“ Sir?” He took one last slow pull of the cigar in his hand before casting it aside and clearing the buildings door as he spoke,again.
“Come to my office, I need to speak with you.”
Nodding, I grabbed my cell phone from the desk I'd been sitting at and paused momentarily to spare a glance behind me.
“Talk later, man.” Tristan nodded his head in acknowledgment and it was affirmation enough for me. I turned to follow Reed into his office, my gut tightening with the instinct that something was up with both men.
“Close the door behind you and sit down.”
I did, a knot of bewildered tension coiling inside at the grave tone his voice took.
Sitting down in a chair in front of his desk, though I would have rather pace the room instead.
I could count the number of times he'd pulled me into his office on one hand and none of them had been under these circumstances.
He was either about to tell me something I wouldn't like or he was going to fire me. Since the latter was laughable, I steeled myself for whatever he was about to lay on me.
“Now as you know, your time is coming up again for a vacation.”
I frowned, both surprised and annoyed at the reminder. I wasn't very good with taking time off from this place.
My mind went in a million different directions if I didn't have something to focus on during the day and it sort of drove me mad. I didn't mind the three days I had off each week but that was mainly because I often worked twelve to twenty four hour shifts. If it weren't for those three days, I would be a fucking zombie.
I didn't need a vacation.
“I don't want time off, Sir.” As his head nodded, I saw understanding shining in his eyes.
“I know. But frankly, Lennox, the higher ups aren't very fond of one of their officers working 24/7. It's against our policy that you remain in the field without proper time off.”
My brow lowered at the direction he was going and I stood up, the hell with his orders. I'd been working under him for basically, my entire career. He knew how I felt about this shit. Why was he bringing it up now?
Shaking my head, I continued to pace.
“I understand, Sir but I don't want to sit at home for God knows how long when I should be here.”
“For fuck's sake, Hudson, sit down. I know all of this.”
I did, begrudgingly. I knew when he called me by my given name that he meant business. Like I said, he wasn't a man you wanted to mess with.
“I'm not going to order you to take a vacation, though I would like to. There is a special assignment I have for you, which will mean more hours for you but less time on the beat. This way, I know you'll at least be out of the normal in's and outs of this job and you never know, maybe you will be able to relax that iron fist of yours.”
As if on cue, my eyes landed on my hand, formed into a hard lined fist against his desk. I couldn't deny that I was a physical man, and when a suspect reached the height of my patience, I didn't hesitate to put them in their rightful place. That fact got me into trouble more times than I could count.
Nodding, I braced for whatever stupid assignment he would lay on me.
Probably a needless investigation or possibly a security detail. I'd done a few in the past and though I liked the change of pace, I didn't like having to follow someone around all day long. And to be honest, half the time I wasn't needed.
A hard look crossed his face before it was wiped clean and he reached inside his desk drawer for something. When he laid a manila envelope in front of me and flipped it open, my eyes took in the array of pictures.
A young woman, looking to be not much older than twenty five years old was photographed on each of them. The woman had long blonde, almost white hair and though only one of the images I could see her eyes, they looked to be blue. From the images in front of me, it was obvious that she had a stalker.
“Who is this?”
A case file slid in front of me next to the images and his voice took a dark edge.
“Ashlee Reed.”
My eyes damn near bugged out of my head when I heard her name.
Reed?
“This is your daughter, Sir?”
Nodding, he didn't meet my gaze like I had expected.
My sergeant dropped his head until it hit his chest and shook his head, black hair covering his eyes as he seemed to gather himself.
“Ashlee is my only child. She's my whole world, Lennox. I've watched you for a while now and despite your anger issues, I think you're a good cop. I'm trusting you with this because I don't trust anyone else to protect her. Not when I'm unsure who could be after her. She's a good girl. She keeps mostly to herself and doesn't cause much trouble.” A hint of a smile played on his mouth before he shook his head, seemingly to shake himself out of whatever thoughts had distracted him.
“I expect you to look over her as if she was your own. Someone has been watching her and I haven't the faintest clue as to who it could be. She needs protection.”
Was this the favor Tristan had asked me about in the hallway just now?
Why would he choose me to protect his daughter?
Sergeant Reed had always been harder on me than Tristan and I thought he didn't much like me. As I assessed him, sitting behind his desk, I realized I'd been wrong.
He was placing his trust in me. I wouldn't let him down.
A fleeting thought came to my mind as I nodded my head and gathered her file between my hands, making sure it was in tact before standing and meeting Reed' hard stare.
“I will protect her with my life.”
* * *
My hands clenched over the steering wheel of my Lincoln so tightly I thought it may break in the hold. Agitation rose inside me and the weight of anger pressing into my chest felt like lead. It felt like I was teetering on the edge of a cliff and any sense of control I had was stripped away from me.
I fucking loved my job. Being on the streets of Austin, Texas had become a daily regimen and a routine I was sure I would be lost without. Wearing my badge, shield and gun that hung at my belt each day was more than a job to me.
It was who I was.
