by Lux, Vivian
Ewan finally emerged and shuffled past me with a black look on his face. "Seven," he corrected and plopped down on the couch .
"It'll take one for me to tell you the plan," I promised .
It took forty-five seconds .
The three of them sat there for a moment once I told them. My leg bounced up and down and I glanced at the watch Tallula had given me. Just like our relationship, it had started out as a lie and now it was something I needed .
"Guys, I don't have much time," I reminded them after they'd processed for exactly two minutes .
"Honestly though?" Ewan finally said. "It makes a hell of a lot more sense than the way we do things now. We're not some schlubs in the back of a touring van ."
"Seems like cheating if you ask me," Jules said. Then grinned. "And I was never one to play fair ."
"I could still be there," I reminded them. "For every date ."
"And I could see Celia way more too," Ewan mused, glancing towards the door where his fiancée was getting ready to leave. He nodded and looked back at me. "Things have changed. We all have roots now, yeah ?"
"Hubbing," Jules repeated. He shook his dark hair. "Sounds pretty fucking dirty if you ask me ."
I glanced at my watch again. "So should we vote ?"
"No need. It's a yes for all of us," Niall said, and for the first time in days, he smiled at me. I knew what he was thinking even before he said it, but Niall hated secrets so he said it anyway. "Glad you're doing right by her ."
I nodded and then looked at my watch. Tallula had been in the air for forty five minutes. I still had two hours .
"August!" I cried, whirling around .
"On it," she hissed, phone already in hand. Jules gave her an admiring look .
I nodded. "I'm going now," I told her .
She held up a finger. My heart pounded in my throat. Then she nodded again. "Right, thanks." She stabbed a button and looked up at me. "It'll be there," she declared. Then grinned. "Go get her ."
Chapter Forty
Tallula
I stumbled off the plane after the roughest landing in recent memory. Groaning, I stood up to collect my carry on .
Numbness seeped through my body. Like I had fallen through the ice on our pond and landed in the freezing water below. The interior of the cabin was overheated but I couldn't stop my teeth from chattering all of a sudden. Goosebumps broke out over my whole body .
Limply, I sat back down again as my knees gave out .
"Ma'am?" A flight attendant was at my side in an instant, looking panicked. "Do you need a doctor ?"
I shook my head, embarrassed as once again the tears crowded into my eyes, stumbling over one another to be the first to fall down my cheeks. The attendant looked alarmed and ducked down out of the way of the disembarking passengers to take my hand. "My name is Laura. Do you need help ?"
I shook my head again. It took several tries before I finally managed to make my voice work and it came out in a stumbling croak. "My boyfriend," I finally managed .
"Did something happen to him?" Laura asked, all sympathy and curiosity .
I looked at her and realized she was braced for a tragic story and all at once I started to laugh. "No," I said, clearing my throat so my voice went back to normal. "No. I just had to say goodbye ."
She nodded sagely. "Long distance relationships are so hard," she murmured. "But you'll make it work ."
I wiped the tear away from my eye and nodded resolutely. "Yes," I said, squaring my shoulders. "I know ."
"If it's worth it -"
"It is ."
"And you trust him ?"
"I do," I said without a moment's hesitation .
She nodded and patted my hand reassuringly. "Then there's the phone, there's Skype, there's even old fashioned letters." She patted my hand again. "Look honey, I'm away from my family three hundred days a year. And I've been married twenty years. Nothing is sweeter than a reunion after being separated for a while. You find new ways to love someone every time you see them .
I blinked. "That's really beautiful ."
She grinned. "Plus it makes it so I don't have to see him scratching his balls on the couch and farting in the bathroom. Keeps the romance alive a lot longer, you know ?"
I laughed out loud. "That's certainly encouraging ."
She patted my shoulder and stood up. "Next time you see him, just give him a huge kiss and tell him how much you missed him. Make sure he knows it ."
I had to laugh again. "He knows it," I promised her. "I'm really good at showing my feelings." I blew my nose into a tissue she offered. "Clearly ."
She grinned and grabbed my case down from the overhead compartment. "I'll walk you out," she said, patting me again. "It's easier to do when you're not alone, trust me ."
