The Maverick's Holiday Surprise
Page 13
Bella looked absolutely paralyzed for a moment, but then she recovered and smiled. “I don’t know what to say.” She went over to Hudson, threw her arms around him and gave him a huge hug. “No one’s ever done anything like this for me before. And I was only gone one day.”
“Bella Stockton,” he said seriously, loud enough for everyone to hear, “you make this place go round. We all felt the length of the day you were gone because you weren’t here to experience it with us. We missed your smile and your energy and your caring, and we just wanted to let you know.”
Bella looked close to tears now, and he hadn’t wanted that. “Come on,” he said. “Taste one of the cupcakes, then everyone else can have one, too. I made enough to go around.” He took one of the paper plates they used for snacks with the kids and placed one of the pink cupcakes on it. Then he handed it to her. She studied the cupcake with its little white swirl on the top.
They were standing quite close together now, and she murmured again, “I can’t believe you went to all this trouble.”
“No trouble, Bella, not for you. Not to show you that I think about you and I care about you.” He didn’t think anyone else had heard what he’d just said, but he could see in Bella’s eyes that she had.
“Aw, Hudson.”
The door flew open, and two moms and their babies came in. Their special moment was gone.
“I’d better wait to eat this until I can really enjoy it,” Bella told him.
“Lunchtime?” he asked.
“Sure, if no crisis erupts. But at least I can taste the icing.” Taking her finger, she swiped at the white point on top of the cupcake. He watched her as she slowly placed it on her lip. Her tongue came out, licking the confection, and she closed her eyes and smiled. “It’s sweet, Hudson, just like icing should be.”
“It came from a can,” he said, now wishing he had tried to make it himself.
“It’s the thought that counts. It’s pretty and it tastes good, and it’s perfect on the cupcakes. I’ll have a lot more than that little taste at lunchtime. I promise.”
Rattled by the sheer sensuality of watching her lick that icing with her tongue, he almost broke into a sweat. Composing himself, he took trays of cupcakes to each classroom and passed them out to the children who were old enough to have them. The others he took to the break room, protecting them with a plastic covering. Then he waited for lunchtime.
* * *
Bella had seen that look in Hudson’s eyes—the one that excited her. She was never so happy it was finally lunchtime. When she went to the break room, he was already there. Apparently Greta had made him some kind of casserole he could warm up in the microwave. He had the flowered dish in front of him, and he was forking pasta with ground beef into his mouth.
He stopped when she brought her bagged lunch and a paper plate to the table. “If you’d like something hot, I’ll share. There’s plenty here.”
“I’m fine with this.” She nodded at her turkey sandwich. But as she ate it, the smell of the casserole made her mouth water. He must have seen her eyeing it because he took her paper plate and forked some of the casserole onto it. Then he gave her another fork that had been sitting beside his dish.
“Did you expect company?” she asked.
“Sure did. I want to make sure you enjoy your cupcake.” And before the electricity zipping between them got a little too hot, he asked, “How’s Jamie?”
“He looks better, and he seems rested. I think the time away did him good.”
“And you survived,” he said with respect in his voice.
“I did...with help. Including yours.”
His visit to the ranch house brought to mind that kiss. That kiss she’d never forget.
After that, they made small talk about the day care center while they ate. When they’d both finished, Hudson rose, chose two cupcakes from the tray and brought one over to Bella.
“Coffee with that?” he asked.
“Sure.” She’d never had a man serve her cupcakes and coffee before. This was truly a first.
He took milk from the refrigerator and poured just the amount she liked into her mug, then set it on the table. He poured a black coffee for himself.
Trying to be ladylike, she took the paper from the cupcake and then used her fork to take one bite, and then another. “These are really good. Maybe you can give Greta a run for her money in the baking department.”
He ate his cupcake in three bites, then responded, “I doubt that. This was just a lucky first try. Or maybe I just had good motivation.”
Her fork stopped halfway to her mouth. They gazed at each other, and Bella’s heart beat so fast she could hardly swallow.
He leaned forward and with his forefinger touched the top of her lip. “You have some icing there,” he said. His touch held fire, and she couldn’t help wishing it was his lips that were meeting hers.
“I’d kiss you again,” he said, as if reading her thoughts, “but that wouldn’t be proper at the workplace.”
With Hudson looking at her with those bedroom eyes of his, proper didn’t seem to have a place in her world. Should she be fighting this attraction? What if she just gave in to it and enjoyed it? Enjoyed herself with a man? Maybe for the first time ever.
“I should get back to my desk,” she murmured, to put that very temptation out of her mind.
But before she could rise to her feet, Hudson covered her hand with his. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve heard about me or my reputation, but I don’t just go around kissing random women.”
She didn’t know what to say to that, so she waited for Hudson to go on.
He cleared his throat, as if putting his feelings into words was hard for him. “You’re such a pretty woman. I’m sure lots of men want to kiss you.”