The decision to forego a college education was a turning point in my life.
It was the deciding factor in whether I would step up and be the man I knew I could be or I would continue living the unfulfilled life I was. The badge I carried gave me a purpose in my life at a time when I'd needed one.
I shook my head, aggravated at the circumstance I found myself in and lowered the Oakley sunglasses that sat at the top of my head. The bright, Texas sun shone bright this morning, causing a smile to lift my lips.
My mother loves days like this. Sunny and clear.
Last night I'd gone to the local pub, just down the street from the station to meet with some of the officers I considered my friends. Tristan, my partner and his two brothers, Marcus and James.
I was reeling from what the sergeant told me, angry that frankly, I had no choice in the matter. I liked to have control of my life. Some would say, more so than normal. Having an unwanted assignment to basically baby sit Reed's daughter was ridiculous. Why did he need me to do it?
Because you're the one he trusts.
After a few drinks, I shrugged off my anger and let it go. How long could it possibly take to ensure Ashlee's safety? For fucks safe, she was in a hospital most of the time.
Her file gave me the gist of what I would be walking into with this assignment and though it wasn't much, I was grateful I wouldn't be going in blind. Ashlee was a nurse at a local hospital and spent her free time volunteering at a local animal shelter.
She seemed to have a level head on her shoulders and didn't seem to have any secrets I'd have to uncover. Yet, there was someone following her.
So maybe there was more to her than I could see from her file.
I parked the Lincoln in the closest spot to the entrance of the hospital and closed my eyes for a minute.
This will
only take a few weeks, tops.
My eyes scanned the parking lot as I strode toward the entrance of the building, I noticed the sign that greeted me.
Cedar Park Regional Medical Center.
Chapter Three
Emberly
I WAS HAVING my lunch break, sitting outside the front entrance to the hospital when a sleek, shiny car pulled into the parking lot and for some strange reason, my eyes were pulled to the drivers side door as it opened and a dark head of hair emerged from behind it. A man unfolded from the car and I gasped as I caught my first glimpse of him. I wasn't sure if you could call the mass of muscle and tanned skin a man. He looked to be more of a beast of a man, to me.
For some reason, my desire to people watch disappeared into thin air. The man standing on the side walk only ten or so feet from me intrigued me immediately, causing my skin to lift with goosebumps and my heart to fasten in it's pace within my heaving, erratic chest. He was built like a truck, large, broad shoulders meeting thick, muscular biceps and forearms covered by the black tee shirt he wears.
His sun kissed flesh moved as the muscles in his shoulders tightened, then released and my eyes became transfixed on the sight. My wandering eyes continued their search of him, my wide, curious stare finding his hands, clenched at his hands and I gasped, audibly.
What a man like that could do with those hands of that size…
I felt the surge of energy coming off of him, the agitation painted over the hard features of his face telling me something has angered him, that much was obvious to me. My teeth sunk into the skin of my lower lip as I continued to look at every inch of him. This man was nothing like any other man I had ever, encountered and that fact causes a sharp pull inside of me.
As if he felt my eyes on him, the man suddenly whipped his head in my direction and I froze, caught, like a deer in headlights. I had no idea why I was looking at him like I was or why I had this longing to step closer to this beastly man.
He could hurt you. My inner voice said to me, urging me to look away.
But for once in my life, I don't listen to that voice. I'm too curious about him. But as he approached me slowly, surely, like a predator eager for his next meal, I stilled my body, unwilling to wield to the sudden urge I had to go to him.
He was a stranger. So, why was I suddenly eager for his brand of trouble?
“Hey,” His deep toned voice fell between us and unconsciously, I leaned forward in my seat, not wanting the distance between us to exist. The massive hands at his sides reached between us and I found myself holding my breath, as if every molecule in my body was awaiting his touch.
When strong, thick fingers wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me slightly forward, I let myself be pulled from my seat and into his personal space.My skin tingled deliciously at his touch. I had the fleeting thought that he shouldn't ever stop touching me.
“Hudson,” He rumbled, deeply, his voice once again broke the silence between us. My teeth dug into my lower lip again and I tried to remember how to speak as he assessed me with eyes as blue as the clear sky above us.
“I-I'm Emberly. Em.”
My voice comes out in a tumble of words, the sounds ragged and disjointed and clenching my eyes shut, I felt my face flame.
Stupid, stupid girl.
“Emberly…” He said my name like it was so much more than a name, like it was something to be treasured. My lips tipped up and my eyes opened, only to be met by the heart stopping smile he gave me.
I hardly knew the man, no, I knew nothing about him but when he smiled like that, my heart seemed to stop in my chest.
I'd stayed away from men as much as I could and for good reason. My father was a bad man and after realizing that fact, I knew I could never trust another man.
I learned early on that everyone has something to hide.
A secret.
A lie.
A hidden agenda.
An insecurity that no one can understand but them. I have a few of those.
Robert Logan had a truckload of them, making it his life's work to lie and steal and barter with even the worst of people this world had to offer.
