“I don’t want to burden you with my troubles.” The sarcasm in his voice was evident.
She stood taller. “It’s not a burden, Hunter. We are friends, after all.”
“Are we?” His gaze went hard. “Is that what you call me? Your friend?”
“Of course.” She kept her voice as steady as she could. “After everything we’ve—shared, I consider us friends.”
Hunter laughed, but he didn’t sound amused. No, more like he sounded upset. “Friends. That’s funny.”
“What’s so funny about it?” Standing, she grabbed her bag and started stuffing all of her belongings inside. Anything to keep her occupied so she wouldn’t have to look at him.
He wasn’t being very kind. And while at first she believed him upset with Rhett, now she had the distinct feeling he was angry with her.
And she had no idea what she’d done.
“Forgive me.” His expression went blank. “I’m in a foul mood.”
“Did I do something?” She lowered her voice to a whisper, panic making her heart race.
“No, it’s all me, as usual.” Running a hand through his hair, he sighed in frustration. “Meet me out front in fifteen minutes, okay?”
Gracie nodded, disappointment filling her. He wasn’t going to confide. He wasn’t going to try and convince her of anything. Just lock in his feelings and stay away from her. Maybe that was his new method in dealing with it—with her.
He exited the building as if fire chased after his heels. She finished gathering her belongings and glanced about the space, noticed Rhett coming her way with a smile on his face.
“No way I could convince my favorite Worth employee to come out to dinner with me tonight, huh?” Rhett stopped just in front of her.
“Is Hunter going with you?”
A knowing glimmer shone in his gaze, and she instantly regretted mentioning his name. “He already turned me down, said he was too tired. I know you’re going to turn me down too, especially if Hunter’s not going.”
Her cheeks heated, and she turned her gaze to the floor. “It’s not like that.”
“Oh, I think it is,” Rhett drawled.
Were they that obvious? She’d tried her best to be discreet. Not let the emotions she felt for Hunter shine through but it appeared she’d failed. She struggled to answer Rhett without looking like a complete idiot.
“You’re w
rong, then,” she finally said somewhat lamely.
“You two can deny it all you want, but I know the truth. I see the way he looks at you.”
“H-how does he look at me?”
“Like you’re his everything and nothing else matters.” Rhett paused, letting his words sink in. She was completely flummoxed. What could she say to that? And was it even true?
A shiver stole over her. Perhaps…perhaps it was.
“I tried to push him to make a move on you, but he refused. That was what our last fight was about,” Rhett continued.
She jerked her head up, her gaze meeting his once more. Rhett’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “What are you talking about?”
“I told him if he wasn’t going to make a play for you, then I was going to go for it. Which was a total lie, I want you to know. I don’t poach off my brothers. But anyway, he got furious, like I figured he would, and told me to lay off. When I persisted, he looked ready to punch me, which isn’t too unusual for Hunter.” Rhett paused. “What happened between you two?”
“I can’t talk about it.”
“Which means something definitely happened. I was just fishing for it.” Rhett grinned and shook his head. “Why deny it? You kids are young, enjoy yourselves. Don’t let anything get in the way of some happiness.”