Surprisingly, she found she enjoyed his company. He didn’t talk a lot and he tended to get a bit demanding when he thought he was right, but most of the time they got along well.
As friends.
She couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It was ridiculous. She been horrified when she thought he’d offered her the job for sex, but now that he was just treating her like one of the guys, she couldn’t help remembering his scent, the feel of him touching her, kissing her.
She was going insane.
Hunter was going mad. He couldn’t keep going this way.
This friendship thing was hard work. This was a test of his control. Sure, he enjoyed spending time with her. But he’d enjoy it even more with her naked beneath him or on top of him. He’d imagined taking her everywhere in every possible place.
Spending time with her had a dual purpose, one, he enjoyed being around her and wanted to know her better and two, it allowed him to keep an eye on her. He felt responsible for her. He’d brought her here and he was determined to make sure she was safe.
Gray walked into his office and handed him a coffee.
“Thanks.”
“No worries.” Gray sat down and looked at him for a long moment.
“What?” Hunter growled. “Have I suddenly grown another head?”
Gray grimaced. “Christ, don’t give me nightmares. It’s Cady.”
Hunter felt a surge of panic. “What is it? Is she all right?”
“She’s fine. Why wouldn’t she be? She never leaves the office.”
Hunter frowned. “What’s your point?”
“My point is that I’m starting to wonder why we hired her. She’s got good instincts. Her skill with a gun tells me she’s no stranger to firearms. Technically, she’s fine, better than fine, really. She gets on okay with the rest of the team, but at the same time she holds part of herself back. Each time they try to reach out to her, she closes off. How are we supposed to use someone who can’t work as part of a team? Not to mention you seem determined to keep her from leaving the office.”
“She’s not ready.”
“Will she ever be?”
Nope, not really. Damn, he knew that wasn’t fair. She was here to do a job and he had to let her. Didn’t mean he couldn’t make sure that the jobs she went out on were mainly routine and as safe as he could make them.
“Look, you can admit you made a mistake.”
“And just let her go back on the streets?” No way. Not happening.
“So we’ll help her find another job, one that suits her. That’s probably what we should have done in the first place.”
He knew Gray was right. He didn’t have to give her a job, there were a number of ways he could have helped her that would have gotten her off the streets and appeased his conscience.
So he had to admit there was another reason for why he’d offered her a job. Because he didn’t like the idea of not seeing her every day, of not knowing that she was safe, that she had everything she needed. He’d wanted her from the minute he saw her and that need only grew with every moment he spent with her.
As soon as he'd realized how much he wanted her, he knew he had to back off. Keep things platonic, as much as his dick might complain. He didn’t want to risk her running again. So he'd been playing the part of her friend and it was killing him.
“Look, I’ll sort it, okay?”
Gray sighed. “What are you going to do?”
“I’ll work on her teamwork skills.”
“And you’ll let her go out on jobs?”
Hunter squelched his instinctive denial. “Yeah. Once she’s ready.”