seemed appropriate to mark the official end of our youth by smoking this, which Anna confiscated from her sixteen-year-old brother yesterday. "I'm about to marry a man who creates robots that can learn how we think. Of course I'm going to say that smart guys are the best in bed. Well, Derek can solve a Rubik's Cube in under thirty seconds. The vagina is much less complicated." "That friend of his, Adam, is cute." But he spent the last hour telling me about an algorithm he's building for an AI robot named Lindsey. My input on the conversation was limited to "wow!" and "how interesting." Can you tell Derek he needs to find some dumber friends? Anna took a drag and spoke while trying to hold in her smoke, which made her voice rise two octaves. "He went to MIT and works at a tech company... It's going to be hard to find dumb friends." She nudged me with her shoulder. "That's why I need you to move here. I can't stand being around smart people all the time." "You're so cute," I sighed. "Adam's kind of cute, at least." "So I take it today's the day you're breaking this drought?" "Maybe tomorrow night, right after the wedding," I said with a smug smile. "If he's lucky. I'm still on New York time. I'll be falling asleep at the table by the time they serve dessert tonight." The bride-to-be and I were hiding from the rest of the pre-wedding dinner guests behind a vine-covered trellis arch in the restaurant's courtyard. Suddenly, a deep, husky voice startled me, and I nearly knocked the arch over. "If he gets lucky, huh? Are you as pretty from the front as you are from the back, or are you just conceited?" "What the-" I turned to the man walking toward us in the darkness. "Why don't you mind your own business?" The guy took a few more long strides and stepped into the spotlight that Anna and I had been trying to avoid. My eyes nearly bugged out. Tall, really tall-I'm five foot two and wearing five-inch heels, but I still had to crane my neck to look him in the face. Dark, sexy hair that looked like it needed a haircut, but still looked good on him. Tanned skin, a square, well-defined jaw, and a thin beard that must have grown in two hours, with all the testosterone he exuded. His eyes were a light blue that stood out against his dark face, and a few little wrinkles marked the skin around his eyes, which made me think he must smile often. And what a smile. It wasn't quite a full smile-more like a sly grin, like a cat that just swallowed a bird. The whole man thing was a bit too much to take in at once. But as I stood there, speechless, Anna hugged him. I hope she really knows him, I thought, and not that she's more stoned than I thought. "Hunter! You made it." Phew." "Of course you did. I wouldn't miss my buddy's wedding. Sorry I'm late. I was in Sacramento for work and had to rent a car and drive because my flight for this afternoon was canceled." The handsome intruder looked at me. He started at my feet and worked his way up slowly and in an incredibly rough, yet seductive way, sweeping my entire body. My nipples hardened as I watched those blue eyes the color of a misty sunset roam over me. When he finished, our gazes met. "Oh, yes, you are. Huh?" Noticing my confused expression, Hunter gave me a little help to understand.
Park. He and Derek are childhood friends, but they don't see each other as much because Hunter travels around the country for months on end on these projects. Mr. Dark, Tall, Handsome and Sexy seemed proud of his resume. I smiled at him with fake sweetness. "I used to love that park. I'm glad you increased the neighborhood's carbon footprint through the roof and destroyed some of our environment." "You're a tree-hugger, aren't you?" Anna must be right. We'd kill each other if we were a couple." "Hmmm... I'll have cheesecake. Are you thirsty? I'm dying of thirst. Yeah." Anna was pretty wasted.
