Chapter Twenty-Nine

Hunter hadn’t been the least bit disappointed when the motel manager told him he only had the Love Nest cabin available.

He didn’t mind paying the two-night minimum.

And if it was wrong that he silently prayed for the storm to continue until Sunday, then he was the worst kind of wrong. Because having Callie all to himself, remembering their nights in the bunkhouse when they talked before falling asleep, made this the best bachelor party weekend ever.

Sorry, Maverick.

Laying eyes on the inside of the cabin now made it even better. “Wow,” he repeated. A room that looked like this deserved a second accolade.

“I will never judge a cabin by its outside ever again,” Callie said, equally awed. “It’s like we’ve opened a door to a different world. Caveman meets Parisian boudoir.”

Picture a rustic room of solid rock, pink, gold, and black animal prints, French-style furnishings, a gold chandelier, and a massive fireplace.

The walls, ceiling, and floor were literally natural stone. A large, amoeba-shaped fur rug rested between a king bed, the fireplace, and an armchair and ottoman.

Callie skipped further into the room. “I love it.”

Hunter did, too. He didn’t want to think prematurely, but this might be the best weekend of his life.

“The bathroom is the same!” Callie called out over her shoulder. “It feels like a cavern, only there’s small white lights and fluffy pink towels.”

“Should I start a fire?”

“Yes, please.” She slipped off his jacket and placed it over the arm of the chair. She took a good look around the room—there was a gift basket filled with items for lovers that he pretended not to notice—before kicking off her shoes and sitting on the bed with her legs crossed. “I’ll sleep on the chair and ottoman.”

“No, you won’t. I’ll take the chair and you’ll sleep in the bed. You slept on my couch for weeks, and there’s no way you’re sleeping anywhere but where you are right now.”

“You’re much bigger than I am, Hunt. There’s no way you’ll be comfortable.”

“I’ll be fine.” As the first flames of the fire crackled, he wished the sleeping arrangements included them wrapped in each other’s arms.

“Fine. But please let me know how much I owe you for the room.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“Yes, I do. I want to pay my half.”

He took a seat in the armchair. Her serious expression told him he’d waste his breath arguing with her. “Okay.”

It was easy to keep eye contact with her, open his emotions to her. He hoped she saw how much he enjoyed being stuck with her. How much she made a rainstorm feel fun. This was already a thousand times better than the bike rides he’d taken with Bella and Vivian, trying to put Callie out of his mind.

“Do you think they have room service?” she asked, glancing around for a menu, he assumed. “I’m starving.” She didn’t wait for an answer. She crawled over to the phone next to the head of the bed, giving him a nice view of her spectacular ass in her leggings.

“Hello, this is the Love Nest.” She giggled. “Sorry. We were wondering if there’s room service available? Oh, okay. Two orders of chicken nuggets and fries would be great, then.” She covered the receiver with her hand and looked at him. “What would you like to drink?”

“Coke is fine.”

“And two Cokes please. Great. Thank you.” She hung up. “Their chef couldn’t make it in because of the rain, so the only hot food available was chicken nuggets and fries.”

“Perfect.”

She fluffed up three pillows behind her back and leaned against the wall. “It kind of is,” she agreed. “Comfort food goes great with being stranded. Although we’re not really stranded.”

“I’m pretty happy with where we are.”

“Me, too.” She picked up her phone. “I’ll text Nova to let her know we’re here.”

“I’ll text Maverick.” He didn’t think his brother would be too upset with their absence. After all, there wasn’t anything they could do about it. Sure enough, when Mav texted back, he told them to stay safe and touch base in the morning.

“Nova wants pictures.” Callie moved to her knees and took some pictures of the room. “I’m pretty sure our cabin wins over theirs.” She paused, mid-type on her phone, and looked up at him. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want to take away from where they’re staying.”

“I made the arrangements. The two villas I booked are a different kind of amazing than this, so I think you’re good to share.” While this was fun and imaginative, the other was sophisticated and classic.

“Okay. Thanks.” She finished texting, then watched the fire.

