by Jill Shalvis
choked on it. “Penny is dead to me.”
Gray grinned. “You going to deny that you banged Bailey in your office?”
“Jesus.”
“Listen, you bang on the clock, you have to talk about the bang.”
Hud drilled his finger into Gray’s chest. “Say ‘bang’ one more time and I’ll kick your ass.”
Gray grinned wide. “Fine. I’ll stop saying it. But not because I’m afraid of you. Because I have to go.”
Hud caught him by the back of his jacket. “Who else knows besides you and your big-mouthed wife?”
“About the banging?” Gray wisely shook free and took a couple of steps back as he spoke, counting off on his fingers. “Lily, Aidan, Kenna…”
“So everyone,” Hud said, annoyed. “Everyone knows. Shit.” He looked at Mitch, occupied with running the training session. “Don’t let anyone tell Mitch.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s got a bigger mouth than you and Penny. He’ll tell everyone else.”
Gray shrugged. “Should’ve taken her someplace more private.”
“Like you do?”
“That’s right,” Gray said. “I take Penny some place real private. Like my office closet.” He grinned. “Have to, she’s noisy so we need the extra buffer.”
Hud resisted stabbing himself with his ski pole while Gray finished his bag of M&M’s and eyed Hud’s.
Hud tightened his grip on his bag. “What do you want?”
“Confirmation on the you-and-Bailey thing.”
Hud stared at Gray. “Tell me you didn’t really come up here just for that.”
“Hey, it’s big news.”
“How so?”
Gray shrugged. “Maybe I’m just curious whether you’re going to find your happy or not.”
Hud blinked. “Why are you talking like Penny all of a sudden?”
“What do you mean?”
“Asking me about my feelings and shit.”
“Because that’s what we do,” Gray said.
“We do that never.”
Gray scratched his head. “No?”
“No, and you’re full of shit. You’re not up here for you. You’re up here for Penny. She made you.”
Gray grimaced. “Lily too. So you’ve got to give me something,” Gray said. “I can’t go back to those two empty-handed.”
Hud ran a hand down his face. “I can’t believe how afraid of two sweet, adorable women you are.”
“Are you kidding me?” Gray asked. “Those two aren’t sweet, adorable women! They’re hormone driven, crazy, and obsessed with curiosity about you and Bailey. I can’t go home until I get the scoop.”
“Well you should get comfortable in the doghouse then, cuz I’m not giving you the scoop.”
Gray blew out a sigh. “At least tell me how the choking-hazard Underoos went over.”
Hud choked on another M&M. “Dammit.”
Gray grinned from ear to ear. “So you were wearing them. And you got laid anyway? Man, she’s a total keeper, just sayin’.”
Hud lunged for him but Gray was nothing if not quick as hell. Laughing like a loon, he twisted away.
Hud blew out a breath. “I’ve got a question.”
“What?” Gray asked.
“You said I’d know when it was time to open up and let her in.” He paused, hating that he had to ask. “But I don’t.”
Gray straightened, his eyes going serious. “Holy shit. You love her.”
Hud froze and looked around. “Who told you that?” he hissed.
“You just did.” Gray smiled and clapped a hand on Hud’s shoulder. “And you’ll just know. I promise.” And with that, he pushed off on his skis and was gone in a blink.
Bastard.
Hud reached for his phone to call Aidan and tell him that his fiancée was every bit as crazy as Penny.
And that’s when he realized he didn’t have his phone.
He slapped his pockets, searching, before flashing back to slipping his sweatshirt over Bailey’s head. Damn. She had his phone.
Back in Denver.
“Mitch,” he yelled. “Need your phone.”
Mitch pitched it over and went back to training.
Hud dialed his own phone and held his breath. Would she answer it if she saw a number she wouldn’t recognize? Would she answer at all? They hadn’t exactly parted on rosy terms. One minute he’d been inside her in more ways than one, having unarguably the absolute best time of his life, and the next a bucket of cold water had been tossed over their heads in the form of one pissed-off mama—
“Hudson Kincaid’s phone.”
