Taking the Fall (24 page)

The unspoken promise in his words had her practically panting.

“Yes, they are with Bob for the night.”

“Then you won’t mind if we continue our evening.” Hunter placed a hard kiss on her lips before winking and helping her into her side of the Jeep.

She watched as he pulled out his cell phone and quickly sent a text before walking around the hood and sliding in behind the wheel.

“Where are we going?” she asked with her curiosity completely piqued.

With his sexy smile and his intense blue gaze trained on her, he toyed with her emotions by simply saying, “A redo, if you will.”

He refused to give her anything else other than that, so she didn’t know whether to be nervous or curious. All she knew was that she was with Hunter. How bad could it be?

They drove in silence except for the soft music playing through the Jeep’s sound system. Molly had given up asking him for their destination after the fifteenth time of him dodging the question.

His Jeep climbed the old road that led up to the back side of the falls. A road she hadn’t been on in decades.

Hunter parked the Jeep with ease in the spot next to the trail that led to the where the old bonfire pit was. Molly noticed the sheriff’s SUV parked nearby and a soft glow of orange took over the should be dark sky.

Hunter remained hushed except for instructions for her to take her time climbing in her shoes. He held her hand as they crested the rugged hill, and she couldn’t believe what she saw.

A well-controlled fire roared in the large pit. The old logs remained just as they had been except a green embroidered blanket draped over one now. Next to the blanket on the ground was a brown wicker picnic basket. Gage was low on his haunches as he stoked the fire with a long stick, shifting the burning timber in perfect concession for ample burning.

“Oh my goodness, Hunter. How did you do all this?”

He raised her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on it before saying, “If it makes you happy, I will do anything.”

She raised shaking fingers of her untouched hand to hold in the cry that threatened to fall from her lips at his amazing thoughtfulness.

Hunter continued to help her down to where the fire awaited. Gage winked at her before giving his brother a handshake and excusing himself. A minute or two later, Molly heard the sound of his engine pulling out of the parking lot.

They were alone.

Hunter walked over to the log extending his hand for her to join him. When they were both sitting, he removed his suit coat and draped it over her shoulders to keep her from becoming chilled.

He offered her a glass of wine or a hot cup of tea from the thermos he had stashed in the picnic basket. When she had a warm mug between her hands, she stared into the flames, knowing nothing could be more perfect.

But then Hunter wrapped his arm around her and she realized how wrong she was. She leaned into him, placing her head on his shoulder and finding complete solace in his embrace.

“Congrats, Dr. Dennison,” she whispered as red licked with orange in perfect harmony.

Humor was completely evident in the rumble of his laugh that she felt against his chest. “And what are you congratulating me on, shall I ask?”

She closed her eyes and inhaled his amazing scent as the steady and strong beat of his heart could be heard under her ear.

“For creating something that I’m sure would have been a favorite pastime of mine.”

“As it would have been mine, too,” he whispered against her hair placing a soft kiss on the crown of her head.

They sat in silence enjoying just being in each other’s company before he asked something that had her coming out of the dreamlike atmosphere.

“When should we tell our girls about us?”

Molly sat up and looked at the man who already meant so very much to her.

“What is it, Molly? Talk to me.”

“I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the whirlwind of being with you. I don’t even know what to think about telling the girls. Don’t you think it is too soon?”

Those magic fingers of his massaged her neck, calming her and grounding her.

“Any other time, I would say it was way too soon. Hell, if I was giving advice, I would think the person was crazy, but our situation is different.
We
are different.” He brought those skillful lips of his to hers and softly pressed, before breaking apart and rubbing her lower lip with his thumb. “This isn’t a run of the mill startup relationship. This is you and me. If you don’t want your girls to know the seriousness of our relationship, I will respect that, no pressure. But don’t hide us because you think you have to.”

“Have you told anyone about us, besides Gage?” she asked fingering his now loosened tie.

“No. But not because I didn’t want to. I wanted to talk to you about it first. Your speed, remember.”

She smiled, biting her lip as she leaned her head onto his chest.

They each shared their tea and enjoyed the romance of the fire and the joy of being alone. No more talk of timelines; just their schedules for the next few days and when they would be able to see each other again.

By the time they made it back to Molly’s place, they had remained in the Jeep enjoying a thorough make-out session. With giggles and kisses, touches and caresses, Molly felt like she was fifteen again. That was until the center console became an undefeated adversary in her attempts to be completely physical with Hunter. They were both breathless and fog covered the windows when she told him she had to go.

“Invite me in,” he whispered as his mouth found that spot where her neck met her shoulder.

“I want to,” she breathed, moving her hair to ensure he had the best access.

He laughed against her skin, causing more ripples of desire to course straight through her body.

“The fact that you want to is good enough for me.” Hunter nibbled her earlobe before kissing her lips softly once more.

“You’re not mad?” she breathed as she tried to control the vertigo that resulted from being kissed by Hunter Dennison.

