“I’ve wanted you forever,” he told her, digging his fingers into the soft mass of her beautiful hair. Seeing the question in her eyes, he went on. “It’s true, Doc. From the first moment I ever laid eyes on you. And I started falling in love with you during our first conversation a few years ago, when you called me a conceited jackass.”
“But the other night you said you’d just wanted to fuck me.”
“I did,” he rasped, giving her a crooked smile. “But it was so much more than that. I wanted to toss you over my shoulder and steal you away. Keep you forever. Make you mine, in every way. I wanted you so badly it fucking tore me up inside that I couldn’t have you.”
Placing her soft palm against his chest, over the heavy beat of his heart, she asked, “Then why didn’t you ever say anything?”
He gave a dry laugh. “Because I knew you knew I was a fuckup. And, well, for a long time I thought you were in love with my little brother. That would be Ben, not Mike.”
“Hmm. I don’t think I’d call Ben little.”
Arching an eyebrow, he asked, “Is that all you have to say about that?”
“Well, it’s a bit creepy,” she murmured, scrunching up her cute little nose. “I mean, he’s like a brother to me, too. I know he’s hot and all, but we’ve just never had that kind of connection.”
“I’m glad,” he said with a heavy dose of satisfaction. “It would have sucked to have to kill him. I kind of like the guy.”
She blinked, looking like he’d just told her he saw dead people. “You would choose me over Ben?”
“You still don’t get it, do you?” he said, wanting her to see the truth in his eyes as he put his face close to hers. “I would choose you over anyone or anything, Doc. I love you. And one of these days, after I’ve proven myself to you, you’re going to marry my stubborn ass.”
Her jaw actually dropped. “I thought you believed that marriage and Hudson men don’t mix. Isn’t that what you’re always saying?”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been known to say a lot of shit,” he muttered against her lips, needing more of her taste. Needing more of everything when it came to her.
Pulling his head back so that he could see her eyes again, he ran his fingers through her silky hair. “I’m so damn sorry for fucking up so badly, Doc. If I hadn’t been such an idiot, you would have been home with me that day and he never would have gotten close to you. I’m sorry for so many things. For all the times I said dick things to you, when I should have been seducing you. For not figuring out earlier that I was head-over-ass in love with you, instead of running like a jackass.”
“Alex—”
Cutting her off, he said, “I’m sorry that I didn’t find you sooner. That I wasn’t there to stop every bad thing that’s ever happened to you and that I wasn’t there to hold and comfort you afterward. But if you’ll let me, I promise I’ll always be there from this day forward. I love you so much, and I will work my ass off to be worthy of you.” Exhaling deeply as he tried to calm his emotional outpouring, Alex shot her a wry grin, then drawled, “And for such a smart woman, you should have known better than to listen to any of that shit I said about marriage. That was just stupid.”
She laughed as she smacked his shoulder, then gave him a kind of shy, impossibly sexy smile. “You know how you can make it up to me?”
Giving her a heavy-lidded look, he asked, “How’s that, Doc?”
“I want you to love me some more.”
“I’ll love you forever,” he told her, the look on her precious face so beautiful it made his chest hurt. It was a face he was going to love not only ten years from now, but twenty . . . thirty . . . fifty. Until the day he fucking died.
“I’m holding you to that,” she said huskily, running her hot little hand down the front of his body.
“You do that, baby. Just promise to always hold me tight,” he groaned against her lips, rolling her to her back as he came down over her, which was right where he belonged. “And close. As close as you can, Doc. For-fucking-ever.”
Epilogue
Weeks later . . .
ALEX HUDSON HAD THE SUN, SAND, AND A BREATHTAKING VIEW OF THE woman he loved in a bikini. Life just didn’t get any fucking better than this.
The Fourth of July barbecue that Ben and Reese were throwing was proving to be the best party of the year, and as cheesy as it sounded, love was definitely in the air. Or, hell, maybe it was in the water. All Alex knew was that he’d found his own little personal slice of heaven here in the sleepy little town of Moss Beach. He smiled so often these days his family had taken to calling him “Dimples,” which was beyond stupid, but he was suffering through it with a good-natured attitude that still had the power to leave them stunned.
It was apparently going to take them a while to get used to the fact that he was no longer a foul-tempered, broody, cold-hearted son of a bitch. But he knew it would come with time.
