Love, Tussles, and Takedowns (Cactus Creek #3)(43)

He grinned when she couldn’t catch her breath for a good minute.

“I’ve missed your laugh, baby.”

“I can guarantee you more laughs if you sing just one of the songs on your playlist,” she replied, giggles seeping in between her words.

He was man enough. “I will if you will,” he volleyed back. “Song for a song?”

“You’re on.”





LIA WAS ALL grins when she turned her watch speakers on. “Mine still needs to boot up so you go first.”

Seconds later, Hudson was crooning out the upbeat chorus of Smile by Uncle Kracker.

And she had the strange urge to toss him her panties.

Good lord, she’d missed him.

Several more lines of perfect-pitch goodness and he was back on the phone line. “Your turn.”

She shuffled through her playlist and chuckled when she found the perfect song. “This is exactly what I’m thinking about right this instant.” Fast-forwarding past the percussion and horns to the sultry serenading of Sade, Lia sang along to Smooth Operator.

Hudson’s belly laugh echoed over the phone. “This is going to be fun.”

Over the next week, Hudson texted her song titles from his playlist a couple times a day. And a few nights ago, he’d slipped in a pre-bedtime share in as well:

>>> MY KIND OF GIRL – BRIAN MCKNIGHT

Which naturally resulted in her going to sleep with a smile.

The next night, after a particularly long bout of sleepy flirting—instigated by him, elevated to fun times by her—she decided to text him a song that had popped onto her playlist for a change:

>>> WHAT’S YOUR FANTASY – LUDACRIS

His text back was short and very Hudson.

>>> EVIL WOMAN. WELL-PLAYED. TAPPING OUT.

And she went to sleep that night with a smile as well.

The fact that he was doing this all to both cheer her up and open himself up wasn’t lost on her. Every song revealed in his texts was another private peek into his innermost thoughts, and the most special way she could imagine for him to share his day with her.

Plus, it was unbelievably romantic to boot.

The next day, Lia was just locking up her shop when she felt a pair of strong hands slide around her waist.

In reflex, she spun around and struck.

Grin held at bay.

He caught her elbow and yanked her closer. “God, I’ve missed you, baby.”

Lia promptly melted on the spot, going boneless and mindless, suspended in a dizzying state of arousal the instant Hudson claimed her lips with a soft, hungry growl.

A long while later, when he’d sufficiently kissed all the oxygen out of her lungs, he let her go—but not far—so she could lean back against the door to catch her breath, and take him in fully.

How had she gone so long without him?

Eyes half-lidded with lust and a lazy smile that hinted at the decadent thoughts he was having her star in, Hudson murmured, “I drove a three-hour distance in two for that kiss.”

Aaand she was back to dissolving into a puddle of buzzing emotions.

“I didn’t even know you were coming over today,” her brain heroically managed to push past her lips. “I could’ve finished up earlier.”

“Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise.” His boyish grin lit with a different variety of excitement then. “Come take a walk with me.”

He slid her hand into his and made small talk—small talk—as they made their way through town.

Well, this was different.

Why yes, the weather was a little cooler here in Cactus Creek than it was down in Yuma.

“Oh, and I meant to tell you I talked to my CO again just to see if there were more developments on Leo. Unfortunately, nothing new.” His frown was genuine, and yet another reminder of why she was falling flat as a pancake for him. “But, Clint and I are pretty sure we got Drew a summer internship with the DOD.” He flashed an amused grin. “We think they’re more afraid not to give him an internship.”

Then they were back to the fascinating talk about the weather.

Now beyond curious, she went into full alert of her surroundings as he led her through town. Was it her imagination or were the town folks staring at her?

More nosily than usual, that is.

He directed her to the backside of the town center at the far edge of Cactus Creek. His jeep was parked near the pebbled stream that fed from the mountains and she smiled at the recent developments there she’d missed. “Hey, someone finally landscaped the area here.”

Lia had always loved the mini-park-like setting of the little clearing; but in recent years, it had sadly become overgrown and forgotten, rarely visited.

It wasn’t until she was halfway across the street when she saw it.

The wooden kung-fu apparatus now standing in the corner of the grassy area nearest the water. It was straight out of her fondest childhood memories.

She turned and gaped at Hudson. “You had a Wing Chun dummy made here?” For me?

Even though this was undoubtedly the most amazing gift she had ever gotten, Hudson was looking at her as if he was the one who was receiving a gift. “I asked our prop crew in L.A. where I could get the most authentic one and then got permission to do a little park rejuvenation here with this as a focal piece. Go take a closer look. There’s another little surprise.”