HUNTER

by Jessie Cooke

  “I’m not sure I can even pretend to fit in here,” she said, nervously. It was the first time that Hunter had heard her say anything that belied a lack of confidence in herself.

  “Yeah, it’s not the kind of place I’m used to either,” he said. “When I was a kid we used to come here sometimes, but we stayed over at the Roadhouse Inn off the highway.”

  Kat smiled. “That was where Dillon and I stayed the one time he brought me here too.” She closed her eyes, sucked in a long breath and let it out, and then with her bravado restored she said, “Let’s do this.”

  The two of them got out of the car and Hunter got their bags out of the trunk. Kat had only packed a small overnight bag and a backpack. Hunter tucked them both into the large, rolling suitcase he’d borrowed from one of the girls at the ranch. It looked to him more like what a tourist would carry. When they got up the steps and to the front door, Kat tried to hold the door open for him. He gave her a look and she rolled her eyes and stepped through, leaving him to juggle the door and the bags. Getting Kat to act like a “normal” wife, on vacation with her husband, was going to be a challenge, Hunter hoped they found Larry lounging on one of the wicker chairs out back so that they could get out of there quickly. That is, until he saw the woman standing behind the hand-carved oak counter. She was talking to an elderly man and woman who looked to be checking out, and she was smiling. Her dark hair was twisted up in a messy bun and she was wearing a long-sleeved flannel shirt. A smudge of mud or potting soil adorned her smooth cheek and from where Hunter stood, it didn’t look like she was wearing a stitch of make-up. Her eyes sparkled though and her cheeks dimpled as she smiled, and Hunter thought he’d never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.

  “Put your tongue in your mouth, man.” Kat whispered in his ear. Hunter looked at his “wife,” who was grinning knowingly, and he was surprised, He didn’t think his face was that expressive.

  “I was admiring the wood paneling,” he said. “You don’t see that too often anymore.”

  Kat snorted. “Sure you were. Bet you didn’t even see the hottie behind the counter.”

  “You think she’s hot?” he whispered,

  Kat chuckled. “I wouldn’t do her or anything, but yeah, I can appreciate another woman’s beauty.”

  Hunter smiled. He’d do her, in a second…he’d frisk her for a pipe first, but then he’d do her…really good. “Hi,” she said, suddenly looking up at them. She made eye contact with Hunter and those aquamarine eyes seemed to sear a hole right through him and touch his soul. He shivered, not sure if from the corniness of the thought, or the feeling of her bonding with his soul. “I’ll be right with you.” She had the tracings of an accent, probably Italian since that’s where Chase said she grew up, but it was light. Her voice was smooth though, like silk…

  “Damn, you’ve got it bad,” Kat whispered. “You better stop looking at her like that or people will never believe we’re married.”

  “I’m not looking at her like anything,” he lied. Kat smiled and slid her arm through his and whispered:

  “You’re looking at her like…if I was really your wife, I’d take the piece I’m carrying out of my pants and shoot you in the head.”

  Hunter laughed at that. “Hopefully David knows how to keep his facial expressions to himself.”

  “Okay, I was kidding. I’ll let him live for facial expressions, as long as he always keeps his hands and his dick to himself,” she said…with a straight face. They watched quietly as the girl at the counter finished up with the older couple, who were going on and on about how wonderful their stay had been. When she finally got them ushered to the door and closed it behind them, she let out a little relieved breath and once again smiled at Hunter and Kat.

  “Welcome to the Rockport Inn. I’m Claire, the owner.”

  Hunter put out his right hand and she took it. For a second, he forgot his name, his fake one, anyway…Kat cleared her throat and said, “Hi, Claire. I’m Kathryn Rhoades and this is my husband Tom.”

