Seaside Embrace(33)

“Jana, you’re spinning all this in your head. You think we didn’t get Mom and Dad’s old-fashioned values, but I don’t believe that. I think we’re all good people. We care about others. We work hard. We’re just on different timetables with our love lives. But that’s okay. That doesn’t mean we don’t have solid values. It just means we’re human.”

She rose to her feet and took another drink from her water bottle. “I better take off. I’m teaching a class at ten, and I want to get in touch with Sky. Hunter’s letting me do a test class at his place to see how I like it. I want to invite Sky and the girls for a Foxy Mamas class.”

“Okay. But listen, if you want to talk more, text me. We can meet for a drink or something.” He pulled her into a hug. “There’s nothing you can’t be good at Jana, including relationships. If you want to be good at relationships, you will be.”

She gathered her gym bag and equipment and hurried out to her car, thinking about what Brock had said. Was that true? Did she not want this with Hunter? She stopped cold at the sight of Hunter leaning against her car. His booted feet were crossed at the ankles, and his thick arms were crossed over his broad chest. When he lifted his eyes to hers and pushed from the car, her steps faltered.

He’d left her house early to meet Grayson at a job site, and she hadn’t been expecting to see him until that evening. “What are you doing here? How did your meeting go?”

“I missed you.” He raked his eyes down her body, and she flamed from the inside out. “You look sexy as hell in that little boxing outfit.”

It was no wonder that he made her head spin when he actually touched her; he could turn her on with nothing more than a graze of his eyes.

“Oh, and the meeting went well.”

He bent down to kiss her, and as she went up on her toes to meet him halfway, she glanced over her shoulder to see if Brock was watching.

“Jesus, babe. How long are you going to keep this up?” Hunter snapped.

She tried to ignore the piercing guilt his question inspired and tossed her gear in the back of her car.

“You can’t hide us forever, and I don’t even understand why you are. It’s starting to piss me off.”

“I’m not trying to piss you off.” He’d brought this up a lot lately, but no matter how many times he reassured her, she still worried. “Aren’t you concerned at all about all our friendships? We hang out with all of our brothers and sisters. What if we break up? Then they’ll feel weird around us anytime we’re together.”

He folded her in his arms and gave her that look that made her insides go all fluttery. He was pushing for her to give in. Hunter always pushed her past her comfort zones.

“Listen to me, pretty girl. The only thing coming between us is your fear of commitment.”

She rolled her eyes, even though she knew he was right. She loved the way he pursued her, and his confidence in their relationship, but she still wasn’t sure that letting everyone know they were together was the smartest thing to do. The thought of putting Sky in that weird position was enough to make her hold her ground.

“Okay, maybe it’s your inability to trust that the guy I’ve become is here to stay, but that’s all on you, babe, not me. I’m in this for the long haul. I know you’re the woman for me, and I know I’m the only man for you.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “One day you’ll realize that, too.”

“Why do you always have to push so hard?”

“You think that’s hard?” His smile turned wicked. “That’s so soft it’s practically liquid.”

Her steely resolve instantly turned molten.

Hunter dug his hand into his pocket and handed her a key as he stepped in closer, bringing all that heat with him. “I know we talked about you getting the girls together for a class tonight, so I wanted to be sure you had a key. I’m going to babysit for Billy so Clark and Nina can go out.”

“You are?” For some reason the thought of Hunter babysitting again melted her resolve even more. She looked down at the key and noticed it was on a key chain of a heart that said Taken. He was bossy even when he didn’t say a word.

She arched a brow and he held his palm up toward the sky. “What? It’s true.”

She laughed.

“Want to come by after the class if I’m still babysitting?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

He kissed her again. “Then it’s a date. You, me, and the little guy. No dirty stuff, though.”

“Okay. I’ll try to behave myself.” She climbed into the car and he closed the door, then leaned in to give her a kiss. “Thanks for bringing me the key and for letting me try out the space.”

