Chapter 26
Hope your Christmas is filled with love, laughter and cock. (*Cake, damn you autocorrect!)
Christmas Eve
Scout wasn’t sure if this was the right neighborhood as she pulled up to the security gate. Hudson had stayed true to his word and given her space.
She hadn’t wanted it, had felt almost hollow when he’d left a few days ago. Hell, she’d even wondered if everything had been a fever dream until he’d finally reached out and invited her to a party if she still wanted to see him.
That had been a quick hell yes.
But now that she was rolling down her window to talk to a scary-looking security guy, this felt like an elaborate prank. “Ah, I’m here for the Martinez Christmas Eve party. My name is Scout Harlowe.”
The man nodded as he looked at his tablet. “ID please?”
After he scanned it, someone else stepped out of the booth and then actually wanded her car and looked underneath it with one of those mirror things she’d only ever seen in movies. For bombs, maybe? Seriously, what the hell?
Once they were done, the man’s demeanor changed and he smiled warmly at her. “Enjoy your evening, Ms. Harlowe.”
She simply nodded, feeling a little dazed as she drove down the street in her ancient truck, wondering what she’d gotten herself into.
The farther she drove, it was easy to see where the party was, given the pulsing lights and array of cars down a long, winding driveway.
She could see a couple people valeting in the distance closer to the mansion but decided to park herself in an empty spot.
Feeling ridiculously nervous, she texted Hudson once she’d parked next to a sleek Jaguar. I’m here.
As she stepped out and looked at all the very expensive vehicles, she wondered if he’d been right about the dress code. He’d told her to wear an ugly or silly Christmas sweater and whatever bottoms she wanted—jeans, pants, shorts with llamas on them, didn’t matter.
So she’d opted for a Christmas sweater with a picture of her three girls screen-printed onto it with them all wearing Santa hats. She was also wearing jeans that made her ass look great.
“Scout.” Hudson’s delicious voice came out of the darkness and she turned to find him jogging toward her from a cluster of expensive-looking vehicles.
“Hey.” Okay, he hadn’t been kidding about the sweater because he was wearing one with… Aww, dancing llamas. And one of them looked similar to Lucy. “I thought maybe you were kidding about the sweaters.”
Laughing lightly, he shook his head as he reached her, and oh, the longing on his face hit her right in the chest. “I missed you.”
Hearing those words from him, seeing the way he looked at her… Something shifted again inside her, which was basically what had been happening from the moment she’d met him. It was like she’d been trying to walk on quicksand since Hudson had strolled into her life.
“I missed you too. And I don’t care what you do for a living,” she blurted.
“I don’t know what that says about me, but I just don’t.
You saved my life, you saved my girls’ lives, and you did nothing but show up for me every second since I met you.
Hell, I knocked you out and tied you up, and you still did everything to keep me safe.
” And that was a man worth holding on to.
There was something real between them and she wanted to give it a chance to grow into something with roots. Something that felt a lot like forever.
The relief in his expression was instantaneous, and as he stepped forward, she met him halfway, melting into him as he crushed his mouth over hers in what was clearly a claiming.
One she would definitely take.
Because this man didn’t do anything halfway.
By the time he pulled back they were both breathless and she forgot where she was for a moment. If it wasn’t for the pulsing music in the background and the ridiculous amount of lights and Christmas decorations that would look at home at a theme park, she’d have blocked everything out.
“You don’t live here, right?” Because this house was incredible.
“Oh, no. Ah…this place is owned by Rebel Martinez.” He eyed her with an expression she couldn’t read as he slipped his arm around her shoulders and they headed up the long driveway.
“Wait…what? The Martinez Christmas Eve party is being hosted by… You know the Rebel Martinez?” she whispered, looking around as if there might be paparazzi hiding in the bushes or behind some of the elaborate landscaping and lights.
Instead she saw a few men and women in dark suits that looked like…
Oh, security. Yeah, that made a whole lot of sense.
