Page 50 of Summer Love

A few seconds later, a picture came through of Elena standing in the rain with her face tipped up, the water cascading over her face. Her eyes were closed, and there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

A thrill shot through me that we were sharing something that she felt so viscerally. Suddenly, I wanted to be with her. I wanted to kiss her in the rain. But she lived with her grandmother, and I couldn't show up at her place. I just hoped I'd get the chance one day to make a move.

If I hadn't screwed everything up by what I'd said earlier.

Hudson: Beautiful.

Elena: The rain?

Hudson: You enjoying the rain.

She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.

Hudson: I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It didn't come out right.

Elena: No worries.

Her flippant words didn't alleviate my guilt.

That apology wasn't enough. The guilt weighed heavily on me. Especially when I looked at her picture. She was the kind of woman that only came around once in a lifetime. I was an idiot for not seeing it sooner.

I just hoped I hadn't messed up my chance with her with my careless words.

ChapterTwelve

ELENA

Last night, we'd stayed on the phone texting about what I enjoyed about storms: the white caps, the bent over palm trees, and the sound of the rain pelting the window. It was nice to share that with someone. No one had ever been interested in why I enjoyed storms. And he'd said I was beautiful.

Even though we were communicating from our separate decks, it felt like we'd grown closer.

I still wasn't sure how to feel about his comment about getting the article over with. He'd apologized, and at the very least he regretted saying it at all.

But what if he meant it on an unconscious level? I annoyed him, and he wanted me out of his space. But then we'd texted on the phone until the rain had stopped and was no more than an occasional drip. It was confusing.

This morning, I woke feeling tired from staying up so late. I dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, wrapping a flannel shirt around my waist.

I hoped we'd move past drywall because that had gotten tedious.

When I arrived, the crew was already working. I found Hudson in the living room. He handed me a coffee.

"Thank you." I sipped it before I gave any other kind of greeting. "Mmm. I needed that."

"I figured you would after I kept you up so late last night."

I looked around, not seeing anyone. "Shhh. I don't want people to think we were up to something else."

His eyes sparkled with mischief. "What else would we be up to late at night?"

"Hudson," I warned, looking around again. "What will people think? That I got a story because I'm?—"

He sobered, holding up a palm to stop me. "Don't finish that sentence. We both know that isn't what happened. I was just teasing you, and I obviously shouldn't. Not after last night."

I let out a breath. "Sorry, I might have overreacted a bit."

"I didn't mean to disrespect you." His expression was genuine.

I relaxed. "I believe you."

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