I’d loved her immediately.
“Well, Catie, babe, you might be right,” Kyle suddenly muttered and threw me a look. “He’s staring over here and making no qualms about it in front of the girl he’s with.”
I stiffened at this news and couldn’t stop my gaze from flying over Catie’s shoulder to search Hudson out.
I found him just four tables away, his companion’s back to us, so he was directly in my line of sight. And hewaslooking at me. In an intense way that made me shiver.
I looked down at my menu. “That’s a little rude.”
“Oh, girl he’s with just followed his gaze. She’s spotted you and she doesn’t look happy.”
“Would you if you were on a date with someone who was staring at someone else?” I felt a blush hit my cheeks. There was no denying I liked that a man as charismatic as Hudson Ward liked what he saw when he looked at me, but if he could treat his date with unforgiveable rudeness then he could treat me the same way. “Just ignore him.”
However, as we ordered and then started to make our way through our meal I felt Hudson’s attention still burning on me. Like I had no control over my gaze, it unwillingly searched for his, our eyes colliding again and again across the restaurant. I squirmed uncomfortably until halfway through the meal I heard the squeal of a chair sliding across wood. My eyes flew in the direction of the sound and widened as I saw the brunette with Hudson march away from the table. When I looked back at him he turned from watching her walk away and gave me a casual shrug.
I glared at him.
He smirked.
“Guess she got sick of not having his attention,” Kyle snorted.
“It’s not funny. He’s rude.”
“Do you know what’s really not funny?” Catie huffed. “Having my back to the fecking entertainment!”
Kyle burst out laughing but I couldn’t. I was upset that Hudson could treat someone so callously and even more upset that I could be this upset over someone I’d just met.
Thankfully I felt the heat of his stare disappear and watched as he walked out of the restaurant. I ignored how the sight of his tall, powerful body gave me flutters low in my belly.
“Let’s just enjoy dinner,” I said.
And for the most part we did, even though we all knew I was stupidly distracted.
“Drinks?” Catie asked as we left the table after finishing up.
“You two stay.” My friends should have some alone time. “I’m tired.”
Kyle studied me. “You sure?”
I smiled to reassure them. “Yes. Have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Much shorter than me at five foot three (five foot seven in heels) Catie went up on her tip toes to kiss my cheek. “Night, babe.”
“Night, sweetie.”
Next Kyle kissed my cheek and I squeezed his shoulder. “Thanks for a lovely night.”
He grinned at me, completely aware that it had been a discombobulating evening for me. “Night, Autumn.”
I left them at the bar, strolling out of the restaurant, thinking I might just go straight to bed and try to sleep away the strange events of the day. Looking at my feet, or my fabulous shoesreally, as I walked out into the hallway that would lead me back to my room, I would have missed him if he hadn’t said my name.
I stumbled to a stop and glanced to my right to see Hudson leaning against the wall outside of the restaurant. Waiting on me?
He pushed off the wall and strolled toward me. A teasing smirk played around his mouth as he stepped right into my personal space. I squashed the urge to step back, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing his nearness affected me.
In my sandals I was almost the same height as him but he was so broad-shouldered he still managed to make me feel delicate and feminine. I hated how much I loved that. “What are you doing here?”
“Let me give you a lesson tomorrow,” he replied.
