Read Online Exposed - Part Three (The Exposed Series, #3) by Deborah Bladon - Free Book Online

the shopping basket in my hand.
    "I'm boarding. I have to go. I love you." Her voice cracks before the line goes dead.
    I stare at the phone before placing it back into my purse. After picking out a few more pieces of fruit and a prepared pasta salad I pay for my purchases.
    The air is crisp as autumn settles over the city. I pull my lilac scarf around my face as I rush the few blocks to my building. A quiet evening of studying awaits me.
    I fumble with my keys as the lights near the street flicker on. It's only five o'clock in California. I imagine Hunter picking Cory up from pre-school and taking him for an ice cream before they go back to their place to make dinner. Remembering the way they smiled at each other the day I met Cory is the source of my strength these days.
    After precariously climbing the three flights of narrow stairs to my walk up apartment I turn the corner, balancing the bag of groceries in my hand while I again search for the key to my door.
    I look ahead. The bag drops to the floor. The apples roll around my feet. The plastic container of pasta bursts open. My eyes are locked on the wall near my door. He's sitting there. It's him.
    "Hunter?" I whisper into the dimly lit hallway.
    "Sunshine." He jumps to his feet. "You're finally home."
    I drop my computer bag and my purse and lunge at him full force. He catches me in his arms, pulling me tightly into his chest. "You're not real," I murmur. "It's not really you."

Chapter 20
    "I t's me." He tilts my chin up with one finger before his lips brush against mine. "Look at you. You're so beautiful."
    "How are you here?" I smile up at his face. "How did you find me?"
    "I went to your parent's house. Your mother told me your address." His entire face is beaming. "I thought you'd never get home."
    "You should have texted me." I giggle at the idea of him sitting on the floor for hours waiting for me to arrive.
    "And miss seeing that expression on your face?" His strong hand cups my cheek. "I'd wait a million years to see that."
    "How long can you stay?" I push the key into the door. I desperately need to get him inside. I need to be close to him. I need him to hold me.
    "Forever." His hand covers mine as he turns the lock. "I'm back."
    My heart feels as though it's dropped into my chest. "Cory," I whisper. "You left him."
    "No chance." He pushes the door open with his foot. "He's back at my place here fast asleep. My mother is there watching him."
    "How? I thought Christina wouldn't let you take him away?"
    We both turn as one of my neighbors steps out of her apartment. I giggle as I realize my groceries and school bag are littering the hallway.
    "You go inside. I'll get that." He smiles as he scoops up all of my things from the floor.
    I step inside my apartment and cover my mouth with my hand. This is my dream come true. This is what I've waited for.
    I spend the next fifteen minutes watching in silence as he sorts through the groceries, tossing the garbage in the bin in my kitchen. He carefully washes the fruit and wipes the remnants of the spilled pasta salad from my bag.
    "Hunter?" I say his name. The name I love so much.
    He turns and cocks a brow in response.
    "Why did she let you take him?" I need to know. I don't want this to be about us. I don't want to fall even deeper in love with him to discover he has to race back to her when she decides she wants him back.
    "I'm adopting him," he says it stoically. "She agreed to let me become his father legally."
    "In exchange for what?" I know it's a heated question but based on what I've learned about Christina this past summer I know that nothing comes without a price in her world.
    "My apartment in New York. A lot of money. Visitation with him once a month."
    "You paid her to get him?" The words roll off my tongue before I realize the full impact of them.
    "Sadie." He moves so he's standing directly in front of me. "Cory likes to talk. He talks a lot."
    I furrow my brow in confusion. "Yes, but what does that