“I walked.” Willow Tree Inn was about a ten-minute walk from Turning Pages, and I’d decided the best way to check out the town was to walk, so I had.
“Perfect! Shall we?” Greer asked, motioning toward the alley between her building and the next.
“We shall.”
Greer
I could feel Hudson’s eyes on me as we walked down the narrow alley that led to the back of the bookstore where I parked my white Toyota 4Runner. I hadn’t been able to get the words he had whispered to me out of my mind. Sure, he claimed he’d been kidding, even apologized for the silly flirting, but cheese on crackers, the images I’d been daydreaming about since then were relentless. When was the last time I’d even gone out on a date?
Was that it? Was I that lonely? In that much need of a man?
No. That wasn’t it at all. I didn’t have to have a man in my life. I was perfectly fine being on my own, and I wasn’t the type of woman who needed a male to make me feel whole. Even if he did look like sex on a stick, and was so handsome it nearly rendered me stupid at times.
Not to mention how he bought Jenny a gift card. I mean, seriously, no man should be allowed to make a woman swoon like that. Even Candace was smitten with him now.
“How long does it take to get to the cabin from here?” Hudson asked as I unlocked the doors to my SUV with a beeping sound.
“About twenty minutes. Is that too far? You won’t be able to walk into town, if that’s something you enjoy doing.”
“No, that’s not an issue at all,” he said with a shake of his head. “As long as I’m not too far out of town. I walk everywhere in New York, and I don’t mind it, but the crowds are starting to get to me. Lately I’ve felt like I can’t get enough space.”
“I’ve always imagined New York to be a town that doesn’t sleep.”
He laughed. “No, it doesn’t. Back when I was younger, it was a hell of a good time. Now, a lot of my friends are settling down or moving out of the city, and the idea of going out doesn’t appeal to me. I needed this break more than I realized.”
“Well, you won’t find crowds at the cabin. It’s up in the hills. The views are beautiful and it overlooks Russell Lake. The trails around the lake are amazing if you like to hike.”
Hudson smiled and slipped into the passenger seat. “Sounds like heaven, but I may have to buy some warmer clothes. I didn’t bring much stuff with me.”
“It is heaven, and yeah, you’ll need some warmer clothes,” I agreed. “If I didn’t live above the bookstore, I would probably live in the cabin. It’s always been one of my favorite places to go. I feel like I can think better there.”
He huffed. “A place I am in desperate need of then. I haven’t felt like I could think clearly for the last few years now.”
I laughed as I started my car. “Do you want me to drive around Boggy Creek, show you some points of interest, and then go up to the cabin, or head up there now? It gets darks around six thirty.”
Hudson flashed me that panty-melting smile of his. “How about we head out to the cabin? That way I can look over that list you’ve got from your father and see if I’m taking on more work than I’m ready for.”
With a chuckle, I backed up and headed out of the parking lot and down the alley that led to Main Street. “I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised. My dad only listed three things, all easy fixes.”
“That so, huh? Are you a fixer-upper type of gal?” he teased.
“Yep, I sure am. I feel like you can trust me on this one. Growing up with an older brother, I learned pretty quickly that I needed to be tough in order to hang with him. And, as silly as it sounds, I thought if I acted like my brother, my father would love me as much as he loved Kyle. It’s silly now that I look back on it all. My father adores and loves both of us equally, but as a little girl, I always thought he loved Kyle more.”
“I can see that thinking though. As children, I think we all do things to get our parents’ attention. You just learned different things.”
I laughed. “Different things other than playing with dolls, you mean?”
He looked at me and winked. My stomach did a little flip, and I attempted to ignore it.
“Plus,” I said, “it will give you something to do when you take breaks from writing.”