I gasped. “You lied! And on a Sunday!”
With a one-shoulder shrug, she replied, “I misled you, and, hello, you shouldn’t lie any day of the week, not just on Sunday. Are you not learning anything from church, Greer?”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. “That’s the same damn thing, Candace.”
“Whatever. We’re moving on from that. Tell me all about it!” She turned and looked at the outfit laid out on the bed. “Oh, no. Please tell me that’s not what you’re wearing?”
I looked at my jeans and sweater. “What’s wrong with it?”
Candace kicked off her heels and rushed into my closet. “First off, it’s your birthday dinner with your folks. Secondly, I do have it on good authority that Hot Word Man is joining you.”
I almost laughed at Hudson’s description.
She peeked her head out of the closet. “I ran into Kyle at the hardware store before I called you. He told me Hudson would be joining you guys for dinner.”
“Yes, he is,” I confirmed.
Ducking back into the closet, she called out, “So it’s another date.”
I started to argue it wasn’t a date, but then pressed my lips together. It was most certainly another date. And it was at my parents’ house.
“That means you need to at least put some effort into what you’re wearing,” she said.
“Hey, I did! I normally wear yoga pants and a T-shirt.”
Candace walked out of the closet holding up a knitted, long-sleeve dress. “This is what we need. It’s perfect!”
“I am not wearing that dress. It shows way too much cleavage for my folks.”
She waved me off. “Nonsense. Put it on, let me see it.”
I opened my robe and took the dress. I was already wearing a black lace bra and matching panties. “I’m telling you, Candace, this is my going-out-to-the-bar dress. It hugs me like a glove.”
Once the dress was on, Candace gave me a once-over and whistled. “Yeah, this dress is way too hot for Mom and Dad’s. Let me find something else.” She turned to walk into the closet, but then stopped. “Do you mind if I borrow it? I have a date this week, and my ass would look so good in that dress.”
I laughed. “It’s yours.”
She disappeared into the closet again. With a muffled voice that sounded like she had buried her head in my clothes, she shouted, “Tell me what happened!”
I pulled the dress off, hung it back on the hanger, replaced my robe, and then sat on the bed. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face at the thought of last night.
“Well, we went on an amazing hike and had a picnic. Then, at the top of Kinsman Ridge, Hudson kissed me.”
Candace’s head poked out. “He kissed you at the top of Kinsman Ridge?”
I nodded, suppressing a school-girl giggle.
“So, how was the kiss?”
“Amazing. Good. No, way better than good. He…it…I…”
She leaned against the doorframe and let out a giggle of her own. “That good, huh?”
I nodded. “We were interrupted by a group of hikers, and I freaked, because, you know, it’s me.”
With a knowing expression, she motioned with her hand. “Keep going!”
“Well, we hiked back down, and Hudson stopped to take a bunch of photos. It was weird because it wasn’t weird at all.”
“Explain.”
I sighed. “I don’t know. You’d think things would have been awkward between us since he kissed me out of the blue, but they weren’t at all. Then, we headed back to the cabin to get ready to go to dinner.”
She groaned and went back into the closet. “Ugh, a boring part. Keep going.”
I fought to keep from laughing as I blurted out, “He kissed me again in the cabin, and then laid me down OR back on the sofa, and asked me if I needed to come.”
A loud crash came from the closet, and I could hear Candace cursing while she tried to untangle herself from something. She nearly tumbled out of the closet, a scarf wrapped around her leg and one of my black high heels in her hand. “He asked you what!”
My cheeks instantly heated. “Well, he was lying on me and pushing against me…and it had been so long.”
She motioned with her hands again. “Skip that part—we all know you haven’t been laid in years.”
I frowned but kept talking. “I’m pretty sure I was begging him for more. Honestly, I don’t really remember what I said, but he asked me if I needed to come.”
Her mouth fell open, and she stumbled over to a chair in the corner. “Holy shit. He’s a dirty-talker?”
I nodded, and we both fell into a fit of laughter.
“Keep going!” Candace urged.
“Well, he asked me what I wanted, and I said I wanted him.”
Candace slapped her thigh and let out a roar of laughter. “Who in the hell is this woman sitting here in front of me? You told him you wanted him?”