Holding On (Wildcreek Ranch Series Book 3)

Chapter Sixteen

She quietly served the dinner and sat down to eat. "Uncle Hunt, don't you think Miss Anna cooks better than Gemma?" asked Robbie with interest. It seemed as if he was continuing with his efforts to get rid of Gemma and have Rihanna stay with them permanently. Hunter smiled appreciatively.

"Yes," he breathed. Rihanna was upset. After that earlier remark about not needing her, his appreciation of her culinary skills wasn't needed.

"Thanks," she said disinterestedly. Hunter looked at her with curiosity, not knowing why she was suddenly looking so down. The question that haunted Rihanna was what was she to Hunter then. An object of desire that he thought was easily available? Or was it because he was lonely? He wanted her to help with two things: look after Robbie and as well as meet his needs. Both reasons weren't acceptable to her.

"I'll go and get my transformer set. I'm bored," said Robbie, rushing towards his room. Rihanna ate quietly while Hunter continued to stare at her while eating his food.

"What's wrong?" he asked her with concern.

"Nothing," said Rihanna, refusing to look up. She knew that she was behaving like a child but being romantic at heart, she had thought that maybe Hunter cared for her. Hunter didn't press her any further. He helped clear the table and rinse the dishes with her. Rihanna quietly completed her work. Robbie hadn't returned to the table but he had been calling her to read out some bedtime stories to him and she was therefore hurrying.

"You can unwrap the bandage before you go to sleep," she instructed him. Hunter nodded.

"Why do you care?" he mumbled feeling upset by now. What had he done that she was behaving like he was invisible to her? Then why did she cry when he got hurt? Why did it feel like she cared a lot for him when she actually didn't?

"I don't," she shrugged, walking away towards Robbie's room, her work in the kitchen done already. Hunter stood frozen at her reply. His heart refused to believe her but what she had told him wasn't a figment of his imagination. She had told him that she didn't care about him. He went back to his study to update his accounts, he wasn't feeling sleepy anyway. If she didn't care about him, he wasn't going to beg her to sleep with him. He would manage with a dress of hers. He had managed for a week! He knew he needed to go into counseling soon but with so much work pending, he just couldn't take out the time.

Rihanna played with Robbie since he wasn't sleepy. "Miss Anna, Gemma can't help me with the homework. She can't read stories out to me, you know. I think I need someone who could do everything, someone like you," said Robbie. Rihanna knew where this conversation was leading but as much as she would love to stay here, she knew it wasn't possible.

"I can't stay here forever, Robbie. You have to accept Gemma. She loves you a lot. As for the school homework, you can ask me in class. I'll help you. I'm sure your uncle can read out stories to you if you ask him to," she told him gently.

"Why can't you stay with me forever, Miss Anna?" Asked an upset Robbie.

"I have my own home and a family Robbie. They won't let me stay here every day. My mom will be sad if she doesn't see me," Rihanna tried to explain to him.

A tear fell from Robbie's eyes. "My mommy died," he said softly. Rihanna's heart broke at his words. She realized that she shouldn't have said that to him. She pulled him into her arms and held him as sobs shook his body. "Will you be my mommy?" he asked in between sobs.

Rihanna couldn't deny him anymore. She could see that he really needed a mom with his uncle having his own demons to fight with. Overwhelmed with emotions, she nodded. "Yes, Robbie. I'll be your mommy," she promised the little boy. His eyes looked excited and he wrapped his arms around her, embedding his face in her chest with relief.

"Then can I call you mommy?" he asked softly, his voice sounding muffled.

"Yes but not at school. Okay?" 

"Why?" asked Robbie looking hurt.

"Other children will get jealous and they might misbehave with you," explained Rihanna. Robbie looked up at her and smiled.

"Okay," he agreed. Rihanna smiled back. There was a silent communication between the two, they were now tied in an invisible bond, the bond of a mother and child.

"You want me to read out more stories to you?" she asked him. He cuddled into his mom and nodded his head vigorously.

"Yes, mommy," he said. Rihanna's heart filled with warmth hearing Robbie call her. It didn't feel at all strange. It felt like she really was his mommy. She read out more stories to him and soon felt him dozing off to sleep against her chest. For a long time, she just let him sleep against her. Maybe she was destined to be Robbie's mom. Else why did she have this strange connection with him since the first day that they met? She laid him gently down on the bed and kissed his forehead. He stirred and smiled in his sleep.

"Good night, Mommy," he mumbled contentedly, going back to a deep slumber. Rihanna smiled. She felt overwhelmed seeing him so happy. She lay down beside him and then realized that she hadn't worn her pajamas yet. How could she sleep in these clothes?

'Oh my God! My clothes are in Hunter's room. What do I do?' she muttered in her mind. Should she just try to sleep in these clothes or should she tiptoe to Hunter's room and get her pajamas and run? She chose the second option as it was impossible to sleep in these clothes. She got up and got out of the room. The lights had been dimmed out which meant that Hunter had gone to sleep. She opened the door to his bedroom and saw that he was lying sprawled on his bed. Thank God that he was asleep. She could make out his bare torso and legs under the dimmed light of his night lamp. The bed sheet bunched around his middle so couldn't be sure whether he was wearing anything or not.

A deep blush stained her cheeks, going all the way down her body, heating her core, making her wet. His thick muscular legs, and his tanned rippling back were on display as he lay on his front. She wanted to run her fingers up and down his silky smooth skin, feel him, kiss him. Her eyes then went to the soft dress that he was sleeping upon, embedding his face into it. She realized that it was a dress that she had worn on her first day here.

She didn't know how to react. The way he was sleeping with her dress only meant one thing. He cared a lot more for her than he showed. She went near the bed and watched him with tenderness feeling bad to have been rude to him. She shouldn't have said that she didn't care about him when she truly did care. Was he hurt by her words? She now realized that he hadn't once come into Robbie's room after dinner. Maybe she had hurt him after all. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she forgot what she had come into his room for.

Hunter could breathe in her intoxicating smell as she stood watching him. He had sworn that he wouldn't touch her against her will. He had sworn in his mind that he would stay away from her. He had sworn that he wouldn't veg her to sleep with him. But his heart won over his mind and he forgot everything that he swore. He rolled over and caught her hand, pulling her over his body.

Rihanna was shocked at the roots of her hair. She hadn't expected him to be awake. The way he was lying down it really seemed that was asleep.

"Ouch, Hunter, weren't you sleeping?" she asked as she blushed crimson at being caught staring.

"No, I'm not. I'm very much awake, " he said, flipping her over and hovering over her, his leg pinning her to the bed. Rihanna's eyes widened as she felt his hardness poke into her core. Thankfully he was wearing his underwear yet she was too embarrassed at his nearness. He watched her like a hawk.

"So you don't care about me, huh?" he asked, looking at her with barely a suppressed hungry look in his eyes.

"I just came to get my pajamas, " she whispered, acutely aware of his hot mouth, inches away from hers. He supported his weight on one elbow while his hand trailed along her cheek, to her jawline, to her lips.

"Then why were you checking me out?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.