Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
ELENA
W hen the rain tapered off, we made sandwiches. In the afternoon, we stepped outside to finish the demolition. Around four, Dalton and Brady showed up with their trucks to help us haul everything.
When we were finished, Dalton threw a thumb over his shoulder. "We'll take this to the dump."
"We appreciate it," Hudson said.
"Let us know if you need any more help on this one," Brady offered.
"I will eventually, but we're okay for now." Hudson winked at me. "I have one assistant."
Grams came out the front door and made her way down the steps. "Well, what do we have here?"
As she approached, I said, "Grams, these are Hudson's brothers, Dalton and Brady."
Grams held a container of cookies that I took from her so she could concentrate on walking. "It's nice to meet more handsome Kingston boys. I made you some cookies for your hard work."
Brady took the container from me. "We love cookies. Thank you, Mrs. Perkins."
Grams waved a hand at them. "Call me Grams. I appreciate you helping my granddaughter on this project."
"It's no trouble. Happy to help," Dalton added.
Grams eyes twinkled as she looked from one Kingston brother to the other. "I hope I'll be seeing more of you boys." She glanced at the gray clouds. "Now, I'd better get inside before it rains again."
When Grams left, Brady raised a brow. "She's a pistol, huh?"
Hudson chuckled. "She doesn't miss anything."
"I think she's enjoying having company. This is more excitement than she's had around the house in a while." Then to Hudson, I said, "Are we done for the day?"
Hudson nodded. "I'll clean up my tools and head out."
"Are you mentoring tonight?" Dalton asked Hudson before he headed around the side of the house.
"Yeah, I told Shane I'd play basketball with him."
"Who's Shane?" I couldn't help but ask.
"He's a boy I mentor through the local youth program. He usually wants to play basketball at the community center, and then I take him for ice cream."
I tipped my head to the side, trying to gauge his mood. "Would you mind if I joined you guys?"
Hudson shook his head. "Not at all. I'm sure he'd love to have another person around."
"Later, brother," Dalton said, and his brothers got into their trucks and left.
"I'm going to jump in the shower. Then I'll meet you at the community center," I said, strangely excited to see Hudson in a new element. We spent a lot of time working on construction, and we talked about a lot of things, but he'd never mentioned mentoring a child. Had he meant to hide this side of himself from me? Or had he thought it wasn't important?
"Sounds good."
I went inside where Grams was drinking tea at the table.
"Did Hudson leave for the day?" she asked.
I grabbed a glass from the cabinet. "He's collecting his tools from the back. Then he'll be leaving. He has plans tonight."
Gram raised a brow. "With you?"
I turned my back to her so I could fill the water from the filter on the fridge. "He said he's mentoring a child through the youth program. They're going to play basketball."
"Are you joining them?" Grams asked.
I moved toward the table. "I think it will be good for the article I'm writing. 'Local Businessman Mentors Child.' The story practically writes itself."
"This eligible bachelor keeps getting more attractive," Grams said, and I couldn't help but shake my head.
"You aren't going to give up on me and Hudson getting together, are you?" I asked before sipping my water.
"You'd better snatch him up before the story hits the magazine. All the women will be clamoring for his attention then."
I sat in the chair next to her. "His brothers get more attention. Hudson is the quiet one."
Grams raised a brow. "Are you going to take my advice and flirt a little?"
I sighed. "I'm going to take a shower, and then do my job by shadowing Hudson."
Grams nodded seriously. "I'm sure there will be plenty of time to flirt after you're done with the mentoring."
I laughed. "You're impossible."
"You know I'm right. He's a hot commodity. And did you see the younger ones? All of them must be built from the same mold. Handsome and charming."
I shook my head. "I think you are the one who brings out the charm in people. They adore you."
Grams's eyes widened in mock surprise. "I don't know about that."
I kissed her cheek. "You charm everyone, Grams."
She patted my arm. "Now take a shower. You look like a drowned rat, and that won't do."
I stood. "I forgot we went for a swim and then got stuck in the rain."
