Devastated (Anger Management Book 1)

by R. L. Mathewson

  “Fine. Then is there a reason why you’re avoiding Miss Davis?” Ryan asked with a lazy gesture towards the woman in question when it became obvious that he wasn’t going to answer him.

  “I’m not avoiding her.”

  “You haven’t spoken to her all day and you stuck her in the back corner.”

  “I’m trying to figure something out,” Hunter said, as he watched as Tim, who’d been hovering around Kylie all day, sat down next to her at the table where Hunter had ordered Kylie to stay until the convention ended for the night. He was going to have to figure out something else to keep her busy tomorrow since they had five more days of this to get through.

  “About what?” Ryan asked, as they watched Kylie smile at something that Tim was saying.

  “Things,” Hunter bit out as he watched the little prick shift his chair closer to Kylie.

  “These vague answers are really making me feel closer to you,” Ryan said, already sounding bored as he pulled his phone out of his back pocket.

  “I have something to figure out,” Hunter said, as he reached over and snatched the phone out of Ryan’s hands.

  “And what’s that?” Ryan asked, as Hunter sent the little prick a text message.

  “My next step.”

  “And you couldn’t do that with the brunette from last night?”

  “No,” Hunter said, hitting send before he tossed the phone back to Ryan.

  “Next step for what?” Ryan asked absently, as his focus shifted to the beautiful blonde showing cleavage on behalf of Emerald Technology.

  For making Kylie his, he decided as he pushed away from the wall and headed towards the woman that terrified him. He’d never been afraid of anything in his life, but God, she fucking wrecked him. She made him want things that he’d never wanted before, never thought he needed in his life, but now…

  He craved them.

  He wanted more in his life than living out of his suitcase, working his ass off every day only to fall asleep alone every night. He wanted someone to come home to, a fucking life outside his job, and he definitely wanted to kiss Kylie again.

  *-*-*-*

  It was almost over.

  It was almost over.

  It was-

  “Are you okay?” Tim asked, interrupting the mantra that had been helping her deal with the fact that she was stuck in a large room filled with over two thousand people to find him watching her.

  “I’m fine,” Kylie reassured him, managing a warm smile for the man that had tried to save her from being banished back here.

  “Can I join you?” Tim asked with a boyish smile as he gestured to the empty chair next to her that she’d been contemplating using on the off chance that she felt the need to curl up into the fetal position.

  “Sure,” Kylie said, somehow managing a smile as she placed the folder that she’d been working with back on the stack of files that Hunter asked his men to pick up from their office so that she could ride out the rest of the convention doing busywork.

  With a murmured, “Thank you,” Tim sat down next to her while she slowly exhaled as she tried to ignore the sounds of loud murmurs, laughter, cheers, and groans filling the large ballroom that she desperately wanted to escape.

  “I’m sorry about this,” Tim said, leaning back in his chair as he gestured towards the sounds of someone else failing the Shadow Security challenge and the ten-thousand-dollar prize that had taken her a week to convince Hunter was a good idea.

  “It’s okay,” Kylie said, because it could have been worse. She could have been assigned to deal with the large crowd surrounding Shadow Security’s challenge.

  “If it makes you feel better, I think you’re better off here,” Tim said, giving her a reassuring smile.

  “Why’s that?” Kylie asked, as she felt her shoulders tense when a collective groan went up, letting her know that another person had lost the challenge.

  “Hunter,” Tim said with a sympathetic wince.

  “Oh, he’s actually not that bad,” Kylie mumbled, shrugging it off as she reached for her soda only to realize that it was empty.

  She was used to Hunter’s grumpy ways by now. So, finding out that Hunter had left orders for her to keep her ass at this table after she’d somehow managed to make her way through the large crowd waiting to get in without having a panic attack hadn’t fazed her. Hoping for a distraction to keep her mind off everything, she’d offered to help them continue setting up, but they’d simply stood there, giving her pitying looks until she’d accepted the fact that she was stuck back here for the next twelve hours.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this mad before.”

  “He has his moments,” Kylie said absently, as she shifted her attention to the bag of snacks and drinks that she’d bought from the gift store this morning to help her get through this convention only to realize that she’d already finished off all of the drinks she’d bought.

  “Any idea what happened?” Tim asked, shooting her a questioning look.

  “None whatsoever,” Kylie said, somehow managing to say that with a straight face, because she had a bad feeling that kiss was the reason why Hunter had been biting everyone’s head off today. Well, everyone except her, she amended a moment later since he’d been avoiding her all day, which probably had something to do with the fact that she’d just laid there, staring at him after he’d kissed her instead of-

  “If you say so,” Tim said, bringing her back to reality just as one of Hunter’s men accidentally knocked into the table with a mumbled, “Sorry, Kylie.”

  “It’s fine,” Kylie forced out as she risked another glance up and decided that she should probably focus on something other than the crowd that looked like it had gotten larger in the past ten minutes.

  Everything was fine, she reminded herself as she found herself grabbing onto the edge of the table. When the mantra that she used to cling to when she was little didn’t work, she decided to focus on the fact that this would all be over soon.

