A Budding Romance

by Bella Osborne

  PART TWO

  Copyright

  Published by Avon an imprint of

  HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

  1 London Bridge Street,

  London, SE1 9GF

  www.harpercollins.co.uk

  First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2019

  Copyright © Bella Osborne 2018

  Cover illustration © Kim Leo

  Cover design © Cherie Chapman Book Design 2018

  Bella Osborne asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

  Source ISBN: 9780008258221

  Ebook Edition © February 2019 ISBN: 9780008258191

  Version: 2018-12-12

  Dedication

  For Patty – with love.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Keep Reading …

  About the Author

  Also by Bella Osborne

  About the Publisher

  Chapter Eleven

  Anna was pacing the yard as the last of the evening sun hunkered down for the night. This wasn’t how she had expected the team event evening to go. She hadn’t meant to make a scene and was annoyed with herself for reacting, although the truth was she wasn’t able to control her emotions that easily. It must have been Liam who had written the question, which had freaked her out. His attempt to wind her up, no doubt. At least now she knew what she was dealing with.

  The door clicked open and she spun around to see Liam’s face peering round the edge.

  ‘Can I have a word?’ he asked, still using the door like a shield.

  Anna crossed her arms in front of her. ‘What about?’ She’d give him a chance to come clean before she tore him to shreds.

  Liam gestured for them to walk a bit further away, perhaps anticipating an explosive response. ‘You okay?’

  ‘Fine. Why?’

  Liam tilted his head to one side and scrunched up his features. ‘I’m really sorry about the question.’

  Anna pulled back her shoulders. She was right – of course it had been him. A flash of temper and hurt coursed through her. ‘I didn’t think you’d stoop that low.’

  ‘Hey, you have to believe me. I thought of the question before I pulled a name out. I just went with something generic: what did you do at university? I didn’t think you’d think … You know. Sorry, it wasn’t meant to upset you.’

  Anna didn’t believe him for a second but she also didn’t want him to think he’d got to her. ‘Okay. Apology accepted. Let’s go back inside.’ The breeze was making her shiver.

  Liam touched her arm to stop her. ‘Are you sure you’re okay with me taking this job?’

  ‘Yes. It’s fine.’ Anna spoke deliberately as if addressing someone a bit simple.

  Liam gave a brief headshake and Anna straightened her back. ‘Because every time I look up you’re staring at me and I wondered if you still had … feelings. It’s quite understandable if you do. I mean I—’

  ‘No, Liam. I don’t still have feelings for you.’ Only murderous ones, she thought. Although saying it out loud had her brain ticking double time. It was hard to erase all they had shared; it was like their entire history had been buried underneath all the anger and sadness. Did she still care for him?

  ‘Right. Because I want you to know that I still love you, Anna.’

  She stepped back as if physically stunned by the statement. A million questions swamped her brain and she tried to order them. ‘What about Tabitha?’

  ‘She isn’t you.’

  It was a cheesy line and it should have made her loathe him a little more but there was a voice in her head saying: ‘He’s not the worst man on the planet. You invested a lot in him. Is it worth giving things another go?’ She hated that voice but it was a hard one to ignore.

  The door opened and out strode Hudson. Anna was relieved to have had her villainous thoughts interrupted. Taking Liam back was a bad idea, and deep down she knew it.

  ‘Hudson,’ she said abruptly holding out her arm to halt his path to his car.

  Hudson grasped her hand and she froze. She wasn’t expecting that or the accompanying electricity shooting violently up her arm. They both stared at their clasped hands for a fraction longer than was necessary.

  ‘Are you all right?’ asked Hudson, his voice soft and full of concern.

  Liam forced a cough and they both looked in his direction.

  ‘I didn’t realise you two were …’ He pointed at their entwined fingers.

