Exposed (Exposed 1)

"What?" she barks as she swings her legs over the chair so she's sitting straight up. "You agreed to be his fuck toy for the next two months and you didn't show him the scar?"

"No." I hang my head. "My dress stayed on the other night and after that I just didn't think it was the time to talk about it."

"Sadie," she scolds me. "That's not fair."

"I know," I mumble. "I just wanted the feeling to last. I've never felt like that before."

"You need to tell him today." She reaches past me to pull my smartphone off the grass. "Call him and tell him need to see him."

"He's out of town." I juggle my phone between my palms. "He's in Denver until tomorrow."

"Denver? You're not serious?" She bolts to her feet, running to her backpack to pull out her laptop. "He's going to get washed away."

I chuckle at how dramatic she is sometimes. "What are you talking about?"

"There's a downpour there." She flips open the cover of her computer and taps on a few buttons.

"Look at this."

I take the computer from her hands and watch a news video detailing a massive rainstorm in Denver. There are power outages, threatened mudslides and cars floating down the middle of city streets.

"What the hell?" I shake my head not just at the frantic sight of the damage Mother Nature can do but also at the fact that Alexa knew more about a breaking news story than I did.

"He's probably going to be stranded there for days." She leans back on her chair with a sigh. "You should call him and make sure he's okay."

I hesitate at the idea. Hunter and I may have agreed to be lovers for the next eight weeks but we're not officially dating. I don't think it's my place to call him up in the middle of the day when he's away on business.

"Do it, Sadie." She nods at my phone. "Guys love it when we worry about them."

I stare at my phone before thumbing through my contact list to his number. "Give me a minute," I say to Alexa as I step off the chair and onto the grass. "I'm just going to call from inside."

"Sure thing," she says as she lies back down to soak in more rays.

I close the patio door behind me before I press the call button. I take in a heavy breath as I wait for him to answer.

"Hunter Reynolds," he says into the phone.

"Hey, it's me."

He doesn't respond right away. Instead I hear muted footsteps and the distinctive click of a door closing shut.

"Sunshine. What a surprise." His voice is barely more than a whisper now. I push the button to increase the volume of the call.

"Am I interrupting you?"

"I was just in a meeting." He doesn't offer more than that. "I'm happy you called. What do you need?"

He's rushing our call and I want to believe it's because he's in the middle of a consultation with a new restaurateur. My heart is telling me that's not it at all.

"I was hoping we could see each other tomorrow night if you're still coming back then." I don't want to sound needy but Alexa is right, I have to tell him about the scar before this goes any further.

"I'll be there." I can sense the smile on his face.

"Your flight is still a go? There isn't a weather delay?"

"Nope," he says quickly. "It's a beautiful day here."

My heart drops in my chest. "The sun is shining?" I ask the question carefully not wanting him to detect anything unusual in my voice.