“Technically, yes. I’m not tight with her or anything, but she’s friends with some of my friends. And in case you’re wondering, no I don’t think she knows what I or most of us do for a living. I don’t know for sure though, and I’m not asking.”
“This is way more shocking than the hitman thing,” she whispered again, a wild laugh bubbling up.
Rebel Martinez was a beloved global musical superstar who’d taken the world by storm years ago.
She was from humble roots in Miami and had married some billionaire a few years ago, Scout thought. “I’m obsessed with her music.”
“Well you’re going to get to meet her later.”
“Honestly, if you’d led with this before… I probably wouldn’t have had any trouble processing what you do for a living.” She grinned up at him.
“Good to know what your priorities are,” he murmured as they headed down a well-lit pathway around the side of the house—no, mansion.
“Yep. Also, the girls miss you. Probably not as much as me, but they’ve been searching for you every night.”
His eyes lit up as he glanced down at her. “Seriously?”
“Oh yeah. You’re one of us now.”
Pausing on the walkway, he pulled her into his arms and brushed his lips against her. “Thank you for the best Christmas present ever. You…and your llamas.”
Technically it wasn’t Christmas but yeah, she felt that all the way to her core. He was the best present she’d gotten…ever. And she wasn’t going to be returning him either.
***
“Told you she’d be okay with everything,” Sarah said in that all-knowing, only slightly obnoxious tone as a weird rendition of “Jingle Bells” played over the speakers.
“To be fair, I never argued with you,” Hudson murmured as he watched Scout talking to Dante and Aileen by the Olympic-sized pool, festive drinks with candy cane garnishes in hand.
There was an array of Christmas-colored lights hung up crisscrossed over the water and a handful of floats in the pool—Santa- and reindeer-themed of course.
“Yeah but you were doubting her. I knew it would work out.”
“Did she say something to you?” he asked. Sarah had stayed with her the last few days in his absence.
“Nope, but she missed you. You don’t miss someone like that and then just give up.”
He didn’t respond, just watched Scout’s animated expression as she laughed at something Aileen said. He hadn’t been planning on just walking away from her. If she hadn’t accepted his Christmas Eve party invitation, he’d already planned a visit to see her and her llamas. Even Lucy.
Sarah spoke again, her voice quieter and he had to strain to hear her over the din of everyone in the backyard and lanai area. “You take care of the problem?”
The problem being Oliver Michaels. Because there was no world in which he survived after trying to kill Scout. Sure, he’d have suffered in prison, but Hudson simply couldn’t let it slide. Scout was his to protect. “Yep.”
He’d made sure to do it while Scout was around a bunch of witnesses too.
Not that he thought the Feds were actually going to suspect her, but he’d wanted to cover all bases.
And getting to him in his hospital room undetected had been surprisingly easy.
It looked like an accident, so while there would be an inquest or whatever, it wouldn’t amount to anything. No one cared that he was dead.
“So, you hooking up with that guy?” He decided to change the subject, not wanting to dwell on Michaels. He was gone, would never be a threat to Scout or anyone else again. The world was a safer place and he could live with his choice. Easily.
“Maybe.” Sarah grinned, looking pleased with herself. “We might have plans on New Year’s. He’s kind of a freak,” she added.
He held up his palms. “Okay, I don’t actually need the details.
“You sure? Because I don’t mind sharing. That man has got a magic tongue and—”
“I swear to god,” he muttered. “I love you, but no. Just no.”
Sarah simply grinned and lifted her empty glass. “Gonna get a refill.”
He lifted his own full glass to her in a semi-toast, then made his way over to Scout, whose face lit up like the sun when she saw him approaching.
Just like that he felt himself falling even harder and faster for her.
He simply had to be around her, to bask in her warmth and goodness, and he was a goner.
She held out her arm to wrap around him, as if she’d been waiting for him.
And he wasn’t convinced that she hadn’t been made for him. Because he sure as hell felt like he’d been made for her. A sweet, gorgeous woman he never could have predicted. Never could have imagined for himself.
And now that she was in his life, he was never letting her go.