He felt a smile crease his face at the sound of her voice. Not exactly friendly or open, but he’d take it. “Hey,” he said. “You answered.”
“Hud? I’m so sorry I ended up with your phone,” she said in a rush. “Do you have any idea how many times a day it goes off?”
He laughed a little. “Yeah.”
“I saw it said ‘Dumb Ass calling’ and I figured it was someone you knew pretty well so I answered.”
Hud looked at Mitch and grinned. “Fast thinking and pretty.”
She laughed. “I answered in case it was an emergency. I was going to overnight the phone to you first thing in the morning—”
“I’ll text you our courier information,” he said. “Use our account so you don’t have to pay for it.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice softer now.
“You pick up any more phone calls I should know about?” he asked.
“No.” She paused. “Mostly because I didn’t want to get you in any sort of trouble with… anyone.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“You know,” she said softly. “Like another woman.”
Aw. Look at her fishing. Equal parts heat, amusement, and affection went through him. “If the triplets call, tell them I’m busy this weekend.”
She choked out a laugh. “Will do.” She paused again. “But are you? Busy this weekend?”
He smiled. “You coming up?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Then yeah, I’m busy.”
There was a beat of silence at that. She didn’t know how to take him. Which made them perfectly even because he had no idea how to take her either.
“What if an important text comes through?” she asked.
“Would it be from you?”
She laughed. “Why would I send you a text when I’m holding your phone?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But you should feel free to take lots of pics of yourself with my camera.”
“I’m going to hang up now,” she said.
“Or videos—” He grinned when she disconnected him. He tossed Mitch’s phone back.
“Nice to see you smiling,” Mitch said. “More trips to your office with the hottie artist for you.”
Chapter 22
On Monday, Bailey worked with one eye on her phone, waiting to hear back from the doctor about her checkup.
She heard nothing.
She finally quit work a little early to package up Hud’s phone and get it to the post office for overnight delivery. She was just setting it into the box when it buzzed an incoming text from “Mom.” The first few lines of the text showed up on the screen and read:
Need to talk to you. Call me? I think Jacob’s got a problem and only you can—
That was it. That was all she could see in the preview. To access the text would require her to swipe her finger across the screen, which was much more of an invasion of his privacy than taking a quick peek at his screen as texts came in. She closed her eyes, feeling torn between guilt for seeing it in the first place and worry.
Worry won.
She called the resort and asked for Hudson. She was sent to his voice mail. The sound of his voice telling her to leave a message sent a low-level sense of anticipation humming through her.
Okay, a high level.
The highest.
She l
ooked at the time. Three o’clock. If she left right now she could get to Cedar Ridge just as dark hit. The weather was clear at the moment, but if the roads iced up later she’d have to spend the night. This should’ve deterred her in a big way. She had work to do here and she needed the money.
She got into her car anyway.
She got to the resort at five thirty. The lot was nearly empty. The sun had dropped behind the mountains, leaving the kind of dark that a city girl had a hard time getting used to. Up here there were no streetlights, no traffic sounds, no billboards.
The resort offices had a deserted feel. A young woman had a cleaning cart and was working on the floors. “It’s a weekday,” she said to Bailey’s inquiry. “Resort closed at four thirty.”
“Is Hudson still here by any chance?”
The woman looked at a wall that was almost entirely covered by a huge dry-erase board. It had a long list of people on the left. To the right you could see if a person was on duty and where they were located on the mountain. Hud was listed third after Gray and Aidan, and, no surprise, he was on duty. But his location box was empty.
“He’s probably somewhere around here,” the woman said. “He’s in charge of a lot and is always on the move.”
Gray came out from an office and went brows up at the sight of Bailey.
“I came to bring Hudson his phone,” she explained.
He blinked. “You have his phone?”
