Hunt Me by Shiloh Walker Page A

wasn’t
likely, running flat out in heels wasn’t as easy as people might
make it seem in books or movies.
    On the job, Dakota was practical, and even if
she was taking some time to get dumped, she was still working. The
only time she wasn’t working was when she crashed in her cabin up
in Maine or when she got pulled into Excelsior for one thing or
another.
    The life of a Hunter.
    Sighing, she made one last study of her
reflection, pulling the brush through her dark brown hair. It
curled around her mostly naked shoulders, the ends coming down to
drape around her breasts. She looked good. She was honest enough to
admit that. She looked good…like a woman who wanted a man to know it, too.
    “Damn it.” She swallowed and turned away from
her reflection, determined not to spend the next hour thinking
about this. Next hour, minimum, because even though she wasn’t
meeting Drew until midnight, she’d be circling around the city.
Circling around, watching things. Making sure she wasn’t being
watched. There were paranormal creatures aplenty here.
    Every damn time she came through, she had to
settle trouble. None of it was bad . If it had been bad in the major category, a bigger bad-ass would be
here.
    Dakota had yet to grow into full bad-ass
potential.
    But she was good enough to play cop and if
things got bad, call in the big guns. Part of playing cop meant
being careful.
    The life of a Hunter.
    A damn lonely life.
     
     
    “So. You’re breaking things off.” Nic stared
at him with a thoughtful frown. “Look, you know, you don’t have to
do this. I…I can tell you’ve got feelings for her. And it’s not
like we’re ready to move in together or anything. All we’ve got so
far is a couple of casual dates and…”
    He caught her around the back of the neck and
pulled her close. When this woman started babbling, as adorable as
it was, this was the only way to stem the flow of words. She gasped
against his mouth and then sighed, moving closer. Her lips parted
for him and she slid her hands inside his coat.
    “Hmmm.” She hummed under her breath as he
lifted his head. “What was that for?”
    “To make you be quiet a minute.” Pressing his
brow to hers, he stroked his thumb across her damp lower lip. “I
know I don’t have to do this. But things with me and her aren’t
ever going to change, and I don’t like where they are. I like where things are with us. We can’t change while
she’s in the picture. Those casual dates won’t go any further until
things change, right? So we change them.”
    I change them , he thought.
    She wrinkled her nose at him. “That shouldn’t
sound so sweet. But it does.” Nic rested her head against his
chest. “Call me when you wake up?”
    “Yeah.” He stroked his fingers through her
hair, the silken blonde strands glinting in the harsh, fluorescent
lighting. “You want me to follow you home?”
    “No. I’m good. I’ve got paperwork to finish
up. I’ll have somebody walk me out.” She stroked a hand down his
cheek. “You need to shave, baby.”
    Then she pecked him on the lips and turned
around, her heels clicking on the floor. Just before she
disappeared around the hall, her phone rang. He could hear her
voice drifting down the hall. When she suddenly snapped, “Son of a bitch !” it made him grin.
    He was still shaking as his head as he turned
to grab his stuff. But the grin had faded by the time he hit the
door. He had thirty minutes.
    Thirty minutes to figure out how in the hell
to tell Dakota Coulter good-bye.
    How did he tell this woman he loved that he
was leaving her because she wouldn’t hang around for longer than a
day? Hell, he hadn’t even told her loved her.
    If she asked why he was ending it, did he
tell her he didn’t entirely trust her? And that he’d rather have
the sweeter, quieter woman who was there …even if he didn’t
want her quite as much as he wanted Dakota?
     
     
    Rage vibrated inside her. She hid in the
darkness, clinging to