“No, you weren’t,” Hunter countered, flattening his hand over the purple folder. “We’re going to come up with a plan, and it’s going to take a while, so you’re staying here.” There wasn’t a place for her to stay in town, which was thirty minutes away. “Then we’ll get to work tomorrow so we have something to share with Raider when he arrives on Friday.”
Faye tried to tug the file folder away, but he held fast.
Dana’s sandy-blond eyebrows rose. “This is different,” she mused,watching them.
Yeah. They turned into scrapping kids the second they were together. Maybe that had been part of their problem. Growling, Hunter yanked the file free and held it against his chest.
“You are such a dick,” Faye muttered. She kept her gaze averted and pushed awayfrom the table.
“Faye? You ain’t going anywhere.” He lapsed right back into southern around the woman.
Her small shoulders went back and she stood. “If you think I’m staying here with you and blondie, the extremely hot girlfriend journalist, you have completely lost your mind.”
Dana snorted. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but that’s a good one.” She smiled and leaned back against the counter, clearly enjoying herself.
“You are not helping,” Hunter snapped, giving her a look.
She shrugged. “Not really trying to help.”
Faye faced Dana. “Listen. I’m sorry for swearing and for making this uncomfortable. I’m sure you’re alovely person.”
“I really am.” Dana grinned. “Everyone says so.”
What a smartass. “Dana,” Hunter said, also standing, his temper awakening, “is my boss’s daughter and a very good friend. She’s also off a bad breakup with a dumbass she never should’ve been dating, and I believe she’s sworn off men.” He hated explaining himself, and he really disliked talking this much. Damn Faye. “Even if she hadn’t sworn off men, we are just friends, and that’s all it can be, because she’s a keeper, and I stay far away from those.”
Faye crossed her arms, looking even angrier than she had before. “And why is that?”
His temper blew. “Because I’m the type of guy who only loves once, and you walked away.”
Chapter Three
After a sleepless night in Hunter’s guest room, Faye sat in the passenger side of his truck, her temples aching. All night his words had run through her head. She had walked away, but they’d both given up. Hurt, angry, and lost…neither one of them had been in a place to help the other through Mark’s death, not to mention the disasters their lives had become. Now, with distance, she saw the situation clearly. “Did you get help with the PTSD?” she asked, trying to admire the gorgeous red maplesout the window.
“Yes,” he said shortly.
“I wish I could’ve helped you,” she murmured, wondering if the slight give in the seat was the years-old impression of her butt. Why hadn’t he ever gotten a new truck? She’d lost her virginity in this one, and it was disconcerting to be sitting in it so many years later. Disconcertingand intriguing.
“I wish I could’ve helpedyou,” he countered, his voice level and unemotional. “I knew you were struggling after quitting being a shrink.”
Yeah. She’d missed signs, and a patient had committed suicide. The desperation in him had eluded her, and she’d made a mistake in trying to be a psychologist in the first place. She’d been trying to understand her own childhood, she now realized. She should’ve just sought counseling and found another dream to pursue. Something that kept her outdoors and happy. But Mark had died right when she was picking up the pieces of her life, and the world had disintegrated again. “You were right. I shouldn’t havebeen a shrink.”
Hunter made a low sound, one she couldn’t decipher. “You can be anything you want. I just thought you were seeking answers in a way that wasn’tgood for you.”
And he’d been right. As usual. In order to survive his childhood, Hunter had developed instincts about people, about life in general, that most people couldn’t imagine. Even so, his own emotions blinded him. “Mark’s death wasn’t your fault.” He said he’d dealt with it, but she still needed to say the words. “You were a continent away when he took that bullet.” She turned back to see his strong hands clench thesteering wheel.
“He wouldn’t have joined up if I hadn’t,” Hunter said, his voice hoarse.
That was true. There was no way to make that fact not true. Mark had idolized Hunter from the first time the police dropped him off at Miss Angelina’s. “He was a good soldier, and he saved a lot of lives.” Maybe if Raider had been available and not undercover when the news came in, things would’ve been different. Raider didn’t even discover the truth until three months after Mark’s body was brought home. Talk about screwing a guy up for a while. “Mark would be pissed if he knew you carried guilt around because of him.”
Hunter snorted. “That’s true. Man, hehad a temper.”
Didn’t they all? Even though the past hurt, the release in finally talking about it healed something inside her. “Are you enjoying being a guideon the rivers?”
“I am.” He turned onto the interstate, heading for Kentucky, and the truck rolled like it was brand new instead of decades old. “The quiet of the water is soothing, and we get some pretty fun groups out for a day or two. Corporate groups. The challenge is to keep them from drowning.” He grinned.
Her shoulders relaxed into the well-cared-for leather. “I always thought you’d go back into law enforcement. With your tracking skills.”
“I’ve been approached,” he acknowledged, speeding upto pass a semi.
