Page 39 of Dare To Kiss You
Hunter raises his eyebrows. “Say what?”
I giggle, happy to have broken the tension. “My lipstick. The brand promises it’s transfer-proof, and since you aren’t wearing ‘raspberry charm’ on your mouth, I’m assuming it worked.”
His low laugh fills the car.
“Ready to go in now?”
He nods, climbs out of the car, and walks around to open my door. As soon as I’m out, he pulls me in for a crushing hug. “Thank you for not running in the opposite direction.”
I reach up to touch his cheek. “Anyone who runs away from you would have to be an idiot.”
“Or a criminal,” he quips, and we both laugh. Taking my hand in his, we make our way to the door.
As soon as we’re inside, however, any progress we made in the car at taming Hunter’s anxiety is lost. His eyes dart everywhere, and his hand starts to squeeze mine uncomfortably tight. I see his chest rising and falling rapidly.
I try to take in the tasteful Christmas décor that fills the ballroom, but the tension coming from Hunter is palpable.
“Do you think your family is here yet? I don’t see them. Shit, I really should’ve talked to Leo before tonight.”
“Shoulda, woulda, coulda.” I shrug, trying to make light of things. “They’re not going to have a problem with us dating, Hunter. I know I made it seem like they scare off every guy I date, but we’re two consenting adults. Even my neanderthal brothers will get that.”
Hunter won’t meet my gaze; he’s still scanning for my idiot brothers. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“Then what is it? You can take them,” I try teasing him, but even that doesn’t seem to get through the haze of worry clouding him.
“You know Sawyer has basically told every single first responder in town to keep their hands off you. He says no one is good enough for you. Pretty sure he didn’t mean I would be the exception to that. Especially not if he knew the truth about me.”
His disparaging tone is directed at himself, but now my own insecurities are starting to bubble to the surface. Maybe we can’t overcome his anxiety if it’s this paralyzing for him because I have no clue what to do. All the progress we made in the car is gone.
What if his anxiety isn’t about facing my brothers after all? What if the truth is that Hunter doesn’t care for me the way I do him and he doesn’t want to go public because he doesn’t really want to be with me?
“Hunter, do you not want to be here with me right now? Is that it?” I blurt out, unable to hold back my own fears.
“God, no!” he says, his mouth falling open. “Fuck, Kat. No. I’m so sorry. Here you are, the most beautiful woman on earth, and I’m a nervous sack of shit, ruining everything. I want to be with you. I swear I do. I’m just... Fuck.” He runs his hand through his hair, and while his response eases my own worries somewhat, it does nothing to stop my pain at hearing him beat himself up so much.
“Why you ever thought I was worthy of being with you, I will never understand. You’re a goddess, Kat. A fucking goddess.” He looks at me and the emotions swimming in his eyes make my heart hurt for him. What the hell happened in the past to make this beautiful man think so little of himself?
It’s a struggle, but I manage to tamp down my own nerves. I have to trust him, trust that he’s being honest about wanting to be with me. He trusted me with his confession about the anxiety, so I have to trust him with this. He needs me to be strong for both of us right now, and so that’s what I’ll do.
Taking in a deep breath, I lift my hand to stroke back the lock of hair that I love so much. “Every goddess needs her god,” I murmur, shifting so my body is tucked up against his chest. All I want to do is make him see himself the way I do. As a strong, charismatic, thoughtful, sexy man.
If words don’t center him, maybe physical touch will.
Sure enough, his body softens against mine and his hands slide around my hips to meet at the base of my spine. I tangle my hands together behind his neck, relishing the exhale of his stress as his forehead drops to meet mine.
I lower my voice to a sultry whisper, meant for his ears only. “We’re in this together, Hunter. You and me. And after the party, we’ll go home, and I’ll show you exactly why I think you’re more than enough.”
“Kitty Kat, you’re too fucking good to me. But I promise I’m gonna try to stop letting my own shit get in the way and just be —“
“What the actualfuckis going on here?”
Chapter eighteen
Hunter
I step back so damn fast, my hands fall away from her body. It’s the wrong reaction. I know this the second I see the look of confusion and hurt on Kat’s face. I promised her I could do this, and I lied.
“Why the hell are your hands all over my sister, Callaghan?”
