6. Faith
Hudson lifted one side of his mouth in amusement. “Darlin’, I think God loves you just fine,” he said as he skimmed his gaze over me in frank appreciation. “Otherwise, He would’ve blessed you a lot less than He did.”
I gaped at him, unable to believe what I was hearing. And just when my stomach started to burn madly from the compliment, his eyes returned to mine, and everything inside me went haywire all over again.
Hugging my tray to my chest, I swallowed thickly and tried to think of something to say. Anything to say. But nothing came to mind.
My crush thought I was pretty, though. I may never recover from this.
Brow furrowing, he paused to point at me. “Hey, aren’t you…?” He shifted his attention to the others. “Isn’t she?—?”
“Yes!” Keene cried jubilantly. “She’s your stalker.”
After a single blink, Hudson said, “You brought my stalker to my birthday party?” He sounded absolutely boggled by the notion. “Umm…thanks?”
“She’s our waitress,” Thane answered dryly. “She’s here because she works here and has to be here. Not because of Keene. And her name is Faith. Not Stalker.”
“Oh,” Hudson said as if it made no difference to him. Then he turned back to me, and those eyes… They were a very clear, very light blue pool of pure seduction. I’d never been close enough to see what color his eyes were before. But now they were looking right at me, and I just wanted to melt in a puddle of adoration right before him.
“So you’re a stalker named Faith, huh?” Grinning, he arched his eyebrows in amusement and added, “The irony.”
I’d never heard his voice before. It was even dreamier than I’d imagined it would be.
Not at all planning what I was going to say, I blurted, “I’m not really stalking you. Like…at all.”
“Oh! Okay.” He shrugged, clearly not caring either way. “But it was no problem if you were. I don’t mind if you just want to look.”
“That’s not—” I cut myself off and flushed before denying anything else because he’d freaking caught me in the act of looking at him mere hours ago. A shiver of awareness rippled over me as I remembered that moment in the cafeteria when I had glanced up and, bam, he was already looking back.
And that wink…
Someone please just kill me now. I had it so bad for him, and now he knew.
“I’m gonna go,” I said and started to hurry from the room, only to jar to a halt. “Fuck,” I hissed. I was still working. Whirling back around, I winced when I found him still standing there, watching me with mirthful interest. “Would you like a drink?”
My misery seemed to entertain him, and his smile grew wider as he answered, “Sure.”
“Okay,” I drew out, waiting for him to tell me what he wanted before I realized he wasn’t answering on purpose because he was trying to force me to ask. The dude liked torturing people who were uncomfortable.
“What would you like?” I ground out through gritted teeth, incensed by the fact that I was playing right into his game. And the attention was thrilling.
His grin was wide and victorious before he cleared his throat and turned serious. “Well, it’s like this,” he said, hooking an arm around my shoulders.
My body went into immediate distress. It prepared for sex so quickly that it took my breath a solid ten seconds to work again. Now my panties were soaking, my nipples were pulsing, my skin was tingling as if it had just been electrocuted, and my lungs could no longer work right at all.
And yet Hudson Ivey made the move seem so casual and natural as if he’d known me for years.
He turned us to face the others. “I plan on getting absolutely trashed tonight,” he started. “So whatever’s going to make me puke on one of these lucky fellows’ shoes the fastest.” He pointed at all his friends who were now scowling back. “That’s what I want to drink.” When he glanced at me, he lifted his eyebrows questioningly. “Think you can do that for me, Stalker Faith?”
I gulped because why—why did he have to call me by name? I really liked hearing him say my name.
Choosing to ignore the stalker part, I licked my lips to wet them before nodding slowly. “Straight shots of rum, then?”
“Sounds perfect,” he agreed.
I nodded and started to turn away, only to remember—crap. I whirled back. “Uh, sorry. Do you, um… Do you have an I.D.?”
His smile was slow and sensual as he studied my face. “I do.”
Sweet baby Jesus. Even the way he said I do was hot.
As he reached back into his hip pocket, I drew in a deep breath, trying not to appear as enthralled as I was by every fucking move he made.
He came back with one of those carbon-fiber metal wallets before smoothly sliding out his driver’s license and handing it over.
Our fingers brushed in the transfer, and I sucked in a deep breath from the prickle it produced.
His license was still vertical, so I had to squint and lean in until I read, “Under 21 until December 8th,” which was today.
“Happy birthday,” I said as I handed it back, checking his name to make sure he really was Hudson Ivey.
And he was.
“Thanks.” His smile was warm, and I swear he purposely brushed his fingers past mine yet again as he retrieved the piece of plastic.
I gave an inward sigh—at least, I hope it was inward—and I stared at him a moment longer, beyond delighted that I was able to see him this close for once, until a throat cleared from not too far away.
I jerked my attention away, realizing absolutely everyone in the room was watching me moon over a taken man. My skin flamed with embarrassment, and I whirled away to flee, saying, “I’ll just… I’ll go get that shot of rum right now.”
“More than one of them,” Hudson called after me. “Like, a whole row of shots. I don’t want to remember what I did tonight. I mean that, Faith!”
