Page 2 of Some Cowgirls are Worth Protecting

Liam chuckled, his head tilting. “Do I? From what I can tell, you’ve been keeping tabs on her a lot tonight. Maybe there’s some attraction there.”

His brother was wrong, but Hudson wasn’t about to make a scene. He knew better than to do that. While Liam didn’t mind the extra attention, Hudson would prefer to keep things behind closed doors. “I’m not going argue with you. Actually, I’m going to leave. There’s no reason for me to stay here anyway.”

“But you didn’t drive.”

“I’ll walk.”

“Suit yourself.” Liam chuckled.

Hudson shook his head, but it was better than taking a swing. He ducked through the crowds of people and headed out the door, grateful to be in the fresh air. This would be the last time he ever set foot in that country club if he had anything to say about it. People couldn’t be trusted, and that was one of the main reasons he liked being alone.

He tossed one more glance toward the doors to the building and nearly tripped over a woman in a tan cowboy hat sitting on the bottom steps. “Sorry,” he muttered, darting around her.

“Hudson, right?” Her voice was soft, smooth, like she’d had lessons in how to speak. The words lassoed him, forcing him to stop in his tracks. He’d heard traces of her voice in conversations with Athena, but he’d never been close enough to truly appreciate the cadence beneath it.

Slowly, Hudson turned as Rachel got to her feet. She wore a soft, flowy blouse. Her jeans were tattered but almost like they had been torn up in an organic way. Her boots were dusty, too. In fact, her whole getup was such that she couldn’t have fit in better with the crowd currently visiting the club if she had tried.

She placed her hands in her back pockets, her wavy blonde hair shifting with her movement and the slight breeze that had picked up. “Henry’s brother.” This time it wasn’t a question. She tilted her head, her blue eyes piercing into him much like they had when she’d caught him staring.

Hudson swallowed and fought the urge to take a few steps back as she continued to get closer. “Yeah,” he muttered. “You need somethin’?”

Rachel pursed her lips and stared out into the darkness. The sun had set and there was only a slight amount of sunlight in the sky. Within the next twenty minutes, it would be completely dark. “Not really.”

He touched the brim of his hat. “Then I’ll take my leave.”

“Didn’t you come with one of your brothers?”

Once again, her voice had him going still. She’d noticed that he’d arrived with Liam. The only way that made sense was if she’d been watching when he climbed out of the truck. Or she’d asked Athena. That would have been a strange question to ask.

Against his better judgment, he turned to face her once more. “Yeah.”

“Is he coming?”

“No, do you need to talk to him?” Hudson motioned toward the building. “He’s inside.”

She shook her head, her brows furrowing. “But I am curious where you’re going. This place is pretty off the beaten path.”

“Home.” The word was heavy and carried with it all the weight he needed to make it clear he wasn’t interested in small talk. They barely knew each other. He’d done a good job at avoiding her this far, and now she was destroying that.

“You don’t like me much, do you?”

He sighed. “I don’t have an opinion one way or the other.”

She pursed her lips again, a thoughtful expression on her face. “But whenever I come into the room, you leave.”

“Maybe I have somewhere to go.”

Rachel chuckled. It was soft and sweet, like the sound of birds chirping in the early morning hours while waiting for their mothers to feed them. “I supposed that might be possible.”

“What’s it to you? We’re not friends. I don’t owe you anything.” Hudson crossed his arms and stared at her hard. “You’re the sister of my brother’s fiancée. It’s not like we’ll mean anything to each other in the long run. Eventually, Henry and Athena will find a place of their own, and you won’t have any reason to be at our ranch.”

Two reactions flickered across her face, one right after the other. The first one was surprise, but it was soon replaced by offense. While he didn’t want to care that he’d offended her, there was a small part of him that couldn’t brush it off. Just because he preferred to be alone didn’t mean he was a jerk. He just wanted his peace and quiet.

Hudson heaved a sigh. “It’s a hard reality, but it’s true.”

She didn’t respond right away. He’d expected her to hurl an insult at him and then return to the party. When she didn’t, he tapped the brim of his hat. “It was nice talking to you. Have a good night.”

He turned away from her and marched toward the street. He didn’t owe her anything. And she didn’t care about him. Whatever this little interaction meant to her, it meant nothing to him and he had made that clear. The walk home would be longer than the drive, but perhaps it would help take his mind off that brief spark of pain he’d witnessed in her eyes.

---