Chapter 12

Hunter grabs the back of my shirt and spins me around. I laugh as I fall against his chest, but it dies when his lips drop to mine for a heated kiss. I moan against his mouth, my body quickly lighting on fire, just as it always does with Hunter pressed against me. The man knows exactly what to do to get my heart rate up. Hell, he doesn't even have to do anything. A simple look at his green eyes can make me want to climb him like a tree. It's been that way since the first time I saw him and the desire has only grown since then.

"I don't want you to go," he says against my lips. "I want you here so I can do wicked things to you."

A giggle slips free, and I shove my hands into the back pockets of his jeans, squeezing his ass. "You know if I don't go, Megan will hunt me down."

A deep growl rumbles from his throat. "Fine, but hurry back. I know how to hunt down people too."

I roll to my toes and kiss Hunter again before grabbing my purse from the hook by the door. I pull out my keys from an inside pocket.

"You can last a couple of hours without me," I tell him.

He lets out a dramatic sigh. "Only if I must."

With another laugh, I blow him a kiss, then wiggle my fingers at him. "Love you."

"Love you back."

Hunter opens the door for me, and I step out onto the porch. I feel him watching me as I make my way to my car. Looking back at him as I open the driver's side door, he gives me the smile he reserves only for me. The one that's proof that he loves me just as much as he claims.

I turn on the radio, keeping the volume low, as I drive the ten minutes to the restaurant where I'm meeting Megan. Since she's in town visiting her parents, we decided to have lunch together.

I spot Megan sitting in a window booth when I walk into the restaurant. After pointing her out to the hostess, I walk over to her. She gets up from her seat and we hug.

"It feels like it's been ten years since I saw you," she says after we take our seats.

I laugh. "It's only been a month."

"Really? It seems longer."

I pick up the menu sitting on the table and look at her over the top, my eyes glinting playfully. "Probably because you've had your head full of Mr. CEO."

Her eyes roll heavenward and she snorts. "That's not the only thing that's been full of Mr. CEO," she mutters, avoiding my gaze.

I slap the menu down on the table, and lean across it, my interest more than piqued. "Um, excuse me. You care to elaborate on that statement?"

Slowly, her lips curve into a smile that takes over her entire face. "Yeah, so, I slept with Wyatt."

I grin back at her. "When? How did it happen? Was he any good?" I feel like a teenager bombarding her girlfriend with all of these questions, but damn, I'm almost as invested in what happens between them as she is.

She laughs, but before she can answer, our waitress walks up. After giving her my drink order, I impatiently wait for Megan to give hers.

"Spill," I demand the moment the waitress is out of ear shot.

Her dimples pop out with her big grin. "It happened a few nights ago. How it happened is cliché as hell. And, girl," now it's her turn to lean over the table as she lowers her voice, "good doesn't even come close to how well that man fucks. Today is the first day I've been able to walk properly since it happened."

"A few nights ago? Why are you just now telling me?"

"I wanted to tell you in person."

I can understand that. It's always better to tell your best friend juicy details face to face.

"Fine. I'll let that slide." I roll my hand in a gesture for her to continue. "Now tell me how it happened. I don't care how cliché it sounds."

"Let's order first. This may take a while, and I'm starving."

After we call the waitress back over, she takes our order, and brings our drinks, Megan begins her story.

"A few nights ago, I stayed late to finish some reports due the next day. Everyone had left for the night, or so I thought. I was in the elevator leaving when a hand appeared between the closing doors."

"Let me guess. It was Wyatt."

She plays with the ring around the cloth napkin, rolling it around. "He said some pretty nasty things to me earlier in the day, so I ignored him. I was done with his uncaring ass. No more secret crush. As far as I was concerned, he could jump off a high-rise building for all I cared. My silence apparently didn't bother him, because he didn't acknowledge my presence in the elevator."

When she frowns, I reach across the table and grab her hand.

"What happened?"

The concentrated look disappears and she looks at me. "We were a few floors from the first when the elevator suddenly stopped. I looked over and saw him with his finger on the emergency stop button. After what he had said earlier that day, I was angry that he would entrap me in an elevator with him and figured he was taking the opportunity to spew more hatred at me. Furious, I walked across that damn elevator and stood in front of him. When I demanded he start it again, he only said "No." She mimics a deep voice. "That's when I decided I'd had enough and lifted my hand to smack the shit out of him."

"Oh damn." I laugh. "I bet he didn't take that too kindly. Not that he didn't deserve it."

