Page 32 of When We Dare

I snorted. “I support it too, but we have to make sure any new cat gets along with Butter.”

“If they don’t like each other, they’ll sort it out,” Alice offered.

“You can have another cat, pets are in the lease,” Paisley added.

“Okay, can I cometo meet the cat, and does she have a name?” I turned my attention to Tiffany again.

“Biscuit,” Tiffany said.

“Was that on purpose?” I asked.

Tiffany shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. They are the same color and so are biscuits and butter. Let me know when you can go meet her.”

Alice waved at someone, saying, “It’s the guys.”

I could feel Hudson’s presence before I even saw him. My skin tingled with awareness, and my pulse began to race. It felt as if my mind and my hormones were in a battle for dominance. For the most part, my mind won that war. My mind had learned its lesson. I knew the mistake of letting my hormones, much less my heart, take precedence. Even as a little girl, I promised myself I would never be as careless and desperate as my mother. Yet, in my young adult years, instead of getting wiser, I’d had a few years of stupid mistakes, thinking some guys had my best interests at heart when really all they wanted was a little fun.

It’s a little benefit with Hudson. That’s it,I told myself.

My hormones cheered, while my heart did a cartwheel, trying to show off. Meanwhile, Alice’s husband Jonah was leaning down to give her a kiss and Tiffany was introducing me to Wes, saying, “I’ve convinced Stella to come meet Biscuit. I think they’ll be a perfect match.”

Wes chuckled. I managed to carry on something like a polite conversation while Hudson was talking with Nate.

“I think Biscuit is perfect because Hudson has Butter,” Tiffany said, her smile satisfied.

Hudson glanced over, his brows hitching up in question. “What about Butter?”

“Tiffany wants me to adopt a cat named Biscuit. I told her we have to make sure Biscuit and Butter get along,” I explained.

I glanced up toward Hudson, heat blazed through me. “What do you think?” I sounded breathless.

“Butter’s pretty easygoing. I’m sure he’d like a friend,” Hudson replied.

“I told Tiffany I could meet Biscuit tomorrow. Will that work?” I glanced up toward Wes.

I objectively noted he was seriously good looking with his shaggy dark blond hair and cognac eyes that crinkled at the corners with his grin. “Of course,” he said easily, oblivious to my train of thought as I wondered why so many hotshot firefighters were handsome.

I had no reaction to any of them. Except Hudson. Anytime he was nearby, my pulse took off and anticipation buzzed through me. I felt like a foolish girl with a crush. I told myself it would pass. We were just having a little fun together.

Chapter Twenty-Five

STELLA

I gasped, my head falling back against the tiled wall as Hudson adjusted me in his arms.

“Stella,” he rasped.

I dragged my eyes open, instantly ensnared in his dark gaze. My heart thudded with resounding certainty. He withdrew and thrust to fill me once again. A sense of intimacy shimmered in the air around us.

Moments later, I was still trembling all over. I walked on wobbly knees out of the bathroom and collapsed on the foot of the bed. Every single night, I told myself we couldn’t do this every night. And yet, all of my internal promises were pointless. My body craved Hudson, while my heart was starting to get too involved.

He came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. My eyes tracked him as he walked over to me. The man was ridiculously built. He was all muscle with broad shoulders, his arms rangy and lean, and his chest tapering down to delineated abs. Even on the heels of an intense encounter with him and an earth-shattering orgasm, my awareness perked up a little at the sight of him.

He stopped a few feet away. We’d stopped even discussing where we should sleep. As if in punctuation, Butter jumped on the bed curling up beside my hip and purring loudly.

“I think we should bring Biscuit home.” Hudson’s eyes flicked down to Butter with a bemused smile.

“You do?” I asked.

---