Outside, the storm continued to rage. Inside, warmth and contentment filled the space.

As much as he wanted all of Callie, just being close to her like this relieved the ache in his chest. He took a slow, deep breath as the fire crackled.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. “You look all better.”

“I am.”

“That’s good. Can I ask you a question?”

“Only if you promise never to ask that before asking me a question.”

He liked that. It meant she didn’t mind his unrelenting interest. “Promise.” This particular inquiry had been on his mind for some time, and now that they were stuck in this cabin together, he finally decided to ask it. “This is a serious question,” he prefaced. “The answer will determine if we can still be friends after this weekend.”

She chuckled. “Uh-oh. Are you sure you want to ask it, then?”

“Are you implying that I need you more than you need me?” He totally did.

“You said it, not me.” Her teasing, closed-mouth smile did his heart good. He’d said the same thing to her.

“Did you check out my butt the first night you stayed with me?” Okay, so it wasn’t exactly serious or important.

Her eyes widened. “What kind of question is that?”

“I’ll answer that if you promise never to answer my questions with a question.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Her gaze darted around the room, telling him her answer.

He grinned. “You did.”

“Not on purpose.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“How was it an accident?” he prodded, enjoying her blush. Not from embarrassment, he sussed out. Rather, she’d been found out.

“It was right there in front of me as I was walking to the bathroom.”

“So was my back, my shoulders, the back of my head…” he said playfully.

She grumbled at the same time her eyes twinkled with humor. “Your butt was paler, so it stuck out.”

He laughed. “I thought I was dreaming when I looked at you. It wasn’t until the morning that I realized you were really there.”

“I thought you were just being cocky.”

“So that’s what you really think of me.” He wasn’t bothered by it. Sometimes he was cocky. Not that night, but she knew that now.

“No,” she said adamantly. “Well, at least not anymore. And for the record, any woman in my position would have checked out your butt.”

“So, on a scale of one to ten—”

“Oh my God.” She rolled her eyes.

“I’m kidding.” Nova had told him in high school that her friends only went to football games to see his butt in his football pants. His sister thought it gross that they talked about him like that. He, on the other hand, had found it awesome.

A knock on the door had them both jumping to their feet.

The same guy who had checked them in delivered their food. Hunter tipped him, then joined Callie on the rug to eat. She’d waited for him before starting.

She held up her can of Coke. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

“From the time I was five or six until ten, I think, this is all I would eat.” She dunked a nugget into ketchup. “My mom hated it.”

“I was one of those weird kids who ate everything.”

“Everything?” she asked with skepticism.

“Pretty much. Speaking of your mom, will your family be home soon?”

“According to my sister’s last text, not until January. They really like the nomadic lifestyle.”

She didn’t say it, but Hunter heard it: they chose that way of life over being a part of hers. It pained him. He put his hand on her knee. “I’m sorry, Cal. I know you miss them.”

“I admire their humanitarian work, but it hurts having them gone so long.” She straightened her legs, effectively dislodging his hand.

“Have you ever thought about joining them?”

“All the time.”

“But?” He grabbed a few fries.

“Since my parents’ relationship is complicated, it’s not always easy for me to be around them. Plus, they rely on Brooke for a lot and when I’m there, I just tend to get in the way.” She took a slow, deep breath. “Let’s talk about something else,” she urged, her voice stronger, her posture straighter as she dug back into the food. “These chicken tenders are really good.” She took a big bite of one. “And so are the fries,” she added with her mouth full. “What should we get for dessert?”

This amazing woman. She had no idea how strong she was. “Whatever you want.”

“I like that answer.”

He ran a few of his fries through her ketchup. She stole his last chicken nugget. Then she once again crawled over to the phone, making his jeans tight behind his zipper.

“Hello again. Can you tell me if you have anything for dessert?” She nodded silently as she listened. “Okay, we’ll take that. Can you make it a double?” She smiled into the phone. “Thank you.”

“What are we having?”

“The Love Nest special,” she said with a gleam in her green eyes.

