Sealed with a Kiss

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

A WEEK AFTER Seth’s admission to his family, things had begun to settle down. Just as Hunter hoped, the murder charges against Molly’s father had been dismissed. Seth had confessed and been processed. They lived in a small town with few secrets, and the police had no trouble believing that Paul’s dark personality had turned even darker at home. And since Seth had been able to tell the authorities where he’d tossed the gun, they found the missing weapon after a long, drawn-out search of the garbage dump.

Hunter’s job was done and he was no longer needed in Connecticut. Which was why, when the family decided to celebrate, Hunter remained in the office that had been his bedroom for the last few weeks and packed up his belongings. He’d been invited but he’d decided he had to start pulling away.

He wasn’t a part of the family, therefore he shouldn’t be part of their get-together. It should have been simple. It was anything but.

With past clients, he found it all in a day’s work to walk away when the case ended. But Hunter had bonded with everyone here and not simply because he’d lived with them.

These people had gotten to him. They’d opened their home and their hearts. They’d trusted him unconditionally. And he could tell, from the eccentric commander whose current hair color was a gothic black, to Jessie, whose mood swings he couldn’t keep up with, that they genuinely liked him, too.

And then there was Molly. He’d been avoiding thinking about her all morning because he didn’t want to imagine saying goodbye. He’d come here with the intent of getting her out of his system and walking away yet now that he was about to accomplish his goal, the thought of leaving her turned his stomach.

But he had a career and a life of sorts waiting for him back home-and no way of knowing if Molly could make the changes she needed to move forward with her life. And he couldn’t possibly trust her with his heart until he knew for sure she’d confronted her demons and stood on her own.

A knock sounded at the door, interrupting his rationalizing. “Come in,” he called.

Molly stepped inside and shut the door behind her. “You’re missing the gathering,” she said, obviously eager for him to join them.

He inclined his head. “I’ll stop by the party in a few minutes.”

“Not a party. Nobody feels right saying we’re having a family party given the circumstances. But they still wanted to be together.”

She tightened the belt on her cream-colored dress and rocked back and forth on simple black ballet flats. All in all she looked appealing.

Too appealing.

“You know you’re part of the family, don’t you?” Molly asked.

“Come on. You know I’m just the hired gun,” he said, not quite pulling off the joke.

She shook her head. “After all we’ve been through? You’re like family.” She swept her arm around her, an expansive gesture meant to include Hunter with the people in the other room.

Her gaze settled on his open duffel bag on the couch, stuffed full with his clothes and things. The shock and hurt in her eyes was obvious.

And he was about to hurt her even more. “I represent people charged with serious crimes all the time and when I get them off, they’re always grateful. That doesn’t make me like family. ”

She winced. “I thought we’d taken a step forward.”

“We have.” He strode toward her until they stood so close her fragrance enveloped him. Until he wanted her so badly he could barely think. “We’re friends.”

She wasn’t ready for anything more. And he wasn’t up to explaining why yet again. He’d already told her she hadn’t made peace with her past, as much as she believed otherwise. She hadn’t confronted her mother, she hadn’t pulled her real clothes out of the closet and tested her family’s love by being Molly. And she was still living in her father’s house with a half-assed job that barely touched on her abilities.

Which left him exactly where he had been when he started this case.

Alone.

Molly blinked and stared at Hunter. His words stunned her into silence. She just couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She paused, licked her lips and drew a long, deep breath. He was leaving. She should have expected it, after all he didn’t live here, but she was stunned just the same. His casually tossed words didn’t help her make any more sense of the moment.

“Friends,” she whispered. Was that all they were?

“I’ve done my job here,” he said, touching her cheek. “Your father’s free, Seth soon will be. You have your family together. It’s everything you ever wanted.” His voice was low, gruff as he turned away. He walked to the couch and zipped the top of his duffel closed. “I’m ready to go join the others. Are you coming with me?”

She nodded, her throat too full to speak.

On the surface, his statement was right on. Her family was everything she had ever wanted. But as she walked with Hunter to the next room, Molly couldn’t ignore the contradiction.

Her father was free, her family was together, she should be full to bursting with love and emotion, yet she felt completely hollow instead.

FRANK LOOKED around the room at his family, taking in his mother, his smart, wise college-age daughter, his feisty youngest and his newly found firstborn, then the woman he loved and the boy he adored like a son.

