Free Just Three Words (Soho Loft Romances) by Melissa Brayden Page B

really, it’s okay.” She touched her glasses because she didn’t know what else to do.
    Hunter straightened. “That. That little glasses thing you just did is a move, by the way. A total move. And it used to drive me crazy. Believe me or don’t, it’s your call. But I wanted to sleep with you. It happened. It’s a fact. You’ve always been a head turner, and you need to recognize that—my only point in telling this story.”
    Samantha was staring at her for a beat longer than normal, and for whatever reason, Hunter felt incredibly exposed after what she’d revealed. A new feeling for her. It was a schoolgirl crush, what she’d felt for Samantha back in the day, one she hadn’t ever planned on mentioning to anyone, much less Sam herself—especially now that they were all as close as they were. But that longing had been real, and if it helped Samantha to know about it, well, she was willing to feel a little stupid in the process.
    A grin took over Sam’s face and she leaned her hip against the counter. “Wait. So you’re not wanting to rip my clothes off anymore?”
    “Doesn’t mean some other poor sap isn’t pining away for you right this very minute. Or won’t be before the day is out.”
    “Huh.” Sam picked up her attaché. “If nothing else, it’s nice to imagine.” Her eyes softened and her voice took on sincerity. “Thanks, by the way. You didn’t have to say all of that. But just…thanks.” Hunter nodded. “Will I see you down at Savvy soon?”
    “Right behind you, after I organize a bit. I have to get used to this thirty-second commute.”
    Sam quirked her head. “And I have to get used to a roommate who organizes. Mind-blowing concept.” And then she was gone.
    Hunter headed to her bedroom with Elvis right behind her. Her goal was to at least start the process of putting her room together. But as she laid the contents of the first box across the dresser Brooklyn had left her, the recent conversation clung to her. It had her in a new headspace entirely. She hadn’t thought about those old feelings in such a long time, and doing so now took her back there, in a sense. It was a point in her history when she was excited for the next day, for what life had to offer, for a variety of reasons. It was nice feeling that way about someone, even if it had been temporary. Full-on crushes like that one just didn’t happen to her anymore.
    She’d grown up. And that was a good thing.
    *
    There’s a dog staring at me.
    While Sam should have been nerding out and tearing through this month’s edition of Money Magazine , that was all she seemed able to concentrate on: the dog sitting on the floor next to the couch. Staring at her.
    As she was lying on her stomach, the way she always did when she read, Elvis was at her eye line, innocently looking on. Blinking periodically. Probably wondering what she was up to and why she wasn’t staring back. Or more importantly, why she was home alone on a Saturday night reading a magazine. “Because I’m just that sought after,” she said knowingly to Elvis.
    It had been two weeks since Hunter moved in, and so far, so good. Well, mostly. If you didn’t count the fact that the mail was never where it was supposed to be on the counter, or that she put the big knives in the regular silverware drawer, or that she came in at all hours and shut the door loudly. Hunter also had her own schedule, or maybe a better way to describe it was a lack of one. It had been difficult for Samantha, who thrived on routine and predictability, to figure out when Hunter might want to shower, which seemed to happen at all sorts of random times of day, or what nights she’d likely be home versus going out. Okay, so not that big a deal in the scheme of things, except the randomness of it all drove her a little over-the-top-crazy-frustrated. Hunter hadn’t killed a small child or anything, but everyone had limits.
    And she never in a million years would have imagined it, but Sam