“Yeah, yeah…just no more talking about my boobs Pepper!” I yelled backed.
“Come on Aunt Ali, the guy is going to be so head over ass in love with you, he won’t care about the scars,” her reply was so soft I almost didn’t hear it.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of,” I whispered back as I went to the box and fingered the soft material of the dress he had sent me.
“What if I fall so head over heels in love with him, that I forget my scars matter, but he doesn’t?”
Damn, I really was going to that wedding, and while I was going to act like it was simply to get that research back, deep down it was because I was hoping that Matt Hudson was different.
Matt
I sat in the back of Cami’s tiny car and tried to figure out how one sloppy, muddy, grungy dog had been the key to getting Alison’s hands on me.
I had been floored when Alison had actually stepped off the plane at the airport, here in Dublin. Although she had given me a short text letting me know she had boarded back in Vegas, I still held my breath until that black ponytail came into view.
Ignoring the ribbing that I had been getting from my brothers about my mystery date, I had quickly tried to give her a welcome hug…which she dodged…I had offered to grab her suitcase…which she politely refused and put on a luggage cart instead…then I had made the terrible move of asking if her leg was hurting…yeah! That got me a –fuck you- glare. So, I knew by her icy looks that she was still pissed that I had blackmailed her into coming to Reece and Synclair’s wedding. But damn, she looked so cute in her polo shirt with the World Wildlife Federation logo on it and her dark jeans and flats. Her dark eyes were are exotic as I remembered and her cheeks blushed a sexy shade of pink when I yanked her into a hug, I knew she didn’t want.
Lucas and Logan had spent most of the drive to Cami’s talking to or at least trying to speak to Alison. She gave them warm smiles but vague answers about herself then would stare out the window, looking like she wished she were anywhere but here.
Then, when we finally arrived at the charming, Irish homestead where my brother Dalton had been staying the past month while he was building the wedding gazebo that Reece and Lucas and their new wives would exchange wedding vows in, all hell had broken loose.
When Dalton talked to me a few days ago, I thought I had given him sound advice. He wanted to help Cami with her intimacy issues. Apparently, she freaked out before she could get past third base whenever she was with a guy. So, I had told him to tread carefully, go slowly and not to get involved with her if she was just another hook up to him. Unfortunately, little brother didn’t listen, and Synclair, Rachel, and the whole Hudson wedding party had walked in on a very embarrassed Cami covered in hickies and my little brother diving out a window.
My brothers and I had talked to Dalton, who screwed up even more by insisting to us that the night he and Cami had spent together had meant nothing, of course not realizing the poor girl was standing right outside the barn doors, we realized we were all, somehow, now in the dog house.
Synclair was pissed off at Reece because he refused to kill Dalton, Cami was angry at Dalton for obvious reasons, Alison still wasn’t talking to me, and Sara was just trying to keep the peace.
Before I could even formally introduce Alison to everyone, the women took off for town in some female bonding, pre-wedding night out. However, when our baby sister Rachel texted us telling us that the girls were in some seedy, Irish bar; we all freaked out. If Cami’s friend hadn’t come by and told us where the bar was and offered to watch little Logan, I don’t know what we would have done.
Once we arrived at the bar, Reece flew forward to nail some guy who was about to pounce on our baby sister Rachel. I hadn’t been too concerned about the idea of a bar brawl since I was pretty sure that even pregnant, Synclair could take care of herself and Sara for that matter. No, it was coming in after Reece and Lucas and seeing Alison struggling to get to her feet, lying on a broken table that made me see red!
Not a violent guy by nature, even as a SEAL I handled more communications than combat, but when I saw Alison’s face contorted in pain as she gripped the leg I knew had been hurt in the accident, I was kill ready. Then when the asshole got the drop on me I was floored when she bashed the Irish bully over the head with a whiskey bottle.
What was the cause of this Irish bar-room brawl, you ask? Typically, I would have pointed my finger at my trouble making, but adorably pregnant, soon to be sister, but no! It was Alison. Alison had lost her mind when a patron of the bar kicked his dog. Not one to leave an animal in need, the dog was in the front seat with Dalton licking him from ear to ear.
Where was I? I was being fussed over by my dark haired angel, who was so appreciative that I had stepped in to not only help her but assist the mangy mutt, that she had showered my face with kisses and was holding a bunch of napkins to my split lip.
Ali
I’m not sure if it was jet lag or the fact that Matt had come storming to my rescue back at the bar, but I suddenly found myself needing to touch him, a lot. The man was bleeding because of me and hadn’t even hesitated on taking the poor dog that had been so cruelly kicked by his owner, with us.
There are probably only a few things that make me so heated that I forget my scars, my bum leg, and the pain that goes with it, but without a doubt, the mistreatment of an animal is probably at the top of my list. I hadn’t really meant to cause a scene.
As soon as I had walked off the plane and saw Matt and his family waiting for me, I had to fight every instinct I had to not turn and run back on board. Instead, I decided I would simply ignore him for the whole time I was here in Ireland and then get my research notes, fly to Vegas and close the door on Matt Hudson. I even tried not to like his sister Rachel, who was young but adored her brothers, Synclair was hilarious, and Sara seemed to be the peacemaker of the bunch. I had also tried not to sympathize with Synclair’s cousin, Cami, when she stood there in her kitchen, completely humiliated by Matt’s brother Dalton when she had overheard him telling his brothers that the night they’d spent together was a mistake. I wanted to shout at the handsome man that he was an idiot and that if he just stopped running scared for about ten seconds, he would see that he was in love with Cami every bit as much as she was in love with him. However, I didn’t say it. I kept quiet and went along with the girls when it was decided that we needed a girl’s night out.