The general lifted his glass, which he’d filled with ginger ale. “A toast,” he said.

Everyone quieted down at the sound of his voice.

“To family. My family, which includes every person in this room. We looked out for each other in good times and bad. We’ve seen one another through the worst of times and we’re going to come out the other side.”

“Hear, hear,” the commander said, tipping her glass against his.

He met Sonya’s warm, grateful gaze. Last night she’d told him she was amazed he didn’t harbor any anger against Seth for letting him take the blame for a murder he didn’t commit.

But Seth was his child. Not by blood but by everything else that counted.

And as soon as a reasonable amount of time lapsed after Paul’s death, Frank wanted to make their family public and official. Sonya agreed. They’d have to break it to the children, although Frank hoped everyone would be in their corner.

“I wish the man responsible for keeping us together as a family were here for this toast,” Frank said. But Hunter had taken off soon after he’d joined the party.

And Molly had been silent ever since.

He looked at his children and had one wish. They should be as lucky in life as he’d been. He’d found love twice, and he’d gotten a chance to have a relationship with the daughter he hadn’t known existed. They all deserved nothing less.

The doorbell rang and Molly, obviously grateful for the escape, rushed to get it. A gnawing feeling settled in his stomach. He had a hunch about who was there.

He followed Molly and stepped up beside her as she opened the door and found Francie on the other side. He glanced over her shoulder and saw a cab sat at the curb.

He narrowed his gaze. Whatever she wanted, it couldn’t be good news.

MOLLY’S HEAD POUNDED. First Hunter caught her off guard by not only packing but thanking the family, wishing them well and leaving, all within half an hour. Now her mother was here in all her designer glory. One thing for sure, if she ever truly ran short on money, she could hock the clothes in her closet and baubles around her neck and probably live well for the rest of her life. Not that Francie would ever stoop to such levels. Molly wondered what poor schmuck she’d find next.

“It’s really not a good time,” Frank said from beside Molly.

Francie glanced inside. “Oh, I’m interrupting a party.”

“It’s not a party,” Molly and her father replied at the same time.

Molly shook her head and grinned. “It’s a family gathering.” She opted not to explain further. Francie had been by the house often enough to know exactly what was going on with her father’s case and with the family.

Molly might not be up to seeing her, but she couldn’t leave her on the doorstep either. “Why don’t you come in?”

“Actually, I’m only here to say goodbye. I have a taxi waiting.” Francie gestured to the street where a Yellow Cab emitted fumes.

“Leaving?” Molly’s stomach churned. She didn’t know why. Her mother came and went. That was her M.O. And since on this visit, Molly hadn’t exactly made her feel welcome, she couldn’t understand why she was suddenly feeling panicked now.

“Well, yes. I stayed through your ordeal and now that it’s over, you no longer need me,” Francie said.

Molly shook her head. It was impossible to know if her mother was telling the truth or if the truth just happened to suit Francie’s own time frame.

“We never had our talk,” Frank said to his ex.

From what her father had said, every time he tried to corner her mother and talk about the past, she changed the subject or decided it was time to leave. She had shopping to do or a manicure, or calls to make. She’d kept the taxis in town on a short leash. Molly figured her mother was still flush from her last divorce settlement because things with Lacey’s uncle had gone south before she’d come into any money there.

“Nonsense,” Francie said to Frank. “It was so lovely to see you again and catch up. I’m glad Molly found you. I really am.”

Now, that was probably the one completely true statement Francie had made. It was, Molly thought, as if Francie’s behavior all those years ago had never occurred. Or if it had, Francie felt nobody should hold a grudge.

“Okay, I need to be going now.”

That same panicked feeling took hold. “Wait!”

Her mother glanced nervously back at the cab. Time is money. She didn’t have to say it for Molly to know what she was thinking. And she’d be damned if she’d offer to cover her mother’s cab fare just so she could have five more minutes to say her piece.

And that was why she was panicked, Molly realized. Because she had a few things to say to her mother that couldn’t wait until the next time the woman flitted into the country.

“Either tell him to wait or send him on his way and you can call another one. I need to talk to you.”

Francie blew a kiss. “I’ll call you, I promise.”

“No, you’ll talk to me now. I’m your daughter. I don’t ask anything of you ever, but at the moment I need five minutes of your time.” Molly placed a firm hand on her mother’s shoulder.

