Eloise #2
Hudson’s soft voice was followed by the sensation of his chest pressing against my back.
His arms appeared in my line of sight as he wrapped his fingers around my hands.
I wanted to protest what he was doing. I wanted to pull back and put space between us, but it was like my entire body was frozen from his touch.
It was both comforting and confusing at the same time.
“You need to flatten the spatula more,” he said with his lips right next to my ear. His voice deep and gravely.
My body went limp as he started to guide me. With his left hand wrapped around mine, he slowly spun the cake. His right hand helped guide the spatula to the perfect angle that I’d been unsuccessful in finding.
“Good girl. Just like that,” he murmured.
My mind was swimming from his praise. It was strange that for some reason, I welcomed the words instead of fighting them. I hated that they made me feel like I just drank a cup of hot cocoa. I wasn’t supposed to want anything from Hudson. I wasn’t supposed to care what he thought about me.
But my body and my mind didn’t seem to care what I wasn’t supposed to do.
Being this close to him was intoxicating.
I had to remind myself to breathe. The last thing I wanted to do was pass out.
Any explanation as to why I suddenly collapsed on the floor would expose me in a way that I wasn’t ready to even admit to myself.
With the frosting successfully spread, I could feel Hudson turn to look down at me. I fought the urge to meet his gaze, fearing just how close that would put me to his lips.
I was spiraling and I needed to get control of this situation. First the food fight and now this. If I didn’t put some space between us, I was going to lose all of my resolve to hate him forever.
Maybe I was a fickle person.
“Thanks,” I said as I moved to straighten, hoping he’d get the clue that I was ready for him to release me. “I think I can do the next layer solo.”
Hudson didn’t hesitate as he pulled back. He was astute, I’d give him that.
“Yeah, sure.”
Thankfully, instead of lingering close like he’d done initially, he took a step back and leaned his hip against the countertop as he watched me.
My body felt on fire under his scrutiny, but I forced myself to remain calm as I scooped another dollop of frosting out of the bowl and onto the cake.
I had goosebumps in his absence but the feeling of him pressed against me as he guided my hands seemed seared into my muscle memory and I was able to spread this layer with little difficulty.
I was out of sorts as I continued to the next tier.
Hudson made no movement to join me. Instead, he just stood there with his arms folded across his chest, watching me.
I wasn’t sure if he was supervising or if he had an ulterior motive.
Not wanting to deep dive into what ulterior motive I thought he might have, I decided to go with: he was just making sure that I did a good job on the cake because his business was on the line.
He cared about the outcome of the cake.
Maybe it was my haywire emotions. Maybe it was the intensity of his gaze, but my skin was warm and prickly—like I’d just completed a workout—when I finished.
I used the back of my wrist to dab at my forehead, hating myself for reacting this way.
I’d seen enough baking contests on TV to know that most didn’t finish frosting a cake covered in sweat. I, apparently, was the exception.
I set down the spatula and forced myself to meet Hudson’s gaze with as much defiance as I could muster. I would take the fact that he flustered me to my grave. I was determined to appear cool and collected in his eyes. The less he knew about me the better.
“Done,” I said as I raised my eyebrows. “What’s next?”
He eyed me with a small, amused smile playing on his lips.
Then he glanced down at the cake as he took a step closer to me.
My heart began to pound and my body tensed as he reached forward.
I braced myself for his touch, but it never came.
Instead, he appeared with one of the cake tiers in his hands.
He didn’t say anything as he turned and made his way toward the fridge. Not wanting to be the idiot just standing there, I grabbed another tier and followed after him. Once the cake was cooling and the frosting utensils and been gathered and put into the sink, he turned to me.
Not sure where we went from here, I clapped my hands before shrugging. “Now what?” I asked. I was a bundle of nerves and talking my way through the tension that brewed between us was the only way I was going to survive my time with him.
“We wait,” he said, slowly dragging his gaze up meet mine.
I frowned. “We wait?”
He nodded as his lips tipped up into a mischievous smile. “We wait.” He paused before taking a deep breath. “So we take a trip.”
I was super confused. “We take a trip?” I wasn’t a fan of the mimic game, but every word out of his mouth didn’t make sense.
He studied me. “Come with me.”
He didn’t wait for my response. He turned and headed through the kitchen to what I could only assume was his office. I decided not to follow him. He came out a few moments later with keys in one hand and my purse in another.
“Come on,” he repeated as he made his way toward the back door.
With my purse as his hostage, I had no choice but to follow him.
He led me through the bakery kitchen, out the back—pausing to shut the door behind him—and into the parking lot where he unlocked his truck.
He climbed into the cab so I hurried around the bed to get into the passenger seat before he left with my purse and stranded me here alone.
I blew out my breath as I slammed the door shut and reached over to grab the seatbelt. The engine roared to life as I slid the tongue into the buckle and then sat back. Hudson didn’t waste any time as he pulled out of the parking lot and shifted his truck into drive.
It took a minute for my confusion to wear off. Back at the bakery, I’d been on autopilot and followed after Hudson without really questioning what we were doing. Now that I was more settled, I was ready to confront him.
The whole morning had been a blur. I’d come to the bakery at his request and initially, I’d been fine with complying.
After all, we had wedding prep to do. But now that I had some time to sit back and assess, I was frustrated with Hudson.
He seemed determined to drag me along, doing things that I’d never signed up for.
“Where are we going?” I kept my voice calm as I glanced out the window and then back over to Hudson.
He flicked his gaze at me before he returned it to the road. “You’re just going to have to trust me.”
I snorted as I folded my arms and stared at the trees as they whipped by us. “Not going to happen,” I replied.