Considering her history and her situation, nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the men in town now considered her standoffish. That was ironic considering her wild teenage years when she was anything but. She couldn’t help but laugh wryly at his comment.
But when she did, Hudson leaned away, took his hand from hers and seemed to be insulted. She knew he was when he asked, “Do you consider my kissing you amusing, or our kisses just a joke?”
Anything but. He actually looked a bit vulnerable, and she wondered if she’d hurt him. Could he really care about her?
“I’m just botching this and making a fool of myself,” he said, standing.
But before he could stride out of the room, she hopped to her feet and caught his arm. “I didn’t mean to laugh, but you don’t know—”
“I know how much I’m attracted to you. Are you attracted to me?”
She gave a small nod, and suddenly she was in his arms and he was kissing her again. It was a short kiss, though a deep, wet one.
He set her away from him. “I know you’re worried about your job. Considering what happened with my brother and Lindsay, I understand your concern. Believe me. But there are no repercussions with what’s going on with us here. You can walk away, and your job will still be safe. I’ve wanted you for weeks, but I understand that you’re young, and I’ll back off if that’s what you want.”
She was deeply touched by everything he’d said because she could see he meant it all. She could also see something else. Because she was young, he could possibly believe she was a virgin, that she was inexperienced. She had to be honest with him and set him straight.
“Hudson, this isn’t my first rodeo.”
He looked a bit surprised at her comment, so she went on. “You’ve been on my mind for weeks, too. I have so many decisions to make in my life. Helping Jamie is one of them, and I don’t know how long he’ll need me. And you’re right about my needing this job here. I do. But I also want to go back to school soon. Everything is in flux, so I was trying not to
add something else to complicate my life.”
“You think I’d complicate your life?” Hudson asked with a crooked smile.
“I don’t think it. I’m sure of it. But the more I get to know you, the more I want the complication...the more I want you.”
His eyes darkened with that unsettling hunger again. He seemed to take in a deep breath, as if he was reminding himself not to hurry anything. “After work, do you want to come back to my place?”
If she answered him affirmatively, she knew exactly what she was agreeing to. Her hand on his arm, she looked up at him with the wanting in her eyes.
She said simply, “Yes.”
* * *
Hours later as Bella parked in back of Hudson’s vehicle and they walked together to the ranch house door, he realized how surprised he’d been at her remark that this wasn’t her first rodeo. He’d really thought she might be a virgin, not only because of her age, but because of her demeanor. But apparently he’d been wrong. Had she been hurt terribly by someone and that’s why she held back?
After they entered the foyer, they were a bit awkward with each other. He wasn’t going to just jump her bones, or rip her clothes off, or carry her to his bed, even though he wanted to do all three. More than anything, he wanted to do this right. Though he wasn’t sure why that was so important.
He motioned to the great room. “Would you like something to drink?” he asked. “It might break the ice so we don’t feel so rattled.”
She smiled at that. “Something to drink would be nice.”
“Hot chocolate, coffee, tea?” He wasn’t going to suggest wine because he didn’t want their senses dulled. He wanted to be aware of absolutely every moment tonight.
“Hot chocolate would be great.” Looking nervous, she glanced around the room. Her eyes lit on the photo albums under the coffee table. “I saw these when I was here the last time. Do they belong to Mr. Bickler?”
“No, they don’t. They’re mine. Believe it or not, I take them wherever I go. Sometimes in a bunkhouse I might not have much else than my boots and my jeans and my sheepskin, and my Stetson. But keeping these with me when I travel helps me stay grounded. I remember I have a family, and I had a home where I grew up. It’s just a way of remembering my roots.”
“Do you mind if I page through them?”
He thought about that. “No, I don’t mind. You’ll have a good laugh at some of the pictures in there. They’re candid shots, nothing like the photos you take.”
“Candid shots are sometimes the best ones.” She unzipped her parka, shrugged out of it and laid it over one of the chairs. Hudson felt himself relax. This evening was going to be everything he wanted it to be.
Hudson had learned hot chocolate was almost as important as hot coffee on a cold winter night. He’d become somewhat of a connoisseur and used a mix he special-ordered. Minutes later he carried in two mugs topped by a mound of whipped cream and sat on the sofa beside Bella, putting the mugs onto coasters.
She looked at the hot drink and smiled. “How did you know I liked whipped cream?”
“Just a good guess, I imagine.”
She had a photograph album open on her lap. There were photos of him and his brothers as kids. His parents were in a few of them, but it was mostly just them.
“You and your brothers are all handsome,” she murmured. She pointed to one of the pictures. “Who is who?”
He pointed to each in succession. “That’s Autry, Gideon, Jensen and, of course, Walker.”
Then she pointed to another picture. “Your mom and dad?”
“Yes.”
Hudson’s mother looked guarded in that particular photo. His father looked as imposing as ever with a shock of white hair and cold blue eyes. Yet Hudson knew he definitely bore a resemblance to them.
“You look like him—the same jaw, the same high forehead,” she noted, mirroring his thoughts.
