“See you next week,” Hunter said.
“Hunter,” Paul said, drawing his attention.
Turning to his friend, Hunter saw that Paul hadn’t left.
“You’re always giving people advice as a life coach. You know better than anyone what you want out of life, and how best to achieve it. Faith, you and she didn’t get off to the best start, but that doesn’t mean it can’t lead to something else.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“I’m always here to help or as much as I can help. You should know I’m not the best guy to ask for advice.”
Hunter burst out laughing. “Go. I can handle anything.”
“Enjoy.”
He watched his friend leave, and shook his head. His time with Faith, he didn’t want it to come to an end. In fact, thinking about it ending gutted him. The sex was out of this world. Even when they curled up together at the end of the night, he couldn’t take his hands off her, he wanted her that much.
Rubbing at his eyes, Hunter went for a shower.
Neither of them had spoken about love, or their feelings, or the future. He didn’t want to be the first one to bring it up, and yet, Faith didn’t talk about the future. She talked about her future away from the casino. He hated her working there, but he knew why. For the past three weeks he had been helping her trying to find somewhere new that paid a decent wage. There wasn’t anyone who would pay that kind of money.
She earned a decent living, and he didn’t want her to give that up.
The problem wasn’t her job. The problem was him. He was falling for her, and he didn’t know what to do.
As a life coach, he should know the words, or how best to handle telling her his feelings. Several times over the past couple of days, he had tried and completely failed.
Chapter Seven
Faith couldn’t get any more embarrassed as Hunter held her hair while she vomited everything she had eaten down the toilet.
“It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you.”
Before she could say anything else, she threw up again, knowing she looked awful. The fish she had eaten yesterday was starting to make its foulness known. This was what you got for trying sushi for the first time. She should have asked how long ago it had been made, and not just gone ahead and eaten it. Ugh.
“I’ve got you,” he said, repeating the words, which were not making her feel better at all.
“This is horrible. You should leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
She had been sent home from the casino as she had vomited all over the floor of the bar. If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, she had been flirting with Hunter, trying to ignore the sickness. Before she could do anything about the sudden onset, she had thrown up all over Hunter’s pants and shoes.
“Ugh, this is horrible,” she said, grabbing her stomach as it twisted violently.
“I know, baby. I know. I’ve got you.”
“I’m not having fish again.”
“Be pleased it’s fish,” he said.
“Why? What else could it be?”
“You could be pregnant.”
She groaned. This was not pregnancy. This was food poisoning, and not a very good one either. “I’m not pregnant.”
Faith gripped the edge of the toilet with her eyes closed.
This was the most mortifying, humiliating thing she had ever been part of. Hunter wouldn’t leave, and even though she was thankful that he had stayed, the lady part of her wanted to weep as he had seen her like this.
So, instead, she continued to vomit and cry at her predicament.
“Seeing as we’re here, I think it’s time for us to talk.”
“You want to talk right now?” she asked. Holding her hand up, she threw up more in the toilet, wondering what the hell she had eaten to do this.
For the next minute, she vomited until she finally collapsed into a heap on the floor. Hunter flushed the toilet, and helped her to sit up on it, preparing a toothbrush for her. She took it, thankful for the minty taste.
“So, I wanted to tell you something,” he said.
“Okay.”
“I like you, Faith. I like you a lot, and if you must know, I noticed you before I came asking for sugar. In fact, I used it as an excuse.”
She frowned, watching him at the same time as brushing her teeth.
“We’ve not said what we are, or what we’re doing, and I guess, I’m a little confused. I don’t know what we’re doing, or where this is going.”
Again, she kept on staring at him not knowing what he wanted from her.
“I want us to be exclusive. I like you, and you like me, and I’m thinking we could, you know, date and be together. No other men, no other women.”