Chapter 4 #2
Audrey polished off the s’more with a happy little moan that had parts of him thinking happy thoughts as well. His stick dipped and his marshmallow caught fire.
“Shit.” Hudson yanked it back and blew out the flame.
Eyes twinkling, Audrey stood up and stepped forward, extending her hands to warm them. “Need a refresher?”
“Some people like them charred.” He wasn’t one of them, but she didn’t need to know that. He popped the blackened lump of sugar into his mouth and chewed. “Good day?”
Her smile spread wide. The sight of it did funny things to his chest.
“Great day. I made pottery.”
“Enjoyed getting your hands dirty, huh?”
“So much.” She laughed. Someone called her name and she turned.
Everything seemed to snap into slow motion. Hudson could see her pivot, see her knee buckling, her balance failing, tipping her toward the heart of the fire.
He didn’t hesitate. He exploded up, leaping through the flames. With relief, he felt the impact of her body against his, their combined momentum carrying her away from certain disaster. He twisted, wrapping himself around her so that it was him who hit the ground first, cushioning her landing.
For an instant, he froze, his body remembering the fall as the roof gave way. Phantom flames licked him from all sides, and he could see Steve falling beside him, slamming into a railing, and plummeting down the stairwell.
Not real. Not now. Audrey.
Hudson shoved himself up, running his hands over her, checking for flames, for burns. Frantic. A dim, distant part of himself recognized he was kind of losing his shit. Which was the reason he hadn’t been out on any fire calls in three months. He couldn’t be trusted to hold it together.
Soft, cool hands pressed against his cheeks. “Hudson, I’m okay.”
His brain short circuited, abruptly cutting off the panic.
Audrey was sprawled across his lap. As he focused on her face, she gave him a lopsided smile. “Well, I guess you can take the fireman out of the turnout pants.”
God, yes.
It was clearly meant to be a joke, but his dick didn’t get the message. It leapt to attention, ready and willing to burn through some of the adrenaline still pumping through his system.
He saw the moment she caught the sexual undertone. Those bright blue eyes went dark, and the pulse at the base of her throat began to throb.
And they were surrounded by at least a dozen other people.
“Dude, that was amazing.”
“Are you insane?”
“No, he’s a firefighter.”
“Are you burned?” Audrey asked.
Would he even register if he were? “No.” If he found anything later, he knew well enough how to deal with it.
They disentangled themselves. Hudson rolled to his feet and reached down to pull Audrey to hers. She wobbled a little but stood on her own, no apparent lingering issues in her legs.
“Why don’t you walk me back?”
Which was how Hudson found himself on the trail, alone with Audrey a few minutes later. He was mortified to realize he was shaking. The adrenaline dump was a killer.
Once they were out of earshot, she touched his arm. “Are you okay?”
No, no he was definitely not okay. He hadn’t been okay for three months. But he wasn’t gonna talk about that.
“You’re really okay?” he asked instead.
“I really am, thanks to you. Again.” Her face twisted with chagrin. “I swear, I’m not normally that much of a klutz.”
She’d nearly fallen into a campfire from nothing more than turning wrong. His heart still hadn’t quite settled back to normal. He could too easily imagine the damage if he hadn’t caught her in time. The woman needed a keeper.
They arrived back at her cabin, and he found himself in the exact same position he’d been in last night. Because he wanted to touch her, Hudson shoved his hands in his pockets.
Audrey turned toward him with a sweet smile. “Thanks for walking me back.”
“Sure.” Hudson wanted to maybe thank her for getting him the hell away from all those people before he made more of a fool of himself. But that would require admitting it had happened, and he wasn’t doing that either.
She lingered, tucking a chunk of hair behind her ear. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.
She’s waiting for me to kiss her. The realization slammed into him.
He wanted to. And it wasn’t just because of the lingering adrenaline buzz.
He’d been thinking about it since last night, wondering if her hair was as silky soft as it looked and if she’d be hesitant or if she’d throw herself into a kiss with the same kind of enthusiasm she’d shown for everything else at camp.
Which was stupid. He didn’t know this woman.
Not really. She’d come up here to have some fun and accomplish some stuff on her bucket list. The last thing she needed was to get dragged down by all his shit.
Hudson took a step back. “Glad you’re okay.” He ignored the way her face fell a little and told himself he was doing them both a favor. “See you around, Audrey.”
Before he could change his mind, he turned away and disappeared into the darkness, her soft “Good night” lingering in his ears.