My Kind of Wonderful(29)

Quinn shook her head and called him on his bullshit. “You’re such a liar, Hud. No one’s that busy.”

And that was an argument they’d had a million times and the reason he couldn’t go there again with her. “I just need to get some stuff to go,” he said, gesturing to the food.

“Want me to take a quick break and eat with you? It’s been a while.” She smiled. “I’ll even resist throwing your phone at your head when it goes off the whole time.”

“Quinn, I’m on the run. I’m sorry.”

“Sorrier than you know,” she murmured, and shrugged. “You’re the one missing out, Hud.”

This he knew firsthand. He selected what he wanted, put it all in a bag, and swiped his card. He didn’t really know why he was doing this. It would let Bailey in on a little secret, tell her something that he didn’t particularly want her to know.

That he’d been thinking of her. That he’d hoped she’d show up and not give up—although he knew she’d at least indeed shown up, as he’d checked the employee housing log.

Insanity, really, all of it. He’d kissed her last week half hoping that it would burn out the embers. Instead it’d done the opposite.

Yes, he’d wanted her gone. But now he just wanted her.

“So who is she?” Quinn asked.

No one he wanted to discuss.

Quinn shook her head, annoyed now. “What is it with you Kincaids? You’re all wild and crazy and fun, and then one day a woman captures your heart and it’s game over in a damn blink.”

Was that true? It sure had been for Gray and Aidan.

But not him. It didn’t happen that fast, couldn’t happen that fast. He wasn’t going to allow it to happen at all. He didn’t have the time in his life for this.

You could make time, a little voice said. A voice he steadfastly ignored.


Bailey awoke with a start, completely discombobulated. She sat straight up in a bed that wasn’t hers, a gasp on her lips.

She’d been dreaming again, the recurring nightmare where she was back in the hospital hearing the results of her tests, only they weren’t good.


“The treatment didn’t work,” her doctor said solemnly, so unlike last time when the woman had practically danced a jig in her excitement to impart the good news to Bailey. “It’s time to make sure your affairs are in order…”



A knock on the door made her jump. She got the feeling it was the second or third time, which solved the mystery of what had woken her up.

She was in her efficiency apartment on the resort property. A place she’d been given for the weekends over the next two months as she worked on the mural.

Which of course was no longer going to happen since she’d come up here to tear down the scaffolding, apologize to Carrie, and paint the wall white again, hiding her grid.

Or… get over herself and her doubts and paint the mural.

Another knock on the door—whoever was out there had clearly lost patience with waiting.

She sighed and slid out of the bed. She went up on tiptoe and peered through the peephole. Damn. She sank back onto her bare feet and stared at the wood, heart pounding.

“I can hear you breathing,” Hudson said.

An entire week and still just the sound of his voice made her nipples happy. “You cannot.” Dammit. She bit her tongue to keep herself silent.

“Come on, Bailey. Open up and let me have it. You know you want to.”

Yeah, far too much.

“I have coffee, donuts, and bacon,” he cajoled. “I wasn’t sure what your poison was so I tried to cover all the basic food groups: caffeine, sugar, and trans fats. If none of those work, I’ll…”

“What?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you about Jacob.”

She stilled and then whipped open the door. “You will?”

He strode in and kicked the door shut behind him, slouching onto the couch, making himself comfortable. “No.”

“So you lied?” she asked, shocked.

He looked amused at her disbelief. “I needed to see you.” He handed over the coffee.

Eyes still narrowed, she greedily took the coffee and sipped because the caffeine was calling her name.

Huh. Sugar and a shot of vanilla cream, just the way she liked it.

She supposed that was all the apology she was going to get. She stared at him, telling herself she was not moved in the slightest by the sight of him. Even if the sight of him was incredibly sexy, all clad in a skintight black Under Armour shirt and black cargo ski pants loaded with gear coming out of every pocket.

And then there was his smile as he waggled the bag, wafting the scent of bacon and donuts, damn him, like he knew very well she couldn’t possibly resist. She blew out a breath and sat next to him.

He opened the bag. “Donuts or bacon?”

She gave him a look like he was an amateur, making him laugh.

“Both it is,” he said. He handed the whole bag over and she wasn’t mad enough at him not to dive in.

“Crispy,” she said on a moan around a bite of bacon. Just the way she loved it. And there were two donuts. She grabbed the old-fashioned chocolate glaze and offered him the other. “It must be Christmas.” The first bite of the donut yanked another moan right out of her. She had to close her eyes to savor it.