Page 16 of Back in the Saddle

The growl of his deep voice vibrated off her lips. She inhaled the sound, not wanting to let it out. It was another momentlike in the bar. When all the reasons why this wasn’t a good idea evaded her sharp mind. She was a senseless fly caught in the sticky trap of desire.

The elevator hissed its sound again.

His lips hovered over her cheek, his warm breath sending toe-curling shivers down her body.

Focus, Caroline. He’s just a good-looking guy. You’re a thirty-one-year-old doctor. You’ve been married. You aren’t even legally single yet. Stop acting like a horny teenager.

‘Excuse me, are you going up or down?’

They jumped away from each other at the sound of a woman’s voice.

Caroline pressed a hand to her chest, willing her heart to stop beating like she was milliseconds away from crossing a finish line of a sprint race.

Shit. The interview with the potential trial candidate. Horrified, she looked at her smart watch. ‘I must go, I have a meeting.’ She swallowed hard, trying not to focus on how warm she felt.

Barely sparing a glance at a woman impatiently tapping her high-heeled foot on the tiled floor, she stepped out into the corridor and turned left, not daring to look back at Hunter.

‘Caroline, wait!’ Hunter stuck his head out of the elevator and called after her.

‘Seriously?’ she heard the woman’s irritated voice. ‘I don’t have all day to wait for you two to figure this out.’

Caroline stopped, heavy breaths flying out of her lips, which were throbbing with the unsatisfied promise of the kiss that didn’t happen. Like they remembered how good the last time was and craved more.

He pushed his fingers through his tousled hair, before he put the hat back on. ‘Will you give me your number? I don’t want to just hope we run into each other again.’

She looked at him. ‘And what will you do with that number?’

‘Give it to me and you’ll find out.’ His expression added the context the words lacked. It promised something she didn’t know if she was ready for.

‘Just give it to him so I can go down and get my car,’ the woman said.

Both Caroline and Hunter looked at her.

‘What? I don’t have time.’

She considered him, thinking quickly. This had ‘bad idea’ written all over it. Even if she ignored the fact she was still technically married, she was only in Oklahoma for one year. Well, less than that now. Was it really a wise decision to get herself into something that might further add to her general confusion with the state of her life just now? She had fallen off the metaphorical horse years ago and hadn’t yet conjured enough strength to push herself back up.

But what if this is exactly what you need to get back into the saddle? What if he walks away, you never see him again and you end up regretting it? He’s just asking you for a phone number. That’s it.

‘Fine. Give me your mobile number. I’ll text you if I want to.’ She took a pen from her jacket’s pocket and scribbled the number he dictated on a piece of paper sticking out from her diary. ‘Got it.’

‘Don’t I get your number too?’ he asked in a casual tone, but she could detect a hint of disappointment.

Caroline smiled. ‘No, you don’t. You’ll have it when I text you.’

Hunter shook his head and tipped his hat in a goodbye.

As the metal door closed, she muttered to herself, ‘IfI text you …’

CHAPTER SEVEN

Caroline

After dinner with Anna and Gian in one of their favourite Thai restaurants, Caroline lay flat on her back on the floor in her room. She put a playlist on her phone and listened in her big green earphones, staring at the ceiling, trying to make a mental to-do list of things she had to get done tomorrow. However, her thoughts kept straying in a direction that made her smile involuntarily. No, ‘smile’ wasn’t the right word to convey what thinking about Hunter did to her. She blushed and grinned to herself like a smitten teenager, swallowing a giggle.

Why did she take his phone number? She knew nothing about him. Nor did he know anything about her. Other than the conversation they’d had at The Rouge Scot, really, which was nothing to go on. She had no idea why he was at the centre today. Maybe he was ill and this whole weird air of confidence and impulsivity that surrounded him was the recklessness of a dying man. Caroline had seen this before. People thinking theyhad nothing more to lose, wanting to live whatever remained of their lives to the fullest. That’d make sense.

She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes.