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He nodded, suddenly without a single thought or response. She was most definitely more than he’d dared hope for. Leave it to him to get tongue tied.
The driver swung two large suitcases to the sidewalk in front of Wren and he reached for them before she could.
“I can get those. Let’s get you to my truck, you look exhausted.”
“Thanks, I really am. Do you live close? I know the bus was to take me to Buffalo, but I thought you lived in a different town.”
“I do, live in a different town that is. Rock Creek is about thirty minutes north of here but it’s a quick drive.”
After Hudson had the bags in the bed of his truck, he opened the passenger door and held out a hand to help her climb in. His pickup was on the taller side and shorter people had a more difficult time getting up in it.
She lay her purse on the floor and fastened her seatbelt, adjusting herself into the seat, then he shut her door and went around and climbed into the driver’s seat. Before he set off toward home, he reached a hand over and covered hers.
“Thank you for coming Wren. This really means a lot to me.”
“You’re very welcome. I’ve been looking forward to a fresh start.” Wren lay her head back against the headrest and turned a smile toward him.
“Why don’t you close your eyes, I’ll wake you when we get there.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. My truck has made this drive so many times it could probably do it without me. You need to rest, I can tell.”
He reached behind her seat and grabbed a saddle blanket that he always kept handy and laid it across her lap. She smiled again and it didn’t take but a few seconds for her gorgeous green eyes to drift shut.
“I think this is going to be the fresh start that we both need.”
Two
Hudson attempted very carefullyto wake Wren we they had arrived at his…their home but she was out of it, so he climbed up into the cab and unfastened her seatbelt then slowly slid her from her seat into his arms and carried her into the house.
He’d briefly thought to leave her lay on the couch, but the mornings got a little crazy and he didn’t want to wake her before she was ready. He decided she would be better off in the bed, in their bedroom. He carried her up the staircase and to the room at the end of the hall that was the master bed and bath. No doubt she would be more than comfortable there.
Question was, should he sleep there with her? It wasn’t like anything would happen. She was so exhausted, and he was a gentleman. Maybe it would be a good ice breaker and that way he was close if she woke up confused or in a daze. It was an unfamiliar place after all.
He took care in removing her shoes and socks, and she’d also worn a sweatshirt. The shirt was left intact, but the jeans did get removed before sliding her under the covers. She must have sensed the cool sheet on her and wrapped herself in the covers then snuggled into the pillow without ever opening her eyes.
He turned off all the lights but the bathroom and closed the door most of the way so that only a crack of light could shine in softly. Before leaving the room, he turned to her. Such a peaceful woman in his bed. It was hard to believe. He wasn’t a monk by any means, he’d had women in his home before but never in his own bed. Only ever a spare bedroom This one was much different though, this one would be forever, and it was a scary thought, especially to be forced into it but he was ready for the challenge. He just hoped she was.
After unloading her bags from his truck, he left them sit at the bottom of the stairs so as not to wake her. Maybe breakfast in bed would be a good start to her day tomorrow so he got a slab of bacon from the freezer and dropped it into the sink where it should be mostly thawed by morning. Then he looked around the room for anything else that needed to be done.
“Hud you’re just being a chicken shit.”
And he was. His nerves were on overload. He’d thought he was nervous waiting for her to arrive at the bus station but now that she was in his bed, he was having a hard time making himself go crawl in beside her even though he wanted to badly. She was asleep so wouldn’t even know he was there. Things were getting very real.
No sense in wasting any more time. He climbed the stairs, hesitating only seconds at his door before going inside.
Hudson glanced her way and groaned when he noticed she’d thrown off the covers to reveal a shapely but barely covered back side and his insides tightened. Not to mention another specific part of his body that also tightened at the sight. He knew she was only in her thin panties because he’d taken off her jeans when he put her in the bed but tried not to look at the time. For good reason too, he wouldn’t have been able to leave the bedroom if he’d seen.
He turned his back toward the bed to attempt some semblance of composure and quietly stripped down to his boxers. He usually didn’t sleep with anything on, but he didn’t think they were quite ready for that step yet. He would never push her into anything before she was ready. When he slid into his side of the bed, the covers were mostly on her, so he had to pull but when he did, she shifted, rolling toward him. He remained as still as possible huddled into his pillow, until her hand moved to rest in the middle of his chest.
He inhaled deeply and her eyes fluttered.
Shit, please don’t wake up.
Damn it, too late.
“Hi.”
