“What are you reading?”
“Jane Austen’sPersuasion.”
“I quite liked that one.”
Her eyebrows rose.“You’ve readPersuasion?”
“I love reading the classics.Henry James is my favorite.What is your take onPersuasion?”
“Really?You want to talk aboutPersuasion”—she checked her watch—“after midnight on a Friday night?”
“I love watching you.I love listening to your voice.”
And just like that her body was humming.“Hunter…”
“Tell me.”
Chewing her lip, she tried to remember what they’d talked about in the book club.“In the book club we talked about the timing of Captain Wentworth and Anne’s feelings for each other.The second time round, they are both in better positions to give love another chance.”
“You drive me wild when you chew your lip like that.”
As her breath got stuck somewhere in her throat, her body was on fire.Just the guttural sound of his voice was enough to render her incapable of rational thought.
“Hunter…”
“You know what I’d do if I was with you?”His voice had dropped even lower.
Incapable of speech, she shook her head.
“I’d open the buttons of that damn flannel top you’re wearing.One by one.”
Her body humming, she opened the top button.“Like this?”
His eyes fixed on her hands, he nodded.
She unbuttoned the following one.The only sound was his uneven breathing.Or was it hers?When she undone them all, she stopped.
“Show me?”His voice was a mere whisper.
Turned on by his words, she opened the sides of her top.“I… I…” Oh, my word, she’d so very nearly told him she loved him.As he inhaled sharply, she quickly closed the sides of the top again.
“Why did you do that?”he called out.
“Because I have to sleep.I need to get up early to pack, I haven’t done anything yet.Think you can go to sleep now?”
“Maybe after a cold shower or ten.”
“Bye.”She quickly ended the call.
Her whole body was on fire, the desire to be with him so strong and powerful, she doubted she’d be able to sleep.Dropping her head in her hands, she replayed the previous few minutes.
She’d nearly forgotten she couldn’t tell him how she felt about him.The wordsI love youhad very nearly slipped out.
Throwing off the covers, she jumped up.A cold shower sounded like a very good idea.
Chapter Ten
Saturday evening, onhis way to pick up Willow, Hunter pulled off the road and got out of his truck.He needed fresh air; he was struggling to breathe.
