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“Oh.” Kelly’s eyebrows shot up to her hair line. She looked at Sue, who grinned, and then everything about those two got even more suspicious. “Well, if that’s the case, maybe Hilary will see Hudson and want to rekindle things.”
Thatwas not what I meant. I gawked at Sue. How could she smile as Kelly said that? I thought Sue wantedmewith her grandson. I’d gotten so used to her trying to set me up with Hudson every day that I felt betrayed. The woman was evil.
THIRTY-THREE
HUDSON
Life had been teaching me something as of late. My restaurant could survive without me. Since Eugene arrived, I took at least once a week off and often left before closing some nights. Randall and Daisy ran the kitchen well without me. Not only them. The rest of my kitchen staff worked well.
I had no intention of slowing down so soon, but life happened. Eugene happened. I loved the idea of Homestyle branching out, and I saw the opportunities. I thought of Eugene’s hopeful dreams too. I had the funds to make that book café a reality. The wheels were turning inside my head, and I tried to slow myself down.
I hadn’t told her my feelings. Yet, I couldn’t stop planning all that I wanted to do for her. My father wasn’t home much growing up, but there was one thing I remembered when he was. He doted on Mom. A part of me thought he constantly praised her due to the guilt of being gone so much. That might have been part of it, but the fact was, he probably liked spoiling her.
It was like I saw my entire childhood differently, all because I couldn’t stop wishing to do all those absurd things for Eugene. Was that love, like I believed? I cared so much that I felt like I might split in half. If it wasn’t love, I didn’t want to know what it was because I never wanted to escape the rush in my veins that came when someone spoke her name.
Max nudged my hand. I glanced down and petted him. The stairs creaked, and I quickly sat up as Eugene descended. She’d been upstairs when I got home, so I hadn’t been able to ask her how dress shopping went. As soon as she told me about it, I called Mom and told her to behave. Mom had promised she would be nice, but she was laughing too much for me to feel assured.
A loud thump had me bolting out of my recliner.
“Mother trucker—” Eugene groaned.
Rushing over, I found her sprawled out on the floor in front of the stairs, holding her knee. I bent down beside her. “You, okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, but my knee seems to have taken the brunt of the fall.”
I shook my head. “Here I thought you were finally learning to walk.”
“Shut up.” She held out her hand. “Help me up.”
Her hand was soft, fitting perfectly into mine as I helped her.
She hissed as she stood, hopping. “Ow, ow, ow.”
Worry tugged at my chest. “Do we need to make a trip to the ER?”
She shook her head, and that’s when I noticed her hair was wet. “It’s fine. I can bend it, but it’s going to be sore.”
I barely focused on what she was saying.Her hair was wet. She avoided me and stayed upstairs when she washed it because she knew I’d make her dry it. So, her being downstairs meant only one thing. She wanted me to dry it. I refused to believe anything else.
“What am I going to do with you?” I asked as I grasped a strand of her wet hair with my free hand.
Her lips parted. Slowly, she tugged the hair from my grip.
Smiling, I let go of Eugene’s hand and scooped her up in my arms.
She squealed. “Hudson! What are you doing?”
She wrapped her arms around my neck. Ecstasy took hold of me, shooting through my limbs and stomach. Eugene didn’t have a fucking bra on again. Even with the pajamas between us, I could feel her left boob smashed against my chest. I noticed she hadn’t been wearing a bra around the cabin. It was killing me slowly, but it could very well be my undoing one of those nights. The simple thing she did finally made me crack and kiss the fuck out of her.
God. I could kiss her—Ishould. My arms shook, and I gripped her tighter.
With a ragged breath, I walked to the couch and sat her down. “You know what we’re doing, right?”
She bit her lip, and I had to look away.
“But first, let me see your knee.” Pushing up her polka dot pants leg, I rubbed my fingers over the bruise forming. “Can you bend it?”
Despite the bruise, her kneecap looked normal, but I still wanted to be sure. She nodded, bending her leg in and out for me. I sneakily ran my palm down her legs during the process, thankful for the opportunity to touch her skin. All I had to do was lean down, and I could make my way up her leg with a trail of kisses. I just fucking knew her skin would pebble for me.