You would have thought that being his only child, I would have been somewhat shielded from that side of him, but no.
He had no shame of the man he was.
He was a liar and a snake and the one lesson he taught me was this:
No matter how hard you try, you cannot force someone to love you.
I had tried for basically, well, my whole life to get him to do just that and in the end, I lost myself.
That was many years ago and since then, I've learned a few more lessons along the way. I look away from my hands that have knotted themselves together against my side and shrug my pensive thoughts of my father away, not wanting to dwell on the past I'd rather forget. Because in this moment, I felt alive.
My heart was beating so fast that I could hardly catch my breath.
My eyes feast on the man before me and for the first time in my life, desire coiled low and thick inside of my belly.
I hardly know him but I want him.
I see something dark pass over Hudson's face and though I can't decipher it, it erases the smile across his striking face, the lines of his jaw forming a hardened look that causes worry to curl into my veins. I don't know what I did to erase that beautiful expression he'd graced me with just now, but I instantly regret it. I wanted to ask what was wrong, what had upset him but my trepidation in the presence of another large, intimidating man; one that was probably used to using his size and strength to hurt those around him, just like my father…
No. I thought to myself. He wasn't him. Even just the few minutes I'd spend regarding him told me that. Not all men were as dark and disturbed as the man who raised me had been and reminding myself of that, I let my body slowly relax, the man in front of me somehow calming me with his presence. He moved forward, his large combat boots that he wears coming closer and closer until he is only an inch from me, his hands coming up from his sides and he cups the back of my neck in one of them while the other slides deftly down the length of my arm to grasp my hand beneath his much larger one. The way he rubs the pad of his rough, callused thumb over my nape made me edge closer to him, as if my body was drawn into the orbit his heat creates. I don't know what I am doing but one thing I do know for sure is that for some crazy reason, he makes me feel safe. He caused warmth to center inside of me and I don't want to let go of that just yet.
“What's wrong? It's written all over your face, Emberly. Tell me what's bothering you.”
For some reason, I liked that he didn't call me Em. The way his deep baritone curled around my name sent shivers up my skin, as if he was touching me. I wanted to hear it again.
He's luring me closer and he smiled softly, subtly raising his eyebrows, black and thick just like the lashes that surround his pale blue eyes.
“It was nothing.” I half whispered, confused as to what the hell was going on with me at the moment. Hudson just pressed closer, and the fabric of his denim jeans brushed against my knees as he boxed me in to the wall closest to where we stood. My heart beat begun to race.
Not from fear, which should have been my logical reaction to a man I didn't know cornering me outside of my place of work but no, his closeness excited me. I wanted him closer. So much closer.
He was intriguing the hell out of me and I needed to know more about this man. Was he real?
“I want you to tell me.”
He repeated his statement and this time, I weakened, wanting to open up to him. His eyes were stark and beautiful and focused, right on me. I wasn't sure what it was about me that had him so invested, what pulled him to me enough to approach and talk to me just now; but I was thankful he had. As his thick, dark brows lifted, I remembered his question and nodded my head.
Though I didn't know him, I had a feeling that denying him wasn't an easy feat. Everything about Hudson screamed confidence and I wasn't about to deny him such a si
mple thing, especially when he was looking at me with those round, intense eyes. It wouldn't surprise me if women made a habit of throwing themselves at his feet with just one look from him.
My head dropped just slightly and a heavy sigh left me and I told him.
“I wasn't expecting you. I have a hard time trusting men and with you so close, like… this… I can't think straight.”
My words were just a whisper and when he takes a large step back and frowns deeply, my heart dropped to my feet instantly.
I shouldn't have said anything.
I watched his every step as he retreated from my space and lowering my head, shame filled my veins with what felt like lead.
I thought that was the last time I would ever see him.
What I didn't know was that Hudson would come to mean much more than a mysterious stranger to me.
Chapter Four
Emberly
1 Month Later
ONE OF MY favorite Linkin Park songs played through my headphones and the deep, gritty sound of the lead singer's voice as he sings motivated me to move faster, push myself to work harder. It was Saturday morning and as I had the day off, I decided to get in a much needed work out to start the day.
My whole body ached from the long week at the hospital and all I wanted to do was sleep. Thankfully, after I finished up here, that's exactly what I'd planned to do. I loved my job but sometimes, I wished I could have a life outside of the hospital and all that encompasses it. I often worked twelve to twenty four hour shifts and it wore me out, physically yes, but emotionally too. The work I did was so damn rewarding but it took a toll. The infants I cared for were the most precious things I had ever laid eyes on and it was humbling to know that I was helping them and their families during times of need.
But standing between life and death each and every day wasn't what I expected when I signed up for nursing school. I imagined all of the people I would help and the good I could do to those that needed it. Working for the hospital had its ups and its downs but, to be honest, I cherished the days I didn't have to go in. The time to regroup was much needed, especially after the long week I'd had. I didn't tell Linda any of that, though.
Air I Breathe (Hudson and Emmy Book 1) Page 2