Alex also knew there were times when his past would weigh him down, fucking with his head. But Brit would be there to see him through. To lead him from the shadows and back into the light.
He didn’t deserve her, but he was sure as fuck keeping her. Keeping her as close as humanly possible, until the day he died.
Though the start of their relationship had been as tumultuous as a storm, things were finally settling into a calmer rhythm. No longer comfortable in her house, after what had happened there with Shepherd, she’d sold it and moved in with him at the condo, which he loved. And her old boss, Ray McNamara, was no longer an issue. When the guy had found out they were moving in together, he acted like an ass, and Brit told him she’d had enough. She’d opened her own private therapy practice and was doing great, just like Alex had known she would. He was so damn proud of her, and he made it a point to tell her whenever she needed to hear the words.
In an unexpected twist, it seemed that getting better at sharing his feelings with the woman who owned his heart meant that he was also better at reading her own emotions. And, God, did that come in handy. Especially since there were still times he put his foot in it and acted like a jackass.
He might be in love, but he was still a guy. Which meant he was known to talk out of his ass from time to time. But he’d gotten damn good at saying he was sorry when he needed to. And the doc always did the same. It wasn’t hard to figure out that this was how a healthy relationship worked, and Alex knew deep down that he would never be able to thank her enough for giving him a second chance to show her that he could love her.
And loving Dr. Cramer was something he’d become exceptionally good at.
Leaning back in his beach chair, Alex grinned as he watched Brit goofing around down in the water with Mike, Ben, and a still-not-showing, but over-the-moon-to-be-pregnant Reese. He loved watching the doc interact with his family. And later, when they’d all gathered back up at the house, he and Brit were going to tell them their own special news—that they were getting married—and he couldn’t wait. Alex had finally popped the question the night before, and when she’d told him yes, that she would be his wife, and kissed him through her tears, it’d been the hottest fucking thing he’d ever known.
And the sex that had followed had damn near melted his brain.
Eager to be close to her again, he was just getting ready to pull his lazy ass out of the chair and join her down in the water, when she left the others and started heading his way. The sight of her creamy skin and lush curves glistening with drops of water was enough to make him have to shift a bit in his chair, and he licked his lips, unable to believe how lucky he was.
“What?” she asked, noticing the way he was staring up at her when she reached him.
A smile touched his lips as he reached up and grabbed her, her laughter filling the air as he tugged her into his lap. Wrapping his arms around her damp, beautiful body, he stared into her stunning eyes and said, “Have I ever thanked you, Do
c?”
“For what?” Lifting a hand, she ran her fingers through his short hair, and he could actually feel her love whenever she touched him. And it was the best damn feeling in the world.
“For never giving up on me,” he told her.
“Alex.” Her gaze softened, and he tightened his hold on her.
“I mean it, Brit. You’re my life. I’d be so fucking lost without you. If you hadn’t given me another chance, I don’t . . .” His throat worked as he swallowed. Then he quietly said, “I wouldn’t have liked what I became without you.”
“I would never give up on you,” she murmured, touching her soft lips to his. “I love you too much, Alex Hudson.”
He gave a heartfelt groan against her mouth. “Thank God for that.”
“You know what I think we should do?” she asked him, her big eyes twinkling as she softly stroked the back of his neck, the tender touch giving him chills.
“What’s that, beautiful?”
Lowering her voice to a seductive whisper, she said, “I think we should go home and you should do everything you can to remind me why falling in love with you was such a brilliant thing to do.”
“Good idea, Doc. I definitely do my best convincing when you’re under me.”
“You do your best everything when I’m under you,” she purred, waggling her brows at him, and he laughed so hard he figured everyone on the beach was probably staring at them. But he didn’t give a damn.
Let them see how happy we are, he thought, standing up with her in his arms, then cradling her against his chest.
“Where are we going?” she asked, when he started carrying her up the beach, toward Ben and Reese’s house.
“We can’t leave yet, and I can’t wait. So we’re going to lock ourselves in their spare room for a few hours, so I can get you under me again right now.” His voice dropped to a husky drawl as he lost himself in her beautiful gaze. “And that’s where I’m going to keep you. Every day, Brit, for the rest of my life.”
She grinned up at him, her heavy-lidded eyes bright with excitement. “Promise?”
A slow, satisfied smile curved his mouth, and Alex held her closer, burying his face in her silky hair. “You have my word, angel. You have my absolute word.”
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