Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
I couldn’t stop the smile if I tried. His words make me feel things I haven’t felt before. I want to flirt back with him, but I don’t even know how. I’m sure I’d look like a fool if I tried. On edge for a completely different reason now, I point at the hallway that leads outside. “Your brothers are probably wondering what happened to you.”
He laughs. “I can take a hint. I’ll talk to you later, Ellie.”
I don’t know why I stop him. The truth is, he can call me anything he wants, but I feel the need to make sure he knows my name. “Elle. My name is Elle.”
He turns and looks me up and down, and I feel that look all the way to my core. “Oh, I know your name, but I wanted to call you something special… something that only I call you.”
I feel a tiny jolt, and I swear a spot in my lower belly tugs, and my heart does a little somersault. In less than five minutes, this man has made me feel more special and protected than I’ve ever felt in my life. He gives me one last look and makes his way outside. When he leaves, I go to the window to peek out. I watch as he and his brothers walk around the truck to inspect it. It’s a huge truck, but Hudson is a big man. I should be looking at the truck, not at Hudson, but I watch him walk around. He’s not smiling, which for someone that just got a new truck, I would expect him to be.
His brothers are all laughing, happy and clueless to the introspective Hudson. His eyes flash to the window, and instead of closing the blind, I watch him. He must feel my eyes on him because he finds me and locks his gaze on me.
I wish I was a confident woman that could hold my own, but I’m not.
I give him a little wave and then go back to my chair and sit down. My heart feels as if it’s about to come out of my chest. I put my hand over it as if I can calm myself with just a touch. Will I see him again before he leaves? Just the thought has my heart picking up pace again.
Chapter 5
Hudson
I’m sitting at The Whiskey Whistler with my brothers, and Ford keeps looking at his watch, anxious to get home to Lilian and Ollie. Austin has found some of his buddies and is over with them shooting pool, and Beau has had way too much to drink. “I can’t believe Lucas is missing this.”
Ford takes a sip of his bottle of beer. “Yeah, since they found out Bella is pregnant, he hasn’t gone out much.”
Beau motions to the server. “Can we get another round?”
Ford holds up a hand. “Just one for him, please. You want another, Huddy?”
I’m the only one that has been nursing the same beer since we got here three hours ago. “I’m good,” I tell him as I hold up the piss-warm bottle.
Beau looks around for Austin. “Fuck, I guess I’m on my own.”
Beau is staring into his empty glass, and I turn to Ford. “So tell me about Elle.”
He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t go there. She’s got a lot of shit she’s dealing with. She definitely doesn’t need…”
I grit my teeth. “What?”
“Forget it,” he says.
I lean forward. “No, I’m not going to forget it. Go ahead, finish what you were going to say.”
He looks as if he may say it but stops suddenly.
I can’t just let it go so easily, though. “What? She doesn’t need some washed-up soldier with absolutely no clue what he’s going to do with his life? Fuck, Ford, I’ve been home a week, I need a little time to process all the shit I’ve dealt with the last ten, hell, twenty years. I’m not asking about her because I’m going to fuck with her in any way. I’m just curious, that’s all. She saw me, and I scared the shit out of her. There’s something going on there.”
It’s only once I shut my mouth that I realize I said way more than I should have. Obviously, I’ve had that shit pent up for awhile.
Ford sets his empty bottle down and pushes it to the middle of the table. His voice is filled with frustration. “First of all, I was going to say she doesn’t need someone interested in an easy lay. She and Lilian have become friends, and my wife is not going to let you use her as some kind of booty call or something. But geez, Huddy, you have a lot of shit you need to unpack there. You’re right, you’ve only been home a week, and I’m sure you have a lot to process. No one—not Beau, Austin, Lucas, or me—are pressuring you in any way. You will always have your position in Blaze Whiskey whether you do it or not. There’s no rush to do anything.”