Page 5 of Tempting Hunter

After the long flight to California, he was glad Mark had been adamant about picking him up. Hunter didn’t have the strength to drive home.

“Welcome back,” Mark said as he smoothly pulled away from the curb. He had flown in for the funeral, but only stayed one night because one of them had to be in the office today. “How did it go with the family?”

“It went. I’m glad it’s over. After seeing my Mom and Ava cry, I think I’d do it the same way again.”

“Well, at least you don’t have to go back for a while.”

Hunter scrubbed a hand down his face. “Yeah, I do. In Granddad’s will, he asked me to work with an artist to have a mural painted in the new oncology wing he donated.”

Mark laughed. “I heard artists can be temperamental. You might have your hands full trying to find one.”

“He’s already chosen the artist. Michaela.”

“Oh, damn.”

“Exactly. I already talked to her about it briefly. You can imagine how it went, but I’ll tell you about it later.” Thankfully, due to the late hour, the drive from LAX to his home in Marina Del Rey only took twenty minutes.

“You coming in tomorrow?” Mark asked as he turned into Hunter’s driveway.

“Just for the staff meeting in the afternoon. I may drive by the site in Santa Monica to see how the building is coming along.” Hunter grabbed his bag from the back seat. “I appreciate the ride.”

“No problem. Later.”

He threw up a wave and slowly made his way up the walkway. The long flight had taken a toll on him and all he wanted was his bed. In the past, Hunter would’ve been at the office by seven, conducted several meetings, gone to the various buildings owned by Prescott Holdings, then come back to the office and not leave until well after eight or nine. These days he felt grateful to be able to walk into the office at all. And he only stayed long enough to take care of whatever task was necessary before heading back home.

After taking a quick shower, he checked his messages. Michaela still hadn’t called. He placed it on the charger, but to keep his family from worrying, he decided to send them group text with one word:Home. He’d never thought about contacting them whenever he flew back and forth, but he planned to make an effort to stay in better contact with them. He owed them that much. He replaced the phone and climbed into bed.

Thoughts of Michaela filled Hunter’s mind as he went to sleep and she was still there the next morning. Once he began to regain his strength, he’d wondered what would happen when he saw her again. He had effectively killed any chance of them being together, but he hoped, one day, she’d understand that he had made that difficult choice because of his love for her.

The fatigue kept him in bed for the better part of the morning, but he felt much better by the time he got to the office. He’d never been one to hold a long meeting and his employees appreciated not having to spend more than an hour, tops. Today, he finished in less time. Hunter went back to his office to pick up a file and Mark followed.

Dropping down into one of the chairs across from Hunter’s desk, Mark said, “You were going to tell me what happened with Michaela.”

“You’re as bad as Ava.”

“Hey, I’ve been keeping this a secret from your family for an entire year, man. And with your scary ass brothers, that should at least get me a few details,” he added with a little laugh.

He had to agree about his brothers. They were all different in temperament, but when it came to family, to mess with one meant an automatic ass-whipping. As the Marketing Manager and second in command, Mark had kept the department running when Hunter couldn’t. They’d been friends since freshman year of college and Mark’s keen knowledge of marketing and advertising made it a no-brainer to bring him on after graduation. “I went to Michaela’s place on Sunday to tell her about Granddad’s will. She was about as warm as a blizzard, but I expected that. She said she’d think about it and get back to me. So far, she hasn’t. But she is still pretty angry.” He shared what Michaela had said to him on his way out.

“Did you stay to talk to her about what happened? She’s gotta be wondering why you left the way you did. Hell, I don’t even know, and I’ve asked for over a year.”

“We didn’t discuss it. But we’ll have to at some point.” Just like he told his sister, only one person deserved those answers. And he had yet to figure out a way to explain it to her.

* * *

Friday afternoon, Michaela sat in her office tying up loose ends on several loan documents. Today would be her last day in the office for six weeks and she was looking forward to the time away. After her wedding disaster, she’d thrown herself into the job and had been working non-stop. But she recognized that she had to slow down before she burned out. She had a conference in California for the most of next week, then her vacation would officially begin on Friday. Michaela planned to extend her stay through the weekend to take in some of the sights.

The decision to accept Mr. Prescott’s offer to paint the mural also weighed heavily on her mind. She still hadn’t gotten up the nerve to open the envelope or call Hunter. Hunter. If she could stop thinking about him, her life would be so much better. Her sleep patterns had been messed up all week, she had difficulty concentrating on her painting and her nerves were stretched thin.

Michaela completed the last file, locked her desk and almost skipped out of the bank. She pulled her jacket tighter to ward off the chill. The temperatures had dipped into the upper fifties and she looked forward to the near eighty degree weather forecasted for Southern California next week.

Her phone rang as she drove home and she connected the Bluetooth to answer.

“Hey, girl,” Lana said in response to Michaela’s greeting. “We’re still on for tonight, right?”

“Yes. I’m on the way home now.” Her two friends were bringing dinner over to celebrate the start of her vacation.

“Okay. We’ll see you around seven.”