Francie shocked her by stepping inside without argument.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Frank said, heading back to the family room.

Molly felt the rest of the family watching them, but she didn’t care. “We need to come to an understanding.” Molly heard her words, unrehearsed, unprepared. And as she spoke, she finally understood what Hunter meant when he said she and her mother hadn’t resolved anything. Because though Molly had yelled at her, Francie had never heard.

“Darling, we understand each other perfectly.”

Molly raised her eyebrows. “If we did, you wouldn’t flit around the world and show up in my life only when it suits you. So from now on, if you want to come visit, you need to call. I need to know you’re coming and you need to ask if the timing works for me. ”

Francie blinked. “I’m your mother. Surely you wouldn’t deny me a visit.”

Molly smiled despite it all. Her mother could be so childlike sometimes it was scary. “No, I probably wouldn’t. Not even if my father were accused of murder and everything around me was a mess,” she admitted.

Francie’s beaming smile told Molly she hadn’t gone far enough in her explanation.

“You see? There’s no reason for such formality between us.”

Molly sighed. “It isn’t about being formal.” She drew in a deep breath and continued. “It’s about my feelings. It would be nice to know you thought about me long enough to at least give me a heads-up. An occasional surprise is okay, too, I guess. Just as long as I hear from you in between. No more months of silence while I wonder if you’re still alive overseas somewhere. And no more flakiness when I call you. If you really can’t talk, call me back. Some common courtesy is all I’m asking. Treat me like I’m your daughter, not an unwanted inconvenience.”

To Molly’s horror, she choked up on the last bit. Her eyes filled too fast for her to get a grip on her emotions.

“God, what a day it’s been.” Molly swiped at her tears with the back of her hand.

Francie looked at Molly. Really looked at her, then reached out and pulled her into an awkward hug. “I guess I can try to be a bit less self-absorbed.” She patted her back and then stepped away.

Leave it to Francie to make it more about her and less about her daughter. But considering she seemed to have gotten the key message, Molly grinned. “Yes, that would be a good thing.”

Francie pressed a finger to her eyes, making Molly wonder if she could possibly be feeling emotional, too.

“Okay, then. Well, I do have to go.”

Molly clasped her hands in front of her. “I know.”

“But I’ll call.” Her mother lifted her small purse strap tighter around her shoulder and met Molly’s gaze. “I’ve said that before, haven’t I?”

Molly nodded and her mother glanced down at the floor. “A feeling of déjà vu swept over me,” she said, obviously embarrassed and much more aware of herself and her actions than she’d been before.

How long it would last was anybody’s guess, but for now, Molly’s words seemed to have had an impact.

“Well, this time I will.” Francie kissed Molly on the cheek and started for the door. She paused, turned back and pulled Molly into an impulsive hug again.

Then, in a flurry of waves, Francie was gone. Except this time Molly didn’t feel the anger of the past. She felt more accepting of her flawed parent and a touch hopeful for the future.

Not delusional, she thought wryly.

Just hopeful.

LIFE QUICKLY returned to normal around Molly. Robin went back to school; Jessie and Seth did, too. Although Seth was in counseling, Hunter had worked out a plea deal that involved no jail time for the teen. The general opened his office again with Sonya by his side, helping him pull the records together and start over. And though Frank wanted Molly to be his partner, one week into the transition, Molly knew it wasn’t what she wanted. Shocking, but true.

Molly had woken up that morning and everyone in the house had been out doing their own thing. With no crisis to attend to, she had been forced to take a good long look at herself and her life.

She didn’t like what she saw. She was alone in her father’s house, without a nine-to-five job to head off to. She was a twenty-nine-year-old woman with her favorite clothes hidden in her closet because she’d covered up her real self in order to be liked and appreciated. Meanwhile, the one man who’d accepted her, really accepted her without reservation, she’d let walk out on her.

Not that she’d seen it that way at the time. When Hunter first left, Molly’d convinced herself that he was the one running home without facing what could be between them. She’d rationalized that his departure had everything to do with how she’d walked out on him the last time and told herself he was the coward.

Then she’d had that unexpected moment with her mother, where she found herself taking Hunter’s advice and setting down rules that she could live with. She’d taken control.

