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I wanted to punch the fucker, but instead, I cut in, trying not to flare my nostrils like an angry bull. “He’s none of any of y’all’s fucking business. Hands off. He’s here to work, dammit. Not be… whatever you’re thinking. And he’s not a kid. He’s twenty-eight.”
“Oooh, you know Hudson’s building up a head of steam when his Texas twang comes out in full force,” Nico said with a laugh. “Y’all better watch out,” he teased.
“Everyone shut the hell up,” I barked. “Seriously. This is my job we’re talking about. The success of this project is the difference between me handing out lollipops and dog bones in the drive-thru at the Hobie Credit Union and me making vice president at Ames International. Don’t you see that? This is a big damned deal to me.”
Saint’s twin sister, MJ, stood up and walked behind me to rub my shoulders. “Dang, Hud. Now it all makes sense. You were acting like a freaker, and it turns out you’re just scared for your job. That’s something we can all understand. For a minute there, you were coming off as… I don’t know. Weird. Like a lover’s spat or something,” she said with a laugh.
My siblings all cracked up at the idea of their one straight brother getting territorial over a man. My stomach clenched. That wasn’t what had happened, was it? It had just surprised me was all. I’d been expecting Cait. Marketing guru Cait. Not Charlie. Sweet, funny, too-tempting Charlie.
I closed my eyes and pressed into them with my fists.
This was going to be a disaster. I had to find a way to send the beautiful man home.
18
Charlie
Charlie’s Luck:
What happens in Cork never stays in Cork.
Before I realized where I was heading, I found myself aiming straight at the huge barn across the gravel parking area next to the house. Sassy had let me set Mama up in a stall that opened up to a fenced area. I’d intended to leave her there while I had breakfast in the main house, but I guessed now I had to gather her up and figure out where to go next. I wasn’t about to subject her to another international flight again so soon. I wondered if there was a hotel nearby that allowed animals.
As I entered the darkened opening at the front of the barn, I noticed my pulse was still jackhammering from the confrontation with Hudson. I couldn’t believe things had gone pear-shaped so quickly.
Despite knowing I was being put up at the Wilde Ranch, I’d truly not had any expectation of seeing Hudson. From what I’d learned online, Hobie was two hours away from Dallas by car. There was absolutely no reason Hudson would be at his family’s ranch on a random January weekend.
But that was just my luck.
When I’d walked in and spotted him in track pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt, my heart had thunked almost loudly enough to be heard over the din. He’d looked so dear, still half-asleep and hair messed up. I’d felt my grin come on faster than I’d been able to stop it.
Until the moment he’d spotted me. And then it had all gone to shit.
Instead of grabbing Mama’s things and heading right back out the door as I’d intended, I sank to the floor and threw my arms around my sweet collie to bury my face in her fur. Stupid fucking straight boys. Total jackasses when confronted with their little experiments. Was this a good time to give myself the old I told you so?
I gritted my teeth until they hurt. Of all people to reject me so soundly… Hudson had turned on me the same way everyone else seemed to. I wanted to laugh at myself for being such a dope. Why had I ever thought leaving after sex that night would somehow spare my heart from breaking? It had only prolonged his rejection until now.
I’d left him, but he still managed to pull the rug out from under me with one small sentence.
You should go.
Hadn’t I sworn I wasn’t going to let myself fall for someone like that again? How stupid could I have been coming here to Hudson’s territory? Once I found out who he worked for and what their designs were on franchising F&B, I should have known I’d run into him at some point. And of course he was going to flip the fuck out. Seeing the only other person on earth who knew his dirty little secret was bound to throw him at sixes and sevens. And if he was predictable, he’d turn around and embrace his heterosexual proclivities with a newfound fervor. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him parade a new girlfriend or string of various women around to prove to himself and others the man was straight as a rail.
