“I just wanteveryoneto be happy,” I say.
“Er, not technically true. I’m not sure you give a rat’s ass if I’m happy or not.”
“I don’tknowyou,” I say.
“Well, Lucy, like it or not, you’re going to get to know me this weekend.” He pats me on my leg. “Come on. Let’s call another truce and get on with this weekend. You never know, sharing a room with me could be fun. We might even end up friends.”
I raise my eyebrows, and he laughs. That warm feeling in my stomach kindles to life again.
“Well, as long as I’m not the dead body you bring back in that suitcase, I’m going to consider myself a winner. I’m going to head downstairs and give you your privacy so you can ... do whatever it is that girls spend hours doing before they go out at night.”
“That reminds me,” I say. “Some boxes were delivered while I was downstairs. They’re all addressed to you.”
“Oh, great. I was worried the blow-up dolls wouldn’t be here in time. Phew.” He makes an exaggerated swipe at his brow, like he just dodged a disaster.
“Thewhat?” I ask, hyperconscious of not screeching despite the alarm bells going off in my head.
“Is that a problem?” he says.
“Is that a—”
“Calm down, I’m kidding,” he interrupts, grinning.
Before I can sputter a reply, he slips out of our bedroom and leaves me to myself. The room feels ten times bigger without Hunter Bain in here. But it also feels significantly more ... empty.
It’s not until I’m halfway through my own shower that I realize he never told me what’s in those boxes.
Chapter Eleven
Hunter
The guys have been allocated the game room as our gathering space. The girls get the rest of the house, apparently. But we have a pool table, a bar, and a retro pinball machine, so I’d say we’re winning.
The beers arrived at the house ready-chilled, and I managed to get everything I ordered unpacked before the guys started to come down.
I clink my bottle against Ed’s and take a swig. I pass a beer to Fisher, the only other guy who’s arrived.
“You and Lucy,” Ed says. “I honestly didn’t have that on my bingo card.”
“Me neither, brother,” I reply. “Me neither.”
“She’s hot, though,” Fisher says.
I nod, not wanting to say too much of anything. Anyway, I can’t disagree that Lucy’s hot. She is. She’s also uptight and annoying. But even so, I know she’s tightly wound because of this weekend. She’s obviously put so much time and effort into it, and it’s really important to her that Katherine has a good time. I can’t fault her for that. She’s not being a demonic witch because she’s selfish and self-centered. She’s just focusing on one thing to the exclusion of being nice. If she was a guy, I’d probably shrug it off. What does that make me? An asshole. At least she apologized.
“When did it kick off?” Ed asks.
I groan. I really don’t want to start talking about my non-relationship. “Do we have to sit around talking about our feelings?”
“No, but this is Katherine’s sister we’re talking about. Your track record with women isn’t your greatest asset.”
“Because my ass is, right?” I turn around and wave my behind at Ed, Fisher, and George, who just joined us.
“I mean it, Hunter,” Ed says. “Just don’t mess her around.”
“I’m not going to.” It’s not like she could hate me any more than she already does. “At the same time, we’re not about to announce our engagement anytime soon. So if you could do your best to manage your fiancée’s expectations in that regard, I’d appreciate it.”
Ed winces. “I can’t promise anything. All I’ve heard since we arrived is how great it is that the four of us can do things together. How great it will be that our kids can grow up together.”
