The Charmer (Harbor City 2)

She stopped in front of Hudson, her heart trying to beat its way through her rib cage. “You are the most moronic, annoying, fucked-up man I’ve ever met,” she said, jabbing a finger into his chest hard enough to leave a bruise. “How dare you. You—”

“Let me explain,” he interrupted.

Oh no. For once, he wasn’t going to get to finesse his way through a situation. “What could there be left to say?” She waved her hand at the paintings around the room, her throat growing tight with emotion as she looked at everything he’d done, everything he’d told her without ever saying a thing. “You felt all of this, and you didn’t say a word? Ever?”

The vein in his temple pulsed. “What could I say?”

She looked around at the paintings. Sure, it was more than a little uncomfortable to see herself—sometimes almost all of herself—but she couldn’t deny that this was exactly what she’d been too scared to even dream could happen.

“That you saw what no one else did,” she said, her voice trembling. “You saw me from the very beginning.”

“How could I not? I couldn’t look away from you from the very first time I laid eyes on you,” he said. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you about the paintings, but I wanted you to see for yourself. And if none of it mattered to you, then I’d know that your heart belonged to Captain Clueless.”

“I’m right here,” Tyler shouted from somewhere off to the left.

“Shut up, Tyler,” she and Hudson called out together.

The crowd chuckled, but Felicia barely heard them. This moment wasn’t about the rest of the world; it was only about her and the most frustrating man she’d ever met and fallen in love with who had nearly demolished her heart.

Raising herself up on her tiptoes so she could reach his shirt collar, she yanked him close, relief and confusion and love swirling through her like a triplet of tornadoes. “If you felt all of this, why did you push me away? Why did you say I wasn’t your type? Why did you turn me down in the dressing room? Why…that last time?”

This time it was Hudson whose cheeks turned a light red. “All I wanted—and still do—was to give you what you wanted and what would make you happy.”

Everything fell into place. The desperate intensity of the other night when they needed to touch each other more than they needed to breathe followed by the text from Tyler, and then that fight. She’d never expected to find these paintings when she’d walked in the gallery ready to apologize for her harsh words. All she’d wanted was a second chance with the man she loved if it was possible to move past their fight.

“I’m sorry for what I said the other night. It’s your life, and you get to choose who you tell or don’t tell. I just wish you’d remember that you’re not only taking away other people’s choices when you decide to do what’s best for them, you’re taking away your own, too.” A tear escaped one eye and tracked its way down her cheek until she flicked it away with her wrist. “Basically, you need to stop being such a selfless asshole.”

“About that night.” He looked down for a half second and then back up at her. “I let my jealousy get the best of me and said some really out-of-line stuff. I just couldn’t pretend anymore that I wasn’t in love with you and it scared me.”

Her heart stopped. She must have heard that wrong. “You love me?”

He laughed and gestured toward the paintings surrounding them. “Could you come to any other conclusion after seeing those?”

Maybe she went in first, maybe it was him. It didn’t matter. All that did was the kiss that acted as apology, declaration, and promise all in one. It was the kind of kiss that gave a glimpse of the future, complete with family and friends and a lifelong happily ever after. It wasn’t until they broke apart that the fact that everyone around them was clapping, including Tyler, who was standing with Everly, Helene, Sawyer, and Clover.

It took a second, but the meaning of all the attention sank in. “Shit. I think I just outed you as Hughston. I’m sorry.”

He tucked her close to his side and brushed a kiss across the top of her head. “You obviously didn’t see the placard with the name of the show.”

“I was a little distracted by the giant paintings of me to everywhere.” Yeah, that was putting it mildly.

“Come with me.”

Hand in hand they walked through the crowd of people who were wishing them well and offering their congratulations for some reason. She’d figure out why later; right now she just wanted to enjoy being with the man she loved. Hudson stopped in front of a large black sign decorated with honeypot ants that read:

Hughston (Hudson Carlyle) presents his latest collection: Wife

Her heart stuttered, and she looked around at all the paintings, her gaze finally landing on Hudson, the man she’d declared Genus: Man, Family: Not for Her, and thanked God she’d so misclassified him. Not that she could let him know all of that. Charming Hudson was bad enough, Cocky Hudson would be impossible to live with, though she sure would enjoy it anyway.

She jerked her chin in the direction of the sign. “Is that a question?”

He gave her that signature, panty-melting smirk of his. “I’m hoping it will be an undeniable eventuality. After all, who can say no to a charmer like me?”

Not her, that was for sure. “I love you, Hudson Carlyle.”

He dipped his head down so his mouth was almost touching hers. “I love you, too.”

This time it was definitely her that kissed him because she really was a fast learner, and there was no greater lesson than learning to fall in love.