And this, all of it, it felt right. It felt perfect.
“Flower,” Hunter whispered, brushing his lips against mine. “I fucking love you.”
Tears slid down my face. “I love you, Hunt.”
“I love you,” Leo murmured into my hair.
I shut my eyes, saying to him, “I love you, Leo.”
They touched me like that for a while as the silence stretched, and when I finally opened my eyes, Hunter spoke. “This is what we agreed to do…and if you say no, that’s okay, Skye, we’ll keep figuring it out. We’ll fucking do anything to make this right if it means our star will shine.”
“We’re not putting out that light,” Leo promised in my ear. “No matter what, Skye.”
From my peripheral, I noticed Shane’s movements as he paced the perimeter of the building, keeping a watchful eye on me.
“Watching me right til the end, Shane?” I teased, smiling over my shoulder at him.
Shane smiled weakly in return. “It’s hard to switch off.”
Shane wasn’t just a driver. He had become my bodyguard. Ever since his car accident, he had chosen instead to be there for every work shift so that I would never be stuck unattended again. While I’d miss his presence, I certainly wouldn’t miss that stuffy restaurant.
At his core, Shane was a good guy.
“What are you going to do with all your freedom?” I asked him.
“Watch over Leo, as I did before,” he answered warmly.
I nodded, feeling my heart squeeze as I replied, “Don’t let him run himself down.”
Leo might work himself to the bone. From what I’d heard in the night through whispered conversations, Leo was fighting for his father’s seat. He was trying to relinquish him of his control of the table, whatever that entailed. Whatever was happening, Leo seemed suddenly relieved that I would be away from it.
“I’ll do it,” I’d said to them in that bed after Leo explained the arrangement.
“You will?” he’d asked, cautiously.
“I will,” I said, stroking Hunter’s guarded face. “I’d do anything for my men.”
Hunter’s truck finally purred in the distance. I went tight with anticipation as I stared down the long driveway, waiting for it to show. It sounded smoother than I remembered, and I quickly realized why when I saw the truck in the distance.
It was a brand-new truck. A black dually that rode easily over the icy road.
I stood up and wheeled my suitcase to the edge of the sidewalk, waiting with bated breath as he drove the car right up to me. The damn thing was so big, I had to peer up at the driver seat to look at him.
When Hunter stepped out, I nearly collapsed from excitement. He looked so raw, and strong, like he’d packed on another twenty pounds of muscle. He was wearing his signature torn jeans and plain white shirt with a brown workman jacket over top. He was wearing a baseball cap, but I could still catch his unruly hair as it poked from the sides, covering his ears.
“Hunter—”
He picked me up in his large arms, ravenously kissing me. I felt little in his hold, kissing him with equal intensity. His smell came all around me, and I shut my eyes, savouring the taste of him.
“I missed you, Skye,” he said, pulling back to look down at me. “You’re mine now, you know that?”
I smiled at him, face heating at the intense way he was looking at me. “I’m yours, Hunter.”
He shut his eyes briefly. “Fuck yeah.”
Then he carried me to the passenger seat and slid me inside. He even paused to close the door, drinking me in with heavy eyes. As he rounded the truck to grab my suitcase, Shane went to him, and they spoke briefly. Shane motioned behind him, and Hunter’s gaze followed. Leo had opened the entrance door and was standing there in the cold, watching them.
I held my breath, unsure if Leo was upset. If he might come barrelling to us to take me back. He looked to be in a bad state. He hadn’t even changed into his suit this morning, opting to remain in his lounge pants and plain sweater, his blond hair in disarray.