"It never happened," she tells me. "He caught my hand, and the next thing I knew, I was up against the elevator wall with my legs around his waist and his mouth devouring mine."

"Holy crap."

"You got that right. I was just as shocked as you are." She laughs. "It wasn't long before we were ripping off each other's clothes. After what he said to me earlier, I still had a lot of pent-up anger, and you can believe I took it out on him. The sex was rough, raw, and aggressive." She sighs. "But it was the best sex I had ever had in my entire fucking life. I left without saying a word to him, and I haven't seen him since. He was out of the office the last couple of days."

"Has he tried calling you?"

"A couple of times, but I let them go to voicemail."

"Are you planning to see him again? I mean, obviously besides seeing him at work."

"I don't know." She slides her hands over the table and laces her fingers together. "The asshole needs to pay for how he's treated me. I think I'm going to make him stew for a bit. I want to know if he's really interested or if I was just a convenient hole to stick his dick in."

"Good for you. Maybe bringing him down a peg or two will teach him a lesson."

She nods. "I really hope so, because I can't imagine never having that kind of sex again."

That makes me laugh. "I'm sure he'll see the error of his ways and come crawling back to you, begging for your forgiveness."

"I guess we'll see." She sits quietly for a moment, her eyes locked on mine, her expression thoughtful. "So, how are you doing? Anything exciting going on?"

"We're good. Nothing too exciting. Hunter was gone most of the night a couple of nights ago."

"Oh yeah?" Her brow rises. "How did that go?"

Megan is aware of my anxiety when Hunter is away. I have spoken to her many times about why I get so stressed out. She's calmed me down several times during panic attacks.

"It was okay." I pick at the cuticle on my thumb nail. "Mom and Dad stayed with me. It's ridiculous that, as a grown woman in her thirties, I freak out when my husband is away overnight."

Megan stops my cuticle picking by grabbing my hand. "It's not ridiculous at all, Cat. Some people just don't do well being alone."

"Yeah, but why am I like that?" I give her a questioning look. "I wasn't like this when I was younger."

A wrinkle forms on her forehead as her hand squeezes mine. "There's no telling what caused it. Have you spoken to your doctor about it? Maybe the nightmares have something to do with it."

I stare sightlessly at my hand in hers. "Maybe," I murmur.

Our conversation is interrupted when the waitress approaches with our food. Megan and I chat about mundane things while we eat. I miss seeing my friend regularly. She's only an hour away, but between our schedules, we don't see each other as often as I'd like.

"How are your parents and brothers? Is Noah still enjoying college?"

In middle school, Megan and her older brother, Dean, were surprised by the news that their parents were expecting another child. Their parents were just as shocked, especially since Dean Senior had a vasectomy after Megan was born. There was never a question about whether their mother had cheated. Their parents are a lot like mine. You can just see the love radiating between them. If anyone did doubt Meredith's fidelity, it was soon put to rest when Noah came out the spitting image of Dean Senior.

"He's fine. Ready for graduation next year. He already has a job lined up for next summer."

"That's great. He's been a lifesaver to me a couple of times when my computer went kaput. I love the man, but Hunter's computer illiterate."

Megan laughs. "I've put him to use several times myself." Megan wipes her mouth with her napkin and places it on her plate. "Izzy found out she's pregnant. Dean's over the moon."

I smile, happiness spreading through me for Dean and his wife. "Really? I can just imagine how happy they must be. I know they've been trying for years."

"The news came out of nowhere. Izzy went for an endoscopy for some digestive problems she had been having. A pregnancy test was required because of the medicine they give you to knock you out. The test came back positive. I'm pretty sure Dean passed out when he heard the news, but of course, he'd never admit it."

I giggle, not surprised Dean wouldn't admit to something so unmanly. Neither would Hunter. I think it's a man thing.

We spend the next hour catching up before I insist on paying the bill. I walk with Megan to her car to give me the gift she bought me since she won't be here for my birthday next week. My eyes well up with tears when I unwrap a painting she commissioned of Hunter and me on our wedding day. We're facing each other beneath a weeping willow tree. Hunter's head is tilted down, and mine is tilted back. We're in our wedding clothes. The attention to detail is stunning.

After a long hug, we part ways, and I get into my car after carefully placing the painting in the trunk. I know the perfect place to put it. I'm not sure why I never put pictures there, but there's a blank space on the wall in the living room where it would look perfect.