Smitten

by Brooks, Gemma

  “So, Alec tells me you’re back together with Hudson,” Mia said. “How’s that going?”

  I’d meant to get a hold of her the day she gave me her number, but everything happened so fast with Hudson and by the time a day or two had gone by, part of me wondered if it was too late to contact her. A small part of me assumed she was just being nice, but now I was beginning to realize just how genuine Mia really was. I wanted to hug her.

  “We are officially back together,” I said. “It turns out we had a little mole in our midst.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Mia took a seat on the round, tufted ottoman that rested in the center of her dressing room, fully engaged and waiting for me to tell the story.

  “His housekeeper, Flor,” I said with an eye roll. “Ava had been paying her cash all along to tell her things. That’s how Ava knew where we were all the time, when we were home, when we were gone, when we were out on a date. That’s how she knew about the ring. Flor had told her everything.”

  Mia’s hand covered her full pout as her eyes widened and she shook her head in disbelief. “That’s seriously my worst nightmare.”

  Alec was being extra quiet.

  “So did he fire her?” Mia asked.

  “Yeah, he let her go,” I said. “It was so hard for him to do it, but it had to be done. That trust is gone now.”

  Mia shook her head again. “That’s really too bad, but at least you have your answers now.”

  “Yeah, the chaos should die a bit now that she’s out of the picture,” I said. “I don’t think she really liked me anyway.”

  “What?” Mia laughed. “That’s impossible. You’re, like, the sweetest girl ever.”

  Perhaps Flor was slightly jealous of my little Cinderella story. No girl-next-door gets swept away by some gorgeous actor and treated like a princess. It doesn’t happen. Not like that. But it happened to me. I’d never fully understand it, but I understood why people resented me for it.

  “Alec, why are you so quiet over there?” I asked. It wasn’t like him to mind his own business and not inject his two cents into the conversation.

  He shrugged, and I could sense something was on his mind.

  “Yeah, Alec, what’s up?” Mia asked.

  “What, were you on Ava’s payroll too?” I asked. I was one-hundred percent joking. Alec turned to look at me, and in an instant I knew.

  “One time,” he said. “Once. That’s it.”

  “Alec, what are you talking about?” I said with a nervous chuckle. He had to be kidding.

  “I didn’t get paid or anything,” he said. “She didn’t buy me out. And I hardly knew you.”

  “Alec, what did you tell her?” I took a step closer to him, my hands on my hips. In that space, he wasn’t my boss. He was my friend. The first friend I’d made in L.A. and my closest friend.

  “Remember that day in the boutique?” he asked. “When she came in with her friends and got in your face?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “I told her we were going to be there that day,” he said with an outward cringe. “I swear to you, Brynn, I didn’t know she was going to do what she did. She told me she just wanted to see you in person. She wanted to see what you looked like up close. She was just being nosy. I didn’t think she would set up this confrontation and call the paps and sell a story to the tabloid.”

  “Oh, my lord,” Mia said as she sipped her iced coffee drink. “You just don’t know Ava that well, do you.”

  “She threatened my business,” he said. “She said she’d slander my name to everyone she knew if I didn’t tell her. Brynn, I’ve worked so hard to build up my business. Do you know how hard it is in this town to keep clients? There’s always someone younger and hotter coming around, threatening to be the next best stylist and when one client flocks to them so do the rest.”

  I completely understood, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

  “It’s true,” Mia said. “Loyalty is rare around here.”

  She reached over and patted Alec on the shoulder.

  “I love my Alec though,” she said with a smile. She was trying to cheer him up. “You’ve styled me since I was knee high to a grasshopper.”

  She managed to crack a small smile from him.

  “Whatever,” he huffed. “It’s been, like, two years.”

  “Okay, but they’ve been the best two years ever,” Mia insisted.

  I stood in silence for a bit while I took it in and those two joked around. Clearly Alec was sorry, and Mia seemed to get it.

  “I’m sorry, Brynn,” he said as he stopped joking around for a bit. “Truly. It ate me up inside for the longest time.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. Underneath it all, I got it. And if Alec wasn’t such a good friend, he wouldn’t have given me a job or a place to live when I didn’t have anywhere to go. “Thanks for being honest.”

  The irony of the situation was not lost on me, and suddenly I felt guilty for pushing Hudson to fire Flor. But at least Alec was honest about what he’d done. Flor refused to even admit it to Hudson.

