The Charmer (Harbor City 2)

“Without a doubt.” And he seemed totally okay with that. He probably was. In all the years she’d known him, she’d never seen Tyler happier than when he was busting someone’s chops.

“So, what are you going to do about Hudson?” he asked.

“Nothing.” She’d already wasted years of her life pining after a man. She wasn’t about to repeat that mistake again. “I’m not his type.”

Tyler snorted. “If you say so.”

Thankfully, he let the topic drop after that, and they wandered over the to the silent auction table where pe

ople could bid on items patrons had donated. Tyler got drawn into a phone call, so she kept looking at all the items up for bid. It only took one look at the dollar amounts of the written bids, though, for her to know that she needed to keep moving. She loved her job at the museum, but there was a reason why she lived in a tiny one room.

The hint of something dangerous in the air hit her a half second before Hudson stepped up next to her. “How’s the date going?”

Like she was going to tell him. She inhaled a strengthening breath and kept her attention focused on the bid sheet for a six-night stay in a Bali resort. “Fabulous.”

“Then why is Tyler laughing with Sawyer instead of dancing with you?” he asked, taking her by the shoulders and turning her so she could see the other men standing behind her.

Ignoring—okay, pretending to ignore—the sparks of attraction raining down on her from his fingertips on her bare skin, she looked at Sawyer and Tyler. They were laughing. Both looked younger, happier, more at ease. She could totally picture them in prep school and college stirring up all sorts of trouble. She couldn’t help but smile, despite the giant jerkwad beside her turning her panties to ash with the barest brush of his fingertips on her shoulders. Fuck. She was pathetic.

Using her annoyance with herself for something productive, she aimed her ire at Hudson. “I thought that was the entire reason for your little project with me—so those two would reforge their friendship.” She added a few pounds of snottiness to her tone. “It’s not like we’re each other’s type, right?”

One eyebrow went up, and his gaze dropped to her mouth, then lower before making it back up to her face. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“Really?” She would have laughed out loud at his bald-faced lie, but her chest hurt too much to make that loud a sound. Across the room, Tyler smiled and started over toward her. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. We both got what we wanted.”

“Yes,” Hudson said, his hand slipping away from her. “We did. Exactly.”

Helene’s appearance a moment later saved Felicia from having to respond. Almost regal in her formal dress, the glittering half mask on a stick she held up to her face did nothing to change that impression. Together, the three of them made small talk about the items up for bid as the dancers swirled around in tuxedos and colorful dresses behind them.

When the song ended and another began, Helene gave a little gasp of delight. “Oh, I love this song. Your father and I used to dance to it all the time.”

Hudson held out his arm. “Shall we?”

“Oh no, I’m not in the mood tonight,” Helene said and turned her attention to Felicia. “You two go out there for me.”

Team Oh Yeah and Team Fuck No revved their engines in her stomach. Dance? With Hudson? That way lay madness and ruin.

“I couldn’t,” she said, opting for chickening out like the smart person she was.

“I insist,” Helene said, all but shoving Felicia and Hudson toward the dance floor. “Go on.”

There was no graceful way of getting out of this. She looked over at Hudson. The grim line of his mouth and pinched look around his eyes said he felt exactly the same way she did, just probably not for the same reasons. He sure wasn’t worried about melting into a puddle of want on the dance floor. Without a word, they walked out onto the dance floor.

…

Welcome to hell, Carlyle.

No talking.

No laughing.

No eye contact.

No teasing.

No flirting.

No gross ant facts.