  Anna’s eyebrows shot up and she opened her mouth to protest but something about Hudson’s expression stopped her. He gave a tiny shrug. ‘I’ll let Anna explain,’ said Hudson, giving her hand a squeeze and keeping hold of it. He let their clasped hands drop down between them. Was it some sort of code? Did he want her to say they were in a relationship? It would stop Liam coming on to her, which would be a bonus. It would stop her making a knee-jerk decision to take Liam back too. In her foggy brain it seemed like a good idea. She wanted to know what Hudson was thinking; did he have a plan?

  ‘No no, you explain,’ she said.

  He twitched his head. ‘Err. Okay. Let’s just say it’s very early on in our relationship.’ He eyed Anna as if seeking approval. Her mouth twitched in response. ‘We’d really appreciate a bit of discretion,’ said Hudson, slinking an arm around Anna’s shoulder. She faltered for a second before she realised what he was doing and awkwardly snuggled into him.

  Liam stared at them for what seemed like ages and Anna could feel herself heating up. For once Liam actually looked hurt. At last he seemed to snap himself out of his trance. ‘Mum’s the word,’ he said, tapping his nose. He clapped his hands together. ‘Die Hard on DVD in five minutes.’ He pointed inside before turning and heading back.

  As the door closed behind Liam Anna let out a giant breath and Hudson removed his arm. ‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ said Anna, spinning around to face him.

  ‘I don’t know. I’m not even sure what just happened. You grabbed my hand and then—’

  ‘I grabbed your hand?’ Anna was indignant.

  ‘Err, yeah.’ Hudson threw up his palms.

  ‘No, you grabbed my hand.’ She had to physically stop herself putting her hands on her hips.

  ‘This is getting us nowhere. Whatever happened, we ended up holding hands. I thought you were trying to make him jealous or something. I don’t know.’ Hudson seemed flustered.

  ‘No, I just wanted a distraction.’ And to stop me doing something ridiculous like taking him back, she thought
. It worried her how easily she had come to almost cracking. She thought she was stronger.

  ‘Great. You could have said that because I can juggle you know. That would have been a much better distraction,’ said Hudson, giving a small shake of his head.

  ‘Sorry.’ She felt stupid.

  ‘But now we’ve said we’re boyfriend and girlfriend I guess we’ll have to keep it going.’ He scratched his chin and she noticed it was a little stubbly.

  ‘Or we could say we were joking.’ They both pulled faces knowing this would make them look ridiculous.

  Hudson seemed to be thinking. ‘You never know. Now he thinks he knows secret information about us it could put him on our team, give us a chance to find out what he’s going to do to our project.’

  ‘Or he’ll try to blackmail us,’ said Anna. Knowing Liam, he was more likely to think it gave him some sort of advantage. Anna realised she was asking a lot of Hudson as someone who was already in a relationship. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think about your personal situation. In fact, I didn’t think at all. If this makes you uncomfortable, I’ll put Liam straight.’ She shoved her hands in her pockets and turned to go.

  ‘Hang on,’ said Hudson and Anna spun around. ‘It is crazy but I’m guessing you’ll feel better having shown your ex you’ve moved on and maybe made him a bit jealous too.’ He gave a cheeky pout and Anna brightened.

  ‘I can’t lie, it would be a bonus.’

  ‘Then if you’re happy to pretend to be my girlfriend, I’m happy to be your boyfriend.’

  She gave a slow nod. ‘I’d be honoured.’ Her voice held a hint of sarcasm.

  ‘Hey, I’m a very good boyfriend.’

  ‘I bet you are.’ A few unhelpful thoughts crossed her mind and she banished them. She felt like she was cheating on Sophie. It was bonkers.

  ‘Then let’s slay him,’ said Hudson, and he followed her back inside.

  Anna was in her sleeping bag when she was disturbed by the sound of distant screaming and the light going on, which woke her with a start.

  ‘Anna, calm down, you’re having a nightmare,’ said Sophie, in her left ear. Anna turned to see her friend’s tired face. Anna’s pulse was racing and she could feel her hair was damp with sweat.

