Page 38 of The Fear
The fire had been in Hudson’s damned bedroom. And she’d been closest to the window. In the man’sbedroom.And the way Hudson was holding her…
His sister liked to pretend she was tough and a bad-ass, but she was actually far more sensitive than Greer or Genny deep down. It was what made her a little prickly. Hudson better be serious, or Grady was going to clock him.
That was just the way it was going to be. Grady wasn’t messing around with Hudson’s sister like that. And he wouldn’t. Not without it beingserious.A decent guy just didn’t do that.
Of course, how he thought about Hala certainlyfeltserious.
And he’d always thought Hudson was a good guy.
Gunn came running up, to check on her, as Hudson was lifting her into Grady’s truck.
“My feet are going to bleed all over the interior,” Gia said.
“There are paper towels behind the seat,” Grady said. They came in handy on a ranch. He didn’t care about a bit of blood. It could be washed. He just wanted to be sure she was okay. “We can wrap them up for the time being.”
“I think there are still glass shards in there.” She was curiously calm.
He hated when Gia acted all calm like that. It usually meant she was scared. Terrified.
He rather preferred when she was hissing like that old tom cat they used to have. He’d named that cat Giovanni da’ Cat. She hadn’t exactly appreciated that. But the name had stuck.
“We’re ten minutes from the hospital, kid. I’ll get you there.”
“Hudson, your feet?”
“A few slices, but not many. A couple of burns that sting. That’s all.”
Grady looked at them in the rearview mirror. Hudson had her feet in his lap. Wrapping them gently. Just holding her like that.
Hell, the guy wasn’t just hot for her, Grady realized.
Hudson was hands down flat out in love with Grady’s sister. He wondered if the guy even knew that yet. Well, Grady knew just how the man felt. Hudson’s own sister was about to drive Grady crazy. Not that it wasloveor anything, but there was definitely…firein how he felt about that little devil woman now.
She’d been sending him little looks all night. Looks designed to heat him right up. He’d almost scooped her up, right in front of his family, and carried her off to the far corner of the ranch to dothingsto her. It had taken everything he had to resist.
“You’ll need to call Hala. So she doesn’t hear and freak out,” Gia said. “Where is she tonight?”
“She’s back at the house,” Grady said, thinking about that woman he’d had wrapped up in his arms not even four hours ago. “Stayed with Greer again, after you left. I can run back home after you are inside the hospital. Tell her myself you are both okay.”
“I’d appreciate it. She tends to freak if anything happens to me and Ryan.”
“It’s because you are the only family she has,” Gia said, softly.
“I know. But…thanks, Grady. I appreciate it.”
“For what it’s worth, it didn’t look like the house will have permanent damage. But what in the hell happened?”
“I’m not entirely sure. Someone threw something through the window,” Gia said. Grady checked the mirror again. She rested against Hudson’s chest now. It looked a bit awkward, the way the other man was turned, with the seatbelt like that. But…they hadn’t stopped touching each other since Hudson had climbed in the truck. Like they were just making certain the other one was real. And safe.
“Some type of accelerant was thrown through the window, from what I could see, Grady. Broke the window and landed on the law books we had on the bed in front of your sister.”
Someone had done this on purpose.
Grady just drove as that sank in. Someone could have killed his sister tonight.
31
Grady grabbeda wheelchair himself when they got to the hospital. His brother Guthrie was working the emergency department.
