Ambition (Private 7)

Hunter followed my gaze and smiled wickedly. "I like the way you think." I crouched to the ground in the black designer coat I had

borrowed from Shelby, and Hunter followed my lead. Together we dragged as much snow into our little alcove as possible, remaining

hidden from the photographers, thanks to the cars and SUVs parked all up and down the street. Quickly, silently, we cobbled together

as many snowballs as we could. When we'd used up all the snow, I gathered a few balls in my arms and stood, pressing back against

the wall again. "What's the plan?" Hunter asked, his eyes full of mischief. "We fire at will until there's no ammo left, then make a

break for the restaurant. Hopefully they'll be too disoriented to follow," I whispered. "I like it," Hunter said. I felt a flutter of pride in

my chest. Hunter Braden liked my idea. "On the count of three," I directed. "One, two, three. Fire!"

Together the two of us jumped out of our hiding space and launched our snowballs. My first hit one of the cameras right in the lens,

splattering all over its owner's face. Hunter didn't quite have my arm, but he managed to bean a couple of guys in the shoulder before

we reloaded. There were a few desperate camera flashes while we grabbed more snowballs, but when we came up again, we managed

to smack two more guys directly in their faces. The cursing and sputtering across the way was utterly ridiculous, and Hunter and I

laughed the entire time. "I'm out! Let's go!" Hunter shouted, grabbing my hand. We raced up the sidewalk, me teetering in my high

heels, Hunter leading the way through klatches of moviegoers and couples walking off their dinners. Before long he was opening the

door of the restaurant for me, and with a glance over my shoulder I saw that none of the photographers had followed. Our assault had

done the trick.

"That was intense," Hunter said, catching his breath just inside the door. He looked gorgeous, all ruffled and ruddy-cheeked from

the cold. So gorgeous I almost felt unworthy in his presence. "That may have been the most fun I've had all week," I replied with a

grin. Hunter shrugged out of his coat and looked me up and down with a new admiration in his eyes. "And we're just getting started."

Okay. This was going to be the best date ever.

NOT MY NIGHT

Or not. After five minutes alone at the table with Hunter Braden, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how anyone had ever lasted

more than five minutes alone at a table with Hunter Braden. Every other sentence out of his mouth started with the word I. He couldn't

go for more than ten seconds without talking about himself, so if I was in the middle of a sentence, and more than ten seconds had

gone by, he would interrupt me mid-syllable to tell me something super fascinating and totally out of context about him, like how he'd

gone deep- sea diving last summer or how he'd beaten the world chess champion when he was fifteen.

But of course, no one knew about that, because Hunter didn't want to ruin the guy's life. Plus, he wasn't one to brag. Yeah, right. At

least he was nice to look at. In a perfectly cut dark blue suit and striped tie, he looked completely at ease and comfortable, like he'd

been born in formal wear. I was feeling quite sophisticated and sexy as well, in all my couture. Not that Hunter had said a word about

it or even appeared to notice. He did, however, check himself out in every reflective surface available, including the weathered silver

platter that hung on the wall next to our table. No surprise, he always appeared pleased by his own reflection. I had thought he was so