Chapter Eight
Hud pulled out his wallet and left enough cash at the register to cover the bill and then some. “Keep the change, Connie.”
She smiled. “You two have fun tonight.”
He held Blair’s sweater while she slipped into it and they stepped outside to find the rain had finally quit, leaving the air clean and cool and smelling like wet pavement.
“Dewey’s is just down the block,” he said. “Want to walk?”
“Let’s walk.”
They headed down the sidewalk, stepping around the larger puddles. He took her hand without overthinking it. She didn’t pull away.
Dewey’s was already jumping when they pushed through the door. Music loud, dance floor crowded, every stool at the bar taken. Hud scanned the room out of habit, as he always did, and spotted a table near the dance floor just opening up.
“Come on.” He steered her toward it before someone else could claim it.
“I’ll grab drinks,” he said once she was settled. “What do you want?”
“Surprise me.”
He made his way to the bar and flagged down the bartender. While he waited he glanced back at Blair. She was taking in the room with a small smile on her face, relaxed and easy, and he thought she looked like she belonged here.
Then he saw Gina two stools down.
“Shit,” he muttered, watching her slide off the stool and push through the crowd toward him.
“Hello, Hud.” She smiled like she’d been expecting him.
“Gina.” He picked up the two drinks the bartender had set down.
Her eyes dropped to them. “So, you’re not alone tonight.”
“No, ma’am.” He held her gaze just long enough to make it clear, then turned and moved back through the crowd to Blair.
He didn’t look back. He didn’t need to. He could feel her eyes following him the whole way across the room.
He set a glass of red wine in front of Blair, pulled out his chair and sat down, taking a long pull of his beer.
Blair picked up her wine but kept her eyes on him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“You came back different.” She glanced toward the bar, then back at him. “Ah. I see her.”
“We dated for a while. It’s been over for some time.”
“Does she know that?”
“She does. She just doesn’t like it.” He set his beer down. “Do you want me to go talk to her?”
“Absolutely not.” Blair sipped her wine and settled back, unbothered. “If she wants to stare, let her stare. That’s her problem, not mine.”
Something about the ease of that made him relax. “I ended it well before I asked you out. I want you to know that.”
“I believe you.” She smiled at him over the rim of her glass. “We’ll ignore her. Maybe she’ll take the hint.”
He laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”
They danced every slow song that came on, and by the third one Hud knew he was in trouble. Having her that close, her hand in his and her head tipped toward his shoulder, was doing nothing to help his patience. And patience had never been his strong suit to begin with.
He wanted to get out of here. He wanted more than that, but he wasn’t going to push her. He’d made that promise to himself and he intended to keep it.
Even if it killed him.
Which, at the moment, felt like a real possibility.
As they walked back to their seats, Blair looked at him,
“I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
“Sure.” He watched Blair walk down the hallway to the bathrooms, then took his seat.
****
Blair stood at the sink, washing her hands when the door opened and she looked into the mirror to see Gina enter. Here we go!
“You know you’re wasting your time with him, don’t you?”
Blair turned to face her. “I don’t see where that is any of your business.”
Gina laughed and it was like fingernails on a blackboard.
“You don’t have a clue about that man.”
“I suppose you do.”
“I do. He’s great in bed and very easy to fall for, but he doesn't fall. At. All.”
“Again. Why is that your business. He doesn’t want you.”
Gina smirked. “He will.” With that, she walked out.
Blair sighed. She wasn’t going to tell Hud about this. Not until she knew where this relationship was going.”
She was quiet on the drive home and hoped he didn’t notice.
She’d told him she wanted to take things slow, and she’d meant it at the time.
That was before she’d spent half the night in his arms on that dance floor.
The solid warmth of him, his hand at the small of her back, had her thinking things she wasn’t entirely prepared for.
When he pulled into the driveway she turned to look at him and found him already watching her. She glanced away and heard him exhale slowly.
His door opened. She kept her eyes on him as he walked around the front of the truck and opened hers, holding out his hand. She took a breath, placed her hand in his and stepped down. He walked her to the porch without a word.
