Chapter 4
Aknock sounded on my door at seven o’ clock and I blew out a shaky breath.
When I told Catie and Kyle I was going on a date with Hudson, Kyle had looked pensive while Catie beamed from ear to ear.
“You came here to relax, Autumn. I can’t think of a better way to do that than multiple orgasms via Hot Mountain Man.”
Kyle had wandered off at that point, not wishing to participate in that kind of conversation.
“Multiple orgasms, really?” I’d laughed. “You know that how?”
“Because he gave you the best kiss ever—your words—and I refuse to believe a man that looks like Hudson Ward isn’t capable of giving a woman fantastic orgasms. I couldn’t live in a world where that wasn’t true.”
Suffice it to say Catie was all for me having a fling on my ski retreat.
Therefore I couldn’t bring myself to tell her I knew deep in my gut that this thing between me and Hudson was so far beyond fling material it wasn’t even funny.
However, I didn’t want my best friend to think I was crazy or na?ve, so I didn’t confide that to her.
Moreover, when Killian and Skylar called earlier I’d left all mention of Hudson out. My brother would stew with worry if he knew I’d met a man over here.
As I’d gotten ready for dinner, those butterflies came back.
To be fair, I’d had them all day but as the time for our date approached they began fluttering around in my belly like wild things.
Assuming we’d be dining at the only nice restaurant on the resort, I put on a pair of black cigarette trousers with a silk long-sleeved shirt tucked into them.
The shirt was my signature color—emerald green.
I’d left a few buttons undone, showing a sexy hint of cleavage.
Years ago Killian had bought me a rose gold necklace with a delicate chain and an even more delicate diamond ‘A’ pendant.
The A nestled seductively between my breasts, catching the light every time I moved, drawing attention.
Like always, my hair was down, and I wore a pair of sexy as hell sky high Jimmy Choos.
They were rose gold lamé with criss-cross straps.
A delicate rose gold bracelet and matching ring, along with an emerald green clutch, finished the look.
It was fair to say I’d brought way too many clothes with me on this trip but now that I’d met Hudson, I was glad for the choices.
My outfit was sexy but to me wearing trousers sent a message—I wasn’t looking to get laid tonight. This was just dinner.
When I opened my hotel door Hudson’s expression suggested that message had not been received.
He put a big hand on my waist and leaned in, and I braced for a kiss like the one at the coffeehouse.
Instead he surprised me with a lip brush across my cheekbone and then he released me, stepping back out of my personal space.
“You look beautiful.”
I stared at him, tingling from head to toe from his gentlemanly kiss. “Thank you. You look great, too.”
And he did. He wore a dark green shirt with his suit trousers and I wondered if he’d subconsciously chosen green because I wore it a lot.
He held out a hand. “Shall we?”
I hesitated, knowing as soon as I took his hand, I wouldn’t want to let go.
Sensing my uncertainty, Hudson reassured me, “Just dinner, Autumn.”
That was when I discovered something more dangerous than Hudson’s ability to give me butterflies. Inexplicably, he also made me feel safe.
Taking his hand, trying not to shiver at the way the rough skin of his palm felt against mine, I let go of the breath I was holding. I tried to relax as we strolled hand-in-hand toward the restaurant.
“If it was up to me I’d take you to dinner in town but I thought you’d feel more relaxed if we stayed somewhere familiar tonight.”
“I do, thank you.”
He smiled and then his gaze dropped to my shoes before returning to my face. He grinned. “Never dated a woman on my eye level before.”
“Well, I’m wearing five-inch heels.”
“I noticed. They’re sexy as fuck.”
Our eyes held for what felt like forever and he squeezed my hand. I blinked and jerked my gaze away, trying to catch my breath.
“So what height does that make you out of heels?” he suddenly asked.
“Five nine. What height are you?”
“Six three.”
“Tall,” I muttered, trying not to imagine that long, hard body of his covering me in bed …and epically failing.
His warm hand tightened in mine as if he could read my expression. “I promised myself I’d be a gentleman tonight and that’s going to be hard to do when you’ve got me thinking about how long your legs are and how amazing they’ll feel wrapped around me… so maybe we should stop talking about this.”
I had to curb nervous laughter because I had a feeling it wasn’t going to take much to lead either of our thoughts into the bedroom. “Sounds like a plan,” I choked out.