  “Oh, let me try this on,” Mia said as she held up a black, Herve Leger band aid dress. “I’ve been dying to squeeze my fat ass into one of these.”

  Mia lightened the mood, true to her infectious, happy self, and for that I was grateful.

  CHAPTER 29

  “What’s this?” I called out as I walked in the door after a long day of work. Alec had run me ragged that day, and I was beginning to wish I’d negotiated some kind of mileage reimbursement with him.

  A symphony of delicious dinner smells wafted my way, and over to the left was a candle lit dinner ready and waiting on the table.

  “Did you do this?” I asked Hudson as he stirred some sauce on the stove.

  He beamed ear to ear and flashed me a gorgeous smile.

  “You didn’t have to do this.” I kicked off my shoes and sat my bag on the counter. I walked over, stood on my toes, and kissed his scruffy cheek. “Thank you.”

  “Go, sit down,” he said as he nudged towards the dining table.

  As I took my seat, he rushed over with a glass of white wine and a plate full of roasted chicken, sautéed vegetables, and bow tie pasta with a cream sauce.

  “You made all this?” I asked. My mouth watered at the sight. He’d even sprinkled a little parsley on the edges of the plate. Adorable. “I didn’t know you even knew how to cook.”

  He took a seat next to me. “Dig in.”

  One bite turned into two, and then two turned into three. It was one of the most delicious meals I’d ever tasted.

  “This is so good, Hudson,” I raved. “Really. Very impressed.”

  “I hope you saved room for dessert,” he said. He was proud of his little spread, but I could tell he was trying to remain humble. “Tiramisu.”

  “Oh, God,” I moaned. “You’re the best.”

  “So,” he said between bites. “I have a little treat for you tomorrow.”

  “What’s that?” I was so spoiled.

  “We’re going to Hawaii for a few days,” he said.

  The flicker of the candles in his eyes and the soft lighting against his perfect face still made me weak in the knees, and I hoped it always would.

  “Hawaii? Are you serious?”

  “I wanted to take you to Cabo, but then I realized you don’t have a passport yet,” he said. “We really need to work on that.”

  “I’ve never needed one until I met you,” I reminded him. “What about work? I need to talk to Alec and see if I can get the time off.”

  “No need,” he said. “I’ve already handled it.”

  “You’re just too good to me.” I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if I’d tried.

  “I just figured it’s time for us to get away from all the chaos and bullshit and start fresh. I want to get us back on track,” he said. “No distractions. Just us.”

  “Exactly the way it should be,” I said. “I love it.”

  “I love you,” he said. For
the first time in a long time, he seemed at ease. Relaxed. At peace.

  With Flor out of the picture and Ava warned not to bother us anymore, we’d eliminated two of the biggest threats to our relationship. My new job had given me the sense of purpose and financial independence I’d been craving, and I couldn’t wait to get to know Mia a little more. Things were finally looking up. All the pieces were fitting together exactly the way they should’ve been all along.

  “I’ll always fight for you,” Hudson said with his hand cupping my face. He leaned in and kissed my lips. “Just know that. I’m never letting you go.”

  “You won’t have to fight for me anymore,” I said. “I’m yours. Forever. No matter what. I love you, Hudson Smith.”

  “Do you here that?” I asked, as the buzzer from the gate echoed throughout the house.

  “Ugh,” Hudson sighed. “Who could be here this time of night. Is Andre stopping by?”

  “No,” I replied. “Not that I know of.”

  Hudson pushed his chair out from the table and walked over to command center in the kitchen to check the gate camera. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “What? What is it?” I asked, worried.

  “Ava,” he said through gritted teeth. Once again she hadn’t learned to stay away.

  “You’re joking, right?” I stood up from the table, our perfect little night ruined. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m calling the police,” he sighed with an air of regret. “I didn’t want it to come to this, and I certainly don’t need the bad publicity right now with the movie coming out.”

  “No such thing as bad publicity, right?” I asked as I rubbed his shoulder. “If this is what it takes for her to learn her lesson…”

  “Maybe,” he said as he pulled his phone from his pocket. “She’s not right in the head, Brynn. I don’t know if this will teach her anything. We can only hope.”

  “But what other choice do you have? You told her to stay away and then she just shows up,” I said with one hand on my hip. “You’re too nice. You have to do this.”

  Hudson nodded and proceeded to talk to the dispatcher on the other end. “Okay, they’re sending someone out.”

  Ava buzzed from the gate again. And again. And again.

  “Should we go out there?” I asked.