  ‘Sorry,’ whispered Anna. ‘Was I shouting?’

  ‘Yes,’ came Priya’s disgruntled voice.

  ‘Ignore her,’ said Sophie. ‘You okay now?’

  Anna nodded. ‘Careful going back down the ladder.’

  Sophie disappeared, the light went out and Anna settled herself back down. It had been a while since she’d had a nightmare. It was always the same one. And she was always too late to save them. She closed her eyes tight and tried to think of something else. Thanks to Liam stirring up long-hidden memories, it would likely be a while before she got back to sleep.

  The next morning, she wanted to be one of the first in the showers as she didn’t want anyone to see her with dark circles round her eyes and mad post-nightmare hair. And she wasn’t keen on going in after Karl – she didn’t want to think about what he might have been up to in there. Anna crept down the ladder, grabbed her washbag and reversed out of the room.

  ‘Hey,’ said a hushed American voice behind her. She shut the door and turned to face Hudson who was wearing a bath towel tied around his waist. Her breath caught in her throat and she started to cough. ‘You okay?’

  Anna took a deep breath and got her coughing under control. ‘Fine thanks,’ she said, trying hard not to stare at Hudson’s impressive physique. She knew gay men often looked after themselves but this was a whole new level in body workout. She’d only ever seen carved abs like his on male models.

  Hudson ran his fingers through his wet hair and his muscles rippled, which was very distracting.

  ‘You sure? Only in the night I heard …’ Hudson tailed off.

  Anna gave a phoney chuckle. ‘Yeah. I think I was dreaming about Die Hard.’ She broke eye contact. She was a bad liar, and she knew people could always tell.

  ‘As long as you’re okay.’

  ‘I’m fine. Are you acting the caring boyfriend?’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  There was an awkward pause. ‘I thought I’d jump in the showers early,’ she said, waving her washbag as evidence and they both watched as a stream of tampons tumbled from the open zip.

  ‘Bugger,’ she muttered, whilst scrabbling to gather them up.

  ‘See you at breakfast,’ said Hudson, failing to hide his amusement as he slunk into the men’s bedroom. Anna hung her head. Sophie must have left the bag open after she’d returned Anna’s toothpaste. Thanks a bunch, she thought.

  Chapter Twelve

  After a hearty farmhouse breakfast, the farmer announced the morning’s exercise was at a nearby reservoir, which received a mixed response. When the minibus pulled up Hudson was quick to jump in and take the seat next to Anna and she was pleased to see Liam had spotted the gesture. Sophie had also noticed and was giving Anna pleading looks to swap places.

  ‘I get sick if I don’t sit near the front,’ said Sophie, and she pointed at Anna’s seat.

  Anna’s shoulders sagged. Sophie wasn’t helping herself with the Hudson crush if she was going to seize every opportunity to be near him. Although Anna had to admit he did smell mighty fine this morning.

  ‘It’s okay, I’ll move,’ said Anna, seeing the plea in Sophie’s eyes.

  Sophie was about to sit down when Karl stuck his head inside the van. ‘Can I sit at the front too? I hate these things and I might have overdone it on the wine last night. Gippy tummy,’ he said, giving it a rub.

  ‘Sure,’ said Hudson, and he followed Anna to the back seat where they giggled like love-struck teenagers until Sophie spun around and glared at the pair of them. Anna clamped her lips together to try to stifle the giggles. She glanced at Hudson and he winked at her. For a moment she forgot they were pretending.

  Carsington Water was impressive and the weather was far kinder today with a light breeze and a little sunshine glinting off the water making it sparkle and look more inviting than it should. They were introduced to Canadian canoes and got into teams of three while Karl perfected his impression of Roberta by asking ‘Who’s in my canoe?’ Anna was with Priya and Hudson and they had to work together to keep in rhythm.

