Chapter 1
Michaela underestimated how much seeing Hunter would affect her. Twenty-four hours later, she still couldn’t get him out of her mind and as a result, had been awake since five on a Sunday morning, instead of sleeping in. Restless, she’d spent the past four hours trying to do everything she knew to relax. Nothing worked. Not the stress-relieving candles she’d lit throughout her home, nor her playlist of string compositions by Black Violin. So many emotions swirled in her belly—anger, confusion, curiosity, and somewhere buried in a deep, dark corner…love. It was the last emotion that infuriated her. How could she still feel anything nearlovefor a man who claimed to love her, but walked away without a backward glance? She’d tried not to imagine him in the arms of another woman, but she couldn’t shake the notion. The embarrassment of that day rose up all over again, but she shoved it aside. As she’d told herself yesterday, Hunter Prescott wasn’t worth one more second of her time or her heart.
She rolled her head toward the clock sitting on her nightstand.I’ve been lying here for almost five hours.Flipping the covers back, Michaela got up, dressed and headed to the area of her condo she’d set up as an art studio. Painting had always been her escape, the calming place where nothing existed outside of her and the canvas. She desperately needed that space today. She’d begun work on a sunset view of the lake on Rosewood Estates after visiting a week ago. Michaela closed her eyes and visualized the colors, the sounds, the feelings.He stood behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist and his lips trailing the fleetest of kisses along her neck and bare shoulder. She shivered.
Michaela’s eyes snapped open.Ugh! Why am I thinking about this man again?Somehow, her mind dredged up a memory of one of the many times she and Hunter had spent there. Obviously, seeing him had triggered something within her subconscious and she wanted, no needed, it to stop. Trying again, she inhaled deeply, let the scent of chamomile and lavender fill her nostrils and put her brush to the canvas.
She startled when her doorbell rang.Probably Lana or Melanie, or both.Michaela had purposely not answered their calls last night, knowing her friends wanted the answers to questions to which she had none. Sighing, she wiped her hands on a towel and went to answer the door.
“You know if you two—” She pulled it open and the words died on her lips.Hunter.
“Hey.”
“What do you want?” Michaela couldn’t believe he had the audacity to show up as if nothing had happened.
“May I come in? I need to talk to you.”
She opened her mouth to tell him where he and histalkcould go and he held up a white bag. She didn’t even have to guess what it held. She smelled the fragrant blueberry muffin from Roseberry Bakery. Her favorite. And he knew it.Damn him.“Fine.” She stepped back to let him enter. Hunter handed her the bag and she tried not to snatch it out of his hands.Mmm, it’s still warm. Her stomach growled.
Hunter walked over to her half-done painting. “It’s good to know you’re still painting.” He angled his head one way, then another. “The lake on the Estate. I like this. Even though it isn’t finished, it looks so real, as if the water is going to spill out over the canvas.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled. He’d always been supportive of her art and often encouraged her to pursue her dream full-time. Not wanting to take another trip down memory lane, she asked, “What do you want to talk about?” Michaela tried not to be moved by his deliberate steps aided by the cane. Instead, she opened the bag, broke off a piece of the muffin and popped it into her mouth. She stifled a moan and glanced up to find him watching with a quiet smile.
“I know you like them hot out of the oven, so I waited for a fresh batch.”
An awkward silence crept between them. “Um…you can have a seat.” Michaela waited until he sat on the sofa, then took the furthest chair away from him.
“Did you come here to try and entice me with the muffin for whatever you came to say or is this an attempt to try to make up for the mess you caused?” Hunter’s dark, penetrating gaze bore into hers and she almost squirmed in her seat.
“No, Michaela. I came to talk about Granddad. We can talk about us another time.”
“There is nous,” she snapped. Regret filled his face, but she ignored it. Or at least tried to do it. She shoved another piece of muffin in her mouth and waited for him to speak.
“Granddad made a request in his will to have murals painted in the new oncology wing the hospital just completed. He’d like for you to do it.”
Michaela almost choked. She coughed to clear her throat. “What? Why me?”
“Why not you? You’re a brilliant artist.”
Being commissioned for such a large project would be just the opening into the art world Michaela had been looking for and would, no doubt, provide other opportunities. She might even be able to finally quit her job at the bank to pursue art full-time. Inside, she turned cartwheels and did a little drop-it-like-it’s-hot move. Suddenly, warning bells went off in her head and she paused her party. She gave Hunter a wary look. “Hold up. What’s the catch?”
Hunter frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“There are five of you and you’re the one delivering this message. Why not Ava, or one of your other brothers, or your father? Or even the attorney. Why. You?”
He paused briefly. “Because I’m the one you’ll be working with on the project.”
“What?” She jumped up and started pacing.Ohh, nooo, I cannotwork with him. But then I’d have to pass on the biggest opportunity I’ve ever had.Needing to find her happy place again, she grabbed up the bag from the table and stuffed more of the muffin in her mouth, grateful it was large enough to hopefully help her regain her equilibrium. She couldnotdeal with Hunter on any level, especially after what he’d done to her.
“Those were his orders. Believe me, I was just as shocked as you are when I found out. I know this is hard for both of us,” he said softly. He paused as if trying to steady his emotions. “But I intend to honor his last wish, and because you cared about him, I’m hoping you’ll do the same.”
“I need to think about this. Hey, it’s the best I can do under the circumstances,“ Michaela added when she heard him sigh.
“That’s fine.” Hunter stood and handed her an envelope. “He asked me to give you this.”
She accepted it and saw her name scrawled on the front. “What is it?” Curiosity made her want to rip into it right then and there, but she kept herself in check, afraid that the contents would impact her in a major way. And she didn’t want to read it in front of him.
He shrugged. “I have no idea. Give me a call and let me know what you decide.” He started for the door.