"We haven't even had dinner yet," I reminded her. "So what? Let's have dessert. Come on!" Licking her lips, she walked back into the restaurant without us. Hunter laughed. "It was nice meeting you, Natalia. And if things don't work out with Adam, who's annoying as hell, I'm in room 315 at the hotel." He winked and leaned in to whisper in my ear. "We could even kill each other... I've always wanted to die in bed." "Are these chairs taken?" Adam and I were finishing our dessert when Hunter walked over and pointed to two chairs across from us. The couple who had been sitting there had left a few minutes earlier. "Yes," I lied. But Adam was kind enough to correct me: "Actually, Eric and Kim were sitting there. They just said goodbye, remember, Nat?" A wide, arrogant smile spread across Hunter's face. He pulled out a chair for the girl, his wedding date, and sat right in front of me. "This is Cassie. She's a tech goddess, a Caltech graduate. Do you know Adam, Cassie?" Adam looked very interested: "We had a quick chat this afternoon." But I didn't know you worked in tech. I graduated from MIT. I work with Derek at Clique, programming robots." Adam and Cassie's conversation took off. Neither of them noticed the grimace I made at the nerd cupid. I leaned forward, smiling, and said through my teeth, "I know what you're doing." Hunter leaned back in his chair with a smug grin that went from ear to ear. "I don't know what you're talking about." "It won't work." "You say so. But I'll be here if you need a backup." I drank the rest of my coffee and adjusted the front of my dress to show just the right amount of cleavage. Then I picked up the napkin on the table and discreetly dropped it on the floor. As I raised my fork to my mouth, I accidentally dropped a piece of cheesecake into my cleavage. Hunter watched the whole scene with interest. Leaning over, I touched Adam's bicep. "Do you have a napkin?" They must have taken mine when they cleared the table, and I just made a mess of it." Like the gentleman he was, Adam excused himself from Cassie and turned to give me his attention. When his eyes dropped to the cheesecake in my cleavage, I knew instantly that I had won. I smiled triumphantly as the nerd helped me clean up my cleavage. Hunter's scowl felt like a victory. To be honest, I had already decided during dinner that I wasn't going to sleep with Adam-I needed to feel some degree of physical attraction for a man, even if it was just for one night. But I did enjoy teasing Hunter. "My hand gets sore when I'm tired," I told Adam. "And I'm still on New York time. I think I'll head back to the hotel." "I'll come with you," he replied immediately. Who was Cassie again? Laughs. But Hunter wasn't one to give in easily-I could tell that for him. He stood up. "I have a car. I can give you both a ride. Are you ready to go, Cass?" The four of us are staying at the Carlisle, I guess?" I smiled at Mr. Insistent and linked arms with Adam. "I have a rental car, so Adam and I can come together. But thanks for offering, Tanner." "Hunter." "Okay." I smiled. The hotel was only a mile down the highway. As we pulled in, we ran into familiar faces-friends of the groom-at the lobby bar. It looked like the pre-wedding party had moved from the restaurant to the hotel. As we walked by, one of the guys I recognized yelled for Adam to join them for a drink. He looked at me before answering. "What do you think? Fancy a nightcap?" "Actually, I'm pretty tired-jet lag and all. But go have a drink with them, yeah. Have a good time." "Are you sure?" "Yeah, sure. I'm going to pass out on the bed." Adam gave me a quick hug goodnight, and I headed to the elevator alone. I was exhausted. Anna and Derek had reserved the top floor of suites for out-of-town guests, and I had forgotten that I needed to insert my key card into the elevator panel to access the floor. After pressing the button several times, I finally realized it and started rummaging through my bag for the card. I was busy searching when I heard that voice. "Natalia." I was met with Hunter's cocky smile. "You..." "Me," he confirmed. I looked around at his large, imposing figure. "Where's your partner?" He winked. "I left her at the bar with your partner so you two can get to know each other better." "Aren't you going to be lonely?" I said sarcastically. "Maybe. But there's a way to fix that." "You're going to take matters into your own hands, aren't you?" I finally found the room key in my bag. Hunter chuckled and took it from me to insert it into the panel. Of course we were on the same floor, since we were guests at the same wedding. When the doors closed, the elevator suddenly felt too small for the two of us. It didn't help that Hunter was still facing me as the elevator started to ascend. He kept staring at me from up close, and my body reacted to the proximity. "Don't you know elevator etiquette?" I asked. "Turn around and look at the buttons like a normal person." "Why would I waste my time with buttons when I could be enjoying a much nicer view?" "You know I'm not going to sleep with you." "Why not? You were going to sleep with Adam." "That's different." "What do you mean?" "I already knew Adam. He's a nice guy." "I'm a nice guy." "I don't know you." Hunter shoved his hands in his pockets. "Hunter Delucia, twenty-nine, single, never married, no kids. Undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture from Berkeley. Grew up next door to Derek, they've been friends since they were babies. He can tell you I'm a nice guy." I live in Idyllwild, an hour away from the happy couple, in my own house. I built my own house and have lots of trees on the property-that should earn me some extra points, by the way. I had my checkups a month ago and I'm super healthy. And most importantly..." He took a step toward me; our bodies were almost touching. "I think you're really sexy. There's this crazy chemistry between us, and I think we need to take advantage of it." I swallowed hard. Luckily, the elevator arrived and the doors opened. I needed air that didn't smell like Hunter Delucia, so I walked around the tree man and out. He followed me. When I stopped abruptly, realizing I was going the wrong way, he nearly ran me over. His hands caught me, his fingers pressing into my hips to keep me from falling face first. "Whoa. Are you okay?" "Oh my! You almost knocked me over." "You stopped dead in your tracks." – If he hadn't been glued to me, he wouldn't have run me over. We w
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