A One Night Affair

Chapter 6 - Attraction

Jenna looked pale and Hunter resisted the urge to pull her into his arms to shield her from the world. What was wrong with him? He was normally attracted to sophisticated women who could, and did, look after themselves in the rich, greedy, self-involved world he inhabited.

Jenna wasn't like that. He was tempted to call her innocent but she wasn't. Neither was she naive. She was real, Hunter decided. Normal. Down-to-earth.

When last had he met a woman who was both unpretentious and naturally lovely? Jenna's makeup seemed to consist of mascara and a touch of pink on her lips and cheeks. Low maintenance, he surmised. Unlike every other woman in this room.

Hunter touched her cheek with a knuckle. "You're shaking. What's the matter?"

Jenna's eyes were silver in the low light of the room. "Up until a couple of months ago, I was a no-name baker, scraping out a living. Then I entered Cake Stakes and won the baking competition. Teresa St. Clair happened to see a cake I made on my program and it was exactly what she needed for this wedding. MSM employed me, I temporarily moved to Newport Beach and my career is about to take off. But now, because I am consorting with the enemy, I'm at risk of being fired."

"Me?"

"You. You own an events organizing company."

Hunter winced and he answered her question truthfully, but carefully. "The company has been registered but I haven't started trading yet."

Jenna waved his comments away and Hunter wasn't sure she'd heard him. "And you brought Ana into the party."

"Why do you keep calling her Ana?"

Hunter listened as Jenna gave him a convoluted story about California housewives, a leather handbag and a fight in a department store in New York City. When she finished, she lifted her hands in the air. "So now you see why this is such a disaster."

He didn't think he should admit that he still didn't. Before he could respond, Jenna slapped her hands on her slim hips. Her waist was tiny. He was pretty sure he could span it with his hands and he really wanted to know how well her breasts filled his palms. "How can you not have heard of any of this? It's been the hottest gossip for months."

"I don't pay attention to crap," Hunter replied.

Intelligence radiated from her eyes. "Are you friends with the Rhodeses?"

"They are my neighbors. I live two houses down." It was another carefully constructed answer.

"Ah." Jenna nodded. She pushed her hand through her hair and all that silk fell between her fingers. It was the most amazing color, honey shot with rust. Only nature would provide those subtle shades. "Anyway, between Rebecca's changing the pearls to gold leaf, and Stephanie's drama this afternoon, and Mariella's phone call, and Ana arriving, I feel shattered. And I haven't even presented the cake! This was supposed to be the start of something new for me, and one of the best nights of my life," Jenna added, an adorable combination of worried, frustrated and pissed off.

"Maybe it still could be," Hunter murmured, thinking there was a good possibility Jenna could be the most important woman he'd ever met. She was going to impact his life, in one or ten ways.

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Just when I think you've dropped the Mr. Slick act. At least this time, your face is lipstick free. That shade of maroon really wasn't your color."

Man, he adored her sass, that sparky attitude. Hunter picked up a strand of her hair and rubbed it between his fingers. Jenna tensed, her eyes locking on his. Attraction, hot, sweet and sexy, arced between them. Her eyes darted to his mouth and he knew she wanted to kiss him, at least half as much as he wanted to kiss her. He was about to do exactly that when Stephanie, wearing a dress that was barely bigger than a handkerchief, strolled past them, saw them and braked. She scowled and they both watched as she made her way over to Rebecca.

Mother and daughter both turned to stare at them.

"Should I be worried?" Hunter asked.

"Absolutely," Jenna grimly replied.

Before he could stop her, Jenna reached for a pink cocktail from a passing waiter and threw it down her throat.

"She's a kid. What damage can she possibly do?"

Another eye roll and Jenna lifted another cocktail off another tray.

"Those things are lethal. And don't you have a cake to present?" Hunter asked.

Jenna sipped her drink and glanced at her watch. "I do. I'm also going to do damage control."

"What sort of damage control?" Hunter asked, eying her rapidly diminishing drink.

"My friend Daxton Hayes is here and I'm going to ask him to distract Stephanie. Hopefully it'll take the heat off us. Not that there is an us... Just saying."

Hunter smiled at her blush. Oh, she wanted there to be an us. He did, too. He normally kept his encounters with the opposite sex to one-night stands but Jenna might convince him to extend his time frame.

Jenna drained her glass, handed it back to him and smiled. "Okay, Daxton first and then I must wheel in the cake."

Hunter watched Jenna walk away—man those legs, that butt, that slim, creamy back!—and hoped she managed to get Stephanie off his ass. The kid was annoying. He wanted to enjoy Jenna, their sexy flirting, without feeling like they had eyes on them.

Hunter looked around and realized he didn't want to talk to anyone but Jenna. Which was an unusual turn of events, and a little frightening. He liked her, more than what was comfortable. And she seemed to be as attracted to him.

He wanted to get to know her better, to see if that spark would create a fire. Hunter rolled his shoulders, uncomfortable at the idea that he hadn't told her the entire truth earlier. Yeah, he was a neighbor, but he was also here to check out the competition. The competition she worked for.