Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 154(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 154(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
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.”