Page 64 of Back in the Saddle

‘And you haven’t been with anyone else?’ Hunter asked.

Her cheeks heated. ‘No. Never.’

He scratched his chin, like he was processing it. ‘If I’d known—’

‘Don’t. Really. Why would you have? I’m a thirty-one-year-old soon-to-be divorcee. How could you know.’

‘Still. Thank you for telling me.’

‘I didn’t want you to think that I panicked because of you. It’s just … when you pulled down the strap of my bra, it suddenly became real. And it scared me. Not that you scare me, quite the opposite. But I just …’ She drew in a shaky breath. ‘I wanted to. Everything we’ve done, I really enjoyed it.’

‘We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,’ he said, and she remembered his words from just before things took off.

It felt like hours ago. Like they had crossed another dimension since then. Or leaped off a cliff. Either analogy seemed appropriate.

‘That’s the thing though. I want to.’ Her cheeks burned, and she could only imagine the violent pink covering them. ‘I think I just need time.’

‘We can go as fast or as slow as you want. You’re in total control, OK? If you ever feel uncomfortable, you can just tell me. Doesn’t matter how far in we are,’ Hunter said with an earnestness that brought tears to her eyes.

She looked into his eyes and saw that he meant it. ‘OK.’

Her heart shed the heavy armour of embarrassed worry, and soared into the uncharted territory of something akin to hopeful excitement.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Hunter

Hunter sleepily walked into the kitchen, pouring himself another cup of black coffee. He hadn’t slept well, thinking about his father, the ranch and Caroline.

His hands curled into fists when he remembered her haunted eyes and the ice in her voice as she confided in him. If he could, he would get on a plane to Glasgow, find her soon-to-be ex-husband, and have words with him. Although that was a very polite way of putting it.

He wanted her like he hadn’t wanted any other woman before. Mitch, who had no idea that she was still married, laughed that it was the chase. The thrill of it, sleeping with her being the prize. It should feel that way. It was disturbing how far from the truth all that was.

Her admission she didn’t want to have children sped up his pulse. It hadn’t felt like the appropriate time to go into further details, or say he felt the same, but she had answered a question that had been on his mind. One he had been too afraid to ask. After all, they kept telling themselves they weren’t dating. They weren’t together.

But aren’t we?

Taking a large sip of coffee, he closed his eyes and massaged his left temple. He looked at his phone: 6.38 a.m. This was about an hour later than he would normally be up and out of the door but, lately, he had been trying to take his father’s advice and delegate more.‘Trust your people, Hunter. They’re the ones doing the work. You need to give them enough freedom to take initiative. They won’t work well if they feel like you’re breathing down their necks.’

He took a deep breath and put the empty cup in the sink with a thump.

Words of wisdom aside, he didn’t know what to do with himself inside his place. Being idle led to overthinking and that was dangerous territory, particularly with the date for his father’s medical tests coming up. He didn’t want to keep track, but he couldn’t help himself. It was like a heavy anchor that he couldn’t shake off, no matter how much he tried.

He checked his phone again. No new messages. Glancing around at the empty, tidy living room and kitchen, he decided there was no point in delaying his departure. He put on a mahogany leather jacket and a baseball hat, grabbed his keys and walked out, closing the door on the emptiness inside.

‘Guess who I saw again today.’

Hunter heard Meg’s cheerful voice as she walked into the office, but he didn’t look up from the laptop screen.

She stood next to him. ‘Don’t you want to know?’ She sounded annoyed at being ignored.

‘Meg, I’m busy. I’m trying to buy this bull. We could really reinvigorate …’ He stopped as she rolled her eyes. Still keeping one eye on the screen so he wouldn’t miss the bids coming in, he tried to feign appropriate interest. ‘Fine, I’ll bite. Who did you see today?’

‘Dr Caroline O’Kelly. She led my bio 101 lab today, again.’

He turned round, startled.

‘Ha! I knew that’d get your attention,’ Meg exclaimed.