Hudson shook his head. “No, but I sure as shit would love to taste whatever you can bake.”
I laughed at his persistence. “You’re tireless.”
“Yeah. So if you’re done trying to put me off—stellar job by the way—will you have dinner with me tonight?”
Before I could answer, a young woman, perhaps a few years younger than me, approached our table wearing snow gear and clutching a to-go cup. “Hey, Hudson.” She smiled prettily down at him.
He gave her a warm smile in return that immediately made me pay close attention to their interaction. “Dara, hey.”
“You’re not going on the slopes today?” She shot me a curious look.
“There doesn’t seem to be a need for me today. You booked up?”
“All day.” She nodded and looked at me again.
Hudson caught it and gestured to me. “Dara, this is Autumn. Autumn, this is Dara. Dara’s a ski instructor during high season.”
She smiled politely at me. “You’re a guest?”
“I am.” And deciding to try to push Hudson again, I blurted, “I take it Hudson is the resort’s local player? Flirts with all the guests and persistently asks them out to dinner?”
His head snapped my way at the question and I could feel his frown even though I kept my gaze locked on Dara.
Her eyes widened and she turned back to Hudson. “Did you break up with Rae?”
Rae? Who was Rae?
“Almost a year ago,” he answered but kept his focus on me.
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” She looked at me. “To answer your question, no, Hudson isn’t the resort’s local player—far from it. Last I heard he was in a serious relationship. But, you know, maybe you should ask him yourself since he’s sitting right there.” She shot him a look that clearly said ‘good luck’ and strode out of the coffeehouse.
Squirming a little, I forced myself to meet his gaze.
He did not look happy.
“She has a crush on you,” I said for some inane reason.
“I know,” he replied through gritted teeth. “I’ve known her since she was seventeen so it’s not going to happen.”
I nodded and tried to appear like I didn’t care about anything one way or the other.
“Want to tell me what the hell that was about? You got something to ask, babe, you ask me.”
I suspected the transition from ‘angel’ to ‘babe’ in the endearment department wasn’t a good thing, and I hated that itcaused this horrible ache in my chest. The truth was just because I couldn’t give in to my attraction to Hudson didn’t mean I wanted him to dislike me.
“I thought I made it clear I’m not trying to play you.”
“You did.”
“So you want to explain the attitude with Dara?”
We stared at each other in silence and then he sighed, not hiding his disappointment. “Swear to God, you walked into that restaurant and everything about you drew me like I’d been trekking through snow for days and you were a roaring fucking fire just out of reach. But I guess I was wrong.”
Hurt, I flinched, not wanting him to think I was cold.
Frustration crossed his expression. “Now why the hell do I feel likeIneed to apologize?” he practically growled.
“You don’t.” I shook my head and bravely stared right into his gorgeous eyes while I gave him the truth. “Hudson, this can’t happen. You want to know why I came here? Because my life is a mess. I have no job, no idea what I want to do with my life, and my last boyfriend hit me and then started to harass me when I broke things off with him for hitting me.”
