by Molly O'Hare
“Don’t change on my account.” Hunter’s eyes were honed in on her chest.
“Pig.” Abbie stormed past him and up toward the stairs.
“All I’m hearing is sexy.”
“Eat shit.” Abbie started making her way up the stairs. She only stopped when Hunter gave a loud whistle.
She turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest as she sent an evil look in his direction. “What?”
“Let’s just say I’m not the only one with a nice ass.”
That’s when she remembered she wasn’t wearing any underwear. Quickly, Abbie pulled down her nightshirt. “Pig.”
“Sexy.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “Now, I know what not to buy you for your birthday. And here I was scrounging the internet for sexy panties.”
“Fuck you.”
“Name the time and place.”
Abbie looked past him. “Rupert, attack.” She sent a silent prayer to the Universe when Rupert meowed.
The moment she saw Hunter jump she smirked. “Serves you right.” She turned on her heel and climbed back up the stairs.
“Abbie, tell him to stop. He’s coming toward me!”
“Sorry can’t hear you.” Abbie laughed.
Holy fuck!
Hunter moaned as the image of Abbie’s ass floated through his mind. It was the smallest little hint of cheek as she walked up the stairs, but it was enough to send him into overdrive. And those thighs.
He groaned as his dick pushed against the zipper of his pants.
Fuck me.
At this point, he was sure he’d have a permanent mark etched into his dick.
Then Rupert let out an ear-piercing meow.
“Holy shit! Back demon rat. Back.” Rupert stopped his progression toward Hunter only to lift his paw and lick it. “Jeez, dude, you’re creepy.”
As quickly and carefully as he could, Hunter walked around the cat keeping his eye on him at all times. Once he was safely past the rat, he walked into Abbie’s kitchen shaking his head. He grabbed the kettle and within seconds had the water on the stove, bringing it to a boil.
Hunter then started going through her cabinets looking for mugs and tea bags.
He closed his eyes. Abort, abort.
His eyes shot back open. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her walking up the stairs now.
Fuck me twice.
How the hell was he going to survive being so close to Abbie and not touching her? He had to get his head in the game. There was no other way around it. He came to WCM Advertising on a mission. And when this was over, Abbie was damn well going to know why he was back.
Hunter looked around the kitchen trying to distract himself from the image of Abbie’s ass. He zeroed in on the plant.
He rolled his eyes at its appearance. When he walked over to it, he stuck his finger in the soil and realized it was bone dry. Again. “What am I going to do with you, you habitual murderer of plants?”
With another eye roll, he gave the thing water and contemplated taking it with him when he left.
It would have a better chance.
After a few more minutes the kettle began to sing. He poured the water into the mugs before he made his way into the living room. That’s when he saw what was on tv. “Cartoons, really?”
Rupert jumped onto the coffee table startling him. “The fuck.” He almost spilled the mugs as the rat gave him the eye.
“Don’t be mean to him,” Abbie snapped as she came around the corner. “I’ll throat punch you if you are.”
He cocked his brow at her. “When you were upstairs did you take your anti-violence pills?”
“Screw you.”
Hunter turned away from her walking to the couch. “I’m guessing that’s a no.”
“Did you make me tea?”
He turned back, handing her the mug. “Yeah.”
Abbie stared at it blankly. “But I already had tea.”
Hunter looked around and saw the mug on the coffee table.
Shit. He wanted to smack his forehead. Good going, idiot. Of course, she already had tea. This is Abbie after all. Without really thinking about it, he took her old mug and downed it in one gulp. “Now, you don’t.”
“What is wrong with you?” Her brows shot to the ceiling.
He wanted to know the answer to that, too. Because right now he was at a loss for why the fuck he just did that.
When he said nothing, Abbie walked over to him. “Thank you.” She took the mug. “I’m not sure if I should throat punch you for going through my kitchen, though.”
“So violent.”
“Only around you.”
From the corner of his eye, he surveyed her. She’d changed into black leggings and a maroon shirt that had the words “Do Everything with Love” across the chest.
She’d also thrown her hair into a messy bun on top of her head again, which he now realized was her go-to style.
Fuck him, she was beautiful. Even when she wasn’t trying to be.
“Mmhhmm. There is nothing like tea,” Abbie moaned after taking a sip.
Hunter couldn’t help but wonder if she sounded the same in bed. “Sex is better.”
“Says you.”
He looked at her with a challenge “Let me know when you want me to prove it to you.”
“You know, you’ve gotten perverted in your old age.” He saw her failing to hide her smile behind her mug.
“And you’ve become a prude.”
“Oh, Hunter, Hunter, Hunter.” She shook her head as she looked at him with a wicked smile. “I am far from a prude. If you only knew.”
Well, this had taken a turn in a direction he liked. “Oh, really?”
“Yes.” Abbie winked at him before shrugging. “But you’ll never know the secret drawer I keep in my bedroom or meet my past conquests.”
Fuck me. Secret drawer? His mouth dried as his eyes darted to the bottom of the stairs. Her bedroom was only a few steps away.