  “Let’s wait for the police,” Hudson said. “I don’t trust her to be civil right now. She’s probably drunk.”

  Twenty minutes later, an officer arrived and we headed outside beyond the gate. Ava’s white Aston Martin was parked haphazardly, partially sticking out of the driveway.

  “Hudson!” she cried when she saw him. “Hudson, I have to talk to you!”

  “Ava,” he said with sternness in his tone. “I told you never to bother us again.”

  “It’s important,” she said as she staggered. She was clearly under the influence of something. “I’m pregnant. I’m having our baby.”

  Hudson laughed, a big boisterous belly laugh. “Is that why you reek of liquor?”

  She stepped closer to him with her hand on her belly, ignoring the fact that no one was taking her seriously. “Remember that night, when I came to your hotel room? Wait, you were pretty drunk…you might not remember it.”

  Her words were directed towards him, but she looked at me the entire time. My heart raced, praying her words were not true.

  “Ava,” he said through gritted teeth. “You’re a liar and you’re a manipulator, and I will not have you butting into my relationship anymore. This is it. It’s over. You need to move on. You’re not pregnant. We did not have sex. I love Brynn. I love her more than anything in this world, and I’ll be damned if you ever try to destroy us again. Do you understand me?”

  The bass in his voice sent shivers down my spine. I could only hope that Ava was receiving his message loud and clear.

  “But…” she said, her bottom lip trembling as an officer began to put her hands behind her back. “Hudson…don’t do this…”

  Hudson stepped away from her and towards me, gripping my hand into his. He said nothing more to her. He’d already said all that needed to be said. We stood side by side as we watched the officer put her in the back of the squad car and drive her away.

  “Now, where were we?” Hudson said as he took me by the hand and led me back inside. And just like that, everything was right in the world once again.

  EPILOGUE

  One year later…

  I rolled over in bed, my body wrapped in luxurious, clean white sheets and the sound of the ocean lapping against the undersides of our hut served as the most perfect alarm clock.

  “Hudson?” I called out, realizing he wasn’t in bed with me.

  I peeled myself from our luxurious bed in our luxurious little hut on our luxurious little Fijian vacation and sauntered outside where Hudson was perched, feet up, reading the news on his iPad.

  “There you are,” he said, placing his feet back on the ground. He stood up and walked over to me, kissing me sweetly on the lips. “Good morning.”

  “You seem extra chipper today,” I laughed. He’d just returned from filming a movie the week before and the Fiji vacation was a complete surprise. He’d told me to get a passport months ago, but I never knew when I’d be putting it to use.

  “Isn’t it beautiful here? The clear, blue waters, the weather … you,” he said.

  “Okay, okay,” I said, swatting his chest. “Why are you buttering me up?”

  “Because I want you to be in a really good mood,” he said with a devious grin.

  “And why’s that?”

  “Because I want to make sure you say yes when I ask you to marry me,” he said, dropping to one knee. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a blue box and propped it open to reveal the most dazzling diamond solitaire I’d ever seen in my life. The glint and glimmer reflecting off the morning sun nearly blinded me as I stood with my jaw hanging open. “Brynn Dawson, I love you. I love you more than anyone I’ve ever known. You’re a breath of fresh air, and I never want to lose you. I want you to be mine forever. Will you marry me?”

  Happy tears pooled in my eyes as I nodded and reached for the ring, slipping it on my left ring fingers and wrapping my arms around him. I thought about all we’d been through, and how throughout it all, Hudson had never left my side. He’d always fought when things got tough. He was the kind of guy you marry. The kind of guy who made a good husband. “Yes, Hudson. I’ll marry you.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Gemma Brooks is a sucker for a good love story that's peppered with plenty of drama. Writing since she was old enough to pick up a pen and graduating from college with a degree in English, Gemma's hunger for crafting stories has always been nothing short of insatiable.

  When she's not hiding behind her laptop feverishly typing up scene after scene like a mad woman, you can find her drinking tea lattes from a local coffee shop, shopping for new perfume or lux candles, working on her tan, or searching for the perfect shade of red lipstick (which she still has yet to find).

  For updates and information on Gemma's release schedule, please "like" her page on Facebook or sign up for her mailing list. New books will be added monthly!

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  THANK YOU FROM THE AUTHOR

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for reading my book! I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. If you wouldn’t mind taking a moment and leaving a review on Amazon, I would be tickled pink!

  Thanks again!

  Gemma

 

 

 
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