Which led to the realization that what might have worked for her before her father’s murder case was now a stale excuse for living since she’d tasted life with Hunter in it.

Molly knocked on her father’s office door.

“Come in!” he called.

She paused just inside the doorway. “Can we talk?”

“Of course.” He rose and met her in the middle of the room. “Let’s sit here.” He gestured to two leather chairs across from the desk.

They settled in and her father spoke first. “Well, look at you.” His gaze took in her red blouse, tight jeans and red cowboy boots. Did I ever tell you I love that color red? Your mother was wearing it the first time I met her. It’s one of the better memories of her I have,” he said, laughing.

Molly smiled.

“I’ve seen the boots before but not the rest of the outfit. Is it new?” he asked.

She clasped her hands in front of her. “Not new to me. Just new to you. You see, the thing is, I haven’t been totally honest with you.”

He narrowed his eyes. “About what?”

“About who I really am. Or should I say who I was before I settled in here with you.” She abruptly rose from her seat and began to pace the room, more comfortable moving while she explained. “You might have noticed I have acceptance issues.”

Frank spread his arms out in front of him. “Who wouldn’t, given how you were raised?” He spoke with calm understanding.

Molly was grateful for his support. It was one of the things she loved most about him. His unconditional love. She only wished she’d trusted in it sooner. “Well, when I found out I had a father out there and a family, I wanted so badly to fit in I would have done anything to make sure it happened.” Her face heated at the admission.

Her father rose and stepped closer. “This family has had its share of scandal and problems. I’m sure nothing you tell me is going to be all that shocking,” he assured her.

Molly paused in the center of the room, looked at the general and laughed. “No, it’s going to sound very immature considering that kind of lead-in.” She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “I’m not a conservative dresser like Sonya and Robin. I love bright bold colors. I’d rather be more outspoken than accepting, and the first eight months here, holding my tongue while Jessie steamrolled over me, went against everything in my nature.” She finished her explanation with a long gasp for air.

“And you thought by hiding these sides of you, I’d…what? Love you more?” He raised his eyebrows, his forehead wrinkling more than usual.

“I was afraid if you knew the real me, you would love me less. Or worse, you wouldn’t love me at all. Don’t forget, I’m not a child you raised, who you bonded with and loved from the beginning, flaws and all. I’m an adult who showed up on your doorstep, fully formed. You’d have every right to not like me, if that’s how you felt. I just didn’t want to give you-or Jessie or Robin-any ammunition.” She swallowed hard and met his gaze.

Amusement swelled in his expression. “I notice you didn’t mention the commander as one of those people you feared disappointing. Am I right in thinking that in my mother, you knew you’d found the one person that would understand you?”

Molly nodded. “She’s most like me.”

“So is Jessie. I’m not sure if you realize it yet.”

She laughed. “She tried to blackmail me into lending my clothes and chose my favorite yellow sweater to hold hostage. I think I figured that out by now. We made unbelievable progress until I told Hunter what she confided to me.”

The general placed his hand on her shoulder. She appreciated the warm, supportive touch. “Jessie knows you saved Seth’s life by doing what you did. She’s a smart girl. She might try to make you pay for the hell of it, just to see what she can milk out of you using guilt. But in her heart, you’ve proven yourself to her.”

“Maybe.” Molly met his gaze. “But whether I have or I haven’t, I’ve decided to be me.”

“That’s all anybody wants you to be. We’re not like your mother. There’s no expectation to be anything other than what you are. Seth accidentally shot his father and didn’t confess even after I was arrested and he’s still my family. There’s nothing about you that could make me-or your sisters-turn you away.”

She nodded, her throat too full for her to speak. She pulled herself together and said, “I know that now. Maybe it’s late but I finally get it.”

Her father pulled her into a long hug. “I love you, Molly.”

She smiled. “I love you, too. Which makes what I have to say that much harder. I can’t go into business with you.” She’d use her lawyer skills, Molly thought. Just hopefully not with her father. Hopefully somewhere in Hawken’s Cove, Hunter’s hometown. She swallowed hard.

He stepped backward, his hands on her arms. “Because?”

“It’s time for me to try to put my life in order.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Does this restructuring include Hunter? I couldn’t help but notice how miserable you’ve been since he’s been gone.”

She smiled grimly. “That obvious, huh?”

