Part 22 (1/2)
And she did.
Standing there, wrapped together in the semi-privacy of the tiny alcove, Hunter let everything wash over him in waves. His heart slammed so hard that surely Emerson could feel it against her chest, but she didn't pull back. After time that Hunter measured by breath rather than minutes, the pressure in his rib cage released, coalescing into deeper ease. He s.h.i.+fted his weight, but only far enough to press his forehead against hers.
”Thank you,” he managed, because as lame as it was, it was the only thing he could think of to say.
Funny how she seemed to understand. ”You're welcome.”
They sat back down, keeping to the unstrained silence between them until Eli and Owen came back to the waiting area a few minutes later. Despite her look of hesitation, Hunter didn't think twice about reaching for Emerson's hand so she could accompany him back to the curtain area where his father lay resting, which turned out to be a d.a.m.ned good thing as soon as he clapped eyes on his old man.
The too-bright glare of overhead fluorescents put a spotlight on the shadows beneath his father's eyes. He looked frail, smaller somehow without the Stetson he always wore, and Christ, Hunter couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the old man without it. His gut twisted and sank as he entered the trauma room, but he tacked a smile over his kisser, anyway. ”Awful lot of trouble to go through just for Jell-O,” he managed, and d.a.m.n, his father's rusty chuckle had never sounded so f.u.c.king good.
”Tryin' . . . to keep you on your toes,” he said, exhaustion permeating the words and sending Hunter's gut on another go-round with his roiling emotions.
Calm. Cool. You can do this. ”Yeah, well, it worked.” He forced one boot over the other, the sharp smell of antiseptic pinching his senses as he moved closer to his father's hospital bed.
His father nodded, his face as pale as the pillow propping his head up. ”A little too well, I s'pose.”
Aw, h.e.l.l. The last thing the old man needed was to feel guilty. He was supposed to be taking things easy, for Pete's sake. ”You know us Cross men. Nothing gets done halfway.”
”Still.” His father lowered his gaze to his hands. ”Didn't mean to worry you.”
”How about you heal fast and we call it square?”
”Sounds like a deal.” His old man waited out a handful of breaths-a series of rises and falls that took far too much effort, in Hunter's opinion-before he s.h.i.+fted his stare in Emerson's direction. ”Guess I owe you a debt of grat.i.tude, darlin'.”
”Not at all,” she said, and whoa, as sweet as her smile was, she clearly meant it.
For once, his father went the defiant route. ”Doc says without your quick thinkin', this coulda been a whole lot worse.”
”Nah. You're way too tough for that,” Emerson said, her ballerina-looking shoes shus.h.i.+ng over the linoleum as she moved closer to brush a kiss over the old man's cheek. ”But if it makes you feel better, you can return the favor if I'm ever not right on my feet.”
”Done.”
They spent a few more minutes at his father's bedside, mostly making sure he was comfortable enough to get the rest he'd promised. Only after Hunter a.s.sured him twice that they'd take care of everything at Cross Creek did he close his eyes, and only then did Hunter allow himself to fully breathe.
”We'll be back in a bit to check on you,” Hunter murmured, although he suspected that between the heat exhaustion and whatever the doc had put in the IV to treat it, his old man was already well on his way to la-la land. Emerson squeezed his father's hand, tucking the tissue-thin sheet around him one more time as she whispered a good-bye and headed to the door. But before Hunter could follow, his father's eyes fluttered open.
”She's a good one,” he said, the sandpaper whisper low enough to keep the words from reaching Emerson's ears. ”Don't let her go.”
Okay, so the meds were almost certainly talking-after all, his father had about as many sentimental bones in his body as Hunter himself. Still, the rare shot of emotion whisking through his father's eyes caught him so by surprise that he answered with the truth.
”I know, and I promise. I won't.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.
Emerson sank against the warm, worn leather of Hunter's pa.s.senger seat, watching the last glimmers of daylight slip into shadow over the fields at Cross Creek. Her body was about as ready to tap out as her brain, both of them having been put to the test over the last ten hours. But getting the all-clear on Mr. Cross's test results, then getting him comfortably situated at home and keeping him company while Hunter and his brothers had caught up on things at the farm had been worth every ounce of her exhaustion.
”I'm glad you managed to eat something,” Hunter said from beside her, his expression nearly impossible to read in the heavy dusk. He'd been unusually quiet after he'd held on to her in the vestibule in the emergency department, but then again, today hadn't come within forty miles of normal.
