Her forehead scrunched and she chuckled. “Not really. This place isn’t my thing,” she said gently.
“You don’t enjoy going out with friends?”
She sent him a look. One that said she knew what he was up to. “I do, just not to places like this.”
“Where would you rather be?”
“Honestly? Probably at home watchingThe Bachelor.”
Hunt let out a deep belly laugh. Could he have found a less compatible woman for himself? “My brother just took off to watch it with his wife.”
She grinned. A genuine grin that transformed her pretty features into beautiful and did something to his chest, causing a pinching sensation. Not to mention the heat his body was suddenly radiating.
Okay, maybe they weren’t so incompatible after all.
“Do you watch it too?” she asked.
“Not at all,” Hunt said. “I’d rather be doing just about anything than watching reality television about romance.”
She stared, seemingly forgetting her desire to not engage. “You should try it. It’s about more than romance. Actually, romance might be secondary to the social experiment of turning the tables and making women the pursuers. It’s highly entertaining.”
“When you describe it like that, it does sound like something I’d enjoy.” He gave her his award-winning smile.
And she shrank back.
Since when did his smile not melt panties from here to the border?
Since never.
Did he have something in his teeth? Nah, even that never stopped a woman from letting down her guard once he gave her the full force of the Cade grin, and he wasn’t ashamed to use it.
She closed her eyes. “Let me stop you right there. I don’t know what you have in mind, but I’m not interested.”
Hunt pressed a palm above his heart. “Ouch. Not even a little?”
She laughed lightly. “Nope.”
“Now that’s harsh,” he said, but he was smiling. She wasn’t really his type either, but she was genuine, and he liked that. Most of the women Hunt spent time with were like Abby’s friend. Beautiful and looking for a fun night. Honesty didn’t factor into it.
“What if I’m the best man you’ll ever meet?” Kind of a lame line, but damn if he wasn’t competitive. And Abby had thrown down the gauntlet by flat-out rejecting him.
She glanced up as though considering. “Well now, you could be. But here’s the problem: I have baggage.”
Hunt rolled his eyes. “Everyone has baggage.”
“I have a dump truck’s worth of baggage.”
He leaned closer. “Now that is a lot. Care to share what this baggage entails? You never know, it might not bother me.” Where the hell had that come from? Clearly, her rejection had thrown him out of his element. He didn’t walk from women who needed more than he could give. He ran.
“Not particularly.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “So you’d never consider spending time with me because of said baggage, but you will watchThe Bachelor, and, in fact, prefer it over socializing. Do I have that right?”
She tapped her index finger to her lips, and Hunt’s gaze snagged on the pillowy softness. Her lips were distracting, and she wasn’t even trying to seduce him. “That about sums up my life. But don’t let it get you down. You’re a good-looking guy.” She scanned his frame. “Tall, with plenty of muscles beneath that button-up shirt, if I’m not mistaken. And you’ve got the chiseled, handsome look. And your eyes—wow. You’ve got beautiful eyes.” She stared for a moment then blinked. “But I’m sure you’ve heard that before.”
“Possibly.” His eyes narrowed. “So if I’m such a fine specimen of manhood, why not take a chance?” Hunt wasn’t sure he wanted a chance with this woman, but there was something about her… She was interesting and different from the women he usually spent time with.
“It’s the baggage,” she said matter-of-factly.
