Taking Him (Lies We Tell)(8)

“Yeah, I have. It’s all done. Only got to fill out this bloody form now.” He lounged back in the office chair. “So you found a place to stay yet?”

Ellie sighed. The past couple of days had been busy with packing up her apartment and putting all her stuff into storage while she was away. But the timing of it had sucked. She’d been left with three weeks of having nowhere to live before she left for Japan, and finding a place to stay had proven more difficult than she’d thought. Vin was in the process of building his own house and had ended up bunking in his office until the place was livable, so staying with him wasn’t an option. She’d tried to hit Kara up for a place on her couch, but her friend had someone else staying with her and there wasn’t enough room. Which only left her with the expensive hotel option. Not something she wanted to do given how little money she had and how expensive Tokyo was.

“No,” she said, leaning back against the desk and pulling a face. “I’m going to have to pay for a bloody hotel, which sucks because I need the cash for Tokyo.”

Vin frowned. “Hmmm. What about Hunt? He’s got plenty of room.”

Ellie opened her mouth to say no freaking way would she ever stay with Hunter Chase. Not even if there was a blizzard outside and it was the only way to stop from freezing to death.

“You need a place to stay, sweetness?” Hunter’s deep, husky voice came from behind her.

Her mouth closed, her teeth digging into her lip. Silently she wished her brother to hell. “Uh…yeah,” she said eventually, gearing herself up to actually turn to look at him.

He was back from the bathroom, standing on the other side of the reception desk, a thick paper towel held in one fist, black eyes unreadable. “You can stay with me if you like. Vin’s right. I’ve got plenty of room.”

And he did. He owned a big old historic villa, situated on a bush-clad hillside in the suburb of Titirangi, and currently in the process of being done up with an eye to selling. She’d been there lots of times, hung out on the wide veranda with its views over the smoky blue of the Waitemata harbour, drinking beer and talking crap with him. Eating Chinese on the floor of his lounge while he and Vin argued about sports. Going to the occasional party he’d thrown and sitting in the corner, feeling shitty as some gorgeous woman flung herself at him while he smiled that lazy, sensual smile of his.

Oh sure, she’d love to stay. Not. And most especially not after what had happened that night in her kitchen.

Ellie stared at him, searching his face for any kind of sign that he understood what he was doing to her and coming up with nothing. “Seriously?”

“Of course seriously. Why not?”

She could think of several reasons. But if he wasn’t going to mention them, then neither was she. “I don’t know….” She broke off, realising Vin was frowning at her, puzzled. And of course he’d be puzzled. Refusing Hunter’s offer wasn’t something Ellie would normally do.

Which meant she either had to accept his offer now or come up with some good reasons why not. And there weren’t any good reasons. At least, not any believable ones.

Shit. She was going to have to accept, wasn’t she?

Why is that bad? You’ll see him every day. Be near him. And remember, you don’t have anything to lose…

Ellie’s breath caught as a slow realisation filtered through her. No, it didn’t have to be a bad thing. Okay, so he’d told her nothing would ever happen between them and that she wouldn’t be able to change his mind. But that hadn’t been the whole of the story.

Her palm burned with the memory of the heat she’d felt beneath the denim. The flash of desire she’d seen in his eyes. Oh, he might have told her no, but that’s not what his body had said.

Hunter had been sidelining her for years. Keeping her in the little sister box. Perhaps it was time she broke out. She had nothing left to lose, right? Because in another three weeks, she’d be gone.

Ellie leaned against the desk and smiled at him. “Okay, Hunter. You’re on.”





Chapter Four

Ellie sat back in one of the old, worn armchairs Hunter kept on his veranda and watched as his black truck powered its way up the steep, gravel driveway. The hazy summer twilight had started to set in, long spears of sunlight lying over the veranda and glinting off the front window of his truck as he swung it into the parking area near where she sat.

Great. He was home early for a change.

In the two days she’d been staying there, she’d barely seen him. He seemed to spend a lot of time at work, and when he wasn’t at work, he was out running or on the phone or fiddling around in the garage underneath the house. In fact, if she hadn’t run into him the past couple of mornings and evenings in the kitchen, she’d have thought he was avoiding her.