He had to refrain from leaning over and kissing her senseless. When she looked at him like that—with mischief and affection—he felt like he’d won a prize. He had a small collection of them committed to memory. He wanted a million more.

“Everything I do with you is special,” he said.

“Shut up.”

“What?”

“You don’t need to feed me cheesy lines to…” She busied herself by gathering their plates onto the room service tray.

“To what? And I’m being serious. You’re someone special whether you believe it or not. Now let’s circle back to you finishing that sentence. To…kiss you again?” he ventured, hoping like hell it was true.

She lifted her eyes to his, and time stopped.

Her eyes said so much, and without a word, he knew she felt the same constant pull he did. And the only way to take the edge off would be to jump off that edge with both feet. He swore to himself he’d catch her. Make this the best night of her life and tomorrow morning tell her again how special she was no matter what happened next.

He wanted her to be his only next.

He’d take whatever she offered.

Slowly, their faces moved closer. Inch by inch, her mouth came within reach. The sweet torture revved his desire for her. Almost there.

Knock! Knock! “Room service.”

She pulled back with a coy smile playing at her perfectly pink lips. “Dessert is here!” She jumped to her feet.

He moved quicker. Grabbed her wrist and tugged her to his chest. He couldn’t let the moment go without getting a small taste of her. She placed her palm over his heart. Tilted her head back to look up at him. Blinked her agreement.

One quick kiss to get them through dessert.

He’d miscalculated, though, because the second their mouths met, he didn’t want to stop.

Another knock, louder this time, broke their connection. “Room service!”

“We have to get that,” Callie said, a little breathless. A lot sexy. “Our special is melting.” She hurried to the door.

He picked up the dinner tray to do an exchange.

The dessert tray contained the biggest ice cream sundae he’d ever seen, piled high and wide with numerous scoops and toppings. He laughed. “Good thing you asked for a double.”

“I know. Right?”

Shaking his head in amusement, he joined her back on the rug. She handed him a spoon, then picked up her own. Chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Chocolate syrup. Chocolate hearts. Red candy hearts. Mini chocolate chip cookie hearts. Topped off with a dollop of whipped cream and two cherries.

“Mmm. It’s delish,” she said.

He dug in, discovered the chocolate hearts were filled with caramel, and angled his spoon for more of the same.

“Hey, no hogging those.” She cut off his spoon with her own, their silverware clinking.

“A chocolate-and-caramel girl, huh?” He scooped up a bite with the cookie pieces.

“It’s my favorite.”

“Mine, too.” He ran his spoon through some chocolate ice cream and syrup. The rest of the chocolate hearts were hers.

Callie loaded her spoon with a bit of everything. “What do you think is happening at the bachelor-bachelorette party right now?”

“We had reservations for dinner on the property. After that, the guys were going to play poker. Not sure what the girls had planned. A romcom, I think.”

A part of him did wish they’d made it. Maverick wasn’t just his brother, but his best friend. Missing out on the first night of the pre-wedding celebration suddenly hurt. He rubbed the ache in his chest with two fingers, then grabbed his phone and fired off a text telling Mav he missed him and to not rub behind his ear during poker. Mav immediately texted back, asking what that meant. It’s your tell, dude.

“Everything okay?” Callie asked.

“Yeah.” Hunter put the phone down. “Just wanted to check in with Maverick.”

She planted her spoon upright in the middle of the sundae. For two people, they’d made a respectable dent in the huge dessert and yet a lot remained. “You miss him,” she said softly.

“I do. Which is ridiculous. I saw his annoying ass earlier today.” He glanced at the fire, staring unfocused for a moment before reconnecting with Callie. “You’ve been looking at me differently.”

“Have I?”

“Yes.”

She wiggled her mouth back and forth, thinking about what to say. “The love you have for your family is insanely attractive. It’s one of the things I admire most about you.” Rather than give further explanation, she pushed their dessert aside and climbed into his lap, her legs and arms wrapped around him like she had no plans of letting go anytime soon.

Hallelujah.