We reached the restaurant in no time (thank goodness) and the hostess, who was as familiar with Hudson as everyone else at the lodge appeared to be, led us directly to a table by the massive picture window at the back of the room.
The sun had already set but from our table we could see part of the valley where the town was lit up in the dark. It was beautiful.
We ordered our drinks and I dragged my gaze from the view to Hudson to find him studying me thoughtfully.
I pressed a hand to my cheek. “Do I have something on my face?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s just hard to want to look anywhere but at you.”
The compliment caused a small bark of incredulous laughter. “I don’t know whether you’re feeding me lines or if you’re being genuine. Unbelievably, I think you’re being genuine.”
Hudson scowled. “I already told you I’m not feeding you a line and I thought after our kiss today you understood where we’re at.”
“Our kiss?”
His eyes narrowed. “You can’t deny the chemistry between us, angel.”
“I’m not trying to.” I sighed and it sounded shaky. “I’m sorry. I’m… I’m not used to men complimenting me just because they want to and not because they’re hoping it will lead somewhere.”
Understanding crossed his expression. “Yeah, I’ll bet.”
Needing the conversation to turn to something I could deal with, I gestured toward the town. “So you grew up in Copper Cliffs?”
“Yeah. My family has lived there for generations.”
“Big family?”
“Pretty big. Immediate family it’s only my parents and my brother Jake. But we have cousins and aunts and uncles who have lived here for generations, too, so it’s never really felt like just the four of us.”
“Is Jake in construction?”
Hudson grinned like I’d said something funny. “Not even close. My brother is a professional snowboarder, so he travels a lot.”
“Wow, that’s cool. You like skiing but it’s not your profession… so are you and Jake very different then?”
“Yes and no.” He shrugged. “Different personalities but same values. Hard not to grow up with the same values in the Ward family. Even when we’re not together, we’re close. Got a good family. I’m lucky.”
Hudson was lucky. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to grow up in such a loving family.
I know I was lucky to have Killian, but it would have been nice for us both to have that kind of support outside of each other.
The wistfulness I felt must have shown in my eyes because Hudson’s filled with questions.
Guessing what they were likely to be and not ready to answer them, I continued to guide the conversation.
“And Rae?” I said, referring to the woman Dara had mentioned earlier in the day.
He leaned forward, bracing his crossed arms on the table, his expression casual. I searched for pain or anger in his eyes but saw nothing but calm. “My ex-fiancée.”
Whoa. Okay. Fiancée. Why did that cause a painful twist in my chest?
“We broke up nearly a year ago. We’d been together five years.
She proposed to me.” He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking uncomfortable.
“I didn’t like it. I know that probably makes me a macho man dick in your eyes but I didn’t want to be proposed to. It was up to me to do the proposing.”
I shrugged, not bothered by this in the least, because frankly, as a romantic, I’d want to be proposed to. “You’re a traditionalist.”
“Yeah, when it comes to that shit I am. I said yes because I loved her and I didn’t want to hurt her.
But over the years I managed to somehow put her off anytime she broached the subject of wedding planning.
Finally everything came to a head. She pushed for me to set a date and I finally realized I loved her but the connection wasn’t there. We broke it off. I broke it off.”
Oh wow. I suddenly felt sorry for Rae.
“I felt like shit about it, for not knowing my own mind, but looking back I know there was a part of me deep down that knew she wasn’t the one. I just couldn’t admit that to myself, or her, for a really long time.”
I tilted my head in contemplation because I was surprised by the information he’d just imparted. “You believe in ‘the one’?”
Hudson swallowed, almost as if he was nervous. “I do now.”
The air around us grew still at what he’d just implied.
Holy …
“Hudson,” I whispered, not knowing what to say.
I found I loved what he was implying but it scared the absolute bejesus out of me, too.
“Never felt about her the way I feel about you and I’ve only just met you,” he continued, holding my gaze in his.
“Are you ready to order?” The waiter suddenly appeared, giving me a chance to collect my thoughts.
Once he had our order, I turned back to my dinner date. “We should think about this before it goes any further.”
He shook his head. “We can do that later.”
Panic made the butterflies in my belly flutter up toward my heart, their wings kicking it into hyper speed. “No, we can’t because I live on the other side of a pretty big ocean and that’s not a small problem. We should discuss what that means before we go any further.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No. I want it so our hooks are so deep in each other it doesn’t matter what problems we face, we’ll do whatever we can to overcome them together.”
“This is insane. We just met!”