Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“Shit. Well, let’s get you a tour and settled in at the cabin, and I’ll come back for the rest of the gear,” Hudson said, slipping on his own pack.
“I’ll follow your lead.” I offered a small smile.
He grinned, then laced his fingers with mine as we started down the wide graveled trail. “Just in case anyone’s watching,” he whispered, then lifted the back of my hand and pressed a kiss to it.
My chest went all warm and gooey. There was no one out here and we both knew it, but I didn’t snatch my hand back.
“You ready to spend three whole days with the Ellis crew?” he asked.
“I’ll be Caroline’s favorite by the time we leave,” I promised, mostly to hype myself up.
“You’re already mine.”
I rolled my eyes, but the warmth in my chest burned brighter. “This isn’t real, you know.”
“You keep telling yourself that, Allie.” He squeezed my hand. “Besides, for the next three days it is. By the time we leave, I will have convinced you to give it a go for the summer.”
“So arrogant.” I fought a smile as we started down a steeper portion of the trail and the edge of the lake came into view. “We’re not pushing our beds together.”
“How would you know about pushing beds together?” He glanced sideways at me with a definite smirk.
“Juniper told me all about it.” My thighs protested the angle of decline, and I fought to push the pain away. Every freaking muscle in my body ached from too many hours in the studio with Eva. “And that the best cabin is four because it’s near the outhouse.”
He laughed, and the sound did absolutely nothing to dispel the sweet, inconvenient pressure behind my ribs. In fact, it freaking fed it. “I like seven, personally. It’s closer to the water, but we’re late, so I’m sure one of my uncles already took it. And don’t worry. We won’t push the beds together until you ask.”
I waved away a flying bug. “Not happening.” I’d liquefy into a puddle the second he put his mouth on me, and my survival required I remain in solid forms at all times. Rigid, even.
“We’ll see.” This time his dimple popped and I quickly looked away. The man was too gorgeous for his own good, and way too gorgeous for mine.
“Hudson! Allie!” Mrs. Ellis called out, grinning wide as we reached the pavilion. The covered patio held four picnic tables and a grill, and had a stellar view of the tree-lined lake. She hugged us both, and I accepted the warm embrace a little more naturally than I had at the beach. “It’s good to see you two.” She handed Hudson a key with a mini canoe paddle attached. “You’re in nine.”
“That’s yours,” he argued. “I’m not taking your favorite cabin.”
“Well, the rest are all full”—she peeked over her purple-striped glasses—“so he who arrives late will take what is offered to him with grace and gratitude. Everyone else is unpacking, so get to it.”
“But it’s yours.” He glanced at me like there was any chance in hell I was getting in the middle of this, and I put my hands up. No way was I causing a fight before we even unpacked.
“Your dad wanted four. Nine is the farthest away, and apparently, he ate something last night that just—”
“Say no more.” Hudson’s hand closed around the key. “Looks like we’re in nine.”
“Lead the way.” I adjusted my backpack on my shoulders.
“Oh, and they remodeled nine, eight, and seven this year,” Mrs. Ellis noted with an excited smile. “Tell us what you think. I bet six, five, and four will be done by next summer.”
“Will do,” he promised.
“Lunch is at twelve,” she reminded him before turning to me. “Allie, we’re so pleased you could join us. If at any time Caroline acts like a sour fish, treat her like one and toss her ass in the lake.”
My mouth dropped open, but she turned and headed down one of the paths to what I assumed was cabin four.
A five-minute hike later, we stood just inside the open doorway of cabin nine, staring at the cozy primitive-style interior with more than a little shock.
“This isn’t happening,” I whispered.
Hudson rubbed the back of his neck. “Let’s ask someone to trade.”
“Absolutely not. They’ll think I’m an asshole,” I hissed, looking around the twelve-by-twelve space like there was any other solution. Somehow we’d stumbled into every cliché in one of Anne’s romance novels.
“I mean . . . on the bright side, we won’t have to push the beds together,” Hudson noted.
“Kind of impossible when there’s only one of them.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hudson
NYFouette92: OMG. No way. The way I RAN to the comments!!!
Waking up next to Allie ranked as one of my favorite lifetime moments. It was right above graduating from rescue swimmer school, and just below the first time I’d seen her clinging to that sinking boat, all flustered cheeks and big brown eyes.