  In four hours, Kylie realized, biting back a groan only to remind herself that she had to do this all over again tomorrow.

  “How do you do it?”

  “Do what?” Kylie asked, her grip tightening around the table when another collective groan went up.

  “Work with Hunter.”

  “He’s not so bad,” Kylie said, slowly exhaling as she focused on counting down the time until she was able to escape back to her room.

  “Not with you,” Tim murmured, giving her a curious look as he pulled out his phone and-

  Shook his head with a sigh as he slid his phone back in his pocket before glancing back at her and asked, “I don’t stand a chance in hell with you, do I?”

  Chapter 24

  “What are you doing, Miss Stark?” Hunter drawled, as he sat down in the recently vacated seat, noting just how close it was to Kylie as he watched the man that had finally taken the hint walk away.

  “Trying to figure out what just happened,” Kylie mumbled, frowning as she watched Tim head back towards the challenge.

  “And what’s that?” Hunter asked, noting the way that she gripped the edge of the table, the rigid way she sat in her chair, and the way she worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she shot nervous glances towards the large crowd and decided that he’d seen enough.

  “Wait. Where are we going?” Kylie asked, sending another nervous glance towards the crowd as her hand tightened around his.

  Sighing heavily, he said, “You’re late,” as he headed towards the nearest exit, gently caressing the back of her cold hand with his thumb as he berated himself for not realizing that this was a mistake sooner.

  “Late for what?” Kylie asked, clinging to his hand like a lifeline as he made his way through the crowd, glaring at anyone dumb enough to get in his way as he headed towards the nearest exit.

  “You missed the morning meeting, Miss Wayne,” Hunter said with a disapproving shake of his head as he pulled her closer to his side, ignoring every
one and everything in his path until finally, they were outside the convention.

  “There was a morning meeting?” Kylie asked, shooting the long line of people waiting to get in a nervous glance that had him biting back a curse and heading towards the large atrium built in the middle of the hotel.

  “There’s always a morning meeting, Miss Rogers,” Hunter said with a sad shake of his head as he led her towards the small footbridge that would take them over the lagoon. He ignored the signs directing them to the elevators that would take them to their room and headed towards the walkways and walked past the replica of an eighteenth-century ship that had been turned into an upscale restaurant, a French delicatessen, the baby alligator habitat that he’d planned on taking Kylie to see later, and continued until they finally found the path that would take them to the resort’s outdoor pools.

  “And we’re having it now? It’s five o’clock,” she asked, sounding relieved once they were finally outside.

  “Can you think of a better time?” Hunter asked, as they made their way around the pool and headed for the outdoor bar.

  “What about the convention?” Kylie asked, glancing over her shoulder as he gestured to the hostess to seat them over by the adult pool. With a smile, she grabbed two menus and gestured for them to follow her.

  “I think they’ll survive without us,” Hunter drawled, giving Kylie’s hand a reassuring squeeze as they followed the hostess to a small table in the shade with a view of the waterfall emptying into the pool below. Kylie didn’t say anything as he held her chair out for her, but he knew her well enough by now to know what she was worried about.

  “Your waitress will be right with you,” the hostess said with a smile and a lingering look in his direction before she reluctantly walked away.

  “I’m fine,” Kylie promised him when he sat down.

  “I didn’t think you weren’t,” Hunter said, leaning back in his chair as he watched Kylie take a shaky breath as she took in their surroundings.

  “Then why are we out here?” Kylie asked, nervously fidgeting with the corner of her menu until she realized that her hands were trembling and placed them on her lap.

  “Finishing our conversation,” Hunter said, shifting his attention to the waitress heading their way. “Two burger platters with Cokes,” he said before she had a chance to reach their table. With a smile and a nod, she turned around and headed back the way she came.

  “What conversation?” Kylie asked with an adorable frown.

  “You were telling me about the most fucked-up thing that you ever had to do as an assistant.”

  “I was?” Kylie asked, shooting him a curious look.

  “You were,” he said, nodding solemnly.

  “And why was I doing this?” Kylie asked, sounding amused as the waitress placed their order on the table before quickly moving to greet a small group heading towards the bar.

  “Because you live to entertain me, Miss Kent,” Hunter said, making her lips twitch.

  “Is that what I do?” she asked with an adorable smile as she took a sip of her drink.

  “It is,” he readily agreed as he popped a fry in his mouth.

  “And sharing my pain entertains you?” she asked, as her smile turned teasing and he noted that she looked more relaxed.

  “It does, Miss Lane,” Hunter drawled, unable to help but notice just how beautiful she was.

  “Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you,” she said with a playful roll of her eyes that had him chuckling.

  “And I appreciate that,” Hunter drawled, making her lips twitch and her beautiful blue eyes sparkle with amusement.

  “Where should I start?” Kylie asked, as she nibbled on one of her fries.

  “With the worst job you ever had,” Hunter said, taking a bite of his burger.

  “What if the story traumatizes you?” Kylie asked, blinking innocently at him.

  “I’m willing to chance it.”

