The man never wore yellow, that was for sure. It was always gold when it came to Hunter.
She hadn’t expected to see him in his cowboy hat, but it hadn’t gone anywhere. He wore a different one now than he had last Sunday. This one was dark as night and it went well with the slacks and shiny shoes. His footwear made her stare, because she’d expected to find the cowboy boots he’d had on last week.
“What are you doing here?” Hunter took another step toward her, and Molly got her whole body to cooperate.
She stood up and thrust the paper bag toward him. “I made bread, and I thought maybe you’d like a loaf.”
He looked down at the bag and then back to her eyes. He didn’t smile, and he seemed so perplexed. She felt the exact same way. Hunter belonged on a horse or a farm, and while she’d seen him in church clothes before, there was something different about him being in this high-rise and not a chapel.
“It’s…lunchtime,” she said, shaking the bread so the bag rustled. If he didn’t take it, she’d tuck it back under her arm and scurry away, her tail tucked between her legs too.
He took the brown bag from her. “And you thought I’d have lunchmeat and cheese with me? Maybe a bottle of mayo.” He grinned then, his dark eyes shining like the stars. “All I was missing is the bread.” He lifted the bagged bread a few inches, his smile fading. “Thank you.”
Her chest constricted, and she suddenly needed to get away. “I don’t…sorry to bother you.” She twisted and picked up her purse. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything important.” She nodded without truly looking at him and stepped away from him and the couch and the perfectly perky secretary listening in.
She jabbed at the elevator button, dangerously close to tears. Please, please, she prayed, looking up at the numbers above the doors.
“Molly,” he said behind her.
She didn’t turn around. “It’s fine, Hunter,” she said. “I don’t need you to say anything else.” He’d said so much with the silence over the past week. She wasn’t sure why she’d needed to come here and make sure his non-contact had meant what she’d feared.
At the same time, she knew exactly why. She didn’t trust her own feelings, and she needed to have proof of everything before she could make a final decision. If she’d been more careful with Tyrone, she never would’ve dated him for a year. She never would’ve married him.
“You don’t need to go.”
“Oh, yes, I do.”
Hunter stepped next to her, his nearness too much for her. She shifted away from him, because the cool, crisp scent of his cologne hadn’t been dulled by the few hours he’d been at work. It was like he’d spritzed himself with the stuff that made her swoon on his way up from the lab.
Annoyance sang through her, and she just wanted to leave with as much dignity as she could. She hadn’t seen Hunter in years. She could avoid him now that they lived in the same city.
“I meant to call,” he said quietly.
“I don’t need an explanation,” she said, sending him a glare. She’d never stood up to Tyrone, and she could easily see herself folding for Hunter too. That so wasn’t going to happen. “Though, you know what, Mister Hammond? You said you’d call me, and you didn’t.” She scanned him from head to toe, committing his good looks to memory.
She couldn’t believe she was going to walk away from him, but she respected herself enough to do it. She had to do it.
The elevator dinged, thankfully. She edged away from him again, and said, “I realize you’ve had a lot going on, and I tried to give you the time and space you needed to do it. I don’t know what the last eight days have been like for you, but I’m trying to think of a reason why you couldn’t have simply sent me a text.”
“Molly.” Hunter watched her get on the elevator.
“How long does it take to type and send, ‘I’m so sorry, Molly, but I’m still swamped at the moment. Hoping I can take you to dinner when things calm down.’?” She cocked her head. While she could go on and on—the teacher inside her really liked to lecture, and everyone needed to watch out once she got started—the doors started to close, separating her from Hunter.
Her heartbeat hopped, skipped, and jumped all the way