I hear the springs give in under Hunter's weight on the bed as he takes a seat, but he doesn't respond, prompting me to turn around and find him staring at me, almost suspiciously, his head cocked to one side.
“What?” I ask, shrugging diffidently with a frown furrowing my brows.
“Nothing.” Hunter tenses, shoulders squaring as he links his hands on his lap. “You just…know me so well. You know everything about me, Delilah.”
Feeling my walls coming up to keep me on the defensive, I cross my arms and scoff. “Habit. Old habits die hard,” I say. Unpacking for him was something I often did when we traveled for missions and set up in motels or camps to rest at night. Hunter was always able to live out of his bag, while it infuriated me, and I'd end up unpacking his things neatly.
“It's not just that,” Hunter sighs as he stands up and stalks toward me with even steps, his breath matching his controlled movements when he nears me. “You know every innermost detail about me, D. It scares me sometimes.”
“Is that why you've been grumpy? You do realize that this wasyouridea, right?” I gulp when his scent swarms my airways and I'm forced to breathe in the same warm air he exudes, but Ihold his stare, not wanting to show any signs of weakness in his presence.
“Oh, I know. But then it hit me that no one knows me like you do…” Hunter's voice trails off and leaves a moment of awkward pause. I notice his fingers twitching when I avert my gaze, and I'm afraid that if I let any more silence pass between us, he'll give in to the urge to reach out to touch my cheek.
We've been down this road before, and I know how it ends.
In my heartbreak, I'm not willing to go there again.
Chuckling lightly, I lift my eyes back to his and narrow my gaze. “I know everyone from our squad well. Too well. We were on lots of missions together, Hunter. I was bound to learn about everything.”
“Not in the way you know me,” Hunter points out. “You know me intimately.” Another pause spreads out with the awareness that slips through the cracks and has me filling my lungs with his heady, masculine scent. Like old leather and spice, the fragrance is intoxicating, and there's no way I can defend myself against the natural effect of our mate bond drawing me in. His scent is bait meant to catch me, the heat he exudes the familiar warmth I've been craving ever since he put an end to the passion we shared, the passionate season dismissed as nothing more than fun.
Then, it hits me. After everything Hunter has done over these past few days, he's been betraying his own words that he used to reject me. From saving me by entering into this fake marriage to the flickers of kindness in his small gestures, Hunter has been showing me that he cares.
He claims that I know him well, but I don't know him well enough. His mysterious past remains a mystery, and I'm certain there's something in there that was the reason he rejected me.
Perhaps a lost lover….
The thought alone sends a shiver down my spine, and I decide not to go there. It's not my business, anyway. I can't be baited with the unknown, with the mystery that shrouds Hunter like a dark cloud. I can't rush in like a clueless fool who's going to get her heart broken all over again. Once bitten, twice shy is how the saying goes. And I'll be damned if I don't follow sound advice.
Even at our most intimate, Hunter didn't reveal everything about his past to me, and I won't go probing now. He's clearly battling demons of his own construction, unable to accept our living circumstances and acting regretful of it.
It's his own fault.
“I know everyoneintimately,” I draw out the word to give it less significance as I roll my eyes. He doesn't have to know what that single word did to me, and I can't stick around in his presence lest he finds out. “Goodnight, Hunter,” I call out over my shoulder as I spin on my heel, wiggling my fingers through the air without giving him a second glance.
This might be my most difficult mission to date—living with Hunter—but I've never backed down from a good fight.
Even if it means fighting with my body's urges around him. My heart is too precious to be broken again.
***
I've been tallying the days as if there's an end to this charade, but four days in, I wake up each morning with dread.
This morning is no different, and despite the quiet calm that hangs between Hunter and me, I can't ignore the fact that we work well together in this domestic setting.
While I prepare breakfast, manning the stove to fry eggs and turn the bacon sizzling in the pan, Hunter tends to the dishes, prepares our coffee, and takes out the toast, leaving two slices in a little longer to burn them.
He remembers I like slightly burnt toast. I noticed, but I haven't brought it up.
We work in sync until we're finally seated at the table, the smell of freshly brewed coffee settling over the silence and allowing me to enjoy my meal.
“You didn't forget how I like my eggs…” Hunter surprisingly comments, and I stop halfway through buttering my toast, lifting my eyes to meet his twinkling gaze.
“Scrambled. Like your brain. It wasn't hard to remember that one,” I retort with a sneer as I return my attention to my plate.
Hunter chuckles smoothly, the sound lightly vibrating in my chest as if he's touching me.
I hate how normal any of this feels, and I do my best to remain uptight, pursing my lips as I reach for my coffee mug. I'd rather intoxicate my airways with the rich aroma of coffee instead of Hunter's spicy scent.