  “Okay,” she said with a grave nod as she released a shuddering breath before continuing, “I was hoping that I would never have to relive this, but since you need to be entertained.”

  “I really do,” he cut in with a murmur that had her lips twitching.

  “Then I guess I have no choice but to share my pain.”

  “You really don’t,” Hunter said, chuckling when she paused to glare at him.

  “Well,” she began once again, “I guess the worst job that I ever had was for this man who-”

  “What was his name?” he interrupted her, mostly because he loved the way her eyes narrowed as she debated kicking him beneath the table.

  “Does it really matter?”

  “Only if you want me to feel like I was there,” he said, watching as she struggled not to laugh.

  Clearing her throat, Kylie said, “Fine. We’ll call him Gunter,” making his eyes narrow.

  “Gunter?” he drawled, as the little brat nodded gravely.

  “Mmmhmm, Gunter. Now, where was I?”

  “You were enthralling me,” Hunter said dryly, as his attention shifted to her lips and he thought about just how soft they’d felt against his.

  “Right,” she murmured with a nod as she shifted in her chair, cleared her throat and took a sip of her Coke, making his lips twitch as he waited for the little smart ass to get on with it.

  “So, the worst job that I ever had was for this man-”

  “Gunter,” he supplied for her.

  “Gunter,” she said with a sad shake of her head. “I’m not sure where to start.”

  “Probably at the beginning,” Hunter murmured helpfully.

  “That would probably be for the best,” Kylie agreed, nodding solemnly.

  “Just get on with it, brat,” he said, chuckling as he took a sip of his Coke.

  “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

  “I’m waiting with bated breath,” he assured her, watching as she absently reached up and pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear while he sat there, watching the move as he thought about how many times he’d done the same thing, the way it felt to have her silky smooth hair slide through his fingers, the way it felt to brush his hand against her skin, how it felt to press his lips against the back of her neck and couldn’t help but wonder if she realized how much he wanted her.

  “Then I probably should get on with it,” Kylie said with a teasing smile.

  “You probably should,” Hunter murmured in agreement.

  “It’s such a sad tale. I’m not sure if it was because he was so old, but he had a hard time remembering my name,” Kylie said with a sad shake of her head that had his eyes narrowing.

  “Did he now?” Hunter drawled.

  “He did,” she said with a heavy sigh before adding, “He was also cranky.”

  “Well, he was old,” he reminded her, making her smile.

  “Well, this is true,” she said, nodding in agreement. “He also cheated at board games, but that probably had something to do with the fact that he couldn’t accept losing to someone half his age,” she said with a thoughtful frown.

  “Probably,” he murmured in agreement.

  “He also hogged the bed,” Kylie said with a sad shake of her head.

  “And sharing a bed was part of your job?” he asked even though they both knew damn well that she was the one that hogged the bed.

  “I did wonder about that,” she said with a thoughtful frown.

  “Must have been in the fine print.”

  “Must have been,” Kylie agreed with a smile that had him thanking God that she didn’t know exactly what that smile did to him.

  Chapter 25

  “Can I ask you something?” Hunter asked, as he absently toyed with the small glass candle the waitress placed on their table a few hours ago when it started to get dark.

  “Maybe,” Kylie said, watching as his emerald eyes flicked up in surprise.

  “Maybe?” he asked softly with a look that left her struggling not to think about that kiss that she’d lik
ed probably more than she should, but even knowing that this was a bad idea didn’t stop her from hoping that he would kiss her again.

  “Maybe,” she repeated, unable to help but smile at the man that made her forget how terrified she’d been only a few hours earlier. But that wasn’t really a surprise, was it? He made her feel all the things that she’d never thought she would ever experience and he did it all with a simple look.

  “Okay, then how about I just tell you instead?” Hunter said, slowly nodding as he reached for her hand and-

  “I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Ryan said, sighing heavily as he dropped down in the chair between them.

  “And now that you’ve found me, you can fuck off,” Hunter said, keeping his eyes locked on her.

  “As much fun as that sounds, I can’t. We need to talk,” Ryan said, trying to get the waitress’s attention.

  “It can wait,” Hunter bit out.

  “It really can’t,” Ryan assured him as he gave up trying to get the waitress’s attention and decided to help himself to her drink.

  “Did someone win the challenge?” Hunter asked, continuing to reach for her hand when Ryan’s next words stopped him.

  “The author of the letter that I showed you yesterday is here.”

  *-*-*-*

  “Get out of my way,” Hunter bit out through clenched teeth as he shoved Ryan out of his way and headed towards the hotel.

  “Don’t do this, Hunter,” Ryan said, quickly catching up with him and grabbing hold of his arm.

  “Consider it already done,” he snapped, tearing his arm free and kept going, eager to make that piece of shit pay for every fucking mark he’d left on Kylie.

  As he made his way inside, there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to kill the asshole. He was going to make that piece of shit pay for everything he’d put Kylie through. He was going to-

  “Don’t fucking do this, Hunter,” Ryan said, rushing to stop him.

  “Hunter?”

  “Hunter!”

  “Goddamn it! It’s not the father,” Ryan said, making Hunter reluctantly come to a stop.