Page 13 of Just Home for the Holidays
“Too bad,” she said quietly. “We’ll just have to make do.”
There was a glint in her eye, just the barest warning, then she kissed him. Hunter was shocked and thrilled. He’d never expected Chloe to make the first move, but it was all fine by him. She tugged him closer, making a little incoherent sound of need that got him right where he lived. He caught her closer and angled his mouth over hers, deepening their kiss into something to remember.
If he was arguing his case, he was going to be as persuasive as possible.
The no-kissing rule would be the first to go.
* * *
Chloe really had been missingout.
This was the kind of kiss she’d dreamed of all her life. Didn’t it figure that it came from Hunter, the last guy in the world that she should be kissing? She wanted to lean into it and let that kiss take them wherever it would—and she had a good idea where that would be—but she pulled away with an effort.
She watched him take a quick breath then push his hand through his hair. He looked startled and his gaze clung to hers as if he was seeing her for the first time. “I don’t blame Mr. Wonderful for wanting you back,” he said, his voice husky.
“Josh Harley,” she said, even the sound of her ex’s name bringing her back to reality. “His name is Josh Harley.”
“Should I take notes?”
“I’ll send them to you,” she said, then added his contact information to her phone with her usual efficiency. “Here’s the invitation and the schedule for Friday night.” She sent both to him with a flick of her fingertips, hearing his phone chime as they were received.
“How about more practice?” he asked, just because he thought he should.
She gave him a look. “I think we’ve nailed that.”
She’d been sure he’d argue that point with her, but Hunter checked his phone. Chloe felt an unreasonable disappointment, but told herself to get over it.
One kiss would have to do them.
“Where’s the master plan?”
“What master plan?”
“For your trip home. How long are you here? What other things are we going to do together? Where will I meet you and when? Where are you staying?” Hunter shook his head. “If it’s a performance, I need the script.”
It wasn’t an unreasonable request.
Chloe hesitated only a moment before sending Hunter her calendar for her visit to New York.
He scrolled through it, then started to laugh. “Call you the impulsive one. Do you really follow a schedule like this every day?”
She felt herself bristling again. There was nothing wrong with being organized. “It’s how I get everything done.”
“Right.” He scrolled through it. “Every hour of every day is present and accounted for. I need a nap just reading this. Oh, look, you forgot to note when you’d brush your teeth. Morning and night?” He looked up at her, his eyes sparkling, and she wanted to deck him.
“I knew you’d make fun of it.” She started to pack up her laptop. “You should send me your plan.”
“I have five eight-hour shifts every week at F5F,” Hunter said, without referencing anything. “Four hours, one to five, in the weight room Tuesday to Saturday. The first two hours are with Nate’s vets.”
“Why?”
“Why not?” He brushed off the question in a way that was already becoming familiar. He was evasive about personal questions and Chloe wondered why. “Monday and Thursday, I work six to eight on the rock climbing wall, usually as a belayer, then eight to ten in couples’ yoga with Sonia. Friday and Saturday, I’m typically at the dance club eight to midnight and often after that, but off the clock. For these next two weeks, though, I’ve pulled afternoons in the weight room on Sundays and Mondays, as well as Saturday and Sunday morning on the rock climbing wall.” He fell silent.
“Did you ask for that?”
“No. Jax wanted to mix it up in the dance club. Plus lots of people want the weekends off. Vacations, etc.” He kept his gaze averted and Chloe guessed that he didn’t like the change much.
“But when you’re not working?”