Then again, those moments they’d met he’d been his usual self. Giving her his typical lazy smile and a greeting. A few questions about her day. Some observations about this and that. Gentle teasing.

It annoyed the crap out of her. In fact the way their whole relationship seemed to be going annoyed the crap out of her.

She narrowed her gaze, shading her eyes from the sun as he got out of the truck.

Oh boy. He’d come from a site in his jeans and a dark green, close-fitting T-shirt. Sweat-soaked and sexy. Dammit.

Ellie shifted on the seat as a fit of nervousness went through her. She’d never gone out and seduced anyone before. Never openly tried to attract anyone’s attention.

Even with Cam it had happened gradually, working on a few university assignments together, sharing mutual interests. Only after a month of them being a couple had she found out he really got off on her Goth look.

Hunter, she knew, didn’t care what she wore because he’d never seen her in those terms. Until, of course, she’d worn her Dark Shadow costume and then she’d made him. Which was kind of why she’d gone all out today. She was sick of being ignored. Sick of being avoided.

She wanted him to look at her again. Look at her and see.

So she’d put on some of her more outrageous clothing—with a few minor adjustments. A tartan mini that barely grazed her thighs, but instead of the two sets of tights she normally wore with it—a coloured pair underneath her black fishnets—she’d left her legs bare. Along with her feet, exposing freshly painted copper toenails. She’d spent ages deciding which top to put on because, shit, she didn’t have the cleavage Kara had. Then again, for the brief half second he’d actually looked at her breasts when she’d undone her jumpsuit, his jaw had gaped, so obviously they weren’t a total loss. She’d settled for a black see-through mesh top with a bright red push-up bra underneath.

She shifted on her seat again, watching as Hunter came up the stairs of the veranda. He gave her a lazy grin. “Hey, sweetheart. Getting into my beer again?”

He didn’t even look at her legs, which she’d stretched out in front of her, crossed at the ankle. Bugger it.

“Yeah,” she said. “But I got you one too.” She tipped her head toward the armchair next to her and the second beer bottle sitting on the little table between the chairs.

Sit down, Hunter. Sit down and have a beer with me.

He leaned against one of the pillars near the stairs. “A beer after a hard day’s work? How did you know?”

“Oh, just a wild stab in the dark.” She took a sip of her own beer, her mouth suddenly dry. Debated whether or not to come out and ask about the whole avoidance aspect or be circumspect. A strange thing to have to decide with Hunter since she’d never worried about or second-guessed anything she’d said to him before.

He remained where he was for a second, that smile still playing around his mouth. Then he lifted a shoulder and came over to the chair beside her, sitting down in it with the same lazy, athletic grace with which he did everything.

A long, silent breath went out of her as he stretched out. A breath she hadn’t even realised she’d been holding. Would have been even better if he actually looked at her though.

“I like your thinking, sweetness.” He picked up the beer bottle and undid the cap with a powerful twist. “Very intuitive.”

Ellie tried not to notice the way he opened that bottle, the play of muscles in his wrist and forearm. Or the strong, brown column of his throat as he put his head back to drink.

She shifted her legs instead, crossing them. They were very white. Perhaps he preferred tanned skin to pasty. Perhaps she should have put some fake tanner on them or something.

“Not particularly intuitive. You’re a guy. And you just got home from work. Isn’t beer mandatory or something?”

He gave a soft laugh. “True.”

A silence fell between them.

Hunter took another sip of his beer, his gaze on the view the veranda afforded. The lush, green Titirangi rainforest, and beyond it, the blue of the harbour in vibrant contrast.

An amazing view. One of the reasons he’d bought the house, or so he’d told her.

But Ellie didn’t give a shit about the view. Or at least, not the scenery in front of her. All she cared about was the man sitting next to her.

And what she wanted from that man.

“So,” she said, feeling suddenly awkward and not as sure of herself as she had when she’d thought this was a wonderful idea. “How was your day?” Then added, “Dear,” in an attempt at irony.