I thanked her but insisted on carrying my own case. We disembarked together, falling in step in that easy sudden way you sometimes get with complete strangers. I swung my case wide, careful not to let it bang into my legs. At the end of the gangway, a lone, tall figure was slumped against the side .
My case left my fingers mid-swing and went clattering to the floor .
"Honey?" Laura asked .
"Hudson??" I cried .
He turned and saw me and smiled. I turned and looked at Laura. "Am I hallucinating ?"
"No, but I think I've died and gone to heaven. Who is that delectable looking man ?"
The delectable man was striding down the gangway and gathering me into his warm, real arms. I was laughing and crying and kissing him and all the while I was so fucking confused. "I just said goodbye to you!" I told him .
"Wait, this is the boyfriend?" Laura asked, looking at me like I had three heads .
"Boyfriend, huh? I like the sound of that," Hudson drawled, pulling me to kiss my head .
"What are you doing here ?"
"Picking up my girlfriend," he said with a smug smile .
"How?" I demanded. "You're leaving for Brussels tomorrow !"
He glanced at Laura. "You ever heard of hubbing?" he asked her .
She sort of shook her head. "Well, yes, of course ."
"Mind telling my girlfriend the basic idea behind it ?"
Girlfriend, I liked the sound of that .
The world's most helpful flight attendant was confused, but she gamely tried to explain about how airlines created hub airports to concentrate all their traffic through certain cities. I was nodding the whole time, staring at Hudson. "What does this have to do with you ?"
He grinned. "Wreckage is big. Huge, even. This tour has come in way under budget. August looked at the numbers and we think it's perfectly feasible for us to do the rest by jet ."
"Jet?"
He kissed me again. "Meaning I can fly out to do the show and then fly back again ."
"Back to where ?"
He kissed me. "You ."
"But how did you get here ?"
He grinned. "Private jet. Your boyfriend is a fucking rock star, babe ."
Epilogue
Tallula
I t wasn't nearly warm enough for swimming, but Hudson was attempting to anyway .
I leaned back and watched appreciatively as he dove in, knifing through the water before he emerged, sputtering and spitting at the other end. "Holy shit," he cried. "That's really fucking cold ."
"Stay away!" I shouted, but he was already lea
ping out of the water. I shrieked as he shook off like a dog right over me, spraying me with the freezing droplets. "Go away !"
"Give me your warmth!" he demanded, wedging his huge body into the small space on the chaise with me. I groaned as he shoved me over and then yelped as his freezing body touched mine. But then I sighed as he warmed immediately .
Spring in England is a treacherous thing, and we knew that. I'd wanted to stay in Tokyo a few days longer, even though the cherry blossoms had all fallen, but Hudson was insistent I get back for seminar so I could finish the semester out strong. I had pouted, making sure he knew my feelings on the matter, but my feelings were definitely starting to soften right now .
I pulled the towel up to cover us. "Good," he murmured against my shoulder. "This little strap that keeps falling down has been driving me crazy all afternoon." He slipped his fingers into the cup of my bikini .
"I lost weight again," I complained, then hummed out a little moan of pleasure as my nipples hardened under his touch. "Stop it, my mom is probably watching out the window right now. And you know my brother will be waking up soon ."
"Your house is so big I doubt anyone can see anything. We look like specks to her. Or one single speck." He slipped his hand down to spread his palm over my stomach .
I reached down and cover his hand with mine, squeezing his fingers. That empty ache had to be phantom pain by now, but it still felt so real even after all this time .
He immediately sensed the shift in my emotions and sat up, folding me against his chest. "Hey," he said, already knowing .
I inhaled sharply. "I get sad, though," I sad. "Sometimes. Not all the time, but it's still there, you know ?"
"That's fine. I get sad too." He kissed the top of my head. "I'll always miss our baby ."
I took a deep breath and leaned up to kiss his jaw. "Thank you," I murmured .
He glanced down at me and stroked my hair back from my face. "When we have a girl," he said, "I hope she has your eyes ."
I shifted and pulled back. "What do you mean, when we have a girl ?"
He swallowed but lifted his chin. Letting me see. "I want to try again, Tallula. When you're ready ."
