23. Hudson
23
HUDSON
“ M aybe we need to stick this here?” Huxley says as we both look at the homemade poster that is Harvey’s school science project. Huxley arrived this morning for a few days, and I’m sure if he knew this was on this agenda for today, he would have the plane flying in a totally different direction.
“No! The moon needs to go here next to the Earth, Uncle Huxe; otherwise, it isn’t reeeaaal,” Harvey tells him adamantly, schooling Huxley as my brother’s eyes meet mine over the top of this solar system poster that we are trying to put together. Harvey drew and colored all the planets, so now all we need to do is stick them down in order from the sun. The gate intercom chimes, and Harvey runs to the small screen on the side wall to see who it is.
“Isn’t he too young to be doing this kind of shit? We didn’t do this until high school, I’m sure of it,” Huxley grumbles .
“Is it too early for whiskey? I feel like I need a fucking whiskey,” I say, scrubbing my face, wondering how in the world to get all these planets stuck down in the right order. I tried to search on my phone, but Harvey told me that was against the rules. He himself has no idea, so clearly he wasn’t paying enough attention in class.
“Where the fuck does Uranus go? Who even named a fucking planet Uranus?” Huxley hisses to himself, before he plunks down in the dining chair, leaving me alone to look at the poster until Harvey comes back over.
“Who was that, buddy?” I ask, assuming it was either Mom or Dad.
“Lacy,” he says, and my head whips up. It’s been a few days since our night under the stars, and I’ve thought of little else since. We’ve talked a few times, but it’s been rushed, between her meetings and my patients, but even now, I lick my lips, remembering the taste of her on my tongue.
“Lacy, huh?” Huxley says, now standing again, wiggling his eyebrows, and I roll my eyes at him and run my hands through my hair.
“I’ll go get her. You two figure out what we are doing here,” I say, stalking away from the dining table and heading to the front door. I try to walk normally, but my steps are rushed, as is the need to see her again.
I pull open the door, just as she steps from her car.
“Hey, you,” I say, my grin instant as I jog down the steps from the front door to greet her.
“Hudson, you didn’t have to, nor should you, be securing Jennifer for us,” she says firmly, and I take a breath .
She doesn’t look as angry as I was expecting, but hell, the two of them met the day after I told her about Jennifer and hit it off, so I had to act on it right away.
“She was in demand, and I know you mentioned that you all hit it off, so I wanted to secure her before anyone else did,” I say honestly as the woman I haven’t stopped thinking about stops right in front of me with her hands on her hips. I see her internal battle. The one that makes her slightly stubborn, not wanting my help, yet knowing that it’s what’s best.
“I don’t need you to pay for that service. I’m capable of—”
I cut her off with a kiss. My lips meet hers, and everything in the world settles. I feel her shoulders lower as her body melts into mine, and I stifle the growl that builds in my chest from wanting her so badly.
Her hands slide around my middle as I cup her face, threading my fingers through her hair, deepening the kiss that I’ve desperately craved since I last saw her. Our night under the stars was fucking phenomenal. She is fucking phenomenal. Slowly pulling away, I look into her eyes.
“I know you are more than capable, Lacy. But I also know you have a lot on your mind and a lot to do, so I took care of it,” I tell her, wanting to take care of her every day of the week. But I know she’s independent, and if the determination in her gaze is anything to go by, then I know she will want to pay me back. Of which I won’t accept.
She takes a deep breath. “I don’t want to appear ungrateful. I appreciate it, I really do. But Mom and her care are my responsibility. I don’t need handouts,” she says, and I nod. I can appreciate that.
“So maybe you can do something for me in return?” I ask, knowing just the thing.
“Sure, anything,” she says eagerly, and I smile. A million things run through my mind, but I go with the G-rated option.
“Come inside. I’ll show you.” Grabbing her hand, I guide her through the door to the mess on my kitchen counter.
