Page 38 of The Enemy

“Yes, I’m fine and I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

Hudson lifts his brow, and a smirk makes him look like the sexiest sin. “Did Audrey Kennedy just apologize?”

I shove him back, and he loops his arms around my waist and pulls me closer with a chuckle.

“Jackass, and for the record, it’s Audrey Carmichael.”

His hands feel nice as he strokes my back with the tips of his fingers. “I like the sound of my name with yours.”

“Well good job, because we have a wedding to plan.” I groan at the thought of it and drop my head to his chest. His hand cups my neck and a shiver of pleasure runs down my spine.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, but I thought you’d want to do it.”

I lift my head and look at this complicated man who owes me nothing and is still willing to go through with a sham wedding to make my father happy, and a wave of need for him almost lands me on my ass.

“I do want to, but you didn’t sign up for this, Hudson.”

“I signed up to help you through this, and if this is what you need, this is what we do.”

“Thank you, and not just for this but for telling me about your mom and what happened all those years ago. That can’t have been easy.”

“You deserved the truth. I just wish I’d said it years ago and things might have been different.”

Everything in me wants to fall into him and lose myself, but then what? I walk away with my heart torn to shreds again? I wouldn’t survive it a second time. I almost didn’t the first time. The alternative is unthinkable because having seen Hudson with Tia, I know in my heart he was born to be a father and that’s something I just can’t give him.

“I guess I should get the ball rolling and make some plans for a wedding.” I pull away and put some space between us and he lets his hand fall, a look of disappointment flitting over his face before he masks it.

“Sounds good. Let me know what you need from me.”

“I’ll put some dates together and email them over to you tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.”

Hudson purses his lips as if he is trying to stop the words from getting out then knocks the counter with his knuckle.“Good night, Audrey.”

This feels off, wrong somehow, and I don’t know how to fix it. “Good night, Hudson, and thank you for today. It meant a lot to my parents to see us together.” I let a forced laugh out. “I didn’t know you were such a good actor.”

“I wasn’t acting, Audrey. I meant every word I said today.”

With that revelation hanging between us, he turns on his heel and heads up the stairs.

That night as I lie in his big bed, his scent on my pillow, I go over every word he uttered today and my belly flutters. I know he only said it to make me feel better, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting it all to be true. Hudson has always been it for me and his leaving destroyed me. It’s why I built the walls so high, to keep everyone from seeing how broken I was inside. Now I wonder if it was because the thought of loving anyone but him was so alien that even when I thought he’d cheated, I couldn’t allow myself the chance. Perhaps this closure was what we both needed. But that feels wrong too.

13Audrey

“Wait,let me get this straight, you’re having a second wedding so your dad can walk you down the aisle but it’s fake?”

I glance across at Lottie and nod. We met up at the Littlest Bookworm for a meeting about our kid’s dyslexia program and how we could roll it out to smaller bookshops. Now we’re walking through the flower market on Lexington. Something about the blooms relaxes me despite the two bodyguards walking behind us. Linc is still overprotective of his wife, and she lets him because she knows he needs it.

“Yes.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because my dad put us on the spot and Hudson said yes.”

“Hudson agreed?”

“Before I did.”

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