Page 119 of Now and Then

“For distracting me from the stress. For being here for me.”

“I know you’re used to white knuckling everything in life, but”—he brushes his thumb along my cheek—“you don’t have to do that anymore. I’m standing right beside you.”

My breath catches. The knot in my chest, the one that started with the leak and the caterer and my spiraling worries, loosens.

“I just worry—”

He places a finger over my lips. “About everything. And somewhere in that brain of yours, you’ve convinced yourself that something you’ve done has caused all of this to happen all at once.” Hunter gathers my hands in his and places them over his heart. “But sometimes, frustrating or terrible things just happen. No rhyme. No reason.”

I nod, a tear forming at the corner of my eye.

“Even if it all goes to shit, I’ll be right next to you ready to help clean up the mess, okay?”

“Okay.”

Hunter pulls back and places the end of his belt through the last loop. He studies me carefully, as if he’s making sure I’m really here, really okay.

“Can you take the day off tomorrow?” he asks out of the blue. “I’ve got to meet with Logan in Eagle Falls, so I thought we could make it a day trip.”

“A day trip?” I blink up at him.

His smile is low, warm, and absolutely certain.

“Yep,” he says. “We’ll roll out early, okay?”

My stomach flips. “I—” My throat closes around all the reasons I can’t go. With all the new problems, taking the day off is only going to set things back further.

“It’s one day, Sutton.”

My heartbeat thunders. “Hunter, I don’t—”

“Sutton.” He says my name like a command. His hand slides over my cheek and down the line of my jaw, traces the column of my neck and lower down my arm until his fingers brush the inside of my wrist. Goosebumps erupt in their wake. Traitorous little bastards. “Let go, baby girl.”

My breath catches. Because this calm, steady, in-control version of him, the one who sees straight through me and isn’t afraid to push, is new. And a little dangerous in all the ways I’ve secretly wanted for longer than I care to admit out loud.

I nod and let the last thread of control I’d been trying to hold on to go. “Okay,” I whisper, because it’s all I can think of.

His mouth curves with satisfaction. “Good girl.” He gathers the papers I dropped earlier, taps them neatly into a stack, and sets them on my desk like he didn’t just detonate my entire nervous system. Again.

“See you at home.” He turns, flicks the lock, and walks out of my office, leaving the door open and me sitting there absolutely undone in a way I am nowhere near ready for.

But suddenly craving more than my next breath.

24

Hunter

She’s already slipping out of bed when my eyes open. Instinct kicks in, and I reach for her before she gets too far. Sutton squeaks as I pull her back into the covers, wrapping my arms around her waist and chest. “Where are you sneaking off to?” I murmur against the warm skin of her neck.

Her lips press against my forearm in a tender kiss. “Going to get some work done before we leave.”

I roll over, bracketing my arms on either side of her head. “But what you really mean is you’re going to assess the damage in the kitchen for the tenth time while trying to come up with some way to become a catering expert.”

Her green eyes flare, and she purses her lips. “I mean, technically, that is work.”

“Technically”—I lean forward and plant a kiss on her lips—“I told you to take the day off, and you agreed.”

She snorts. “I’m almost positive I didn’t actually agree to anything. You just took charge like a bossy ass—”