Gasping, I flung my arms around him and laughed. "Hudson Grant, family man?" I took a moment to imagine a tiny pink baby nestled against his broad, bare chest and like the picture very, very much. "But," I declared. "My baby isn't going to be a bastard though ."
He shrugged. "So let's get married ."
My mouth fell open. "What ?"
He sat up a little and clasped my hand. "I don't want my baby being a bastard either. He or she is gonna have a father from the very beginning ."
"Wait," I shook my head, trying to rewind the conversation. "Back up. You're burying the lede here ."
He grinned. "You heard me. I said let's get married. Then we can try all we want." His eyebrows waggled. "With no worrying about the age of our condoms ."
The idea of Hudson, bare inside of me ...
I rubbed my hand down his jaw. "Honestly, I'm not sure I can wait until we're married ."
He took my other hand. "So let's get married now," he suggested. Forever cool. Forever unflappable .
But I knew him. I could see the excitement in his eyes and I laughed. "Now ?"
"Yeah. Why not? We've got the witnesses." He gestured to the house where the band was holed up before heading up to a two night festival in Leeds. "We could do it at the courthouse. Or..." he shrugged and grinned. "Whatever it is you have here in Briscombe. The constabulary. The jail spelled with a g. A judge with a funny wig ."
I socked him in the shoulder and then glanced at his eyes once again. "You're serious," I realized .
He nodded. "I am. I have been for a long, long time. Maybe since last June when I saw you walking down an aisle towards me." He glanced out at the lawn, still shabby and brown under the slate-gray skies, and smiled fondly. He turned back. "We'll have to pick you some yellow flowers," he said, with a glint in his eye .
He and I both turned towards the gardens at in unison. "There are some tulips over there by the hedge." I looked back at him. "Will those do ?"
"As long as they're yellow." He winced. "Can't really tell in the rain ."
"They are." I let my hand fall into his and he squeezed it .
"If you don't want to..." he started to say .
"Quiet." I pressed my fingers to his lips. "You know how I feel about you." I smirked. "You have to ."
"We can have a big wedding whenever you want but right now..." He twined his fingers into mine and his voice grew husky. "I want to show you ."
I grabbed his hand, ready to start running all the way to the village on foot. My heart felt like it was leaping from my chest and a million emotions crowded my brain, jostling for which would come out first .
And then I stopped and started to laugh .
Hudson watched me and the longer I laughed the wider his eyes got until he suddenly couldn't take it any longer. "What's funny ?"
I wiped the tears from my eyes. "Before we go, there's one thing we need to do ."
"What's that ?"
I grimaced and smiled. "Tell Niall ."
Hudson let out a loud bark of laughter. "Oh, whoops," he sighed .
"We're not making that mistake again." I glanced at him. "You want to get him up or should I ?"
He licked his lips and then kissed the tips of my fingers. "We can do it together ."
With that, we headed into the house. Ready to tell Niall. Ready to tell everyone .
THE END
Also by Vivian Lux
R ockstar Romance:
The Ruthless Series
JAX: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance
RANE: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance
WILDER: A Rockstar Romance
LOW: A Rockstar Romance
TRUE: A Rockstar Romance
T he Wreckage Series
JAGGED: A Rockstar Romance
RIPPED: A Rockstar Romance
SHREDDED: A Rockstar Romance
TORN: A Rockstar Romance
T he Reckless Falls Series:
KEPT: A Small Town Second Chance Romance
WRECKED: A Small Town Bad Boy Romance
TWICE: A Small Town Menage Romance
TIED: A Kinky Small Town Romance
CRAVE: A Small Town Menage Romance
PLAYED: A Small Town Billionaire Romance
S ports Romance:
FORCE: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
IMPACT: A Secret Baby Sports Romance
S ons of Steel Motorcycle Club:
Steel My Heart
Steel Me Away
Steel My Love
Steel My Soul
About the Author
V ivian Lux loves bad boys who are good men. She lives in Upstate New York with her husband and twin boys. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. When she’s not writing or reading, she’d prefer to be hiking, but is more likely dealing with the mountain of laundry that piled up while she was writing and reading .
www.vivianlux.com
[email protected]
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