Page 16 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove (Jonathon Island #5)

They returned to the line of scrimmage, Hunter crouching low beside his dad, who said, “Let’s show them how it’s done, son.”

The play began. Daisy came charging.

Hunter grinned, grounding himself to dodge. Waited for her to get closer and then?—

He slipped.

His boots slid against the grass as he and Daisy collided.

Daisy’s arms wrapped around his waist as they tumbled to the ground. His arms enveloped her, his palm pressing her closer as they rolled through the grass and landed with a soft thud, Daisy half on top of him, their faces mere inches apart.

Daisy stared down at him, her eyes wide with shock, and for a moment, everything else faded away.

All he could see was her. The pink tint to her cheeks, her breath in the cold fall air, every fleck of gold in her blue eyes…

or were they green? His heart hammered in his chest, and he found himself unable to look away.

“Kiss her!” Jude’s voice shattered the moment, loud and teasing.

Hunter shot his brother a scowl as Daisy stiffened in his arms.

He quickly loosened his grip, sliding out from under her.

From the corner of his eye, he saw his dad elbow Jude sharply.

“What?” he protested.

Hunter sat up, brushing the grass from his shirt, avoiding Daisy’s gaze as he helped her to her feet. Her fingers were soft against his palm, and he quickly stepped back, putting a healthy dose of air between them. What on earth had happened to his brain during all that?

He reached to pull a twig from her hair and stopped himself. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said with a shaky laugh.

“Let’s take a time-out,” his dad cut in. “I’m gonna grab us some drinks.”

Thank goodness.

“I’ll give you a hand,” Hunter called out, leaving Daisy with his brothers as he caught up at the door.

The kitchen was warm in comparison to the brisk fall afternoon. Hunter’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim lighting from the window, and he found his dad pulling a variety of drinks from the fridge.

“Jude’s going to get himself in trouble someday if he doesn’t watch what he says.”

His dad chuckled over his shoulder. “Something tells me Daisy can take as much as she doles out.”

Hunter felt a wry smile slide across his face. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

His dad straightened, setting a handful of glasses on the counter. “She’s amazing, Hunt. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks,” Hunter said, running a hand over the back of his neck as a mix of pride and guilt washed over him. “She is pretty great.” He took a deep breath. It was now or never. “Listen, about the house…”

His dad raised an arched brow and leaned a hip against the counter, his eyes seeming to see right through Hunter. “You want the house…now that you’re engaged .”

His gaze held a look that made Hunter wonder if he knew more than he was letting on. A look that said, ‘I know you better than you think.’ Hunter’s heart leaped into his throat.

“The house is yours,” he said, a smile breaking out across his face as he slapped a hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “Just so long as you two end up married.”

And there it was. The unspoken meaning behind that look. If the engagement fell through, so did the house. Hunter’s chest grew tight.

His dad tightened his grip on his shoulder. “At the end of the day, I just want you to be happy, son. And if you think this is God’s path for you, then that’s good enough for me.”

That guilt that had washed over him earlier came coursing back, a torrent that sent heat up his throat.

Hunter nodded, swallowing hard.

“All right,” his dad said, smacking his shoulder one more time for good measure, driving his point home. “Halftime’s over. Let’s get back to the game.”

The evening sun was well below the horizon when they left the house. The stars winking down at them as they stepped onto the back of the ferry, headed home, the water churning white in their wake.

Daisy leaned against the railing, the wind catching in her honey-brown hair, and Hunter resisted the familiar urge to reach out and catch it in his hands.

She had been amazing today. She had laughed at every one of his dad’s bad jokes, chimed in with Waylen’s heckling of the refs.

She’d smiled up at him, curling into his shoulder like a woman in love, and Hunter was almost sorry he’d be going back to work tomorrow with no excuse to keep up the charade.

Daisy reached up to tuck her windswept hair behind her ear.

“I really didn’t steal your designs,” she said quietly, catching him off guard.

“Hmm?” he replied, frowning.

She turned her gaze to meet his, her eyes starry and deep. “In Chicago. I had no idea.”

Hunter pulled back, throwing the walls back up that he’d let fall throughout the day. He turned his gaze back to the water, unable to look at her anymore. “I don’t want do this right now, Daisy.”

“Really, Hunter,” she said, her eyes searing through him, her presence suddenly too close.

He wanted to run. He eyed the deep water, wondering how long it would take him to swim to shore.

“When Logan showed me the design, told me he’d had a burst of inspiration after our brainstorming session, my head wasn’t…

I wasn’t all there.” She paused, collecting her words.

“I was too busy thinking about us…About our kiss.”

Hunter’s gaze snapped to hers, unable to stop himself.

“If I’d been paying just an ounce of attention…I would have seen that it was far too elaborate and innovative of a design to have been thought up in a few hours’ time.” Her lips pressed together, her eyes imploring. “But I see it now. And I’m sorry.”

A flash of guilt crossed her face, and Hunter felt a piece of his resolve crumble away. He wanted to believe her. To believe that she was the kind of woman he could trust.

But he wasn’t in the business of letting people in just so they could hurt him. Not anymore.

Hunter let out a heavy sigh and turned back to the churning waters, dragging a hand through his hair. “It’s fine, Daisy. Just forget about it.”

“But—”

“When do you want to start working on the house?” he asked, changing the conversation. She’d kept up her part of the bargain so far, no sense in delaying his end.

Daisy hesitated, her gaze boring into him again. “I’d like to get going as soon as we can. What’s tomorrow look like?”

He turned his head, flattening her with a look. “It looks like a Monday.”

“Right. You’ve got work,” she mused, biting the corner of her lip. “Any chance you want to work evenings?”

Hunter straightened as the island came into view. “Might as well get it over with.”

Daisy smiled, though its usual brightness didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Great. I’ll get started on plans tonight.”

“And I’ll start digging into the trust.” See if he could find them a way out before they actually wound up married.