“I might look like him, but I hope we’re different in lots of ways. He and Walker are more alike, all about business and money, maybe even power. Maybe that’s why I took a left turn when they took a right.”
“Do you respect them?”
“I respect Walker for what he’s accomplished. And now he seems a bit different with Lindsay, as if he knows what matters. But my dad, maybe he’s just been with the wrong woman all his life and they don’t make each other happy. Or maybe they just don’t want to work at it.”
“I think about my parents often,” Bella admitted. “If they had lived, I wonder if the Stocktons would be a close family. Would they have kept us all connected?” She looked up at Hudson. “The way it sounds, you and Walker might be different, but you are connected. That’s why you’re here helping him.”
“That’s why you’re helping Jamie.”
She nodded her agreement as she sipped the hot chocolate. He saw the whipped cream that gathered on her upper lip and suppressed the urge to lick it off. Don’t rush this. Let her get comfortable. You’ll know when she wants you just as much as you want her.
At least he hoped he would.
Bella placed her mug down as she swiped at her lips. “I have some good memories from before my parents died.”
“Tell me,” he encouraged her.
“There was this lake where Mom and Dad took us to go swimming. It had a grassy, stony shore, and the older kids would help the younger kids wade in. We had the best times there in the summers, swimming and picnicking. Jamie and I don’t talk about those days much because it hurts to think about them. I guess because we miss our siblings. Yet I know remembering would be good for us, too.”
Hudson pointed to a photo in the album. “I remember Walker and me being rivals at a lot of things. Roping a calf was one of them. Neither of us was very good at it at first, but our rivalry made us better.”
Bella pointed to another photo of him inside a grand room. The Christmas tree he stood before had to be at least ten feet tall. “That’s a beautiful tree.”
“Mother always had a decorator come in and do the trees, along with other Christmas decorations. That’s far different from a tree I’d like to bring in here for the holiday.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I want to go cut it myself and put it right over there.” He pointed to a spot by the window. “When I told Greta I wanted to do that, she said she has a box of hand-crocheted white ornaments that she’d made one year for their tree. She has others that she uses now and she said I could have the crocheted ones if I’d like. I would like to use them, with lots of tiny lights.”
“I’m sure the kids at Just Us Kids would make you ornaments if you asked them.”
“I’m sure they would.”
Suddenly it seemed that both of them had run out of conversation. Hudson couldn’t take his eyes from Bella’s, and it seemed Bella couldn’t take hers from his. He slowly circled her with his arm and moved closer. He could smell her floral perfume, like flowers in the middle of winter. Everything about Bella was sweet and pure. Sweeter and purer than he deserved.
“You can still change your mind,” he whispered. And he meant it. He wanted nothing about tonight to be uncertain.
“I don’t want to change my mind,” she said with a small smile that made him ache even more with desire for her.
When he bent his head to her, when his lips captured hers, he felt possessive. He knew his mouth was claiming, and that’s the way he wanted it. He wanted Bella to be his. He’d never been so in the moment with a woman before. He was excruciatingly aware of the softness of her skin as he stroked her cheek, the taste of chocolate on her tongue, the small moan that escaped her as they kissed. He gathered her into his arms and wondered how in the heck he was ever going to make it to the bedroom.
“I should have turned on the fireplace,” he said when he broke for air.
That did it. He rose to his feet and gathered her up into his arms. When he carried her to the bedroom, he felt like a caveman. Somehow Bella made him feel as if he could accomplish anything.
In his bedroom, he settled her on his bed. He found he didn’t want to let her go even for a second. So he sat beside her, kissed her again and decided their clothes had to go.
“Light or dark?” he asked her before he started, curious as to what she’d say. The room was in shadows now, and they could hardly see each other’s faces even with the hall light glowing.
“Let’s turn on the light,” she said. “I want to see your face.”
Her response pleased him. Loving her in the light meant she felt free about what they were going to do. She felt right about being with him. There was no reason for darkness or shadows or hiding what they were feeling.
After he switched on the bedside lamp and fumbled with a condom packet from the drawer, he reached for her. Not long after, their clothes were on the floor and he’d turned back the covers and rolled on the condom. They were naked on the steel-gray sheets, and he soaked in the beauty of Bella’s body.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“No. Every time you touch me I feel like I’m on fire.”
“Same here.”
He palmed her breast, wanting her to be ready for him in every way. She moaned, and he kissed her again, this time covering her body with his. He ran his hand up her thigh and then teased her until she wrapped her legs around him.
“I can’t wait,” he said.
“I’m ready,” she whispered.
And just like that, he was inside Bella and he felt as if he’d come home.
She held on to him tightly, but when he kissed her again, he was aware of tears on her cheeks.
“Bella?”
“It’s wonderful. You’re wonderful.”
Her words drove him to prolong each stroke, to kiss her more passionately, to touch her everywhere he could. He held off his own pleasure until he felt her body tense, until he heard her cry his name, until she clung to him as if she’d never let him go.