“Anything for you, pretty girl.” He kissed her again. “You’d better take off, or I’m going to climb in that car and take off that sexy little outfit of yours and have my way with you.”

“Promises, promises.” She blew him a kiss and waved as she drove away, knowing he’d have kept that promise if she’d stayed. She was learning that Hunter’s word was as good as gold.





Chapter Twenty-Two


ON THE WAY to meet the girls for the Foxy Mamas class, Jana turned up the radio. She needed a pick-me-up after getting into it with Marco. She’d asked him to hire another instructor, or an administrative assistant, and he’d finally revealed the real reason he’d stayed in Plymouth for so long. He’d gotten engaged to his head dance instructor from the new studio. Jana knew from the elation in his voice that he was never coming back, at least not for good.

Ella Henderson’s “Ghost” came on the radio and she cranked it up. Listening to the words, she thought about how Hunter was her river. When she was in his arms, he washed everything away, her pain, her worries, her sins…Her chest burned as the chorus came on. She wanted to give up the ghosts of her past, the ghosts that pushed her to keep that last wall between Hunter and the rest of her life, but she wasn’t sure exactly what those ghosts were, or how to finally let them go.

Leanna’s colorful van was parked out front when Jana arrived for the class. Amy, Bella, Leanna, Jessica, Jenna, and Sky came around the side of the building as she stepped from the car. She wished Harper could have come, but she had a conference call with the production staff for her sitcom.

“This place is incredible,” Jenna said.

“I had forgotten how perfect the location was.” Sky hugged Jana. “My brother pulled out all the stops to help you.”

“Yeah, it was really nice of him,” Jana said as she fished out the key Hunter had given her, palming the taken charm. She opened the door, and her jaw fell open as the girls pushed past her and went inside. The place was spotless. She had no idea how he could have gotten it cleaned so quickly.

“Look!” Jenna picked up the card from a vase of a dozen red roses on the far end of the counter. “Can I open it?”

Jana could hardly believe her eyes. Roses? How could she ever have doubted his ability to be romantic? She was so nervous about what Hunter might have written that she snagged the card from Jenna’s hands. “I’ll read it.”

“Lizzie told me Hunter had ordered you flowers, but I had no idea that they were roses.” Sky’s voice reeked of curiosity.

Jana opened the card and noticed that it was Hunter’s slanted handwriting, not Lizzie’s curly script. Her heart beat a little faster as she read the note.

I hope your class is everything you dreamed it would be. H.

The simplicity of the note took her by surprise, and she wondered if that was difficult for him, or if he knew she’d have several sets of eyes peering over her shoulders, as she did now.

“That’s so sweet,” Amy said. “He’s such a nice guy.”

“Yeah.” The confirmation came out as dreamily as she felt, and when she lifted her eyes, she met Sky’s assessing gaze and tried to cover it up. She waved the card, as if it didn’t mean anything special. “Okay, who’s ready to become a foxy mama?”

“Hunter sent roses…” Jessica smiled.

“What do you think this means?” Leanna flashed a mischievous grin at Bella and the others.

Bella jumped right in. “Flowers usually mean sex.”

“Oh my God, you guys.” Jana laughed, even though she thought they might see right through her ruse. “It means he must be really eager to rent the place. Let’s get started.”

An hour later, they were sweaty, laughing, and leaning on one another as they drank from their water bottles.

“I feel sexier already,” Jenna said as she ran her hands through her shiny dark hair. “Watch out, Petey, ’cause here I come.”

“I definitely feel something.” Leanna tugged her sweaty tank top off of her skin. “But I’m not sure it’s sexy.”

“Oh, please. Our men love to see us hot and sweaty.” Bella hugged Jana. “This was so fun. And this space? With a few homey touches, it’ll be perfect.”

“Want to know what I think?” Jessica asked.

“Sure.” Jana couldn’t stop admiring the flowers, and the cleanliness of the room.

“I think you’ve got a sweet deal here that you shouldn’t pass up.” Jessica pointed to the flowers. “And how many landlords leave roses as incentive?”