Chapter Five

Hunter POV

The door closed behind Grace, leaving silence in her wake. I held my breath, my jaw tightening as I stared at the empty space she had occupied just seconds before. I had seen the anger in her eyes before she left.

My hands flexed at my sides, as if fighting the urge to reach out and pull her back. The irritation burning in my chest was unsettling, foreign, and I didn’t like it one damn bit.

“So tell me—what’s going on?” Helena’s voice broke the silence, drawing my attention. My wife stood with her arms crossed, her sharp eyes assessing me with a look I couldn’t quite decipher.

Almost like she didn’t know me like this. It wasn’t often she came into the office. I was no boy scout and often lost my temper. She just hadn’t seen that side of me. She had only experienced my softer side at home.

I forced a breath through my nose, rolling my shoulders back. “She got stuck in a lift with Max.”

Helena tilted her head, a smile playing at her lips. “Max? Your friend Max Castle.”

My stomach twisted at the thought. Max wasn’t just some guy. I knew him—his habits, his history. And the idea of Grace being anywhere near him left a bad taste in my mouth.

But why?

She wasn’t my responsibility. She was my sister-in-law, my wife’s family. That was the only reason I cared. Because family looked out for each other. Right? So why did it feel like more than that?

“Yes.”

“So, what’s the big deal? Max is a nice guy,” Helena said, walking over and placing her hands on my chest.

“Because during the time he was in the lift with her, Max charmed your sister into a date.” I felt that should explain it all. Max was good-looking, charming, and had a way with women. He was funny and easy to be around.

Helena’s lips curved slightly, her fingers smoothing over my shirt. “Grace is a big girl. Plus, she isn’t likely to sleep with him, not when she’s our surrogate. Let her have a little fun. The next nine months are going to be tough on her, carrying our baby.”

Fun. That was one way to put it. I knew Max. I knew the way he cycled through women like it was a game, a challenge he never failed to win. He was a playboy. The idea of him setting his sights on Grace made my jaw tighten.

“She barely knows him,” I said, my voice sharper than I intended.

Helena’s beautiful green eyes gleamed with something I couldn’t quite place. “She’s a grown woman, Hunter. She can handle herself.”

“She could be pregnant. I don’t trust Max not to push for more,” I reminded her.

“I’ll have a word with her. We need to make sure the baby she’s carrying is ours,” she countered smoothly. “Why are you so worked up about this?”

I opened my mouth to respond, then shut it again. I didn’t have an answer that made sense. Not one I was willing to voice out loud.

Helena pressed a kiss to my jaw, her lips soft. “Don’t be so overprotective. Grace isn’t yours to worry about. I am, baby.”

Her words sent something hot and uncomfortable through me. I knew she was right. But the feeling in my chest didn’t go away.

Helena pulled back, glancing at the clock. “I have to go. My personal trainer is waiting.”

Something about the way she said it made me pause. Helena had been spending a lot of time with her trainer lately. Her workouts had doubled, and yet she never seemed particularly exhausted when she returned home. If anything, she looked even more put together, perfect hair, flawless makeup, not a bead of sweat in sight.

I frowned. “Didn’t you see him yesterday?” Maybe she was showering at the gym.

Her smile didn’t falter. “I like to stay in shape, Hunter. You wouldn’t want me letting myself go, would you? You like my body just the way it is.” She ran her hands up her sides as she posed.

I knew she was joking, but something about the way she said it rubbed me the wrong way. I shrugged it off. I was already too on edge from my argument with Grace.

Helena kissed my cheek and grabbed her bag. “I’d better run. I just wanted to let you know all went well this morning during the insemination procedure with Grace. But she should take it easy for a few days, no stress and lots of rest.”

She left with a confident stride, her heels clicking against the floor. I watched her go, that same strange unease settling in my gut. But I pushed it aside. I had other things to focus on.

Like why I couldn’t stop thinking about Grace. Was it because she could now have my seed growing inside of her? I couldn’t believe it when she had agreed to carry our child.

I sank into a chair, running a hand through my hair. I shouldn’t care who she went to dinner with. But the idea of her with Max, of him touching her, made my skin crawl.

I should go and talk her out of that dinner with Max. I knew his history. But when I had tried to talk her out of it before, she had seemed excited that Max might have a way with the ladies. What the hell was I doing? I had no right to interfere. She was free to do whatever she wanted.

My phone screen suddenly lit up with a message from Max.

“Can you hurry the fuck up? I’m cooling my heels in your office still. You didn’t warn me how gorgeous your sister-in-law is.”

I wasn’t blind. I knew how good looking she was. The only reason I hadn’t started something with Grace four years ago was because she was my employee, which was an HR nightmare. Then, a few years later, I met and married her sister.

My grip tightened on the phone, an unfamiliar anger curling in my gut.

“I’m on my way. Don’t screw with her, Max. I mean it.” I texted back.

His response came almost instantly.

“Relax, man. We’re just having dinner. But damn, if she isn’t something else…”

I threw the phone across the room. The sound of it hitting the wall was satisfying as I got up and left the room.

A heavy breath left my lungs. I had to let this go. Grace was an adult. She could handle herself.