“Yeah, sure.”
“You seem to have gotten over the relationship quickly. I guess you could also say that you also seem to find him quite distasteful.”
“Yeah.”
“So why exactly were you dating him?” I pull up outside the valet, and we sit there for a second as I put my car into park and stare at her. She looks flustered as she thinks about her answer. “Are you going to answer my question?”
“It’s going to make me sound like an idiot.”
“I doubt it. But please tell me.”
“I don’t want to say.”
“Spill it.”
“Well, when I met him, he was really muscular and built, and I thought he was great-looking. And… well… I was kind of feeling like, wow, this superb-looking man wants to be with me.” She looks away. “Does that sound crazy?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “You obviously know what you like.” I frown slightly. “And if you like well-built muscular men, then that is what you like.”
“What does that mean?”
She looks at me, confusion in her expression.
“You like muscular men.” My voice is slightly cold, and I know she doesn’t understand why.
“I mean, I didn’t say I like a muscular man. I just said that he was muscular, and that wasn’t exactly a turnoff.”
“Okay. Well, good to know.”
“What’s going on? Why are you being like this?” she says. “Did I upset you?”
“No, you didn’t upset me. In fact, thank you for enlightening me as to the sort of woman that you are.”
“What do you mean, the sort of woman that I am, Hunter?”
“I think this conversation is over,” I say and jump out of the car, knowing she’s confused. But I obviously will not explain to her why I’m upset—for multiple reasons. It’s stupid, and it doesn’t matter. I’m just going to concentrate on the evening. I will not let Gina Spellman get under my skin.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Gina
Hunter Waverly knows how to get under my skin. From the moment I stepped out of the house in the frighteningly scant dress to my last bite of cheesecake, the evening has made me aware of every glance and comment that has come my way from this beautifully complex man. The evening has been fraught with tension. He knows exactly what to do to drive me crazy. There were tantalizing touches, lingering looks, and cheeky hand kisses, and the rising warmth that settled in me during the appetizers only increased by the time we got to dessert.
His friends—though I wouldn’t actually call them friends—were polite and inquisitive, but thankfully didn’t have too many questions for us. Turns out, they were really just business acquaintances of his grandfather and were welcoming Hunter to town. Which I thought was weird because, as far as I knew, he’d already been in town for a couple of months.
“Are you ready to leave?” he asks me, leaning over to whisper in my ear as he settles up the bill with his American Express black card. I wonder what his limit is. Though I bet he doesn’t have a limit. Unlike me, with my five-thousand-dollar limit. I’m not even sure I would want a higher limit. I could get myself intotrouble with too much money, but boy, would it be fun. I nod my response and say nothing.
He pulls back slightly, his blue eyes searching my face, and he gives me a wicked smile. “Are you ready to get the party started?”
“I don’t know what that means,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “Are we going to a nightclub?”
“No, honey, unless you consider the cabin a nightclub.” He throws his head back and laughs.
“You think I’m going to go back with you to the cabin?” I mean, I want to, but I’m not telling him that. I will not be that woman who is so eager she’s begging for it. If he wants me, he can be the one to beg.
“I don’t know. Would you like to?”
“What do you think?” I say, licking my lips nervously and turning away. I hope he doesn’t study my face too closely because the fact of the matter is, I wouldn’t mind going back to his cabin and having some fun, but I don’t want to further complicate a situation that is far more complex than it should be. There are so many things going through my mind. I don’t need to sleep with Hunter and complicate things even further.
