Page 25 of Baked

He didn’t need to ask her what came next; he could put two and two together. The gambling, the dodgy friends, and a lonely little girl.

But he did want to know how she got out. How he found her. Exactly how many times she’d had to pay off her asshole dad’s debts. So that’s what he asked.

Wrapped up in his hold, she told him everything. That she’d stashed cash away as soon as she was old enough to work. It wasn’t until she was seventeen she had enough to flee. And she did. Working. Saving. Moving from town to town until she ended up in Woodvalley. It was here she fulfilled her dream of opening her own bakery with the help from a lifetime of savings and a generous bank loan.

That was the good part, weaved into a whole lot of bad. Three times since she’d left home had Rachel’s dad found her. Not that she was purposely hiding. But three times he’d come around, asking for money to pay off debts. Each time, she agreed in order to get rid of him.

But this time she didn’t have the money.

When she finished, it wasn’t anger Hunter was feeling anymore. It was pride. He already knew she was strong, but now he knew she was a goddamn warrior.

“Baby?”

Her head finally lifted from his shoulder, and he got a look at the moisture pooled in her eyes. “Yeah?”

“You’re fucking incredible, you know that?”

Her head automatically started shaking, so much that the next thing he knew, his hands shot up to hold her still.

“You are. I can’t believe you went through what you did and came out the other side the amazing person you are now.”

The tears she’d been holding back finally fell, the first drops hitting his chest before his thumbs had a chance to swipe them away.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Her voice trembled. “Every time I think it’s over—that I’m finally free of him—he claws his way back into my life and screws everything up.”

No more. He didn’t know how yet, but he was going to find a way to fix this. He needed to make this right for her. She’d been through enough. One way or another, he would find a way to end this.

“He’s gone, honeybun. You heard Cody, he’s going away for a long time. And if he ever gets out, there’s no way he’s coming near you. I’ll make sure of it.”

A cute little snort left her. “He’ll be back. Meanwhile, look at the utter shitshow he’s left me with. Those guys broke into my apartment, Hunter. Went through all my things. And they’ll be back, I know they will.Youknow they will. As nice as my laptop and Kindle are, they’re sure as hell not worth twenty thousand dollars.”

She was right. They both knew they would be back. If they’d gone to the trouble of staking out her apartment, then it’s unlikely they would stop there. But for now, that would have to be tomorrow’s problem. Comforting Rachel had become his top priority.

Stretching up so he could lay another kiss on her, this time on her forehead, he stayed close as he spoke against soft skin. “No one is coming near you, honeybun. Not as long as I’m breathing. Do you hear me?”

She nodded but didn’t look convinced in the slightest. He didn’t take it personally. A lifetime of Leo would give anyone trust issues.

“How ’bout we get some sleep? You must be exhausted.” Another nod before she attempted to slide off him, but he held tight. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

“I was ... I thought we were gonna sleep?”

“You can’t sleep on me?” He was genuinely interested to know. He sure as hell could sleep like that. Wouldloveto sleep like that.

She paused for a moment, obviously thinking. “Maybe? I guess so. I’ve never really tried sleeping on anyone before.”

“You wanna try now?” He felt his mouth stretch into a smile, one she mirrored a moment later.

“Okay.” She was back down, arranging herself on his big body. Her legs, which were no longer straddling him, came up and rested on top of his own.

Please don’t knee me in the balls.

Thankfully, she didn’t. But there was still time.