Seaside Embrace(4)

“Of course you can stay at my place, but what happened?”

“All I do anymore is go to work, go home, and take care of Billy.” Clark’s tone was heavy, exasperated.

“Yeah, it’s called being a parent.” Hunter took a drink of his beer, wondering what was really going on.

“Right, but I’m also a man. I have needs. Nina stays home all day with him, and when I see her, she’s tired. Half the time she hasn’t even showered, and she’s…” He shook his head. “She’s so wrapped up in Billy that she never even notices me anymore. She barely even looks at me, and we never talk. Hell, Hunter, we haven’t had sex in months, man. It sucks.”

“Months?” Hunter couldn’t imagine going without sex for two weeks, much less a month. But still…

“Months, and even then, it’s like she’s always listening for Billy.” He sucked back more beer, then leaned forward across the table. “Remember back in high school, how you had to do it fast so you didn’t get caught?”

Hunter nodded.

“It’s like that. Only getting caught is ten times worse, because it means walking the halls with Billy while he’s crying his little heart out. I love him, man. You know I do. But…” His eyes skirted over the bar. “I miss this. I miss being a man. Making out and wondering where it will lead. The thrill of the chase.”

“You’re married, Clark. Married.” He wasn’t sure how to handle this. On the one hand, having Clark to hang out with again would be awesome, but Clark was being selfish, and the idea of him busting up his family didn’t sit right with Hunter.

“Yeah. Mistake of a lifetime.” He held Hunter’s steady gaze. “Don’t ever get married. That’s all I can say.”

“You can’t mean that. What about Nina? She loves you. She relies on you.”

“She doesn’t even notice me, except to pay the bills and take care of our son.” He took another swig of his drink. “Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Maybe we can work it out, maybe not. But I need this, man. I need your support. I need to be out, talk some shit with pretty women.”

Talk some shit with pretty women, well, that was the script of Hunter’s life, but Clark was married, and there was a big difference between being single and being married—even if they weren’t living in the same house.

But Clark had always been there for Hunter. When Hunter’s father was in rehab for falling into the bottle after Hunter’s mother died, Clark was there to talk him through his pain. When Sky fell apart around the same time and Hunter nearly went crazy with worry, it was Clark who helped him realize that being there for Sky was doing something. Of course he would be there for Clark, and he'd go one further. He'd make him see the error of his ways before he got too far away from the life he knew his confused friend desperately wanted, even if he was out of sorts right now.

“Yeah, I get it.” He stretched a hand across the table and fist bumped in confirmation.

“Bros before hos, man. Bros before hos.”

Jana returned to the table with their food. “Don’t let me down now, boys. Show me that you’re not all talk and no action.”

The last thing he'd let Clark do was take action on any woman other than Nina. Flirting? Maybe. Touching? No fucking way.

And definitely not with Jana.





Chapter Three


JANA WAS DOING all she could to hold it together. She hadn’t expected to see Hunter, and she definitely hadn’t expected to flirt with his friend, but what else could she do? She practically lost her mind every time Hunter was near. After finding her panties stuffed in an envelope on her windshield at the gym with a note that said, I don’t like to hold on to evidence, what was she supposed to think? She’d thought he was just as done with her as she was with him. She’d even called Harper to get her take on it. After all, Harper was far more reasonable when it came to men. After giving Jana an earful for sleeping with Hunter again, she’d judged his note as an outsider, with no emotions involved, and she’d come up with the same interpretation. No evidence equated to no further interest.

Apparently they’d both deciphered it wrong.

And why didn’t her body get the message about being over him? Her pulse had been racing from the moment she’d seen the brunette approach him when he’d first arrived. Not only that, but he and his friend had moved to the bar half an hour ago, and they’d been flirting with every woman who walked by. She should be oblivious, not annoyingly hoping for something more.

“You okay, sis?” Colton gently touched her shoulder as he moved behind her to grab a bottle of liquor from the shelf. He was a year older than Jana and quieter than either Harper or Brock, more thoughtful and less opinionated. He and Jana had always been close. She was the first family member he’d trusted when he came out, and he was the first one she’d trusted with her decision to never have another boyfriend.

“Yeah. I just need to hit the ladies’ room.” She whipped around the corner to the narrow hallway and was glad to find the restroom empty. She ran her hands under cold water, fixed her hair, and then leaned against the sink and gave herself a pep talk. Hunter Lacroux was just messing with her head tonight. The same way she was messing with his. They were too alike, and that was what was making her head spin.

She needed to move past him once and for all.

She drew her shoulders back, lifted her chin, then headed back out the bathroom door—and ran directly into Hunter’s incredibly hard chest. His large hands landed on her arms, sending a shock of electricity straight to her toes.

“Whoa. Slow down, beautiful.” He gazed down at her with those smoldering dark eyes of his, and her pulse went crazy again. “Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Some of us are working, not flirting.” Take that.

“Really?” He squeezed her arms a little tighter. “It sure seemed like you were flirting with Clark.” He leaned in closer, his scruff brushed against her cheek as he said in a low, gravelly voice, “Did you get the silk panties I was kind enough to return?”

Why did hearing such a big, strong man say the word panties turn her on?

She pulled her shoulders back and leaned away from the massive dose of masculinity that was slowly stealing her will to remain distant.

“I did. Thank you. The last thing I want is for you to have anything to hold over my head.”

His hand slid to her lower back, and he pressed his hips forward, holding her against his impressive erection. She stifled an embarrassing whimper of desire.

“Baby, I want to do a lot of things with you, but the only things I’m interested in holding over your head are your wrists. Bound in silk. While I bury my face between those glorious thighs of yours.” He ran his tongue over the shell of her ear and whispered, “And I promise you, when that happens, you’ll be thanking me—and begging for more.”

She had no idea how she managed to remain upright, much less speak, but she pulled a lie right out of thin air and said with a feigned air of confidence, “Been there. Done that.”

“Yeah?” he snapped gruffly. “Well, not with me.”

She scoffed, even though the image of Hunter, naked and holding her bound wrists above her head, was making it hard for her to remember exactly why she shouldn’t partake in him just one more time. But some thread of rationality told her that if she didn’t end this now, she’d never gain control over the rampant lust between them, and she actually liked Hunter as a friend, despite his arrogance. She didn’t need to put him in an uncomfortable situation with her brother, or with Sky and Sawyer. And, if she were honest with herself, she didn’t want to lose his friendship, either.

She clung to those thoughts and managed, “Like that’s anything special?”

He stepped impossibly closer, trapping her against the wall with his powerful thighs. “Have you already forgotten how good it feels when we’re together?”

God, no. Not one blessed second of it.

“Women line up to be with me. I’m successful, in great shape, and”—he reached behind her and gripped her ass, then slid one hand beneath her skirt and brushed his fingers between her legs—“pretty damn good at knowing what you like.”

She pushed from his grip, teetering on the edge of sanity. “Don’t forget obstinate as the day is long.” She took a step away, intending to get back to work…just as soon as her body cooled down and her legs worked again.

Hunter lifted his eyes, and she followed his gaze to a couple standing at the edge of the hallway kissing. He lowered his voice and said, “You expect me to believe you don’t want me?” Wrapping his hand gently around her arm, he tugged her in close again. “Because I happen to think you do.”

God, why did his confidence turn her on so much? “You know, even if I did want to get laid—”

“Which you do,” he reminded her.

“Jesus.” He was too much. “See? That assumption is why I don’t want a relationship with any man. Least of all you!” She spun on her heel, and he pulled her against him again.

“Don’t fool yourself, Jana. You’re just like me. You don’t want a relationship. But you want me.”