Heart of the Hunter (4 page)

In her hotel room, Gianna shoved clothes into her bag. Anger fuelled every push and shove on her stuff to make it fit into the leather case. After everything was crammed inside, she zipped it up and collapsed beside it on the bed, her fists still curled tight.

She was so mad at Jake she could spit. How dare he show up and make her love him all over again? It wasn’t fair. She’d worked hard to exorcise him from her mind and from her heart. So what if it didn’t take too well? At least she’d tried. At least she was resigned enough to know that he might never be completely gone from her psyche, but it had been enough where she could’ve moved on.

Jerk
. How could she move on now?

The sex had been spectacular. That hadn’t really been a surprise. They had always had good sex. But it was the force of his passion that had surprised her. She’d always known in her mind that Jake had loved her, loved her still obviously, but this was the first time she really
felt
it. It had skimmed along her skin, moulded every curve and filled every part of her body. She had felt it deep within her belly and deep within her soul. And she couldn’t shake the sensation.

It was as if his hands and lips were on her still, caressing her, loving her….

She stood, trying to shake it off. She didn’t need this. Not now. She had a lot of money sitting in her account, thanks to the fast transfer of funds by the client, and was planning a vacation of her own. Somewhere warm, with long white-sanded beaches, and cabana boys in small shorts happily serving drinks with little umbrellas in them. The Caribbean would be perfect this time of year.

A trip to the snowy mountains of Alberta didn’t sound like the perfect getaway to her. What the hell would she and Jake do out there in the cold? She didn’t ski, neither did Jake. What was there to do then, in the cold, when a person didn’t want to go outside and freeze?

Images of sizzling fires and hot tubs came to mind. As did images of Jake naked in that tub with his sexy grin on his remarkable face.

A shiver vibrated up her body. She tried to tamp it down, but it was useless. It was just the afterglow of amazing sex; it was not future thoughts of amazing sex with Jake that made her quiver. Her thighs clenched, calling her a liar.

“Damn it.” She picked up her bags and left the room.

She had to get out of there. Sitting around thinking about Jake wasn’t doing her any good. She had to do something to get him out of her mind. Anything would be better than pining away for him like a lovesick teenager.

Jake sat in his rental vehicle, an SUV made for Alberta winter driving, and played with the heater controls. Full blast. Off. Full blast. Off. He couldn’t decide if he was freezing or not. He was definitely cold but he wasn’t sure it had anything to do with the weather outside the vehicle.

He glanced at his watch again. It was one minute to seven.

She wasn’t coming.

He leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. He had been certain she would change her mind. She’d said she loved him.

So why wasn’t she here?

To him it was easy. He loved her, therefore he wanted to be with her. He didn’t understand why she continued to push him away. He knew he’d done some stupid, senseless stuff before. But he promised he’d change. And he always kept his promises. Gianna knew that. Didn’t she?

He wasn’t so sure now.

He opened his eyes and glanced at his watch again. It was seven-o-one. Squinting, he peered out the front window and the sides, then out the back. She wasn’t coming. She obviously didn’t love him enough to want to work out their problems. He’d overestimated what he’d sensed from her earlier.

He pushed on the radio, setting it to something hard and fast, and tried to push down the hurt rising inside him. He’d never gotten over Gianna, and he knew he’d never be able to fully move on. He’d found his one true soul partner and he wasn’t allowed to be with her. He’d heard of heartache but never knew that one’s heart could actually shatter. It felt like a thousand bloody shards were piercing him from the inside out.

Jake put the SUV in gear and let his foot off the brake. He coasted out of the parking stall but stopped when the light from his headlamps illuminated Gianna standing in front of the vehicle, her bags in her hands.

He braked and put it in park and just stared through the windshield at her. Gianna smiled, and magically his heart pieced back together.

She walked around to the passenger side door, opened it, tossed her bags in the back, and then slid into the seat. She shut the door and turned toward him.

“Am I too late?”

Without a word, Jake reached for her, cupping her neck and pulling her to him. He covered her mouth with his and kissed her so damn hard he hoped she’d feel it for her entire lifetime.

Because God knew, he definitely did.

ISBN: 978-1-4592-0745-5

Heart of the Hunter

Copyright © 2011 by Vivi Anna

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