Page 74 of That Time I Kissed My Beachfront Boss

For a long moment, he just stands there, frozen and gaping. Water dribbles down the chiseled planes of his cheeks, over his dimpled chin, and across his square jawline, only to drop on the ground making a puddle on Main Street.

“You did NOT just do that.” He hikes his eyebrows up to his hairline.

Make that his soaking wet hairline.

“Oh, but I did.” I giggle.

The look on Hudson’s face is worth this final bath in the freezing tank. I totally expected to surprise him, but I do not expect what he does next.

Faster than anyone his size should be able to manage, he leaps to the ladder, climbs onto the platform, and jumps into the tank along with me with a loud, playful roar. Shrieking and cackling, I try to splash away from him, but there’s no room in the basin. I can’t escape. He waits for me to back up against the tank, then he picks me up like I’m a sack of feathers, and throws my body over his shoulder.

As he drags me out with him, I glance up to see Ford and Three cracking up.

“You all right, Liv?” Three chuckles.

“Need any help?” Ford chimes in.

Then Lettie comes over with her phone turned sideways, filming. “You can use this footage as advertising,” she pipes up.

Meanwhile, I’m choking and laughing and having more fun than I can remember in a long time. Hudson turns my back on Lettie so my butt won’t make it into her video. “You created a social media monster,” he tells me over his shoulder.

“Yeah.” I nod. “Maybe a few of them.”

As he gently lowers me to the sidewalk, and our wet bodies are still pressed together, my skin is both in full-blown goosebumps and simmering at the same time.

Hudson’s touch is electric. Dangerous.

A lightning strike without the storm.

Even as I think this, a gust of cold wind blows overhead. I look up and notice large puffy clouds clustering overhead. The sky is darkening and the temperature has dropped. I’ve been so focused on the dunk tank all afternoon, I missed all the signs.

I blink up at Hudson, my lashes still heavy with wetness. “Summer storm?”

“Looks like it.” He grabs the bathrobe from the folding chair, and wraps it around my body. “We’d better get you dry.”

“You, too,” I say, handing him a couple of towels. As he dries his hair into a shaggy mop, I snuggle into the warmth of the thick fluffy bathrobe. “Sorry I got you all wet in the first place,” I say.

A smile tiptoes across his face. “Well, I did kind of ask for it.”

He drops the towel and peels off his clingy shirt. I try not to stare at the swell of his shoulders and the ridges of his abs. “At least I’m wearing board shorts,” he says, and I hazard a peek. “These are meant to dry quickly.”

As the guys from the party rental store empty and disassemble the tank, Hudson and my cousins load the ballot box and book bins into the back of Ford’s truck. Meanwhile I locate my mom and Big Mama to make sure they have a safe ride home. We drove into town with my aunt and uncle, but they left hours ago, so Brady and Natalie offer to drop all three of us off on their way back to the Slaters’ house.

I tell them I want to check in with Hudson first.

The locals have been ducking into shops and restaurants, walking home on foot, or heading for their cars, so Main Street is mostly emptied of people, when I finally find him.

“Well, that was a whirlwind, huh?”

“Yeah. Literally.” He glances up at the blustery sky. The sun’s totally obscured now, but a flash of light flickers in the distance. “So what’s your game plan?” he asks. Then he drops his chin, and his gaze slides to my lips.

Oof.

Going back to Big Mama’s would be the safer choice. I’m not in any danger from a little summer rain, but my heart’s definitely at risk. I’ve been enjoying time with Hudson too much lately, which will only make things harder when I have to leave Abieville.

Still, we’ve got two bins of books to unload, plus a potential storm coming on. Not to mention hundreds of suggestions of names for the pub to sort through.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I say.

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