Page 31 of Baked

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Zach chimed in. “I’m happy for you, man. Weallare. Rachel’s a good woman, and it’s about time you two figured your shit out.”

Hunter simply grunted, which was enough for Zach to continue, apparently. “Now, you all coming over to the ranch this weekend for Matt’s birthday?” Zach directed that at all of them, before turning his attention to Hunter. “Your woman is baking the cake, so you know it’s gonna be a good one.”

Your woman. I like that.

He waited for Benny and Luke to confirm their attendance before grunting out his own. He would finally be able to go to one of these things with Rachel instead of spending the whole day side-glancing at her like some sort of stalker. He was actually looking forward to it.

***

“Spread for me, baby.”

Hunter’s tongue swiped his lower lip as he watched Rachel drop her legs open. He still felt feral, which made no sense. He’d just had her. How could he want her again already?

Taking the damp washcloth, he went about cleaning up his woman, trying his best to tamp down his desire. At least for a little while.

“No one’s ever ...” She trailed off as he glanced up at her. Her head was propped up against the pillow and her fascinated gaze followed his every movement.

She didn’t need to finish. She was obviously talking about cleaning her up after sex. The last thing Hunter wanted to do was think about her with anyone else, but it really sucked that whoever the faceless assholes were, they had no idea how to treat a lady.

“Well, you’re with me now, honeybun, and this is how I roll.”

After tossing the towel into the laundry, he climbed back onto the bed and gathered his tiny fairy back into his arms. Satisfaction pooled in his belly as she nuzzled close, one leg coming up to straddle his thigh.

Good times.

“When you said it’s been a while ... how long is a while?” she asked.

And there went his afterglow.

I guess we’re doing this now.

They’d exchanged a very brief, very lust-drunk sexual history in Fairy Baked right before he’d taken her against the kitchen counter. Safe sex was no joke, and he’d never put her at risk, hence the awkward exchange. But he had to admit, it was more of an “I’m clean, it’s been a while” kind of conversation, lacking a fuckload of detail.

Swallowing his pride, he tightened his grip on her. “A long time, baby. A hell of a long time.” He didn’t even want to admit it out loud.

Feeling her nod against him, he knew straight away she wasn’t going to make him say just how long. “Do you mind me asking why?”

Fuck. Here we go.

“I was married.” The words still left a bad taste in his mouth, but he had no time to dwell; Rachel’s head was up, her bright blue eyes were seeking out his. He wasn’t ready to meet them yet.

“You were married?” she repeated, not attempting to hide the shock in her tone. “How did I not know that you were married?”

A sigh slipped out unconsciously. She didn’t know, because he had good friends. Ones that learned long ago not to talk about his ex, because it resulted in him shutting down.

“Yeah, baby, I was married. A long time ago. And ... I’ve not been with anyone since.” Something else his friends didn’t talk about.

There, he’d said it. Out loud and everything. And the earth was still spinning.

Finding the courage to finally meet her gaze, he looked down just in time to see her expression soften.

“We don’t have to talk about it, sugar. Not if you don’t want to. I guess I just wanted to know why a great guy like you was still single.”

“Not anymore I’m not.”

“What?” Her head tilted with the question.

“Single. I’m not single anymore,” he clarified.