She pulled her keys from her purse, and he took them from her, unlocked the door and handed them back.
“I had a good time,” he said quietly, his eyes dropping to her lips before coming back up.
“So did I.” She hesitated. “Would you like to come in? It’s still early.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.” She pushed the door open and stepped into the foyer. He pulled off his hat, wiped his feet and followed her inside.
“Would you like some coffee? That rain put a chill in the air.”
“Sounds good.” He hung his hat by the door, and she nodded toward the living room.
“Make yourself at home. I’ll just be a minute.”
In the kitchen she let out a slow breath. Her stomach was in knots. Not long ago she’d told him she wasn’t ready and she’d meant it then. Somewhere between that night and this one something had shifted. She couldn’t explain it exactly, only that it had.
She glanced through the doorway. He was on the sofa, feet on the floor, watching television like he’d been there a hundred times.
She carried both cups in, and he stood when she entered the room, took one from her, waited for her to sit and settled back down beside her.
They watched the screen for a while. She had no idea what was on. Her mind was on Hud and the slim hope that he’d make a move, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t. She’d been the one to invite him in and she sensed he was going to be careful with that.
She set her cup on the table and looked at him.
“Blair?” He set his down.
“Kiss me,” she said quietly.
He cupped her face in his hands and leaned in, and the moment his lips met hers she understood she’d been waiting for this all day. He pulled her across his lap and deepened the kiss and she let him, her hands finding his chest, his shoulders, the back of his neck.
She pushed back gently and he let her up. She stood and held out her hand.
She’d told herself this wouldn’t happen. She kept telling herself that all the way up the stairs and down the narrow hall. Then Hud’s hand settled at the small of her back, and she stopped telling herself anything at all.
He turned her gently at the top of the stairs and they looked at each other for a moment. The kind of look that had been building since the first night, maybe longer; the kind neither of them had let themselves finish until now. His breath was unsteady. She found that detail her undoing.
“Blair.” Just her name. Nothing else.
She closed the distance.
The kiss was nothing like she’d imagined, and she’d imagined it more than she’d ever admit.
Hungrier, less careful. His hands found her waist and then he was lifting her, her back against the wall, her legs wrapping around him.
She locked her ankles at the small of his back and pulled him closer, and he groaned against her mouth like she’d taken something from him he hadn’t meant to give.
They kissed until she forgot where they were.
When he finally pulled back enough to look at her, his eyes had gone dark with something that made her breath catch. Patience worn thin. Want with nowhere left to hide.
He carried her to the bedroom without a word.
He laid her down slowly, like he wanted to do this right, then straightened and looked at her for a moment. Something moved across his face. Reverence, maybe. Or the last of his patience giving way.
His hands went to her clothes, careful at first and then less so, and the room was quiet except for their breathing and the soft sounds of fabric giving way.
He stripped off his own clothes without looking away from her, unhurried despite everything, like he wanted her to see.
She did. She couldn’t look anywhere else.
His body was amazing. All tight and muscular.
The six-pack stomach had her salivating, but when she followed that happy trail down to his hard cock, she wanted to beg him to take her.
Then he lowered himself over her and began kissing his way down her body, slow and deliberate, his mouth tracing her collarbone, the curve of her ribs, the soft plane of her stomach.
She tangled her fingers in his hair and tried to remember how to breathe.
When he reached the juncture of her thighs he paused, and then his tongue moved against her and she stopped trying altogether.
Her back arched off the bed. She said his name once, quietly, like a confession.
He took his time.
When he finally moved back up her body, pressing kisses along the same path he’d taken down, she felt undone in the best possible way. He reached for his wallet on the nightstand, removed a condom and took his time rolling it on while she watched with her heart loud in her chest.
He paused, just looking at her with those darkened eyes, his breath slow and deliberate like he was reining himself in.
“You sure?” His voice was rough at the edges.
She answered without words, wrapping her legs around him and pulling him to her. He eased into her slowly, giving her time, his forehead dropping to hers as he did. She exhaled against his mouth and he stilled, just breathing with her for a moment, letting her adjust to him.
Then he began to move.