Grams nodded toward the back door. "I saw you guys in the ocean. You looked close."
My heart pounded. I'd thought we'd been alone, and no one was paying us any attention. "He was making sure I didn't drown."
Grams gave me a knowing look. "Last time I checked, you were a strong swimmer. Did you somehow forget after being in Boston for so long?"
"I'm taking a shower now." I dodged the question, heading upstairs where my room encompassed the entire floor. The room was cozy with a slanted roof. I grabbed shorts, a T-shirt, new panties, and a bra before jumping in the en suite shower.
The days of working side by side with Hudson, and then that dip in the ocean, had me hot and bothered. I closed my eyes and remembered what it felt like when he'd held me to him.
I imagined that he couldn't keep his hands off me. We were wet, caught in the rain with no one around to see us, and this time he pulled me against his body. He wore briefs that left nothing to the imagination.
He was hard everywhere, and he didn't waste any time kissing me. His touch was sure and confident. His fingers eased under the edge of my bikini bottoms, teasing my entrance. I let my fingers drift down my body and between my folds.
I pretended that my fingers were his, and his mouth was on mine. In no time, an orgasm flew through me. As I came down from that high, I wondered if he was thinking about me in the shower too.
I finished cleaning up and got dressed. Then I put on socks and shoes before grabbing my keys. "I'm heading out, Grams."
"You have a good time."
"Are you going to watch TV for the rest of the night?"
"I'll be happy when I can sit out there again." She nodded toward the porch which was half gone.
"It will be ready before you know it."
"I can't wait, but at the same time, I'm not in a hurry. I'm enjoying having Hudson around. He keeps things interesting."
I rested my hand on my hip. "I'm not interesting?"
"No dear. Not in the same way Hudson is. You two are practically dancing around each other, and the heat—woowee— What I wouldn't give to be young again."
"The problem with being young is that you have no idea what will happen in the future."
"And that's your problem. You think too much. Enjoy this time you have with Hudson. Be open to the possibilities. Stop worrying about everything."
"Okay, Grams. I'll try." I kissed her cheek, not sure I'd follow her advice.
I was oddly nervous as I drove to the community center. There was a playground and a basketball court with a path through the woods to a pond where alligators floated in the sun. I'd come here a lot as a kid. But there wasn't a playground back then.
I parked next to Hudson's truck. Then I walked on the path past the playground to the basketball court. I'd dressed for working out.
Hudson sat on the bench next to a boy who looked to be about eleven or twelve.
I approached them. "You must be Shane."
"Shane, this is my friend, Elena."
"It's nice to meet you, Shane," I said to him, grateful Hudson hadn't mentioned that I was a journalist.
Shane squinted up at me. "Are you playing with us?"
"I can if you don't mind." I'd played basketball a lot in my youth because my parents had a hoop over their garage. I just hadn't had many people to play with. So my dribbling and shooting game might be better than my team play. I wasn't sure.
"We can do two-on-one," Shane said.
"I hope I'm part of the two in that scenario. I haven't played in a while," I joked.
Shane stood up and grabbed the ball from his feet. He moved away to start shooting.
"Are you sure you don't mind that I'm crashing your basketball date?" I asked Hudson.
He raised a brow. "You're supposed to be shadowing me at all times."
"Yeah, but I'm respectful of your boundaries." I thought it was important to be here, to see a different side of him, but I'd respect his wishes.
"I want you here, and Shane is excited to have more people to play."
I sighed. "I can't make any promises about my skills. But I'll do my best."
He stood. "Let's see what you've got."
The brief storm had left the air hot and humid. But the time of day meant it would cool of slightly as we played.
There was only one ball, so we took turns shooting around, and then Shane said, "Let's play."
We lined up so that it was me and Shane against Hudson.
"We've got this," I said to Shane.
Shane nodded. "Yeah, Huds plays like an old man."
"Hey," Hudson protested as Shane fake pumped and then moved around him by dribbling the ball. He bounce passed it to me, and I did a left-handed layup off the backboard. "Score."