  ‘Priya, you don’t need to keep swapping sides with your paddle,’ complained Anna when a trail of water splashed across her back for the umpteenth time.

  ‘Sorry. But I want to beat Karl,’ she said, lifting her paddle out of the water to point and inadvertently splashing Anna again.

  The purpose of the game was to retrieve different-coloured buoys via the shortest route whilst heading off other canoes. Most went for the nearby markers meaning they all squabbled whereas Anna steered them towards the middle-distance ones to avoid bumping into other teams, enabling them to collect their buoys and return victorious. As they were making their final turn she heard a war cry nearby and a canoe came towards them at speed. She wasn’t surprised to see Karl, Liam and Raj from Finance all with clenched teeth and paddling hard.

  ‘Heads down, and paddle as hard as you can, team,’ said Hudson. ‘Go, go, go!’ which was exactly what they did. Hudson was at the back, his powerful strokes doing the lion’s share of the work. They sailed over the finish line with the other canoe on their tail. Hudson turned the canoe at speed and with a few neat flicks of his paddle soaked the occupants of the other one. Karl stood up to protest, wobbled dramatically and in an attempt to right himself, lost his balance further and fell in. Liam threw down his paddle in temper. It bounced off the canoe and into the water, making him swear.

  Once out of the canoes there was lots of congratulatory blokey back slapping, a few playful remonstrations and lots of Karl shaking his wet head over people like a naughty puppy. When he knew Liam was watching, Hudson leaned into Anna’s ear. ‘Nice job, honey,’ he whispered, making her shudder. She hoped Hudson assumed her squirming was all part of the act. If you were
n’t gay, you would make an excellent boyfriend, she thought. If she wasn’t careful she’d soon be suffering from Sophie’s complaint.

  As the victors they were first to eat lunch, which was a barbecue by the water’s edge.

  ‘You okay?’ Anna asked Sophie who was munching down a large hamburger overflowing with salad.

  ‘Starving and a bit knackered but I had fun this morning and the lie-in was bliss. It’s lovely not to be woken by someone jumping on your bladder.’

  ‘You should stop Dave doing that,’ said Anna drily and Sophie gave a smirk.

  Sophie’s gaze drifted over to Hudson in his tight white T-shirt. ‘Do you think if I paid him he’d re-create the Mr Darcy scene from Pride and Prejudice for me?’

  ‘You are aware you said that out loud?’ said Anna, rolling her eyes. ‘He’s gorgeous but you know he’s gay. You need to have a word with your hormones.’

  ‘I noticed you two seemed a bit cosy on the bus earlier,’ said Sophie, with a suspicious look in her eye.

  Anna checked around her like an amateur spy. ‘I was going to explain on the way home away from the others, but Hudson is pretending to be my boyfriend so we can …’ Why were they doing this again? Anna was no longer sure. ‘Get closer to Liam.’

  Sophie frowned hard and inclined her head. ‘Makes no sense to me.’

  ‘I’ll explain later,’ said Anna, as Liam strolled over.

  ‘Hiya, Sophie, how’s Dave and the kids?’

  ‘Great, thanks. How are your scruples? Oh, I forgot you don’t have any,’ said Sophie, and went to get another burger leaving him somewhat shell-shocked by the snub.

  Anna avoided eye contact and followed Sophie into the salad queue. ‘Don’t piss him off, Sophe, he has the fate of our jobs in his hands.’

  Sophie shrugged. ‘I’m not sure pretending you’re Hudson’s girlfriend isn’t going to do that anyway.’ Anna could already see she wasn’t happy about it but they could hardly backtrack now they’d come this far.

  The afternoon whizzed by and Anna was thrilled that, with a bit of help, both teams managed to complete their sections of dry-stone wall and have their photographs taken next to their masterpieces. She was pleased Roberta bothered to show up for a final wrap-up and motivational send-off liberally scattered with feminist quotes. After everyone had dispersed Roberta took Anna to one side.