“You know the name Uranus means the Greek God of the Sky,” Lacy says as Huxley and I sit back, watching her and Harvey complete the poster. I hear Huxley stifle a cackle, clearly still an adolescent.
I knew she had a thing for stars, but planets are a whole different ballgame. The facts she spouts are all fascinating to me, but to Harvey as well as he looks at her with hearts in his eyes.
“I know, son, I know,” I murmur to myself as I watch the two of them work together. It would’ve taken Lacy less than five minutes to have the cut-out planets in order for Harvey, but she took a seat next to him and the two of them have been talking about planets for almost an hour.
“You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity,” Huxley murmurs as his eyes flick between his phone, me, and my visitor.
“Shut up,” I grumble, my eyes staying glued to Lacy and Harvey. The vision of them together does something to my chest that I haven’t felt before.
Lacy looks over and grins before she throws something at me, hitting me in the face with a ball of paper. Her eyes meet mine again briefly, and her cheeky smile is like an aphrodisiac as I bite my bottom lip, searing my gaze into hers before I unravel the paper to reveal a hidden message.
Stop looking at me like that, her scribble says, and I chuckle, looking back at her straightaway, my stare on her not wavering.
“They sure have a good connection,” Huxley says quietly as I pocket the note.
“…so it’s really cold and windy there. There is no way anyone can land a rocket on that planet,” Lacy says to Harvey, and his eyes widen in wonder as he takes it all in.
“Fuck, I didn’t know that,” Huxley says, and I resist the urge to punch him in the arm.
“Do you know anything?” I tease him.
“Oh, I know my brother is in deep, deep, deep…” he singsongs, and I remain silent. I have no comeback because it’s true.
“What are you still even doing here? I thought you flew down to help Dad with some paperwork or something?” I ask, because now that Lacy is here, I prefer Huxley not to be.
“Looks like they are finished. I’ll take Harvey up to Mom and Dad’s, give you guys some space.” My brother says the most intelligent and helpful thing he has said all afternoon, as I see Lacy and Harvey start to pack up, and I give him a nod .
“Okay, so we’re all done. Harvey, why don’t you tell your dad what you learned today?” Lacy asks him, smiling.
Harvey grins at her like she hung the moon herself.
“The moon is shaped like a lemon. Venus spins backward, annnndddd…” he says as he thinks. “And Uranus is the coldest planet in the entire solar system.” He nods at me, and my eyebrows hit my hairline.
“You learned all that in an hour? I’m impressed.” I ruffle his hair and his cheeks pinken at the compliment. Lacy beams at him in pride, and I swear I feel my heart swell.
“Did you do astronomy at college, Lacy?” Huxley asks her, and she shakes her head.
“No. It’s just a hobby.”
“You went to an Ivy League, right? Willowstone?” Huxley asks. I knew she got a scholarship to a top college, but I had no idea she was in California, so close to me or at Willowstone. It’s one of the best universities in the country, probably the world. I even have a few connections there.
“Ahh, yeah…” Her smile is forced and her eyes cloud over a little. A movement so subtle, no one else notices. But I do. “I’m glad to be home now, though, with Mom.”
Huxley nods in understanding before looking at Harvey.
“Come on, bud. Let’s go raid Grandma’s kitchen. She said she was making your favorite cookies today,” he says to Harvey.
“Yes! Thanks, Lacy. Can you come over again tomorrow?” Harvey asks Lacy, and she looks a little like a deer stuck in the headlights for a second.
“I can’t tomorrow, but why don’t we meet up for Sundae Saturday this week?” she suggests, glancing between my son and me, the two of us grinning at her stupidly. I have a feeling that he and I would meet her anywhere.
“Yes! I forgot about Sundae Saturday.” Harvey fist-pumps the air before running out the door, my brother following him, looking confused, having no idea what any of it means.
“Harvey is really great. You must be so proud of him. He is so smart for his age,” Lacy says as I step up to her. Now that we are alone, I slip my hand around her waist and walk her back until her ass hits the kitchen counter. Her eyes widen, breath catching as I close in on her, sealing her to me.
