Before he could say anything else that might make me wish things were different I hurried across the restaurant to my friends.
Part of me was really pissed off I’d met Hudson Ward. But a bigger part of me was pissed off that I’d met himnow. Pre-Darren I might have let Hudson buy me a drink. I might have even let him come back to my room for a fling in the snowy mountains of Colorado. Although I wasn’t anti-men, I was just anti-menfor nowuntil I got my shit together. After what I’d been through in my previous relationship no one would blame me for giving up on men entirely, but I wasn’t the type to give up hope so easily. I was an optimist. I still believed the love of my life was out there somewhere. Someone who would treat me the way Killian treated Skylar.
However, now was definitely not the time in my life to be looking for that. Especially not with some guy who lived an ocean away. Plus it was crazy to even consider that the feeling between me and Hudson Ward was more than just animal attraction.
“Okay, so who is that?” Catie asked as soon as I took my seat.
I snuck a peek at Hudson sitting at the bar, staring down at the beer in his hand as if deep in thought. God, he was so freaking handsome.
“A ski instructor. I accidentally collided with him on the slopes today.”
“He is bloody gorgeous,” Catie said all wide-eyed and dreamy. She smiled apologetically at her husband. “Sorry, babe, just stating a fact.”
Kyle made a face and then turned to me. “He bothering you?”
“Of course he wasn’t bothering her,” Catie replied before I could. “That man is never bothering a woman.”
I chuckled. “Oh you know him, do you?”
“I know there’s not a woman alive who wouldn’t want him bothering her.”
“Well, you found her,” I retorted. “I’m not here for that. You know I’m not.”
She winced and I knew I’d reminded her of Darren. “Of course. Sorry, babe.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. If things were different he is definitely a man I’d…” I trailed off as I looked beyond my friend’s shoulder and saw Hudson move away from the bar to join a very attractive woman. Disappointment settled in my gut as I realized he reallyhadbeen feeding me a line.
“Player,” Kyle muttered, sounding pissed off and I dragged my gaze from Hudson to find Kyle glaring in his direction.
“What?” Catie asked, about to turn around.
I hissed, “Don’t look.”
Kyle explained, “He was chatting up our girl, all the while waiting on his date.”
For some stupid reason it hurt.
I didn’t even know him but I felt this burning pang in my chest.
“Woman, you’re the most beautiful fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
I’d believed him. I’d stupidly, deep down, believed him.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Catie said. “He was probably sitting waiting on his date and took one look at you and forgot about her.” She gestured to me. “It’s the Autumn Factor.”
Despite my disappointment, I smiled. “The Autumn Factor?”
“Aye, the Autumn Factor. You walk into a room and everybody forgets whatever the hell they’re doing. It happened to me when we met at college.”
“Oh, do go on.” Kyle crossed his arms and leaned them on the table with a teasing smirk.
Catie rolled her eyes. “Not in a sexy way, you perv. I had just never seen a girl as beautiful as Autumn in real life before.”
I felt my cheeks heat because I was terribly British and never knew how to deal with compliments. At five foot nine, I was tall, slender but with hips, an arse, and I wore a C-cup bra. My hair was a rich red-gold auburn and my favorite thing about myself. I got my hair from my dad. Killian had a different father so he had dark hair but we both got our dark brown eyes from our mum. We also were both gifted with her long, thick lashes. But while Killian had his dad’s slightly olive skin tone that made him look tan all year round, I got my dad’s pale skin. Alabaster and not prone to blemish. It was good skin. Plus nature had seen fit to give me my mother’s full heart-shaped lips.
I didn’t have any hang-ups about my physical appearance. In a way that I hoped wasn’t arrogant or conceited, I was content with what I saw in the mirror. But sometimes it made me uncomfortable when people fixated on my looks because it was either what drew them toward me or pushed them away from me. I’d been bullied pretty badly in high school and when Killian eventually found out, I couldn’t do a thing to stop him from tracking the ringleader down. Whatever he said put the fear of God into her because she never bothered me again. But Killian had said after a mere conversation with her, he had known she’dcome after me because I was beautiful, and, for whatever reason, that made her insecure and jealous.
Thankfully, I had not made Catie insecure. I remembered how she walked right up to me when I entered the library that day and told me I had “bloody awesome hair.”