The general nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“Well, I don’t know if he’ll have me or if it’s too late, but I have to try.”

He grinned. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. Go get him, Tiger.”

Molly drew a deep breath. “Yeah, well, wish me luck because I’m going to need it.”

“Good luck, honey.”

Molly hoped words were enough. Because words were all she had to convince Hunter to give them another try.

HUNTER DID HAVE a life waiting for him when he returned home and he threw himself into it at full speed, minus the drinking and the women that had been in his life before Molly’s return. His office staff was thrilled to see him. A new capital murder case tied him up day and night. He made time for some friends, though at times it amazed him he still had friends other than Lacey and Ty, and had dinner with the guys one night after work. It was an empty life without Molly, but it was a life. And he’d only been living it for a little over a week.

Lacey had hired someone to come in and clean then stock the refrigerator before his return. He shook his head, still amazed at how she cared for her family, even long-distance. Still, he wasn’t spending that much time at home in his apartment and for good reason. If he worked late at the office, he concentrated on work. If he worked from home, he thought about how quiet the place was, how lonely he was.

He intercommed his secretary and asked her to make a reservation at his favorite pub for dinner at a quiet table in the back. He’d bring his BlackBerry and catch up on e-mails while taking a break from the books and the grisly details of a crime scene.

She buzzed back to let him know they were holding the table for him now. The perks of being a regular customer. He was tossing a legal pad into his duffel along with a few nonconfidential files in case he wanted to look at some things during dinner, when a knock sounded at his door.

He frowned. Talk about a bad time for conversation. Hunter might be a good customer, but not even the local pub would hold his seat for too long. “Come in and make it quick.” He slung his bag over his shoulder, ready to leave as soon as possible.

Hunter ran a casual office atmosphere and his secretary never announced his visitors. So when the door opened wide, he expected one of his associates to walk in and want to talk about their research results.

Instead, he turned to see a vision walk through his door. From the toes of her red cowboy boots to the dark denim of her jeans, up to the matching tomato red, tight zippered hoodie she wore, the woman before him was vintage Molly.

He sucked in a startled breath and dropped his duffel to the floor. “Molly.” He didn’t know what surprised him more, that she was here or what she was wearing.

And damned if he wanted to draw the wrong conclusions or subject himself to any more false hope. But his heart wasn’t listening. It was beating at a rapid pace while his pulse rate spiked.

“Hi.” She raised a hand in a half wave, obviously feeling as awkward as he did. She glanced at the duffel bag at his feet. “Were you on your way out?”

He shrugged. “I was going to get dinner.” Suddenly keeping that reserved table didn’t seem all that important. “What brings you by?”

Molly ran a hand through her tousled but gorgeous blond hair. “I had a question to ask you.”

“And you drove all the way up here to do it?”

“I flew, actually. It seemed faster. Lacey picked me up at the airport.”

Hunter narrowed his gaze. “She’s in town?”

“She and Ty both are. They’re at his mother’s. Listen, can I at least come inside?” Molly knew Hunter’s secretary was right outside and she didn’t want an audience for what she had to say.

He gestured with one hand. “Of course. I’m just surprised to see you.”

She shut the door behind her and walked toward him. “Happy, too, I hope.”

“Always,” he said gruffly.

He looked so good she wanted to throw her arms around him and stay there. But she could see the wariness in his gaze. Too much remained unresolved between them.

Some things had changed though. He wasn’t in a suit or tie. Like her, he seemed to have reverted to something more innately comfortable. She supposed they’d get to that soon enough.

First, there were the internal issues. And though she didn’t know where they’d be when this conversation ended, they had to talk things through.

“When you left, I told myself you were running away.” Molly shook her head and laughed. “That lasted all of five minutes. Then my mother showed up and something inside me snapped. I found myself taking your advice and laying down some ground rules about our relationship. She may not follow them, but at least I can say I tried my best to take control.”

A smile took hold of his sexy mouth. “That’s good. It’s all about how you react to people not how they react to you. You can only control your own feelings and actions, not theirs.”

“It just took me half a lifetime to figure that one out.” Her stomach churned, yet she knew how much had to be said before she could get to the real reason she was here.

“How’s the family?” he asked.

“Good. Good. Even Seth seems to be coping. Everyone else has gone back to their regular lives, thanks to you.” She licked her dry lips.

