Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“Have to say I’m slightly surprised,” Isaac continued. “He’s not really your type. So handsy in public when you prefer discretion. Plus you like your men lean, built for endurance instead of heavy lifting, if you will. I’ll be here when you get bored.”
Allie’s face flushed and Kenna’s eyebrows rose.
Had he been here, he would have learned the definition of fuck around and find out.
“Isaac, I wish you the best of luck with Eva. We both know she’ll slaughter that variation; you’ll have to take everything down a notch in difficulty for her to have a prayer of making it halfway through.” Allie’s hand hovered over the screen. “Oh, and as for Hudson, he’s built like a Greek god and fucks like one, too, so I’m all taken care of.” She tapped the phone and the call ended.
I gripped the edge of the counter to keep from reaching for her, even damn well knowing she’d said it just to piss off Isaac.
Kenna’s gaze swung between Allie and me. “And on that note, I’ll be in the studio.” She hopped off the counter and threw me a wave. “I’ll be rooting for you.”
I nodded in thanks, and Allie made her way back to my end of the island, then put the lemonade back in the refrigerator. “I shouldn’t have said that to him.”
“Didn’t bother me.” A corner of my mouth lifted, but I wiped the smirk off my face before she turned to face me. “Bothers me that you aren’t returning my calls either.”
She flinched. “Did you need to talk about Juniper?”
“No.” I folded my arms. “And you know it.”
“Then there’s really no reason to call.” She shrugged. “What happened out there was just two consensual adults working off some pent-up tension. That’s it.”
“And I thought we weren’t going to lie to each other.” Her words bounced right off me because I knew exactly what she was doing. I just wasn’t going to let her.
“It meant nothing.” Her apathetic mask was so well constructed I’d almost believe her if it wasn’t for the turmoil in her eyes.
“Lie.” I took two steps, putting us toe to toe. Her pupils dilated and her breath quickened. “Back row, center seat for eleven years isn’t nothing.”
She tilted her chin. “It has to be. You and me . . . we don’t fit in each other’s worlds, Hudson. Not outside this tiny little town neither you nor I actually belong in. Do you see what happened when I took a few days off? I lost the role of my life. I should have been here working. That’s what happens when I try to balance my career with anything else, anyone else who isn’t in the industry. We”—she gestured between us—“can’t be a thing, and I don’t have time to argue about it with you.”
My stomach clenched. And back to square one. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out to check the screen. It was the station. “Hold that very wrong thought,” I said to Allie, then answered the call. “Ellis.”
“Hey, Chief—”
“Not yet.” I cut off that shit quick. I wasn’t going to pin for at least a few months. “What’s up?”
“I’m sorry to call you, Petty Officer First Class Ellis, I know you just clocked out, but we’ve got two birds out already and a distress call coming in.”
Fuck. This day just kept getting better.
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” I hung up and shoved the phone back into the pocket of my uniform. “Looks like I don’t have time to argue with you about it either. Can you take Juniper home when you’re done for the day?”
“Why?” Her brow knit with concern, which only served to frustrate the shit out of me after she’d spewed all that shit about us meaning nothing.
“Because a distress call just came in and I have to go. Can you take her home, or not?”
She blinked, then leaned sideways to glance past me at the window. “You can’t go out in this. We’re in the middle of a storm.”
“Yes, love, and this is what happens during every storm.” And time was ticking.
Her eyes widened. “You’re going . . .”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Can you get Juniper home? If not, I’ll call Gavin on my way in and ask him to swing by. Allie, I have to go, now.”
“I’ll take her home,” she said softly, chunks of her armor falling away. “Hudson—”
“Thank you. Please tell her I had to run, but don’t be specific. She worries.” I ignored the urge to kiss her and walked away. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Naturally it’s up to you if you want to answer.”
A little before midnight, I pulled my truck into my garage, then cursed my past self for renting a place where I had to walk through the rain to get in my front door.