Emerson smiled even though he probably couldn't see it, hoping the gesture would at least touch her voice. ”I had to set the lead for your father,” she said, because even with the day he'd had, no way would Mr. Cross let her get away with not practicing what she preached. ”I know the baked chicken and veggies were probably kind of boring for you guys, but I wanted to go easy on his stomach.”
Well, that and it was one of about three things she knew how to cook for more than a party of one, but despite the fact that he had to be completely drained, Hunter was quick on the protest.
”No, no. Dinner was great.” He let go of a laugh, and while the sound wasn't harsh, it also didn't hold any humor. ”G.o.d, Em, are you kidding? Between you being there for my old man this morning and how you helped me and my brothers afterward, there aren't enough words to thank you for what you did for my family today.”
Emerson blinked through the near darkness in the cab of the pickup. ”You don't need to thank me. Of course I helped.”
”But not everybody would have. I mean”-he paused, pulling up in front of the cottage but not cutting the engine-”yes, anyone would've called nine-one-one if they'd seen my father collapse. But you didn't hesitate to go with him in the ambulance, to rearrange a job that's hugely important to you in order to stay with us at the hospital. You never thought twice about caring, and not just on the surface. I don't know how to repay you for that.”
A sudden burst of emotion wrapped around Hunter's words, triggering something deep inside Emerson's chest, and she loosened her feelings without thinking twice.
”But you already have,” she said, turning toward him. ”The four of you included me-in your family dinners, in the business you love-from the get-go. I know that may have felt normal to you, but for me, that kind of family acceptance is rare, and . . .” Emerson bit her lip, her own emotions welling up. Still, she didn't try to hide them. ”I need it. It means a lot to me that I can be who I am here.”
Hunter leaned across the console, pressing his mouth over hers. The kiss wasn't forceful or rough, yet for a second, Emerson couldn't move. His mouth touched hers hungrily, with a quiet, aching need she could taste, and she opened to meet it. Reaching up, she framed his face with both hands. She held him close, sliding her tongue over his, sucking his bottom lip softly as if to say I'm here, I have you.
And he shocked the h.e.l.l out of her by giving in. The tautness in his muscles unwound, his shoulders falling away like they'd just released a breath they'd been clutching for far too long. Hunter's hands found her forearms, hot fingers curling around her skin like a brand, but she held steady. She kissed him slowly, yet with intensity, the connection of their mouths both hard enough to make her lips tingle and soft enough to convey more than physical need.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Emerson explored every part of him-the tip of his tongue, the divot right in the center of his ridiculously full lower lip, the edges of his mouth that were responsible for the smiles that lit her up like the brightest star in the midnight sky. She searched and swept, tested and took. Desire pushed her pulse faster, then faster again before Hunter pulled back, a rough groan in his throat.
”Will you come somewhere with me?”
”Right now?” she blurted, startled by the unexpected request.
”Yes.” His touch was still firm over her arms, his breath ragged and warm as it mingled with hers. ”I'm too keyed up to sleep, and I just . . . I need-”
”Yes.” The word sprang past her lips before she even realized her brain had formed it. But the hunger in his tone was so raw, so needful in a way that she'd never quite seen on him, that refusing never crossed her mind. Hunter put the truck in gear, gravel popping softly beneath the tires as he guided them over the network of unpaved paths on Cross Creek's property. Two minutes later, they coasted to a stop in front of the old barn they used to sneak off to in high school, the wide, brick-red boards cloaked in the silvery shadows being thrown down by the moon hanging low on the horizon.
”You want to be at the barn?” Emerson asked, confusion whispering up her spine.
Hunter shook his head, an irony-laced smile shaping his mouth. ”I want you, Em. Right now, all I need is you.”
His answer was so simple, yet she felt it in even the tiniest places, pure and strong and whole. They got out of the truck without words, Hunter pausing only to grab a heavy blanket from beneath the backseat, and Emerson's brows traveled up in surprise.
”Do you always keep a blanket in your truck?”
He shook his head. ”No.”
”Okay.” She lifted the end of the response like the question it was, and he brushed a kiss over her mouth with just enough intention to make her belly tighten and dip from the promise of it.
”I put the blanket in my truck the morning after you spent that first night with me.”
Her uncut shock had to be on full display, because he continued his explanation. ”I've never brought anyone to this hayloft other than you. The place just felt too”-Hunter lingered over her lips, tantalizingly close-”intimate. Too personal to share with anyone else. But I've thought about coming back here with you for weeks. G.o.d, forever. And right now, that's all I want. You and me and nothing else.”
Desire buzzed through her, heady and dark. ”I want you, too, Hunter. You and me and nothing else.”