  “Yes, Tom,” he said, like an idiot. “Tom Rhoades.” He finally let go of her hand, way too late. Kat shook it then and Claire said:

  “Oh, yes, I saw your reservation. Come on over and we’ll get you checked in.” She walked over to the desk and Kat poked Hunter in the ribs when she saw him looking at Claire’s ass. Fuck, she’s fine. No fucking way Larry’s DNA is in her…anywhere. His old lady had to be cheating on him, with a fucking model. “You folks got here just in time to get settled and have dinner.”

  “Something smells good,” Kat said. She wasn’t lying. Once they were up near the desk, the aroma of something roasting was competing with Claire for making Hunter’s mouth water.

  Claire smiled. “It’s a pot roast, my specialty.”

  “Do you cook all the meals here yourself?” Kat asked her.

  “I try to cook as many of them as I can,” she said. “I have a wonderful lady that comes in three days a week to help prepare some things in advance for me, and she does my baking because that’s not my favorite thing.”

  “Really?” Kat said. “I’m a cook. I run a catering business. Baking is my favorite.”

  “Well, maybe while you’re here, you can give me some tips. I’m just not very good at it.”

  “Sure,” Kat said. Hunter was filling out the forms Claire had given him while listening to the exchange. He was surprised at how well Kat was doing. He’d been secure in her ability to back him up if he needed it, but not so much in her social skills.

  “There you go,” he said, handing the forms back to her. He’d put his mother’s address as their home address and thankfully, he already had a credit card that Chase paid for in the name of Tom Rhoades. It was a name he’d used before, many times, which made the fact that he almost forgot it that much worse. He handed the card to Claire, and after running it and typing a few things into the computer, she took a real metal key off a board behind her and handed it to him. Their fingers touched and he felt goosebumps race up his arm. He also felt Kat’s foot nudge his.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “The room is at the top of the stairs, last door on the right. You’ll have a beautiful view of the gardens and the bay in the background. Help yourself to any of the brochures on the table over by the stairs; there is so much to do here and most of it is within walking distance. Dinner is at six, breakfast at seven a.m., and lunch at noon. If you’re not going to make it for a meal, I’d just appreciate an hour’s notice. Your room is stocked with all the linens you should need, but if you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’m at the desk until nine each evening and my cottage is just out back so if you need me after that, you can still call.”

  “Wow, it must be difficult having a 24/7 job,” Hunter said, finally getting into character. “I can hardly handle my nine to five some days.”

  She smiled again. Damn, those dimples are hot. “This was always my dream, so I love it.”

  “How long have you owned this place?”

  “Just about a year now,” she said. “It’s still new and exciting. Come see me after I’ve worked 24/7 for ten years and we’ll see how I feel then,” she said with a laugh.

  “Well, hopefully your husband helps you.”

  “Hopefully, when I get one of those he will,” she said, with another smile.

  “Surely you have a brother or father or someone around to help you make repairs and things like that, right?”

  Claire looked at Kat. “When you need repairs done around your home, do you always call your husband?” she asked her, sweetly. Kat smiled like the two women were speaking a secret language and said:

  “Only if I have a six-month window to get it done.” Claire threw her pretty head back and laughed. Kat laughed too. Hunter could see the similarities between the two women already. He was glad he’d brought Kat along; maybe their similar personalities will help Kat draw her out. Of course, he should have already known Claire was no shrinking violet. He did have the lum
p on the back of his head to prove it.

  6

  Once Hunter and Kat got up to their room Kat said, “I like her.”

  Hunter chuckled. So did he, unfortunately. She wasn’t going to like him once she found out that he was lying about who he was…and he had her father arrested. He still shook his head every time he thought about skinny Larry with the pockmarked face, receding hairline, and large nose as Claire’s father. “She seems okay,” he said. Kat cocked an eyebrow at him, but she let it go. “I’ll change for dinner in the bathroom. You can change out here,” he told her.

  “Change? What are you wearing?”

