Page 10 of Engaging with Her Enemy

Becky grabbed her purse and slammed the door behind her, getting rid of the frustration.

Almost.

Eliza kept up a steady string of pointless conversation all the way out to Rhonda's Roadhouse, the biker bar about twenty minutes from town. Rhonda still worked there, looking like everyone's favorite motorcycle riding grandmother in her leather pants and teased, silver hair.

“Hey there, girls,” Rhonda called as they walked into the bar. “Your crew is in the back, like usual.” She narrowed her eyes at Eliza. “When am I going to see your sweet little girl again?”

Eliza beamed a smile, happy to discuss her favorite topic, her daughter. Becky left her at the front, walking back in search of a beer and some courage to face Hudson.

She stepped into the room. It was a standard-looking room with a dartboard on one side and a few posters of Elvis on the other. Hudson stood facing away from her. Addie, Cameron's fiancé, hooked her jacket on the coat rack near the door. Addie’s brown eyes widened when they landed on Becky.

She whispered so low, it barely reached Becky's ears over the drone ofSweet Melissaplaying. “You look like you're out to make a point,” Addie said.

“Is it okay?” Where did all the insecurity come from? She was never an insecure person.

“You’re hot as hell.” She grinned. “The tight jeans. Knee-high boots.” Addie winked. “The cleavage. I love it!”

Addie would. The woman was a walking example of how to distract a man by dressing sexy. Although, since becoming engaged to Cameron, her style had become much more laid back.

Cameron turned around from pulling darts off the board. He shook his head and stared at the ceiling for a full five seconds.

Geez, did it make that big of a difference from what she typically wore at the diner?

Hudson glanced over his shoulder before his head snapped back, his eyes locking with hers. She barely managed to keep her face neutral. The sharp pulse of desire shot down to her toes.

Addie whistled low. “You two must have some history.”

“Not how you think.”

“Then you must have a future.” She nudged Becky along and sauntered back to Cameron's side.

Hudson's brown eyes followed Becky as she walked to the table. Tension snapped in the air. Did the others feel it? Probably based on how silence had descended in the room.

Cameron took the dart from Hudson's hand. “You know Rhonda doesn't like bloodshed in her bar, so y'all take it outside.” He gave Hudson a shove. “Get it out of your system so we can all be friends again.”

She tracked the movement of his leg as he walked toward her. His blue jeans covered up the prosthetic. He limped, but it was so slight, it could go unnoticed.

In a gruff, annoyed voice, he said, “I have a few things I want to say to you.” He grabbed her hand and stalked out of the room. She stumbled in line behind him, through the bar, past Eliza's and Rhonda's shocked faces, and into the parking lot.

She snatched her hand away, hating how it’d warmed and fit inside his. To keep balanced, she forced herself to snap at him. “Since when did you think you could tell me what to do?”

Nash and Lexi walked up. “Hey, Hudson!” Nash said, his gaze shifting between the two of them. Lexi, her pretty brown curls bouncing with each step, started to hold out her hand, probably to introduce herself, but Nash continued to walk. “Alright, not getting in the middle of this, I'll see you inside. Maybe in one piece.”

The interruption disoriented her. She couldn't get a good running start. Being around everyone, seeing him without a leg, threw her off her game.

Hudson closed his eyes a moment, taking a deep breath. Since when did he have control issues? “Becky,” he began. His voice had changed since eighteen. The deep baritone suited him. It fit his new size and authority. “I don't want to fight with you.”

“Too bad, because I have a few things to say to you.” She could do this. “You said you wanted to get this out. I trusted you not to tell anyone about my issues.” There wasn't a better way to put it. “And you planned that joke. Told them all you tutored me. God knows how much more you would have said before Cameron walked in.”

“I didn't plan for anyone to hear our conversation.”

“Yeah, right. The PA system for the school didn't happen to turn on when you started talking.”

“I don't know how it got turned on.”

She huffed. “One minute, you're announcing that you fell in love with me when you were helping me pass math and that you're my secret admirer, and the next, when Cameron stuck his head into the office, you declared it was just a joke. That you'd sent me all the flowers as a prank.”

Hudson shoved his hands in his pockets, an annoying smirk on his face. “Let's replay this from my end since you’re finally standing in one place and listening to me. I show up at Prom, flowers in my hand, and walk right up to you. You tell me to move out of the way. That you're waiting on your secret admirer. So, I stand with you for a few minutes until more people arrive. Until the whole freaking school arrives.”

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