My Kind of Wonderful(24)

“Who the hell are you?” Hud stared at the phone. “What’s going on?”

“Oh,” Carrie said, and then the view of the man went upside down. They caught a quick flash of the ceiling again and then saw Carrie’s smiling face. “There you are, baby. How are you?”

Hud was clearly not feeling friendly. “Why is there a man with no pants in your room?” he asked in a quiet but scary, badass voice.

Carrie laughed. “That’s Terrance. I’m teaching him how to play cards.”

Hud’s jaw worked a moment. “Tell me you’re not teaching him how to play strip poker.”

“Well, of course not! Good Lord, Hud. I wouldn’t do that.”

Hud relaxed marginally.

“I mean, it’s not even dark yet,” Carrie said. “You can’t play strip poker before dark.”

Hud appeared to grind his back teeth together for a moment. “Then explain why he’s not wearing pants.”

“Well, baby, you’re still a young one, but when a man gets older, he…” She tilted her head. “How should I put this?”

Terrance stuck his face next to Carrie’s. “I don’t like to crowd my bits,” he said.

Carrie smiled at him. “Yes,” she said. “That’s a good way to put it.”

Hud closed his eyes briefly. “I’m at work, Mom. I’ll check in with you later.”

“Okay, baby.”

Hud looked Terrance in the eye. “Air out your bits in your own room, soldier, you hear me?”

Terrance sighed. “I hear you.”

Hud disconnected and stared at the phone for a long beat. “Jesus,” he finally muttered, looking tired.

“Your mom’s quite a character,” Bailey said.

“She’s sure something,” he agreed.

Bailey looked him over, wishing she could take a load off for him. “Hud?”

“Yeah?”

“When do you get to have any fun?”

He laughed humorlessly. “Let’s put it this way, I don’t have a list. I don’t have time for a list.”

“Fine, but what would be on it if you did?”

He shrugged.

She stared at him. “What does that mean?”

“It means I don’t know.”

“How could you not know?” she asked, stunned. “You don’t have any hopes and dreams?”

“I already have my dream job,” he said, which she couldn’t help noticing didn’t really answer her question.

“You have to have a list,” she said.

A whisper of a smile curved his lips. “Who says?”

“Me.” She pulled her little notepad from her saddlebag and thrust it at him. “Here, you can write it down as it occurs to you. It’s small enough to fit into one of your cargo pockets.”

He just kept looking at her, like maybe she was a species he’d never come across before.

She shook the notepad a little, and with a wry twist of his mouth he took the thing and stuck it into one of his myriad of pockets.

When his phone rang again, he looked at the screen and took the call with a terse “Kincaid.”

She could hear a male voice, low and pissed off, barking something about a delivery of… obnoxious undies?

Hud listened for a few beats and then disconnected, all without a word.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Aidan.”

She stared at him. “And?”

“Nosy much?” he asked.

“It was the mention of obnoxious undies,” she admitted. “And yes, I’m nosy as hell.”

His mouth twitched. “My brothers and I have an ongoing… thing. One of us sends another one of us a package. And whatever’s in it has to be worn on the next day. Proof is required or there will be a dare. And trust me, no one wants to face a Kincaid dare.”

“Package,” she repeated. “As in the aforementioned obnoxious undies?”

“The more obnoxious the better.” He smiled. “Aidan just got his delivery. Tomorrow he’ll be wearing butterfly lace bikini panties with cutouts in some pretty strategic areas, and he’s pissed because it’s some kind of anniversary between him and Lily and he wants a pass.”

“Which of course you’re going to give him,” she said. “Right?”

“Oh, so wrong.” Hud grinned and it nearly melted the bones right out of her knees. He stepped closer. “Guess what?”

“What?” she asked, annoyingly breathless.

“It’s my turn for a question now.”

Oh boy. “Aren’t you afraid that might express personal interest?”

His smile was a little naughty. “I’ve had my tongue down your throat. I’m pretty sure I’ve already expressed personal interest.”

Good point. “So what do you want to know about me?”

“I want to know about your list.” When their gazes met, her heart skipped a beat. Damn. She could stare at him staring at her all day long. He never looked at her all sad or worried, and he certainly never looked at her like he felt bad for her and all she’d been through.

It was so incredibly, amazingly attractive.