Page 47 of Highland Getaway
My cutlery clatters loudly against my plate after he says this. Did he mean that how I think he meant it? But before I can say anything, he holds up the bottle, looking as flustered as when Hannah mentioned my bum earlier.
‘Um, wine? As a thank you for dinner?’
‘Sure,’ I reply, mentally calculating how long I could conceivably stretch out a glass of wine for, so I have less time to spend in my room. ‘You were saying? About it being hard not to notice me when .?.?.?’
I widen my eyes innocently as Hunter takes a couple of glasses out of one of the cupboards, keeping his back turned for longer than is strictly necessary.
‘You were going to say it’s hard not to notice me when I’m always inadvertently flashing you, weren’t you?’ I go on when he doesn’t answer. ‘Admit it, you were, weren’t you?’
‘No, not all,’ he insists, pouring the wine rather sloppily. ‘I hardly ever think about what happened in the sauna. And as for your .?.?. bum .?.?. well, I’m far too much of a gentleman to think about that, either. Not that it isn’t a bum worth thinking about, obviously, because it very much is. Um, from the very little I’ve seen of it, because I haven’t been looking. It’s a very fine bum, though. I think.’
‘Relax,’ I reply, smiling as he hands me a glass of wine. ‘I’m just teasing. You can stop saying the word “bum” now. Listen, though, I was thinking; you have access to the room keys here, don’t you?’
‘I do. Why do you ask?’
‘I want to change rooms,’ I blurt out. ‘Now, preferably. I don’t want to go back there, Hunter. Not even for the night. Not now I know for sure someone’s been going in there. I’m .?.?. I’m scared. I know how stupid that sounds because it’s just a turnip, but I am.’
I pause, waiting for him to make fun of me, but instead, his face softens.
‘Oh, Rosie,’ he says, taking a step towards me. ‘You’re not stupid, OK? I shouldn’t have said that about you earlier. And I’m not surprised you’re a bit shaken by .?.?. well, all of it. I can’t give you a new room, though; or not right now, anyway.’
‘You can’t?’ I know my voice sounds kind of weak and pathetic, but I can’t bring myself to care. I just want to be able to go to sleep tonight without worrying about waking up to find a dirk stuck in my ownhead.
Not that I’d be very likely to wake up under those circumstances, I suppose.
‘No, I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t want to,’ he assures me. ‘It’s just, none of the other rooms are ready yet. They haven’t been cleaned, or even decorated yet. It’s just the ones that are being used this week that were prepared for guests. Everything else is still under dust sheets.’
‘Oh, I don’t care about that,’ I reply, relieved. ‘I can make up a bed myself. And I don’t mind a bit of dust, either. As long as the door locks and I know no one but you knows where I am, that’ll be fine by me. It’s probably going to be just for tonight, anyway, so it’s fine.’
I look up at him hopefully.
‘No, Rosie,’ he says gently. ‘It’s not fine. I can see how scared you are over this; and I’m sure you’re perfectly safe, but I wantyouto be sure of that, too. I don’t like to think of you lying awake worrying that someone’s going to get into your room. No, you can stay here tonight. At least you know no one’s going to get past Stevie. Or me, for that matter.’
He grins in a way that I know is supposed to reassure me, to make me feel safe. And, actually, it works. Even though I barely know this man, Idofeel safe with him. For all he likes to pretend to be a misanthrope who just wants to be alone with his mountains and his plants, I can see how much he cares about Hannah; not to mention the way he raced after Bex earlier today.
Whether he’d admit it or not, Hunter Stuart is clearly a man who cares about people. And, just for tonight, it’s very tempting to let myself pretend he cares aboutme.
‘Oh! I didn’t mean .?.?. I wasn’t trying to .?.?. I couldn’t possibly .?.?.’ I mumble, awkwardly, worried that he’s just offering out of politeness. But he holds up a hand to stop me.
‘Relax, Rosie,’ he says with a grin. ‘It’s no problem. Look, you can take Hannah’s room; she can come in with me. There’s plenty of room – well, as long as you don’t mind sharing with all of those soft toys she collects. Then we can speak to Dante in the morning and try to figure out what to do about this business with the dirk. I’ll help you, I promise.’
‘Are you sure?’ I reply, still torn between relief and awkwardness at the thought of staying here overnight. Then I catch sight of the turnip again, and I decide to go with relief.
‘Absolutely,’ says Hunter firmly. ‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to play Minecraft for a bit, though; I don’t think Hannah’s going to take no for an answer.’
‘Fine by me.’ I smile, my stomach doing an odd little flip of either excitement or nerves as I get up to start clearing the table.
I’m spending the night with Hunter Stuart.
Maybe my luck reallyisabout to change, after all.
Chapter 19
We spend the next couple of hours sitting cross-legged in front of the TV, Hunter and I sipping wine, while Hannah attempts to explain what a ‘creeper’ is, and why we don’t want to encounter one. Then, when she finally gives up, I take over and casually thrash them both at Tetris, making a mental note to thank my sisters later for bringing such a large amount of children into the world who can practise this stuff with me and keep me on my toes.
‘I would never have guessed you’d be so good at video games, Rosie,’ Hannah exclaims, when she gets up to get ready for bed. ‘You were rubbish at Minecraft earlier.’
‘Rosie’s full of surprises,’ observes Hunter with a slow smile in my direction that suggests he’s not just talking about Tetris.