“He is and I am. Thank you. I had no idea about the planets,” I say sheepishly as I brush the tip of my nose against hers. I hear her cell chime, and I watch as she digs it out from her bag on the counter. Her face turns a shade of white as she sees whatever’s on the screen, body turning rigid.
“Lacy? Everything alright?” I ask, wondering if something is wrong with her mom. Her head turns quickly in my direction, and she looks startled, like she forgot I was standing right in front of her.
“Oh…” She exhales, shaking her head like she is waking up from a bad dream.” Sorry. No, fine. Everything’s fine. It was just… um… just a work thing.” Shaking her head again, she puts her cell back in her bag, then faces me fully. Color returns to her face, and her grin is wide as she meets my eyes.
“Are you sure?” I ask her. For whatever reason, I can tell she is not being honest with me.
“Totally fine. So, we are still not even, Doctor Hamilton. Securing Jennifer was a big deal. More than just an hour of my time.” She’s back to teasing, and my body relaxes with hers. Lifting her head, she almost brushes her lips against mine, bringing them close, just not close enough. Thoughts of her call now move to the back of my mind. I can’t help it. I’m not sure if it’s just us being together, the date under the stars, or seeing her with my son, or all three, but Lacy has been slowly relaxing more and more around me, her confidence building, and I can see a sparkle in her eye that wasn’t there before.
“I can think of other ways we can even the score,” I whisper playfully as I duck in, taking her lips with mine. Her hands loop around my neck, and I pull her close. Kissing this woman is a new addiction I never want to stop.
Our lips move, my hands roam, and she makes these cute little moans that have my jeans tightening every second she is in my arms.
“They might be back in a minute,” she says between kisses. Our pace quickens, neither of us wanting to stop.
“They will be a little while. We have time,” I tell her as my hands run down her sides and back up again. Cupping her breasts as her head falls back, my lips meet her neck.
“Hudson,” she breathes out, lifting her head to look at me, her cheeks a little flushed, our breathing becoming rapid.
“I missed you, Lacy baby,” I tell her as I lean in to kiss those perfect lips once again.
“I missed you too…” Her hands run up the back of my head, digging into my hair, massaging my scalp, and I groan into her mouth as my tongue becomes more demanding.
“I want you so much it’s almost suffocating,” I murmur, my lips tracing down her jaw, kissing every inch of her skin I can reach.
“I know the feeling,” she moans as she moves her body a little, needing some friction, and I move my leg, positioning it between hers. “Anyone could walk in.”
“Hmmmm… let them…” I say, not wanting to stop kissing her as her hips roll on my thigh, and I feel her warmth, her neediness for me now apparent. I know my brother won’t be back in a hurry, and he and Harvey will probably eat all the cookies Mom cooks and not leave me even one. So I take my time, enjoying having Lacy in my arms.
“I really should get to work,” she murmurs, not making any move to leave or pause our makeout session, and I smile against her lips.
“Yeah, you should probably go,” I tell her, but her hands grip into my hair harder, and I pull her body tighter against mine.
Neither of us move. We stand in my kitchen, her pinned to the bench, her hips moving against mine, our lips tangling together, her body in my arms, and hell, she feels good. We don’t stop kissing, but I let her relax in my arms, her head falling back again as I kiss her neck, smelling her sweet floral aroma. When I lick her skin teasingly, she giggles and squirms.
“Hmmm, ticklish?” I ask with a chuckle, moving my lips back across her jaw to her mouth.
“A little…” she says, her tone coy enough to have me wanting to find all her other ticklish spots. “But I like it… I like everything you do.”
“Good to know.” I put my lips to hers again as my stomach flutters, and we don’t break, we don’t waver, even though my dick strains against my zipper more and more with every grind of her delicious hips. This is the hottest makeout session I have had, and I’m in no hurry to finish.
This is perfect. She is perfect.