“Yes, it was an accident. He gave me his sweatshirt on Saturday and his phone was in the pocket…” She trailed off at the look on Gray’s face. “He didn’t tell you?”
“Can I see it?”
She handed the phone over and Gray slid his thumb across the screen.
“You think something’s wrong?” she asked him.
Gray didn’t answer but worked his thumbs furiously for a moment, then handed her the phone.
She stared at him. “You don’t want to give it to him?”
He grinned. “Hell no, I don’t want the evidence anywhere near me.”
“What?”
He just patted her on the arm. “You can leave the phone on his desk. Or if you want to deliver it in person, he’s visiting his mom tonight.”
She bit her lip.
“Ah. You’re as chickenshit about this stuff as he is, huh?” He shook his head. “I’m disappointed.”
She had no idea what that meant, but she headed toward the door.
“You two are perfect for each other,” he said to her back. “Both stubborn as hell. You need to figure out how to portray that on the mural. Maybe label beneath his picture: ‘Mr. Obstinate’ or something.”
She laughed and turned back. “And what would be your label?”
“Mr. Hot-ass Troublemaker.” This from Penny, who came in from outside. She pushed back her hood and met Gray’s eyes.
Gray immediately dropped his amusement and strode straight for his wife, pulling her into his arms hard.
“I’m all wet,” she murmured.
“Just the way I like you.” His voice was low and soft with affection and a lot more. “Missed you today, babe.”
Their embrace was incredibly intimate, and feeling like she was intruding on a private moment, Bailey let herself out into the night.
She drove into town and a few minutes later knocked on Carrie’s door.
“Two birthday visitors in one night!” Carrie said, happy.
“Birthday?” Bailey asked.
“It’s my birthday,” Carrie said, and beamed.
The first time Bailey had been here, all those weeks ago now, Carrie had told Bailey that her birthday had been just the week before. But not wanting to upset Carrie, she just smiled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t bring you anything. But I will next time.”
“I love presents,” Carrie said. “And cupcakes. Hud’s here too. He’s chatting with the gals in the front office. Said he had some paperwork.”
Paperwork could mean anything, but not for the first time it occurred to Bailey that Carrie’s stay here had to be expensive for Hud and Jacob, very expensive.
“It’s a Monday,” Carrie said. “Not that I’m not thrilled to see you, but what are you doing here tonight?”
Not wanting to admit that she’d accidentally read her private text to her son, she smiled. “Just wanted to check in on things. How are you?”
“I’ve got one of my boys here tonight,” Carrie said simply, “so I couldn’t be better. Now you.”
“I’m good.”
Carrie smiled. “Because you’re here visiting my boy?”
Bailey laughed. “Are you matchmaking?”
“If you have to ask, I’m not doing it right,” Carrie said. Her smile turned sly. “Just seems like there’s a little something there, don’t you think?”
Bailey had been thinking of nothing but that very fact. Whether she admitted it out loud or not, there was more than a “little something there” between her and Hud. And it only strengthened with time. She could close her eyes and see his slow, lazy smile, hear his sexy voice… feel him buried inside her.
“You look happy, you know,” Carrie said. “He’s made you happy, hasn’t he?”
Bailey opened her mouth and then closed it, making Carrie laugh. “Oh, ignore me,” Hud’s mom said. “I like to butt in where I’m not welcome. Lifelong habit.”
“It’s not that you’re not welcome,” Bailey assured her. “It’s more that it’s been so long since I could just enjoy myself that suddenly I’m not sure what to do with all the emotions.”
“You could just let them come,” Carrie suggested with brilliant simplicity. “Let things happen.”
“I’m not all that good at that,” Bailey admitted.
Carrie tilted her head to the side. “That’s okay. You might’ve noticed my son isn’t very good with it either.”
“No,” Bailey said on a short laugh. “He’s not.”
“It’s because he has so much on his plate all the time and he always has. It’s a heavy weight, all that responsibility, although he’s pretty comfortable wearing it. He ever tell you about the well?”
Bailey shook her head.