  “The papers I picked up downstairs say that dinner is casual, so I’m going to put on my jeans and boots. After we eat, maybe you can keep Claire occupied with that baking stuff and I can do some snooping around out by that cottage she lives in.”

  Kat wrinkled her nose but said, “Okay.” Hunter could tell that she was aching for some excitement. He liked David a lot, but the man was going to have to turn up the heat if he was going to keep this one satisfied…and Hunter meant with life, not in the bedroom. He grabbed his bag and went into the bathroom to change. Before he came back out, he knocked and Kat gave him the go-ahead. With each dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and boots, they went down for dinner.

  The dining room was just off the room where they’d checked in. It was huge, with two extra-large, heavy-duty oak tables that looked hand-made, and ten chairs around each. Only one of the tables was set, and a middle-aged couple sat on one side and a young couple with a baby on the other. Hunter and Kat said hello to everyone and found seats. Another couple, two men in their early thirties, came in and sat down next to Hunter. They were introducing themselves when Claire and another woman came in, both pushing a serving tray.

  “I’m glad to see you all could make it,” Claire told them with a smile. Hunter wasn’t sure if he imagined it or not, but she seemed to lock eyes with him a little longer than she did the others. It made his cock do a little dance in his jeans. His stomach took over, though, as soon as she pulled the lid off the meat and set it in the center of the table. The other woman set out large bowls of mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and what looked like fried squash. There were hot, buttered rolls and corn on the cob as well.

  “Wow, Claire! This looks amazing,” one of the men next to Hunter told her.

  “Thank you, Bobby. Hopefully, it tastes as good as it looks.” Claire and the other woman pushed their carts back into the kitchen and the dark-skinned woman came back out with one that now had coffee, tea, and water on it. She was almost finished serving the drinks when Claire came back out and took her seat at the head of the table. “For those of you who don’t know Paula, she’s my right hand in the kitchen and a good friend.”

  The lady smiled and gave everyone a little wave. Hunter was sizing her up, wondering just how good a friend she was. Would she have any information about Larry? Would she tell him if she did? He almost regretted going along with Chase’s idea that he’d be less suspicious with a wife. If he’d come as a single man…maybe a little seduction would work. As it was, he couldn’t risk making Claire think he was a dog and having nothing to do with him altogether. “It’s nice to see all of you,” Paula said. She looked at Claire then and said, “I’m going to set the desserts on the cart and then I’ll be taking off.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to eat first?”

  “I’m sure, thanks. I’ll have to fix Pete and the kids something at home anyways. You all enjoy your meal,” she said, before leaving. Once she was gone Claire looked around the table and said:

  “Dig in, guys.”

  Dinner was delicious and conversation at the table was kept moving by gentle questions Claire asked each person or couple. She cooed over the baby, and Hunter had to keep reminding himself not to stare at her. When she got up to take dishes into the kitchen and bring out the dessert, Kat reminded him as well. Whispering close to his ear she said, “You’re doing it again. Damn, you’re going to blow your own cover.”

  He didn’t bother denying it that time. “I’m sorry. I’ll rein it in. You set to make conversation with her about the baking or whatever? I’m going to excuse myself when she brings the dessert back in, to make a phone call.”

  “Sure, I’ve got this. Should I text you if she leaves for some reason?”

  “Yeah. I’ll have it in my breast pocket where I’ll hear it vibrate.”

  “Here we go,” Claire said, as she came back in, pushing a dessert cart. She was letting the young couple choose when Hunter stood up and said:

  “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to pass on dessert. I have a business call I need to make.”

  “Oh, no,” Claire looked up at him. “I’ll save you something, Tom. I’m sure your wife knows what you like, she can pick something out for you.”

