Dire(49)
“You can. You’re going to have to get better at acting.”
“I’ll try.” I wasn’t sure I had the energy to convince anyone of anything.
“Tell him you found some good clothes, and you can’t wait to show him everything. Stroke his ego. He needs it.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s suspicious. He can sense how you feel, and you’ve been thinking about another man. Think about Hunter. Let him know you’re thinking about him. The happier you make him, the happier he’ll make you. And the same can be said for Gage.”
“Is he really with Marni?” I had to know even if I didn’t want to.
“Blunt. I like that.” She wrapped her hand around my arm. “He’s in love with you. Resist Hunter but keep him happy and it’s all going to work out.”
I didn’t ask her how. There was no reason for her to know the answer, and there was no reason to worry about it. Right now all I could concentrate on was making sure Gage survived and that my parents knew I was okay. I didn’t have enough strength to worry about anything else.
“How’d it go?” Hunter stood at the entrance to the food court.
“It went well. Your mate is going to be well dressed.” Jocelyn smiled.
“Great news. You doing okay, Mary Anne?”
He sounded down. Was I right and he somehow knew about my dream, or was it something else?
“I’m good. And you?”
“Good?” He studied my face. “Please don’t hide things from me.”
“Can we go now?”
“Don’t you want to eat?” He gestured to the surrounding restaurants.
“I’m not hungry.”
“How about something to go? A snack?”
“Have you eaten?” I needed to stay polite. Jocelyn was right. If I made Hunter unhappy, that wasn’t going to help anything.
“No. I waited for you.”
“Then why don’t we both get something to go? Can you eat while you drive?”
He smiled. “Do you doubt my ability to do two things at once?”
“No. Not at all.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone staring at me. He glanced down at his phone. He’d recognized me. Of course they’d have been circulating my picture on the news. I was surprised no one had noticed earlier. Jocelyn seemed to notice the guy too. She grabbed my arm. “We should go.”
“We need to get food first.”
“You do that. I’ll get her out to the truck. Give me the keys.”
He followed her line of vision to the suspicious man who was now talking on his phone. “We’ll get food later.”
If he’d been going for inconspicuous, Hunter failed miserably. I’d never walked so fast in my life as he nearly tugged me to the truck. He closed my door and hopped in. Jocelyn disappeared, so I assumed she was getting back into her own car. Hunter didn’t say anything as he pulled out of the lot. I glanced out the window wondering if the guy had been suspicious enough to follow.
“We’re going to have to change your appearance.” Hunter said mostly to himself. “We can’t let that happen.”
“Or I could talk to my parents. Tell them to call off the search.”
“Oh yeah? And they’re going to take that well?”
“We can make up a story about Gage and me running off together.”
“And they’re going to believe that? Because it fits your personality?”
“I’m in college. Kids get weird in college.”
He laughed lightly. “You missing them?”
“Yes.”
“I burned that truck to scare Gage. I had no intention of keeping you from your family forever.”
“Then what was your plan?”
“Eventually you’d say you were saved and fell in love with your rescuer. You’re an adult. They couldn’t force you to come home.”
“The rescuer being you?”
“Yes.”
“And that would be more believable than me running off with Gage?”
“How is it different?”
“I’ve known Gage forever, and I’m pretty sure my mom’s known about my crush for years.”
“Key word is crush. She’d understand that you found true love.”
“And then what would have happened with Gage?”
“That’s the part I never figured out.”
“Convenient.”
“Isn’t it though?”
Chapter Eighteen
Gage
After six and a half hours of driving, we finally reached the new homestead. The pack seemed determined to keep calling it that word. I didn’t care. I needed to get out of the car to run. I also needed to see Mary Anne. I’d had only glimpses of her since we left. I’d been trying so hard to stop thinking about her, but it was impossible. Making Hunter think I’d gotten over her meant making her think the same thing, and I hated knowing I was hurting her. I wasn’t sure whether what Jocelyn said was real, but I knew the part about Mary Anne was right. She was such a strong and confident girl, but she wasn’t confident in us.