Hunter sat by Dex’s big window, watching the little cabin. He’d seen Penny pull up and head inside. Now that he knew she was there with Allie instead of off with Trent somewhere, some of his tension seemed to ease.
Still, he couldn’t look away from Allie’s door. He was waiting for her to leave. He had to talk to her, had to explain.
“Man, you’ve got it bad,” Dex said behind him.
Hunter glanced at his friend, who was relaxing on the couch. “Got what?”
“You’ve got it bad…for Penny.”
Hunter didn’t bother arguing. What would be the point?
Suddenly, Penny emerged from the cabin and hurried the short distance to her car. Once the headlights turned on, Hunter set down his half full glass of whiskey, and pulled out his keys.
“Go get her, tiger,” Dex said, raising his glass to him with a grin.
Hunter ignored him and raced out of the house to his own SUV. If he hurried, he could probably catch her before she made it back to town. As he pulled up behind her, he honked several times, and flashed his lights. When she finally pulled off the road, he parked behind her and got out. She had already gotten out of her Tacoma and had thrown her hands up in the air.
“Have you completely lost your mind? First you start a fight in the Grizzly, and then you come up behind me, blaring your horn and lights and scaring the piss out of me! I mean, what the hell is wrong with—”
Hunter cut her off with his mouth, his hands cradling her face as he kissed her. He couldn’t think straight when she was yelling at him in the glow of his headlights, her hair flying around her shoulders and her breasts heaving below the V-neck of her T-shirt. When her arms slipped around his waist and she pulled him against her, he stopped thinking about all the things he wanted to say. He just concentrated on the feel of her lips against him, of her tongue tangling with his.
He pressed her against the tailgate of her truck, and with his hard cock straining against his jeans cradled in the softness of her stomach, he almost lost it. He let go of her face and picked her up, carrying her back to his SUV. When he opened the back door, she didn’t say anything. She simply scooted onto the seat and waited for him to join her.
By the time Hunter shut the door behind him, Penny’s shirt was over her head and nowhere to be seen. The dim light from the moon outside shone in on her skin, highlighting the way her breasts rose over the lace of her bra. Hunter slipped a hand into her hair, cradling the back of her head.
“God, you’re beautiful.”
“Uh-huh,” she mumbled as she pulled him to her. Hunter let her, loving the way her mouth moved eagerly under his.
She climbed over him, straddling his lap, and he grabbed her ass in his hands, his eyes opening in time to watch her reach behind to unsnap her bra.
And that’s when a flash of red and blue lights flicked across her face. It only took him a second to realize why.
“Shit.”
Penny scrambled off Hunter’s lap, trying to get her bra rehooked. Finally, she gave up on that and she slid down to the floor of the SUV, looking for her shirt.
“Here.” Hunter pulled his shirt off and handed it to her.
He blocked the window for her as she put it on. She got it into place just as someone tapped on the glass.
“Can you please step out of the car slowly?”
Penny recognized Deputy Luke Teller’s voice, and almost groaned aloud as Hunter did as he asked.
“Hey, Luke, how’s it going?”
Penny could hear them talking through the open door. “Hunter? Uh, what the hell are you doing out here? And without a shirt?”
“It’s hot outside. You never drive home shirtless?”
Penny would have smacked him if she wasn’t hiding behind the seat. He couldn’t have come up with something better than that?
“Not usually. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Isn’t that Penny Davis’s Tacoma?”
Penny poked her head out the door with a forced smile. “Hey, Luke.”
Luke raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Penny. You have car trouble or something?”
“Would it make you feel better if I said yes?”
“No.” Luke put the flashlight in his hand back on his belt. “How about the two of you take it somewhere else, huh? It’s dangerous stopping on the side of the road like this.”
Hunter glanced at her with so much heat that her face burned. “Be happy to, Luke.”
But now that she’d gained some distance from Hunter’s incredible kiss, she wasn’t so sure about continuing. There were so many factors in the mix. She wasn’t only deciding between Hunter and Trent, but the two jobs. And if she decided to take the San Diego job, there was no point in starting anything with either of them.
But if she took the job in Red Lodge…
It seemed that anything was possible.