Love, Tussles, and Takedowns (Cactus Creek #3)(5)

Hudson felt his muscles slowly unlock one by one like dominoes until he was finally able to pull out his cell phone to dial up his buddy Luke’s number.

Hey Luke, you think you could ask your wife if her bouncer is single?

Definitely high up there on the list of top ten things he never thought he’d say.





CHAPTER TWO


LIA DOWNED HER third tequila shooter of the night with a lick of tabasco and a gulp of the newest brew on tap at Ocotillos, the only place in town where actual, albeit rare, instances of her having a social life had been known to take place.

A far cry from the goings on here tonight.

As of an hour ago, after who knows how many magically refilling glasses of beer, the you-poor-thing looks being cast her way by the workers and regulars had magnified tenfold.

And she couldn’t even resent them for it.

Truth was, she loved the town folk of Cactus Creek. Every last quirky, sweet, and nosy one of ‘em. Even when they were fussing over her with beers of affection. Along with a bunch of annual casseroles they delivered to her door on this day each year.

At first, she’d thought they acted this way simply because she was the event bouncer who spent a few nights a month doing a damn good job keeping the peace here, the beloved local brewpub owned by her friend and town beer-brewing sweetheart, Dani Dobson-Bradford. Just some small town nosiness over the female bouncer with an annual Achilles heel. And then one day, Dani opened Lia’s eyes to the real reason she hadn’t seen.

They all cared about her.

Remarkable. Despite having essentially given up after years of ineffectively searching for a place in life to fit in and call her own, she’d somehow managed to find that place in Cactus Creek.

It was nice.

Unfortunately, it also translated to her spending the last few hours at a secluded table up on the roof deck of Ocotillos amidst a sea of sad eyes watching her quietly drink the night away.

Alone. As always.

No one came up to chat with her, and the handful of out-of-town guys who looked like they were about to hit on her were stopped in their tracks, courtesy of her shadow entourage, the treasured few close friends in her life who made it a dogged tradition to look out for her on this day each year.

She frowned. For some reason, tonight felt different from other years—not sadder, just lonelier. She didn’t want to be hit on per se, but it would’ve been nice to talk to someone for a change.

Just then, a low voice rumbled in her ear. “You up for a dance, sugar?”

Lia shivered, every cell in her body reacting with acute awareness to that voice as she turned to the rough-cut man standing beside her. Boldly curious, she let herself take him all in, from the thoroughly male grin on his lips, to the gentle, refreshingly not sympathetic, and rapidly-warming look in his eyes.

On its own accord, a whispered breath slipped past her lips... “Hudson Reyes.”

Rugged laugh lines crinkled around his eyes. “You did some recon on me; I’m flattered. So is that a ‘yes’ to the dance?”

She took his offered hand and backed them over to a quiet corner away from the many prying eyes around them before slipping into his arms and laying her head against his broad chest. A soft rock ballad playing over the speaker system had her swaying side to side in rhythm with his steady heartbeat. For a while, she just allowed herself to enjoy the moment before finally answering belatedly, “It wasn’t recon.” Smiling against his sternum, she clarified, “It’s just good manners to find out the name of the person who spent nearly an hour straight staring at me, don’t you think?”

“Is that the proper protocol?” He chuckled gamely and drew her in just a bit more so his words feathered softly against her temple. “Darn. Now I feel like a slacker for not ordering your detailed background check yet, seeing as how you spent an hour today staring right back at me as well.”

Ah. So she hadn’t been very covert. “You should feel like a slacker. You know how hard I had to work to find out that a one Mr. Hudson Reyes from California is not just an organ donor, but one of those wretched guys who takes an unfairly good driver’s license mug shot?”

His lips curved up in amusement, a soft caress against her hair. “Crafty. Maybe if I manage to make it out of here alive tonight, you can tell me how you were able to get that intel.”

“Why? Do you have a reason to fear for your life?” She smiled. This was fun.

“I think it’s a valid fear seeing as how the grim reaper himself has me in his sights tonight.”

“That is a concern. So what exactly does the grim reaper look like?”

“Mid-thirties, my height, moves in a way that’s department-issued with a gun and badge.”

“Ohhh, you mean the guy making his way through the crowd, ready to pummel in your head at...fifteen yards and closing?”

“That would be the one.”

She turned laughing eyes up to his and felt a jolt that had her defenses dropping and pulse rate rising. “Well then maybe you should give me a kiss goodbye so I have something to remember you by,” she said brazenly, shocking the hell out of her, while causing his thickly muscled arms to harden to steel.

Before either of them could fully jump into the changing tide of their banter, however, both of their free hands shot out to block the bear-like paws that had attempted to shove Hudson away from Lia.