Page 33 of Playing With Fire
I walk out of the office and head back upstairs toward our room to get dressed.
Although my breathing is steadier and I no longer feel like lashing out, I know only a walk at the small sandy beach by the lake will calm my broken heart. Only the inky blackness of the depths of the body of water can soothe the ache.
Armed with a flashlight, my phone, and a jacket, I drive the short distance to the public access. I walk for a while, the ends of my hair whipping around my shoulders in the wind. My heart rate has slowed, the tears have come and gone, and now I’m just exhausted.
As I approach the access point to head back toward the parking lot, I’m lost in my thoughts when suddenly an arm reaches out and grabs me by the waist.
I scream, thinking I’m about to be mugged.
“Shannon, shhh. It’s okay, just breathe. It’s me…Hudson.”
Just breathe.
I don’t know if it’s the realization that I’m not about to be kidnapped or if I’m so happy to see Hudson outside of workthat I lose my sanity, but I turn and jump into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist and bury my face in his neck, sobbing as my broken life falls to pieces around me just as I was starting to put them together again.
He cups the back of my head, holding me to himself as I wrap myself tighter around him, like a python squeezing its prey.
“Shhh. Hey. I’m sorry I scared you. I’m fishing and you were about to walk right into my lines,” he explains into my hair.
Inhaling through a sob, his scent permeates my sadness. I don’t know if it’s his deodorant or his detergent, but the man smells wonderful.
Realizing I’m not getting down anytime soon, Hudson walks us to his chair. He grips my torso with his forearm and grabs my thigh with his free hand to unhook my legs from his waist.
Thinking he wants me to get down, I start to detach myself when he stills me by popping his hips forward so he can pull my other leg through. When he sits, my ass is on one of his thighs and my legs are draped across his lap like a child.
“Shannon, what happened?” he asks, causing me to pull back and take him in.
His backwards hat has my stomach in knots, along with the stubble of a growing beard.That’s new.
As I take in the beautiful sight that is Hudson Goddorah, he uses his hand to brush strands of my long hair off my chilly, exposed face.
I don’t know how to explain without sounding crazy and when I open my mouth to try, I end up taking a different route entirely. Running a hand over his jaw, I keep my eyes fixated on the same spot. “Ilike this.”
“Shannon.” His voice sounds like a plea as he closes his eyes. It sends a shiver down my spine.
“Can I kiss you?” I ask, moving one of my hands to cup his face, seemingly drunk on his presence. I’m starved for affection, and I’m so hurt from Gregor’s most recent rejection that I’m prepared to seek that affection elsewhere. Hell, Iwantto seek it elsewhere.
But Hudson places his hand over mine and pulls it from his fevered skin. “Slow down, baby.”
Baby.
Notbabe.It’s one letter, but it makes all the difference.Babesounds so platonic. Like the PG version of endearments.Baby,on the other hand, is possessive, and God do I love him for using it right now. “Tell me what you’re running from,” he encourages, searching my eyes.
“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of what I think about you,” he says not unkindly.
And I begin to open up, letting the words rush out of me like a torrent of water plummeting over the edge of the falls.
Chapter 14
Hudson
Too wound up to sleep after a particularly harrowing call at the fire station early this morning, my body sags with exhaustion even though I know sleep will evade me. Still wearing my pager in case I’m needed again—which is unlikely—I drove straight to the lake to try and calm my mind.
But that hope has gone out the window with Shannon’s presence.
I don’t think she’s been physically harmed. Monica was right, I’m pretty good at reading people and I didn’t get the sense that Gregor was violent—but that doesn’t mean he didn’t deliver an emotional blow.