As he was about to say something he heard a crunching. A loud crunching. Turning around, he saw Rupert at the corner of the coffee table making a full meal out of their work. “What the hell?”
Chapter Ten
When Tuesday morning arrived, Abbie was ready. With only a few more surprise incidents with Hunter, they’d nailed out every detail.
Abbie was surprised to find she worked really well with him. Better than she’d worked with any other of her other co-workers.
Last night they had stayed well past midnight hammering out the last details and going over absolutely everything for this morning.
Abbie looked down at her watch. She was right on time. They’d planned on meeting thirty minutes before the presentation to go over everything one last time.
And that was all that really stood in her way of freedom. A few measly hours and she was done.
Abbie had this. She was a majestic goddess.
Robert Jefferson was going to sign on the dotted line today, and then she’d walk right into Bill’s office and hand in her two-weeks notice.
She was ready for a challenge.
Nothing and she meant nothing would screw this up for her.
As Abbie turned into the office, she had her head held high and her shoulders squared.
“There’s been a problem,” Bill announced as she walked into the conference room. Well, that was not what she was expecting.
“What problem?” She heard Hunter say as he walked in behind her.
“Yeah, what’s going on?” Abbie asked, as Bill started shuffling around before he pulled something out of his pocket. “Unfortunately, something has delayed Robert.”
Bill was acting weird. Actually, it was more than weird, after all the years she’d worked with him he’d never been this fidgety before.
“Okay, no meeting today then?” Abbie asked.
“Sadly, no.” Bill glanced around the room before looking back to Abbie. “However, Robert’s in a bit of a time crunch.”
“Okay…” Hunter
crossed his arms over his chest. And as Abbie watched him, she sensed he knew something was off. When Hunter looked her way, it was confirmed. Something wasn’t sitting right with him. “Does he want us to do a video conference or something?” he asked Bill.
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean not exactly?” Abbie turned her attention to her boss who was now looking down at the papers he’d pulled out of his pocket. He then held them out.
“What’s this?” Abbie took a step forward grabbing it. However, the moment she got a good look at it, her heart stopped. As in full-on, she was ninety-nine percent sure she was having a heart attack. “Plane tickets? Plane tickets!”
“He wants this done and now.” Bill straightened as she looked at her.
“Plane tickets!” Abbie yelled in a complete panic.
Hunter ever so calm, nodded his head as he examined one of the papers he was now holding while Abbie was losing her ever-loving mind.
“The flight leaves in four hours.” Hunter looked at her. “That’s doable.”
Abbie was past freaking out now, she was in a full-on panic attack. “That’s doable? That’s not doable, Hunter. That’s beyond not doable. That’s so far in the un-doable column I can’t even see it.” Was Abbie breathing, she couldn’t tell if she was breathing? She scanned the room as the walls felt like they were closing in on her.
Hunter cocked his head to the side as he watched her with his left brow arched. “What’s got your panties in a twist?”
All the color drained from Abbie’s vision.
“Abbie doesn’t fly,” Bill answered.
“You don’t?” Hunter hadn’t taken his eyes off her. She didn’t know whether it was the concern he had on his face or the fact her heart died, but somehow words finally formed. “No, I don’t fly.” Sweat broke out on the back of her neck. “Humans aren’t meant to fly. If we were, we would have been given wings, dumb-dumb. That’s not a hard conclusion to come to.” She pointed at herself. “I don’t fly.”
“People fly all the time.”
“I’m not one of them. You hear me?”
“How do you think I got here? I flew. I fly all the time, Abs.”
Abbie crossed her arms over her chest as she fought the urge to lunge at him. “Well, I don’t.”
Hunter, mimicking her stance, cocked his head at her. “You are today.”
“The hell I am.” She pushed out her chest. You wanna go? We’ll go. First, I’ll fight you, then I’m kicking Bill’s ass. Watch me.
“Fine,” Bill stepped in and looked at Hunter. “Do you think you can present this proposal on your own?”
Are you fucking kidding me? Abbie’s head was about to pop off. “Wait? Hold up. Are you out of your mind? Are you really willing to send him out on this? The guy that just came onto the project a week ago? Screw that!” she spat. “You’re not sending him to do this alone. Not after everything I’ve done.”
Bill shrugged like it was absolutely no bother to him. “You're leaving me no choice, Collins. Robert wants this done now. That’s it. If you can’t get on the plane then I’m sending Mr. James.”
Abbie’s mouth fell open in complete shock. It was like Bill Michaels had slapped her clear across the face. “This has got to be a fucking joke.” Abbie looked around the room. “Where are the cameras? I’m on some prank show right?”
Bill shook his head. “Enough. It’s either you and Hunter go together or Hunter goes alone. Either way, someone is getting on that plane and headed to Florida.”
“Why can’t we drive?” she whined, as all the hard work she’d put in slowly slipped away from her.
“Across the country?” Hunter cocked his brow. “Come on, Abbie, you know we can’t.”
“Shut up!” she spat. “You have no say here.”
“Actually, I have a lot to say.” Hunter walked over to her. “This is happening, it doesn’t matter if you like it or not. I’d rather do it with you since you know Jefferson Exports inside and out, but if I have to, I will go alone.”
