Love, Tussles, and Takedowns (Cactus Creek #3)(45)

…Or maybe not.

“Lia, I’m but a weak, weak man. It’s getting harder for me to not want all of you.”

Forever.

Stepping closer she put her hand on his chest and said softly, “I’m not stopping you.”

His brave beauty.

“I know you’re not, sweetheart. And that’s why I need to go get a room somewhere else tonight.”

“Is that really what you want?”

No.

But he nodded anyway. “If you don’t want to hang out tomorrow—”

“Of course I do,” her brows dipped down in frustration as she sighed and shook her head. “You know you’re being a putz.”

He almost smiled at that. Yeah, he did know. But he was being a putz to protect her.

Another sigh and then a resigned, “Pick me up at eight a.m. Call first to make sure I’m up.”

He nodded and backed away before he was tempted to imagine being there to wake her up in person.

Every damn thing about the woman was a temptation.

He watched to make sure she made it up to her apartment before he headed back over to his jeep on the other side of town. It wasn’t until he was driving over to Ted’s that he realized what was different about Lia today.

A tiny thing, with massive significance.

She wasn’t wearing her necklace with her two rings.

Talk about timing.

The latest effed-up move by the universe almost had him driving right over to her.

Almost.

“Welcome to Ted’s B&D. Are you looking for a room for the night?”

Being the putz that he was, he replied, “Yeah. Whatever you have available.”

Turns out the jolly old guy was Ted himself. Friendly guy, definitely not creepy. And the place was nice enough.

But the computer system was slower than sludge.

It took one phone call and ten minutes for Ted to discover that there were in fact no rooms available for the night.

Just his luck.

“So sorry sir. We have a whole slew of late check-ins scheduled tonight for some reason. But there are some wonderful places in Scottsdale, just south of here.”

Thirty minutes away. Great. “Thanks, man, I’ll go check those out.”

Hudson walked back to his jeep and tried to decide if he really wanted to make the drive to Scottsdale or just roll out his sleeping bag somewhere closer. Knowing that tonight was going to require some liquor to get through pretty much dictated his decision right off the bat—he wasn’t stupid enough to sleep out in the wild drunk. So he jumped in his jeep to head on out to Scottsdale.

But the damn thing wouldn’t start.

Freakin’ A. This day just kept getting better.

He popped the hood to see what the damage was, only to conclude a good fifteen minutes later that there wasn’t anything wrong with his engine. Not one thing.

It just wouldn’t start.

“Hey Hudson. Car trouble?” came a way too cheerful voice Hudson just was not in the mood to see right now.

“What the hell are you doing here, Ben?”

“I’m actually just passing through. I was hoping to run into your friend Lia again. Wow, she’s a beauty isn’t she? I was going to see if she wanted to grab a coffee or a bite to—”

“No,” growled Hudson.

Ben’s smile went from amused to asshat in two seconds flat. “No? Why? Is she taken?”

“She is now.”

Hudson slammed his door and started stalking back in the direction of Lia’s apartment.



*



LIA WAS ON the couch watching reruns when her front door swung wide open with a bang.

The jaw-grit Hudson that stepped through the doorway shortly after was not the man who’d walked away from her an hour ago.

The fact that it was an entire hour ago did make her feel a tiny bit guilty.

“Tell me,” he said in a near feral voice that did crazy things to her insides, “did you leave your door unlocked because you knew I’d be storming in here? Or because you just plain forgot that criminals like to have an easy entrance when it comes to beautiful women in isolated apartments?”

She swallowed but said nothing. This was definitely one of those no-right-answer situations.

“Both should earn you a swat on that perfect behind of yours in my book.”

See.

While the logical part of her brain knew Hudson would never actually spank her, the more wildly imaginative part couldn’t help but picture the explosive sparring battle that would result if he actually tried.

She’d had no idea how imaginative her brain could get.

As if he could read her thoughts, he pinned her in place with a stare so hot and turbulent and possessive, Lia didn’t know whether to make a run for it or tackle him where he stood. The sound of her dead-bolt clicking into place, crazily enough, had her voting for the latter.

Arms crossed with one shoulder now leaning against the door and head cocked to the side as if he was still listening in on her thoughts, he waited until she broke eye contact first—dammit—before he commented, “Really? My cousin? You know you almost had me up until that point.”

Dang it. She’d wondered if Ben would be a give-away. But, seeing as how Hudson was now in her apartment, the gamble seemed to have paid off.