When I glanced back one last time to nod in compliance, he blew me a kiss and then mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
* * *
At first,I contemplated the idea of pleading with Hannah to switch with me and take over the private room. After I gave her Keene’s slip of napkin, she seemed to buy his story that he’d lost her number and begged to help me deliver their meals to them. So I knew she’d gladly take on my duties and let me have hers if I did ask.
But that would make me look like a coward, and a coward was the last thing I was. So I kept returning to the room over and over again.
Torturing myself with more interactions with him.
And, wow, did that man know how to interact. Hudson Ivey had some serious rizz, I’m telling you. Every time I returned to the room, he made sure to single me out—loudly—and tease me to the point that I felt flushed and weak in the knees whenever I walked back out again. Didn’t matter how his friends, Thane and Foster and even Oaklynn, tried to get him to stop. He’d locked on to me like a heat-seeking missile, and he wasn’t about to lose focus on his target.
He didn’t openly flirt the way Keene had, though. He made no references to sex or anything sexual at all. His attention was just so personalized and centered directly toward me—and God, he was gorgeous—I fell victim to his charm without even caring that he was already dating the most distasteful person on the entire planet.
She wasn’t here—a fact that I was super curious about but wouldn’t dare ask after—so it was easy to forget about her. Honestly, it was easy to forget about pretty much everything in his presence.
What was even more charming about him was the fact that he’d put on Oaklynn’s crown and sash without a single protest. Hell, he wore them proudly and pointed them out to me when I came to take their initial meal order.
“Can you believe they did all this for me?” he asked with glossy eyes and words that were beginning to slur as he tried to straighten his crown but only made it more cattywampus. “I never had a party like this before. This is the best birthday ever. I mean, look. Look!” He picked up a table tent that wished him a happy birthday. “There’s even signs.”
“So I see,” I murmured, unable to keep an affectionate smile from my lips.
But his delight was so boyishly adorable that I think I fell even harder for him. It was obvious he really wasn’t used to getting spoiled on his big day, and that made my chest hurt. I mean, I’d had a sucky mother who’d abandoned me with her parents when I was little, and my grandparents had basically washed their hands of me since I’d left Georgia, and I’d still had decent birthdays every year.
I just wanted to smooth my fingers over that mess of silky-looking, dark hair of his and wipe away every sad childhood memory he had with a new, wonderful one.
“They’re very nice birthday signs,” I told him with a soft smile.
“Right?” His blue eyes glittered with adoration as he smiled back. “And look. Birthday koozies. Hey, you want a birthday koozie, Faith?”
When he tried to hand me the can cooler, I lifted my hands. “Oh! No, Oaklynn gave me one already, but thanks.”
“Oaklynn!” he thundered, scowling her way. “What the hell? Now I have nothing to offer my stalker. And she’s such a sweetstalker too.”
Oaklynn merely shook her head at him. “Dude, you’re wasted.”
Laughing, I shook my head and said, “I’m gonna guess you’ve had enough to drink.” And I turned to ask Thane and Parker if they wanted another draft.
But Hudson grasped my wrist. “Oh no. I’ve not had nearly enough yet. I’m just happily buzzed right now. And that’s still light years away from the point of the stumbling down drunk and puking stage where I need to be. So keep ’em coming, darlin’. Keep ’em coming until I’m no longer able to even ask for more.”
Oh boy. This was going to be a long night.
When I glanced toward Parker and Thane, Parker pointed at his empty glance, letting me know he wanted another, while Thane shook his head, covering the top of his cup to say he was done.
* * *
The next time I returned,Hannah escorted me because I had meals to deliver.
Keene saw her and immediately lit up, shooting from his chair so he could hurry over and talk to her.
And from that point on, I had no help distributing the meals at all. Both Hannah andKeene disappeared almost immediately to…somewhere, and Hudson was moaning quite audibly as he took a bite of his hamburger.
“Oh my God, this shit is good. Faith…” He looked up at me as he pointed to his food. “Have you had this before?”
“I haven’t,” I said. “But I’ve heard it’s excellent.”
“You haven’t? Well, here, have a taste.”
“Oh, I—no. No. I’m fine. I don’t—” I fumbled when he lifted the hamburger to share it with me. I’m not even sure if it was allowed for me to try food from a customer’s plate, but his eyes were so blue and seeking that I just couldn’t tell him no.
And he held it right up there in front of my mouth. All I had to do was take a little dip forward and?—
“Mm.” I pressed my fingers to my lips when some of the meat broke off and tried to escape.
Hudson watched me chew, his eyebrows arched in question. “Huh?” he asked encouragingly.
I nodded to let him know I approved of the flavor before I was even able to swallow and say, “Wow. That really is good.”
“It’s amazing,” he gushed. “I don’t think even Pierce could cook a burger like this. Hey, could I sneak a peek of your kitchen and talk to the chef? See what kinds of seasonings and shit they use.”
“Um.” I flushed as I finished chewing. “It’s, uh, it’s kind of busy back there right now. But I can try to ask Lorna for you what she puts on the hamburgers.”
“Would you?” He pressed an impassioned hand to his heart as he gazed adoringly at me. “That would be great. Damn, Stalker. You’re the best.”
I shook my head, completely fascinated. “Please tell me you’re not driving yourself home tonight.”
He grinned back. “Of course not. I Ubered it here. One of these assholes is going to be stuck babysitting me all the way home.”