Abbie jaw hit the floor. This wasn’t just a slap to the face this time, no this was well beyond that.
“I want to do this with you, Abbie. Make no mistake in that. You are the only one qualified to make this proposal,” he pleaded with her.
As she looked into Hunter’s eyes, something shifted inside of Abbie. Amongst all the chaos she was feeling along with the betrayal. Abbie saw a trust in his eyes. She didn’t know how, or why, but it’s what she saw.
And beyond that trust, she saw anger. But not at her, no, she saw anger at the situation.
Well, at least that made it a little better. As she stared Hunter in the eyes, she took a deep breath.
She needed to get herself together. If she was serious about branching out on her own, she couldn’t let something like an airplane stop her.
No.
That was never going to happen.
A Collins never surrendered.
A Collins never backed down.
A Collins never turned down a dare.
And she saw it. She saw the dare in Hunter’s eyes.
“Fine. Fucking fine, fine, fine!” She pushed past him as she pulled out her phone. “Let me call my mom, maybe she can look after Rupert. Oh, shit, I need to get home to pack. Wait, what should I pack? When are we coming back?” She looked at the ticket in her hand. “Oh god, these aren’t round-trip tickets.” She looked at her boss. “Why the hell not?
“I figured it would be better to leave it open-ended what if Robert has questions? I’m giving you a corporate card for all of your expenses and tickets back.” He pulled out his wallet.
“He can pick up the damn phone and call.” Had her boss jumped on the crazy train?
“Abbie, you’re my top employee but this is out of line.”
“You’re out of line.” Abbie’s fist clenched at her sides. Just when she was about to lose it, she felt someone place their arm around her shoulders and start to lead her out of the door.
“We’ve got this,” Hunter announced. “First, we’ll head to my hotel and grab my bag then head to Abbie’s and leave from there.” Hunter held her close to his side.
What fresh hell was this?
Abbie looked over her shoulder to see a huge smile on Bill’s face. “I knew I could count on you, Hunter.”
Let me at him! However, no matter how hard she tried to break out of Hunter’s hold he held her tight. “Down, killer.”
“I’ll murder you all,” she snarled.
“I know.” He pulled her a little tighter to his side.
“I knew I could count on you,” Abbie mumbled, which only made Hunter laugh.
How in the world was she going to survive this?
Once they made it to the elevator, Abbie shrugged out of his embrace. That was the last thing she needed right now.
Once they got inside and the door closed Abbie looked at her reflection as she heard the beeps as they descended.
Planes crash. Planes crash and the people on them don’t survive or if they do, they end up on some deserted island where they need to make homes out of bamboo and then pray they don’t get eaten by islanders.
People aren’t meant to fly in planes. People aren’t meant to fly period.
“You’re shaking.” Hunter wrapped his arm back around her.
“And you’re a dumbass.”
Hunter let go before taking a step back from her, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know, you’d think after a week of this shit, I’d be used to it by now. Seriously, it’s just a flight it’s not a big deal.”
“It is to me.” She was breaking inside.
“It’s gonna be fine. Plus,” He smiled at her. “I’ll be there the whole time.”
“That doesn’t reassure me.”
“It should.”
“Why?”
“If something happens, I’ll be there to protect you.” Hunter puffed out his chest.
“Great. That’s exactly what I need. Some big s
trong man that thinks he can protect me.”
“You think I’m strong?
“Shove it.”
Hunter threw his head back in laughter. “Gladly. Come on, my hotel is only around the block. Then we can swing over to your place and get what you need.”
Abbie’s heart raced at the fear of her impending death. “Fine. But I’m gonna complain the whole time.
“At this point, I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Chapter Eleven
Hunter watched as Abbie ran around her house cursing under her breath as she tried putting together a bag.
Tried was an understatement, though. It was more like a tornado Abbie had come to play. She was running up and down the stairs with clothes in her arms. She’d then throw them on the couch before going through them. It was like clockwork.
He looked down at this watch. Three…Two… One…
“Shit.” Then she was off again up the stairs to get what he assumed was more clothes? He honestly had no idea, what was going on.
It had been the same sequence of events for the last forty-five minutes.
All he knew for sure was Abbie had somehow short-circuited.
Hunter looked to his left. The rat must have thought so also since it sat next to him watching its mom lose her shit.
He then heard a thud come from above him, followed by the words, motherfucker.
“You okay up there?”
Rupert had taken notice as well since his ears had perked and was now staring at the top of the landing.
“I’m fine,” Abbie answered in a huff. “Just fell over?”
“Are you sure? That sounded like a question.”
“Am I sure I fell or am I sure I’m fine?” she yelled back.
“Both.” Shaking his head, he looked back at the rat. “Time to go check on your mom and see if I need to call for reinforcements. You know, the ones with white jackets.”
Rupert meowed causing Hunter to shudder. Deciding to ignore the thing he started up the stairs. They only had about two hours before they had to be at the airport and from what he’d witnessed the only way there were going to get there on time was if he intervened.
