort of mindless chatter because she worried about the guy losing interest in her. With Hunter, there seemed to be no risk of that happening.
Relaxing into the soft leather seat, she pretended to look out the window while Hunter drove to the grocery store on the outskirts of town. But really, she took every chance she got to look at him.
“What’re you in the mood for?” he asked while they waited at a red light at the entrance to the parking lot.
Megan was on the verge of a suggestive reply when bright lights filled the windshield as a car came straight for them across the divided highway. Before she could get out the scream that tore from her chest, Hunter floored the accelerator. The SUV shot forward, through the red light and into the intersection, missing a direct hit by the out-of-control car, which landed in a ditch by the side of the road.
Hunter turned into the parking lot and took the first empty space he could find. “What the hell?”
She couldn’t seem to get air to her lungs.
He tuned into her distress, released his seatbelt and came across the center console to her. “Megan, sweetheart, look at me.”
Trying to contain the panic, she forced her gaze to meet his.
“Breathe.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a small shake. “Breathe, Megan.”
She forced air into her lungs, which seemed to relax the stranglehold on her chest. Once she was able to breathe again, she broke down into sobs. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh God, honey, don’t be sorry.” Somehow he managed to fold himself into the small space in front of her and gather her into a tight embrace.
“Scared me.”
“I know.” He ran his hand over her hair. “It’s okay. We’re both fine, and I’m so sorry you were scared.”
Despite his soothing tone, she couldn’t seem to stop crying as the close call kept replaying in her mind. Wanting to think about anything other than what had nearly happened, she burrowed into the curve of his neck and breathed in the sexy, masculine scent she’d become addicted to in the course of one memorable night.
The sound of sirens and the red flash of emergency lights were a reminder of just how close they’d come to potential disaster.
“I’m right here,” he said. “Hold on to me for as long as you need to.”
“I feel so stupid. Nothing actually happened, and I can’t stop crying.”
“Please don’t say that. You have every reason to be upset.” He pulled back from her and wiped the tears from her cheeks and then kissed her softly.
Looking down at him, her tears became laughter when she realized how he’d twisted and contorted his long legs to fit in the small space.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, seeming baffled by her seesawing emotions.
“You’re going to be crippled if you sit like that for much longer.”
“I’m fine. Are you?”
She used her sleeve to wipe the remaining dampness from her face. “I am now. Sorry I overreacted.”
“You didn’t.” He took her by the chin and looked into her eyes. “It scared the hell out of me, too, and I haven’t lost the two people I love best in a car crash.”
“You get it.”
“I got it as it was happening.”
She looked around him to the scene playing out in the intersection. “Do you suppose anyone was hurt?”
“I hope not. They’re in good hands with the paramedics.” He tucked her hair back behind her ears. “Do you want me to take you home?”
She shook her head. “Let’s continue with our plans.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“I might need to be surgically extracted from the car.”
Megan giggled and opened the door, sliding out of the car and then reaching out to help him.
Groaning, Hunter unfolded himself and then jumped around in the parking lot to get the blood flowing to his extremities again. “Note to self: Get a car that allows front-seat snuggling.”
“Thank you,” she said softly.
He put his arm around her, kissed her temple and walked with her into the store, where people were talking about the crash at the intersection.
“Did you hear if anyone was hurt?” Hunter asked the manager, who was watching the action across the parking lot.
“From what someone heard on the police radio, they think the guy in the car that crashed had a stroke or other medical emergency, but he’s alive and talking to them.”
“Wow,” Hunter said.
Megan shuddered as she remembered the close call. “Hope he’ll be okay.”
Hunter kept his arm around her while she pushed the cart through the produce aisle. Despite the recent scare and subsequent meltdown, Megan wanted to purr from the pleasure of his nearness, the heavy weight of his arm on her shoulder, making her feel safe and cherished at the same time.
They decided on salad, chicken he’d cook on the grill and potatoes.
“Do you drink OJ in the morning?” Hunter asked.
“Sometimes.”
“Let’s get some.”
“You’re making a lot of assumptions, Mr. Abbott.”
He raised a brow as he looked down at her. “Am I?”
Her entire body, which was still sore and tender from the night before, tingled with awareness of how this evening would probably end. “No, not really.”
“We need to check out the ice cream aisle, too.”
“A man after my own heart.”
“Yes, he certainly is.”
The comment, while flippantly delivered, made her heart flutter and her body heat with desire. How he managed to do that with only a few words was a mystery to her. They turned the corner to the ice cream aisle and came face-to-face with Mrs. Andersen, one of Butler’s resident busybodies.
“Oh,” she said, obviously delighted to have nearly crashed into them with her cart. “Hello, Hunter. Megan.” She looked from him to her and then to him again. “Hunter and Megan.” She clapped her hands gleefully. “Together. Isn’t this something?”
To his credit, Hunter kept his arm around her, which told Megan he didn’t care in the least that Mrs. Andersen had caught them together or that she’d be back in Butler within the hour to spread the news about them through town with the speed of a drought-fueled wildfire.
“How are you, Mrs. Andersen?” he asked, always polite.
“Just fine, Hunter. And you?”
He squeezed Megan’s shoulder. “More than fine. In fact, I’m fantastic. Never better.”
Way to throw gas on the fire, Megan thought as she subtly nudged his ribs with the elbow that was plastered to his side.
“We’ve got to get going,” Hunter said. “See you soon.”
“Yes, you will,” Mrs. Andersen said. Her round face wore a delighted smile when they moved past her.
“Fine, fantastic, never better,” Megan said in a mimicking tone the minute they were clear of big ears.
“You liked that, huh?”
“The words gas and fire went through my mind when you said that.”
“She does like to spread the good word. That’s for sure.”
“We made her year with this encounter.”
“Good,” he said, “because this ‘encounter’ as you call it has made my year, too. In fact, I think it’s possible it’s made my life.”
“You really like me that much?”
“I adore you.”
Right there, in the middle of the ice cream aisle, with prying eyes all around them, Megan turned to him and kissed him square on the lips without a care in the world as to who might see them. He adored her. What could be better than that?