Whether it was a matter of stung pride, a bruised ego or the fact that he hadn’t been able to forget how soft and yielding she’d been in his arms, her statement hit like a physical blow and he was determined to prove her wrong. “Darlin’, that kiss was anything but simple.” Slowly lowering his head, he felt as though he just might drown in her violet eyes. “And I think you know it as well as I do.”
The moment his lips touched hers, it felt as if a spark ignited somewhere deep inside of him and heat spread throughout his entire body. If he had any sense at all, he’d call Emerald Larson, tell her that he’d changed his mind about taking over the air-ambulance service and put as much distance as he could between himself and Callie Marshall.
But instead of setting her away from him and apologizing for acting like an oversexed teenager, Hunter slid his arms around her and pulled her to him. Callie’s soft, petite body nestled against his much larger frame sent blood racing through his veins and caused his heart to pound hard against his rib cage.
When her perfect lips parted on a soft sigh, he took advantage of her acquiescence and deepened the kiss. Slipping his tongue inside, he tasted the sweetness that was uniquely Callie and reacquainted himself with her tender inner recesses.
To his satisfaction, she circled his waist with her arms and melted against him as he gently coaxed her into doing a little exploring of her own. But with each stroke of her tongue to his, the fire that had begun to burn in his belly spread lower and his body tightened with desire faster than he could have ever imagined.
Shocked by the intensity of his need, he eased away from the kiss. Staring at the confusion on her pretty face, he had a feeling he looked just as bewildered.
“I, um, think…it might be a good idea…if we didn’t do that again,” she said, sounding suspiciously breathless.
“I think you’re right.” Releasing her, he rubbed at the tension gathering at the base of his neck. Why did he turn into a Neanderthal every time he was around her? “I’ll…see you later this evening…when I come by to repair the step.”
She hurried over to the door. “It’s really not necessary. I can handle fixing the—”
“I said I’d take care of it.” He shook his head. “I can still fly a helicopter with a swollen finger. But if you smash your thumb, you’ll have trouble starting an IV or splinting a broken limb.”
She stared at him for several more seconds before she nodded, then quickly walked out of his office.
As Hunter watched Callie leave, he closed his eyes and counted to ten, then twenty. Why the hell couldn’t he have left well enough alone? What on God’s green earth had he thought he was going to prove, besides the fact that he had all the finesse of a bulldozer? Hadn’t he sorted through what happened the other night and come to a reasonable conclusion for his attraction to her?
He hadn’t been with a woman in almost a year, and that was long enough to make any normal adult male ready to crawl the walls. But even as he thought about finding a willing little lady to help him scratch his itch, he rejected the idea. A one-night stand might help him with his basic needs, but a meaningless encounter couldn’t fill the void of companionship in his life.
Shaking his head, he walked back to his desk and sank into his chair. He wasn’t looking for any kind of romantic relationship and neither was Callie, but he saw no reason why they couldn’t be friends. They were both new in town, alone, and she needed someone to help out with the upkeep on her house from time to time.
Now if he could just keep that in mind and stop grabbing her like a caveman and kissing her until they both needed CPR, everything would be just fine.
As he sat there trying to convince himself that he could do just that, the phone rang. Checking the caller ID, he groaned when he recognized one of Emerald Larson’s private numbers.
Switching the speakerphone on, he greeted his grandmother. “Hello, Emerald.”
“Good afternoon, Hunter. How is my oldest grandson?”
He almost laughed. He wasn’t fool enough to think that the old gal had called him just to say hello and shoot the breeze. Emerald Larson had a purpose behind everything she did. And that included placing a phone call to one of her grandsons.
“I’m doing okay. How are you?”
“Planning a little dinner party for my grandsons and their wives for the end of next month.” She paused. “You will attend, won’t you?”
“Sure,” Hunter said, suddenly feeling more alone than he had in his entire life.
He’d only learned about his brothers a few months ago, and although they’d formed a bond of friendship that he knew would stand the test of time, Caleb and Nick had both recently married. And that made Hunter the odd man out. Unfortunately he’d always be the odd man out. Marriage and family weren’t in the cards for him. Not now. Not in the future.
Loving someone only opened a person up to more pain and heartache than it was worth. His mother had loved Owen Larson and ended up suffering a lifetime of loneliness for her efforts. Owen had run out on her, to leave her facing motherhood alone, and never looked back when he returned to Harvard after sweeping her off her feet during his spring-break in Miami. Then, Hunter had damned near lost his mind from the guilt of surviving the helicopter crash that had taken the lives of Ellen and their unborn child.
No, the emotional investment and risks that went along with loving someone weren’t worth the high price a man had to pay.
“Hunter, are you still there?”
“Sorry.” He took a deep breath. “What was that you were saying?”
“I said I’m on my way back to Wichita from Houston and I thought I would stop by to see you and my old friend Mary Lou.”
He should have known that she wouldn’t be able to resist checking up on him from time to time. She’d done the same with his brothers and the companies she’d given them. Why should he be any different?
Even though she’d given him Life Medevac to run as he saw fit, it still came under the umbrella of Emerald Inc., and she hadn’t become one of the richest, most successful businesswomen in the world by sitting back and letting others oversee her holdings.
“When will you be here?” he asked, barely resisting the urge to cuss a blue streak.
“My pilot said we should be landing at the Devil’s Fork airfield in five minutes.”
Rubbing the tension at the base of his neck, Hunter sighed heavily. “I’ll be there in a few minutes to pick you up.”