Shane high-fived me. "Hey, you're not bad."
I smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"You might want to move a little quicker to keep up with us," Shane said to Hudson.
"He likes to trash-talk me," Hudson said by way of explanation.
Now it was Hudson versus the two of us, but he was taller and more agile than we were. Hudson checked the ball with Shane and then drew up to execute a jump shot. It bounced off the rim and out.
"You missed!" Shane exclaimed, and we switched spots.
It was fun to play a game, and Shane and Hudson's teasing kept it light. We stopped several times to drink water and wipe the sweat away.
It felt good to be physical. After college, I hadn't kept up with workouts, and I didn't play any sports. We switched it up so that it was the boys against me. That didn't go so well, especially when Shane yelled "Dunk!", and Hudson lifted him so that he could place the ball directly into the hoop.
I shook my head. "I can't compete against that."
"I think we should stop ganging up on her," Hudson said as he grabbed a swig of water.
"Yeah, it's probably not fair."
I was sore, but it felt good. I'd never been on a date where we did anything like this. Not that this was a date. I had to remember it was an assignment. I was supposed to be getting insight into Hudson.
So far, he was hardworking, focused, didn't seem to date much, and used his personal time mentoring a child. I didn't know what Shane's situation was, or how Hudson had gotten into mentoring, but I was curious.
"Are you ready for some ice cream?" Hudson asked Shane.
"Yes!"
Hudson grinned at me, the lines around his eyes crinkling.
He was achingly handsome, and the time we'd spent with Shane only made the man more attractive. Grams was right; he got more eligible by the minute. When the story was published, everyone would want to date him. He wouldn't be the quiet, aloof brother anymore. He'd be a local celebrity, and I was positive he wouldn't have any time for me.
We got in our cars, and I followed Hudson's truck to a local grocery store where there were various other shops in the development and an ice cream shop.
It was a two-story building with lots of foliage, water features, and large cages housing parrots. We went to the ice cream store first and ordered our cones. Once we had our ice cream, we went outside to check out the birds.
"Hello. Hello," Shane prompted, trying to get the bird named Winston to parrot his words back to him, but he remained stubbornly aloof.
Winston turned his head away, and I swear his beak was tilted slightly upwards.
"He's a snob, isn't he?" Hudson asked me quietly, and I nodded.
"He knows what Shane wants, but he's ignoring him."
"I bet five hundred people a day want him to repeat the word hello and he's had enough."
"He's a smart bird."
"Have you ever been over to the trailer park?" Hudson asked Shane. "They have more animals over there: parrots, lemurs, and monkeys."
"No, I haven't," Shane said as he moved over to another cage.
The atmosphere was tropical with the foliage, palm trees, and birds. Some were talking, and others were chirping. The sound of a water feature was soothing.
"Are you happy with your progress on the porch, or should we be further along by now?" I didn't want to hold him back.
"The thing about home renovations for friends is that it's the process that matters. The help you get from the owners, the shared meals, drinks and cookies, and the conversation. It's not about hitting a deadline."
"Wow. What a soundbite. I wish I had my notebook with me."
Hudson nudged my shoulder. "I thought part of being a journalist was getting a feel for the story, not reciting everything word for word."
"That's true. But it was so good." My fingers were itching to write it down somewhere. "Maybe I could put it in my phone." I reached for it, but Hudson stopped me with a hand on my wrist.
"Let's not worry about work tonight."
"I can do that." His expression was intense, and I understood why. Shane was important to him. This wasn't work. He wanted to share this with me, but it had nothing to do with the story. He didn't care if the public ever knew about his volunteer work. But I was positive my boss would love it. It made him even more desirable. The problem was that it worked on all females, not just me.
Was I prepared for the kind of attention my article would bring to the Kingston family? Were they?
"Hudson, come over here."
Hudson moved over to join Shane at the other cage, and I stayed where I was, enjoying my ice cream cone. Tonight was another glimpse inside Hudson's psyche. The problem was, the more I got to know him, the more I liked him.