Hunter shoved his hands into his pockets. “So you’re working with your father now?”

“Actually, I told him that wasn’t what I wanted. Which I have to admit, took me by surprise.” Unable to help it, Molly placed a hand over her nervous stomach.

“Me, too. I thought working with your dad would be the answer to a lifelong dream.” Confusion rang in his voice.

“Things change. I changed.” She inclined her head. “Actually, you changed me.”

He narrowed his gaze. “Oh, yeah? How’s that?”

Molly drew a deep breath. “By accepting me for me, to start with. Except I didn’t realize how much that meant until I lost myself. Which I have to admit is ironic, since I left you to find myself.” She shook her head. “Am I making any sense?” she asked, laughing.

“Surprisingly, yeah. You are. So go on.”

“You’re the trial lawyer. I’m not used to being so long-winded, but you do need to hear all this, so here goes. Once everyone in the house went back to their lives, I was alone and had to really look at where I stood. It was like, at the moment I had everything I’d been looking for my whole life, the most important piece was missing.”

“And that would be?” He leaned closer.

His aftershave surrounded her but didn’t throw her off track. “Me. I was missing me. Here I was at twenty-eight with the family I’d gone in search of, the acceptance I’d wanted, but no real job, no home to call my own, no sense of who I was because I’d buried my clothes and my individuality and most importantly…” Oh, this was the hard part, Molly thought.

“Go on,” he whispered.

“I realized that everything I’d always wanted, everything I had, meant nothing to me without the man I love.” She said the last on a rush, embarrassed that she was admitting it when she had no idea how he felt. What he wanted.

But he deserved no less. In fact, he deserved so much more.

Like love. A word she’d avoided since seeing Hunter again because it would have meant facing her fears. Now she had confronted them and she was here, free of hang-ups and old issues.

“I love you,” she said, her heart ready to beat out of her chest.

Because anything she’d felt for him in the past paled in comparison to her overwhelming emotions now. It had merely been practice for the real thing. “I know it’s late, I know I put you through hell, but I love you and I hope you love me, too.” She put her cards on the table, her heart in his hands and waited for him to break it.

Because now she knew exactly what her rejection must have done to his ego and his heart.

Hunter stared at the woman offering him everything. He had to be dreaming. How else did a man go from merely existing to complete elation in the span of five minutes?

“Molly-”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. It’s over, you’re finished, you’ve had enough. I completely understand,” she said, beginning to ramble. “It’s okay. I had to tell you how I felt anyway because you helped me reach this point, but that doesn’t mean you have to be part of my future.”

He took a step closer, grasping her shaking hand in his. “What if I want to be?” Hunter asked and before she could reply with a long monologue, he raised his free hand and touched her mouth with one finger.

As much as he needed her to keep quiet for a moment, he also needed to feel her lips after such a long drought.

“You still want to be with me? Really?” she asked, amazed. “I didn’t blow it?”

He smiled, a free and easy grin for the first time in ages. “I only had to take one look at you to know you’re there. You’ve reached the point where you’re you. The one I knew but better. Stronger. So if you’re saying you’re ready to commit to me, too, do you really think I’m going to argue?”

She squealed with delight and threw her arms around his neck, sealing her lips over his. He kissed her back, with his mouth, his tongue, his entire being. She was his. He could embrace her and a future for the first time without fear of it being taken away, and he had every intention of savoring the moment.

Until he remembered something important. Hunter broke the kiss, tipping his head back and meeting her eyes. “When you walked in, you said you had a question for me.” He didn’t know what it was, but he had a hunch he was going to like it.

Anything Molly wanted at this point, he’d willingly give.

“Oh, yeah. I did, didn’t I?” Molly couldn’t help but grin. Maybe she’d be smiling for the rest of her life. She didn’t know. She didn’t care. Besides, didn’t she finally deserve to be happy?

“Are you going to ask me?” He brushed her hair off her cheek, letting his fingertips linger in a caress.

“Um…I still need to get a real job and a real apartment-”

“No apartment. I’m not letting you out of my sight ever again,” he said, firm on that point.

She grinned, relieved. Thrilled. Beyond ecstatic. “That’s good since I came here to ask you-what are you doing for the rest of your life?”

Hunter wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. His warm gaze never left hers as he spoke. “I plan to spend it with you.” A statement he sealed with a kiss.