“You should get back inside. It’s cold out here.”
She didn’t respond. Just shook her head and looked at him in silence. It was the strangest few minutes he’d had in a long while, but he’d take them. Just to be here with her. To see her again and hear her voice. To pretend that maybe she still belonged to him. It was easy to do under the cover of darkness.
“I want to go home,” she said suddenly. Her voice was low, and there was a tremble in her words.
“I’ll get Violet.” He knew she’d come with Adam’s wife.
“No.” She exhaled shakily and moved past him, so close he could have touched her. She reached for the door handle on his truck. “You take me.” She slammed the door shut after she climbed in.
Huh. Hudson wasn’t so sure this was a good idea, and he glanced back toward the barn dance. He should get Violet. That was the right thing to do. But after a few seconds of hesitation, he sent a quick text to Adam, deciding to avoid Violet altogether. He climbed into his truck, fired up the engine, and looked at Rebecca.
She’d obviously had too much to drink, and he was doing what any good person would do. He’d take her home and make sure she got in safely and then leave. She was fiddling with the seat belt, and he had to lean over to get it locked in place. Her hands grazed the top of his, and it was like a lightning bolt shot through him. Energy, blazing-hot energy, rolled through him, and he moved an inch or so, trying like hell to concentrate, only to find that damn mouth so close to him, it was enough to drive any man crazy.
Slowly, he looked up, and the dark desire he saw on her face made his blood boil hotter than the goddamn sun.
Hudson had to clear his throat in order to speak properly, and even then he barely managed to get the words out. “Where am I taking you?”
Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and the edge of her pink tongue swept across her bottom lip. Her breath came in short, hard spurts, and something hot tempered the air around them.
“You remember the old house near the mill?”
“The one with the porch? The blue shutters?” How in hell he could remember anything was beyond him. Especially when all he could see was that mouth. And that pink tongue.
She nodded, seemingly deflated, and fell back against the seat just as he managed to lock the seat belt. Rebecca didn’t say another word, and as several couples spilled out into the night, their voices echoing in the dark, he drove away and headed back across the bridge.
The trip was a short one, maybe three minutes in total, and they drove in silence. Hudson found her place, just past the mill, and pulled into the driveway. He put the truck in Park and glanced over to Rebecca. She was looking at him, and this time, he had no idea what she was thinking.
“Do you need help to get inside?”
She scrunched her nose and shook her head. “I’m not drunk.”
He raised an eyebrow at that, and she giggled. It was a sound straight out of his past, and if he could replay it over and over, he would.
“I’m not. I know what I’m doing.”
He’d done his part. It was time for him to leave. Get his head screwed on right.
“It was good to see you again, Becs.”
She was silent for a bit and then, after releasing the seat belt all on her own, opened the door. The night air seeped inside his truck as she slipped outside, and small puffs of frosted breath fell from her lips. For a good long while, she looked in at him, standing there with the door open, an odd expression on her face.
The air between them changed. It became heavy and hot and full of dark and dangerous things. Crazy things. Unexpected things. And, man, that motor of his was purring.
She exhaled, her forehead furrowed slightly as if she was thinking real hard about something. And then, with a soft shudder, she took a step back.
“Are you coming in or what?” She didn’t wait for his answer. Rebecca turned and headed for her house. She climbed the stairs and opened the front door before turning around to look down at him.
The right thing to do was to wave good-bye and leave. Anything else was just plain wrong. Hudson Blackwell lived his life by following the rules. Doing things right. It was his code. It was what made him who he was. Hell, it was why he’d come back to Crystal Lake.
So why the hell did he step out of his truck? Why the hell did he climb those stairs and follow her into the house?
They were valid questions, and maybe later he’d think about them. But at the moment, Hudson wasn’t going there.
Chapter 6
Rebecca tried real hard to remember the last time she felt like this. And then she tried real hard to think about what it was exactly she was feeling. But her head was fuzzy, and she gave up. Walking into her dark, silent home, she kicked off her boots and headed straight for the kitchen, giving a wide berth to the sheets of drywall and painting supplies near the front door.
The light above the stove glowed softly. She reached for the fridge and paused when she heard a curse from the front of the house. Guess Hudson hadn’t seen the drywall