Love, Tussles, and Takedowns (Cactus Creek #3)(50)

For a little while there, he’d thought the universe was crazy for letting him find her. Now he knew this was the punishment he had always known would be coming. She was the one woman he could see himself spending the rest of his life with.

And he couldn’t keep her.



*



IT WAS NOW Day Four.

Lia looked at the calendar date, amazed it hadn’t burst into flames by the strength of her stare alone the past two days. After her words had failed to console him on the movie set that day, after a long night of near silence where her mere presence seemed to pain him, Hudson eventually told her he needed a few days—a few—to himself. So like an idiot, she’d let him go off to the woods to be with his thoughts. Those one-sided, punishing thoughts of his that he was torturing himself with for the impossible decision he’d needed to make.

One child bomber’s life in exchange for a village full of unsuspecting bystanders.

A horrific choice no one should ever have to make.

Followed by an unending suffering she couldn’t even fathom.

She had no clue how to help him, but she knew she’d devote her entire life to trying if she could. If he’d just let her.

But now it was day flippin’ four with no sign of him.

She picked up her phone and dialed the one person who she hoped could help where no one had been able to yet.

“Dr. Spencer’s office. How can I help you?”

“Hi Fran, its Lia. Is she in?”

“Lia-dear! It’s so good to hear from you! Your timing is excellent, actually—your mom is free for the next hour. Hold on for a second.”

A faint smile snuck across Lia’s lips when she heard the hold music playing.

All of Me by John Legend & Lindsey Stirling She thought back to how Hudson had spent days on end sharing all those private songs with her, and how he’d gotten her to do the same. She thought of the Wing Chun dummy he’d put in the park for her, and all the countless other ways he’d made her feel special and safe.

And so undeniably his.

Now it was her turn to make him feel the same.

“Lia, honey, is everything okay?”

“Better now,” she replied, switching to Bluetooth as she ran to grab a jacket and her helmet. “I know exactly what I’m going to do.”

Amusement danced over her mother’s voice. “That’s a new record. Pretty soon I’ll be able to start charging therapy fees without even saying a word.”

Lia grinned and thanked her mom for her miracle-working hold music.

Of course, Grace, being a Spencer—and a female Spencer at that—did have additional non-therapy-based advice for Lia.

Hudson didn’t stand a chance.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN


HUDSON LOOKED UP, not surprised in the least to see Lia hiking up the mountain toward him.

“Tell Gabe I’m impressed. Even sat-phones are hard to lo-jack out here.” He took a swig of water from his canteen and waited for her to catch up before he led them back to his campsite, where he’d spent the last four days trying to find the strength to let Lia go.

He simply wasn’t that strong.

After she dropped her backpack and turned around to face him, he waited for the first strike. Over the last few months, he’d found that regardless of whether it was on the mat or pretty much any other flat surface in her life, Lia never held back if she thought she was protecting someone.

In this case, him.

She edged them toward the arid red dirt clearing just beyond his tent. They circled each other for a bit as he tried to get her to see reason. “Lia, this isn’t a good idea.”

Per usual, she struck without warning. She advanced and shot out a flurry of open palm strikes. After he blocked each one without breaking a sweat, she huffed, “Who’re you kidding? You need a down and dirty fight now more than anything.”

“I’m not fighting you.”

“Why not? You spar with me all the time.”

“This wouldn’t be sparring. Not the way I’m feeling.”

“Exactly. It would be a fight. So fight me.” She swept low and did a particularly vicious kick combo that had him growling.

“Look at you, Hudson. You want it so bad.”

“Maybe I want you badly,” he rumbled, blocking her next advance. “Have you considered that? That it’s taking every ounce of restraint I have right now not to take you right here on the ground?”

A sizzling spark of molten hot arousal burned in her expression. “How about we see who wins this fight to see who gets to do the taking.”

She struck again.

And this time he fought back.

It really was all about the stakes.

She launched into a high kick, but he caught her leg and pulled her flush against him. “Lia, enough. I’m too on-edge. You don’t want to push me.”

Putting all her weight onto her captive leg, the insane woman dropped her upper body straight down and swung her other foot up to clock him in the jaw.

Her kicks were altogether too well-acquainted with his head.

…A fact that he was soon appreciative of when she toppled them both down to the ground and figure-four locked his head.

Between her legs.





NOW HOW THE hell was she going to get herself out of this position?