Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
I shiver, unable to stop myself from both blushing and grinning at the same time.
The movie ends all too soon – sooner than I expected. I blink in surprise at the closing credits. I could have sworn I would have more time.
Checking the time on my cell phone, I realize that it is just as late as I thought after all – it’s just that the time is moving too fast. And however much time I have with Hunter, I have a feeling that it will never seem like enough.
“Alright,” he says. He stretches and gets up from the sofa, sounding just as reluctant as I feel. “We’d better head off.”
I nod, trying not to show my disappointment. I agreed to this, after all. It’s not fair for me to change my mind or complain about it now.
I don’t trust myself to speak, in case my voice gives away how sad I am or breaks, and I end up begging him to let me stay.
He leans down as I stand and kisses me on the forehead. “I’ll make tomorrow worth the wait,” he says.
I look up, meet his eyes, and nod, showing him that I trust him. I can’t quite bring myself to act like I’m happy we’re parting right now, but I don’t have to be so overtly upset about it that I make him feel bad. There are reasons behind this decision, and I respect them even if I wish things were a little different.
“Come on,” Hunter says. “I’ll drive you home.”
We walk to the car, and the drive goes far too quickly, leaving me wishing for every moment to slow down. Maybe we could come up against a red light, or a slow-moving truck could pull out in front of us, or the road could be blocked, causing us to go on a longer diversion. But none of that happens.
Instead, we park up in the same spot as last night, and then there’s nothing to do but part ways.
“I’ll go from here,” I quickly say when Hunter goes to unbuckle his seatbelt. “It’s okay. You don’t have to walk me to my dorm."
He frowns. “It’s dark. It’s not safe.”
“It’s as safe as ever,” I tell him with a slight smile. “Remember, I did live here before I met you.”
“You didn’t have anyone to walk you, then,” he says stubbornly. “Now you do.”
I laugh at his insistence. I love how protective he is – it makes me feel safe and special. But I have other reasons for wanting to object. “I know,” I say. “But I really will be safe. And I’d rather part here.”
“Why?” he asks, wrinkling his nose in the most adorable way – though I’m sure he would rather I only think of him as handsome. “Are you embarrassed to be seen with me or something?”
With him? I wouldn’t mind if the whole world saw me with him. In fact, I would love it if they did. At least then they would believe me if I told them!
“Not at all,” I tell him quickly. “That’s not it. It’s just… you remember how you said that you wouldn’t be able to resist doing something tonight if I stayed over at your place?”
He nods seriously.
“Well,” I continue. “If you come to the door with me, I’m not going to be able to resist inviting you to walk through it.”
He breaks out into a smile, his eyes knowing now, and I think a little relieved. “I see,” he nods. “We’re both as bad as each other.”
“We are,” I say. I open the passenger side door, bracing myself to go through it before I can back out or change my mind. I have to do it fast. Otherwise, I won’t be able to keep my nerve. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And then I get out of the car and go because I can’t wait any longer and still hold my nerve.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Hunter
Rubbing my eyes, I try to decide whether I’m tired or just deprived. Having her near me all the time the last two days has been difficult, I want her so badly.
I made the right choice in holding myself back in order to make things special for her, but, man – do I feel the strain of every single second of that.
As I look at the file in front of me, I sigh. I quickly realized that we’re not likely to make much progress in investigating together – no matter what agreement we might have about the twenty hours.
I haven’t managed to do an effective minute having her around yet. This means if we’re going to get to the bottom of what’s going on with her dad – and I think it’s important we do, I need to investigate on my own.
So, that’s what I’ve been doing – working in the evening and getting up early in the morning, investigating as much as I can before she arrives. The case is pretty straightforward.