He laughed a deep throaty sexy as hell laugh, and the sound shot straight to her lower half.

“Not mad in the least. Physically pained, yes, but mad, no.”

Molly couldn’t help but let her eyes drop to his lap and there was the evidence that indeed he was in physical discomfort. However, once her eyes were there, she couldn’t look away—the size and outline of such evidence was a sudden visual obsession.

Again with the throaty sound, he husked, “Yeah, like that is helping, too.”

Raising her gaze and returning his full wattage smile, she apologized.

With his hand on the back of her neck, he pulled her face toward his to kiss her softly on the lips in quick succession, before the final, lingering one. The one where she forgot where she was and who she was all because the sheer pleasure of what she was experiencing completely consumed her. That kiss had her seriously questioning her own sanity.

All she had to do was say the word and they would be upstairs in her bed faster than she could say.

When I go to him for sex, I want it to be perfect and right and all that I’ve waited for. The time is coming soon, just not tonight.

“And that is all you have to do, come to me and say the word.”

Although humiliated once again in his presence that she spoke her thoughts aloud, his respect to let her control their timeline pacified her.

Hunter wrapped his hand around the back of her head, cradling her neck with his warm and strong hand. He made sure her gaze was nowhere but with him.
 

“When the time is right, I know we will burn the sheets up.”

“I’ve dreamed of us making love,” she said softly.

“And . . .” The eagerness in his voice was obvious.

“It was beautiful . . . I’m so afraid I won’t live up to your expectations, and you’ll realize twenty years comes with a lot of hype, which isn’t necessarily true.” She once again toyed with his tie just so she could focus on anything but those intense blue eyes of his.

“Listen, first of all, the only expectation I have about you in my bed is that you want to be there as desperately as I want you there. Besides, you’ve already issued quite the challenge. What if I don’t meet your expectations?”

“Why do you say that?”

“I believe you said that you would hate me for twenty years if
your
expectations fall flat.” He was teasing her and succeeding immensely in making her smile. “If that isn’t enough stress on a man, I don’t know what is.”

Wrapping his tie around her fingers a few times, so it became tighter and he came closer, she found her inner tease. “Oh, is that a fact, Dr. Dennison? Well, then challenge on. You are right; I will be coming to you soon for an all-access show.”

“That a promise?”

“It is.” She kissed him, taking complete control of the depth and intensity. Molly ravaged his mouth with her tongue, claiming all that she wanted. She was calling the shots and found she was enjoying it. Because of him. She had him pinned to his seat, obviously the more dominant, and rather than be embarrassed, it had her wanting to conquer the console so she could straddle him where he sat.

With her lips on the offense at his neck, Hunter strained to find his voice. “Beautiful, I am trying to be noble here, but I’m telling you my restraint is about to snap. So if that is what you are going for, keep doing what you are doing, and we will find out just how twenty-year-old expectations rank.”

She pulled away breathing heavily as she sank back into the passenger side seat.

“Sorry, got a little carried away there.” She apologized, not really meaning it.

He too was breathing hard. “You have a free pass to get carried away with me anytime.”

“Good to know. I’m going to go inside before your nobility is pushed any further.” She opened the door and slid out of the seat. He too opened his door, but Molly quickly stopped him by saying, “I can walk up the stairs myself. Besides, if you come with me, I don’t think I’ll be able to spell nobility or expectation.”

Molly blew him a kiss before shutting the door and walking up the stairs to her home. She clicked the outside light a few times to signal to him that she was inside and then she watched as he backed out of the drive.

Molly closed the door and locked it before leaning back against it and calling herself all kinds of idiot.

Her body was throbbing, her desire was piqued, and her curiosity was off the chart as she stood alone.

Idiot, indeed.

It didn’t matter that he had just come off a twenty-four hour shift and he was in desperate need of sleep, Hunter refused to keep the smile off his face and the bounce out of his step. He had all intentions of heading over to the park to walk at least one lap with Molly before she needed to be back at the restaurant. However small, even just a quick ten-minute walk was enough of a hit to hold him over until the next time he would see her.

Hunter was just leaving the hospital when his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. Whether it was due to his intention of seeing her, the desire to hear her voice, or the fact that he was just getting used to Molly being on the other end of the phone, when he picked up the call, he fully expected Molly’s sexy voice to be on the other end.

“Hey beautiful, I’m on my way to see you,” he greeted as he put the phone to his ear and got out his keys.

“Not sure my husband would enjoy that.” Allison’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

Fuck!

Silence overtook both ends of the call. Hunter swung his door open, throwing his bag on the passenger seat before climbing in behind the wheel.

“What’s up, Allison?” he asked, unable to keep the annoyance from his voice.

“Well, I’d say there are a lot of things up with you. Is the doctor finally seeing someone?” she inquired, causing him to squeeze his eyes tight and had him pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I just came off a double shift. What do you want, Allison?” he barked knowing she wouldn’t take kindly to his tone.

“I thought we would talk about Leah’s visit, but perhaps it is a bad time.”