Page 3 of Baked

“I’m not.” She side-eyed him as they began walking. “I don’t live far, and I enjoy the walk.”

What the ever-loving fuck?

“What about the nights you work late? Please tell me you drive home on those nights.” He remembered her telling him once that she often stayed late to bake.

He twisted to see her shrug. “Nope. We’re in Woodvalley, Hunter, what’s the worst that could happen?”

This woman was going to give him a stroke. He could already feel his heart palpitating to near-dangerous levels. Deciding he just couldn’t wait to educate her, he came to a standstill on the cobbles.

Rachel made it a few more steps before she realized he’d stopped. Once she did, she turned and offered up a puzzled expression.

One step into her space. Another step until she stumbled backward. One final step until her back was pressing against the window of Attica Antiques.

He was a foot taller than her, meaning she had to bend back her neck to look him in the eye. Which she did. His own head instinctively bowed, obviously trying to get as close to those pink lips as possible.

“That ends today.” Taking a deep, sugar-filled breath, he tried his best to remain calm. “And I’m not just talking about the time it takes to get that asshole father of yours thrown in jail. I’m talking about never a-fucking-gain. You work late, you drive. You work late and you don’t have your car ... you call me. Understand?”

It was safe to say that she, in fact, did not understand. He watched as those bright eyes switched from wide and glazed to narrow and mean in an instant.

“You’ve got a real nerve, Hunter Campbell, you know that?” He did. “I call you once for help and now you think you can just show up here and start bossing me around when you haven’t so much as said more than two words to me in nine frigging months?”

She was right. He hadn’t.

He’d never been good with words. Even with his friends. From a young age, he learned that most people didn’t want to hear what he had to say anyway. So why bother?

But Rachel had him tongue-tied for a different reason. She scared him shitless. Even if he had stayed away, it didn’t change the fact that he wanted her to like him. But talking might fuck that up. What if she didn’t want to hear what he had to say either?

“I’m talking to you now, honeybun.” He heard his voice drop another octave. “And I’m telling you, there’s no way in hell I’m ever gonna be okay with you walking home in the dark, alone.”

As soon as he saw the fire light her eyes, his hand came to the window next to where her ponytail was squashed against the glass. His head dropped lower, and his mouth hovered over hers, soaking in every heavy breath she gave him. In turn, every nerve in his body came alive.

“I think you know why I didn’t say more than two words to you, baby.” Her chest heaved so hard, he felt her soft flesh brush up against his muscle. “It’s the same reason your pretty pink cheeks are turning red right now. The reason you check me out when you think I’m not looking. And it’s sure as fuck the reason I was the first person you called when your daddy showed up.”

Just when he was going to do the unthinkable and pry those plump lips apart with his own, a loud chime vibrated between them. Her phone.

Taking a step back, he tried his best to get his shit together, his eyes never leaving Rachel as she pulled out her phone. She was just as flustered as him. He could tell by her shaky hands. Her flushed neck. And her sexy as hell wet lips that she’d somehow had time to drag her tongue over.

But she didn’t look away. She held his gaze, even as she answered the call.

“Hi, Cody.” So much for getting his heart rate under control. Cody was a cop, and the man who’d been out searching for Rachel’s dad. “Okay ...” She nodded. “Uh, yeah, I guess I can ...” Her eyes were still on Hunter as she said, “Yeah, he’s with me now.” Another pause. “Okay, sure, I’ll ask him.”

Ask me what?

He didn’t have to wait long to find out. A second later, she hung up. “Cody found my dad. He’s in custody.”Thank fuck.“But, um, he said something came up when they were interviewing him. Something he wants to talk to me about in person. He wants me to go down to the station and ... uh, he asked if you could come down too.”

That didn’t sound good. But he didn’t have time to dwell on it as he witnessed his fiery fairy shut back down right in front of him. Her head dropped, and she began fiddling with her fingers. He saw nothing but hopelessness. And it pissed him right off.

“Okay, baby.” He took hold of her hand and began leading them back the other way to his truck. “Let’s go talk to Cody.”

One way or another, this had to end.