  Hunter looked down at Kat and smiled. “Yeah, she knows exactly what I like.” He almost broke when Kat gazed up at him and mouthed the word “Claire.” Rolling his eyes at her, he bent down close to her ear and pretended that he was giving her a kiss on the cheek as he whispered:

  “You’re hilarious.” She giggled. Claire moved the cart around the table to the gay couple, and this time Hunter didn’t imagine the way her eyes locked into his. His feet felt heavy and he was practically rooted to the floor, lost in those eyes…until he heard Kat clear her throat. That seemed to get Claire moving too, and her face might have colored slightly. Damn, he wished that he was alone.

  He walked out the front door of the beautiful home and down the steps to the cobblestone path that led around to the back. He followed it, surrounded by colorful, fragrant flowers, and wondered what it would be like to live in a place like this. He chuckled at that thought. He knew himself too well. He’d be like Kat and after enjoying it for a short time, he’d start to crave the adrenaline and chaos again. Maybe it was a good thing that he could never have the gorgeous woman inside. He might not want to let her go.

  The back of the house was as beautiful as the front. Two of the upstairs windows had balconies, framed in wrought-iron gates. The attic window was stained glass and two hand-carved picnic tables sat underneath a large shade tree. The cottage sat about twelve feet from where the tables were, partially hidden by a giant shade tree of its own. It was the same color as the big house and it had a big picture window in front and colorful blooms in the window boxes. It looked to Hunter exactly like the kind of place where Claire would live, just from what he’d seen so far. But again, there was Larry…him he couldn’t picture in such a nice place.

  Hunter looked over his shoulder toward the big house. He didn’t see anyone looking out any of the windows, but he pulled out his phone, just in case, and held it to his ear as he walked around the cottage. When he got to the back, he slid it back in his pocket and looked out at the view from that side. There was a rocky beach a few steps away and beyond that, the water looked like it went on forever. About a mile to the right was a lookout point and a small parking lot, and sitting up high on a rocky cliff to the left was a tall, white lighthouse that looked out across the bay. Hunter looked back at the little cottage and he wondered if Claire woke up in her bedroom to that view every morning. It must be nice. His apartment looked out onto the brick building next door. Occasionally he did wake up to “Homeless Harry” taking a piss on the wall, but it wasn’t quite the same.

  There was no one at the lookout point; the beach was too rocky and the water too cold for anyone to be there that late in the evening. Hunter got closer to the cottage and with his back to the wall, he slid over to peek into one of the windows. It was a bedroom and once Hunter was sure there was no one inside of it, he took a better look. The bed was a queen-size with a brass frame. The comforter on top of it was blue and gray and it looked like it was stuffed with down. There was a wooden dresser with brass knobs and two nightstands with pretty glass-and-brass lamps on them. A rocking chair sat in one corner and framed photographs of people he couldn’t s
ee clearly from his vantage point sat on a shelf next to the bed. There was a small vanity with bottles of lotion and perfume and cosmetics on top of it. The whole thing was neat, comfortable-looking, and feminine, and Hunter could picture Claire inside…he could also picture himself in there with her…in the bed…naked…

  He sighed and moved on to the next window. That one was small, and before he even got up on his toes to look he was sure it was a bathroom. There was a glassed-in shower next to an old-fashioned claw-foot tub. The toilet wasn’t visible, so he assumed it was directly under the window, but next to that was a sink, surrounded by a marble vanity. On top of that sat a cup that matched the mermaid décor on the walls and inside of the cup sat not one but two toothbrushes. One of them was blue and from where Hunter was, it looked brand new. The other one was an apricot color. Hunter wondered what a woman who lived alone would need two toothbrushes for. He was ashamed of himself for hoping it was Larry’s toothbrush, although the man didn’t look like he’d ever used one. He wouldn’t be ashamed if that hope was simply so he could catch the old thief. But to himself he had to admit that he was hoping she didn’t have a boyfriend. He knew that was a moot point. He couldn’t have her. She was going to hate him…and soon. He was about to slide over to the last window when his pocket buzzed. He expected it to be Kat, but when he slid the phone out, he saw that it was David. He mumbled a curse before putting the phone to his ear.