No One But You (Silver Springs #2)(119)
“Man, I’d like to get me some of that,” Craig was saying about the blonde.
“Go talk to her.” Hudson hoped to be left alone, so he could study the mystery woman at the table nearby without interruption or distraction.
“Can I tell her I’m with you?” Craig laughed as he spoke, so Hudson knew he was joking, but he made his position clear anyway.
“No. Don’t tell anyone I’m here. That would mean I’d have to leave, and I’m enjoying myself at the moment.”
“You are? You didn’t even want to come.”
“I’m glad I did.”
“You’re not doing anything except having a drink...”
At least he was having a drink around other people, so he could have some fun vicariously. “That’s good enough,” he said. “For now.”
“Man, you could change that so easily. All you’d have to do is crook your little finger and you’d have any woman in here.”
Probably not any woman, but more than his fair share. That was part of the problem. Hudson never knew if the women he met were interested in him—or his celebrity. “Fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
Craig’s expression indicated he was far from convinced. “Are you kidding me, man? I’d give anything to be you. I’d have a different model in my bed every night.”
Hudson didn’t live that way. He hadn’t slept with anyone since his girlfriend broke up with him nearly two years ago. He hadn’t planned on remaining celibate for such an extended period; he just hadn’t found anyone to replace Melody. Not only did he prefer to avoid certain risks—like getting scammed—he didn’t believe it was ethical to set someone up for disappointment. People like him, who struggled to fall in love, should come with a warning label. That was the reason he and Melody had broken up after seven years. She’d come to the conclusion that he’d never be willing to hand over his heart—could never trust enough to let go of it—and she wasn’t interested in anything less. She wanted to marry, settle down and have a family.
He respected her for cutting him off, had realized since that she was right. He’d only stuck with her as long as he did because she was comfortable and safe, not because he felt any great passion.
Still, it was difficult not to call her, especially when he needed the comfort, softness and sexual release a woman could provide. Only his desire to protect her from getting hurt again, since the breakup had been so hard on her, had kept him from relapsing.
“I refuse to be that big a fool,” he told Craig.
Teague’s little brother leaned closer. “What’d you say?”
“Nothing.” Craig wouldn’t understand Hudson’s reluctance to churn through women even if he tried to explain it. Part of it was Craig’s age. At twenty-four, nothing sounded better than sex with as many girls as possible. Hudson had felt the same eight years ago. Only his peculiar background, and that trust issue, had kept him from acting on his baser impulses. Also, he’d achieved some early success through his college play at UCLA, had already had something to protect when he was twenty-four.
“So why don’t you go talk to her?” Hudson pressed, gesturing toward the blonde.
Craig took another sip of his drink. “Think I should?”
The song had ended and she was walking off toward a table on her own. “What do you have to lose? She might shut you down, but then you’ll move on to someone else, right?”
Freshly empowered, Craig put down his glass and slid out of the booth. “Good point. Okay. Here I go.”
As soon as he left, Hudson slid on the sunglasses he kept in his shirt pocket—he was already wearing a ball cap—and called over the waitress. But she was so busy she barely looked at him anyway.
“What can I get for you?”
“That woman over there—what’s she drinking?” He pointed at the lone figure he found so intriguing. He didn’t have to worry about her seeing the gesture, since she had yet to look back at him.
The waitress cast a glance in the direction indicated. “I’d guess a peach margarita.”
As he’d thought. “She needs a fresh one. Will you take care of it?”
“Of course.”
“Thanks.” He handed her a twenty. “Keep the change.”