I had just explained to the women that I wasn’t really Matt’s date, I was no one important, just some woman he had blackmailed into being his date for the wedding. I hadn’t had time to process what the looks on their faces meant before I had heard the poor dog whining. When I had turned and saw the man abusing the old Labrador, I just reacted and had inadvertently caused a good old-fashioned Irish bar brawl.
“Whoa easy,” Matt muttered when I pressed the napkins closer to the small gash on his cheek. With my arm around his shoulders, we were so close that with a slight turn of my head, our lips would touch.
“S-sorry,” I replied as I pulled back to put some distance between us. My white polo shirt was stained with his blood, and my jeans were filthy, definitely not a sexy outfit. Wait! Why did I suddenly care if my outfit was sexy? Focus Ali, don’t get caught up in some magical Irish fairytale! Those things don’t happen to girls like you. Besides, he blackmailed you here…REMEMBER?
Yeah, I remembered, but had I not been here today there was no telling what would’ve happened to that poor animal at the pub. Not that I wasn’t still pissed at Matt for blackmailing me, I just wasn’t plotting his death in my head anymore.
Feeling the need to get back on track, I grabbed his hand and brought it up to hold the napkins to his face and went to scoot away from him. However, when I went to move to the other side of the car his free hand swooped out and practically lifted me to his side. Trying not to make a scene I attempted to push his hand off my hip but the more I struggled, the tighter his grip became. I whipped my head around to glare at
him but found him glaring at me. Uh? What the hell had I done?
“Is there some reason you’re glaring at me like that Matt?” I asked testily. He was attracting attention from both Dalton, who was getting licked to death by the dog and Cami who was shooting questioning glances at me in the rearview mirror.
“You really have to ask that?” He barked, his eyes suddenly going a dark forest green and his body tensed. He looked like he was fighting for control of himself.
“Apparently, I do since I left my crystal ball at home!” I hissed.
Matt let go of my hip only to take both hands, grip my hips again and turn my body towards his so we sat nose literally to nose. I knew my eyes were as wide as dinner plates and the people in the front seat couldn’t have missed my surprised squeak when he’d grabbed me. Refusing to back down, I held his angry gaze with one of my own and dared him to speak.
“What the hell were you thinking? You could have been hurt, all of you could have been injured!” His hands fisted at my hips, and the dimples in his cheeks seemed to deepen with his scowl.
“What was I thinking?” I heard my voice rise with indignation. “What was I thinking? I was thinking that some asshat was hurting a poor, defenseless animal and that someone needed to do something!”
“It didn’t need to be you!” Matt shouted.
“Well, Gee, I didn’t see too many takers for the job Matt!”
“What if my brothers and I hadn’t shown up when we did?” He asked getting back in my face.
I felt the car come to a slow stop and looked over Matt’s glaring head and realized that Cami had pulled up to a beautiful inn. I could only assume it was where we were staying, not that I had been in charge of any of the reservations and remembering that little fact just made me more pissed off.
“Well?” Matt growled still waiting for my answer.
Shoving him back against his door I reached behind me for the door handle to mine. “You know what Matt? I would have done what I’ve always done…figured it out!” I snapped, smiling when I finally felt the small handle in my hand. I pulled and almost fell out of the tiny car ass first. Had Dalton not been there to catch me, I would have landed on the cold, wet Irish pavement.
“Thanks,” I grumbled still pissed off at Dalton for being such a prick to Cami, who obviously like the asshat. Part of me wished I could be there when Cami explained to the commitment-phobe that they had gotten married the night before.
Scrambling the rest of the way out of the car, I ignored a chuckling Dalton as he helped steady me on my feet. It was then that I realized that a ten-hour plane ride, being knocked into a table in a bar fight and sitting in a cramped car, were wreaking hell on my leg. No sooner had Dalton took his hands off my arms, then my right leg buckled.
Before I could even yelp, Matt was suddenly there, swooping me into his arms with a muttered curse and glare.
“Dammit, you overtaxed your leg, Alison!” Matt scolded as he tightened his grip when I began to struggle.
“Put me down, I can walk Matt, I had a weak leg moment, it happens…I’m not an invalid,” I shouted beating on his shoulders as he walked around the front of the car to meet a stupidly grinning Dalton.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be grinning like an idiot if I were you, little brother,” Matt pointed out as he nodded his head toward Cami. My anger at Matt has momentarily pushed aside as I took a hard look at the woman gripping the steering wheel so hard her hands were devoid of color.
She was a lovely looking woman. That long brown hair and those blue eyes were coupled with a petite but curvy body that I was sure she never needed to hide in the dark. If the look on Dalton’s face was any indication he was contemplating walking back to Cami’s house instead of, what I was sure was going to be, a terribly awkward car ride.
“Geez, pretending like she doesn’t matter doesn’t make her matter any less,” I mumbled as I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling my anger toward Matt slowly seeping back into my chest.
Dalton’s light green eyes whipped to my dark ones and for a moment I was lost in the turmoil I saw there. Then he smiled at me with a smile so broad and beautiful that it almost made me gasp. Damn, all of the Hudson men are so fine!
“Do ya plan to stand there gawking at the poor woman, Dalton? Or do you think we could get back to the house before Christmas?” Came Cami’s irritated Irish accent.
“Back off Dalt or I’m going to finish what the dive out of Cami’s two story window started,” Matt said through clenched teeth. Shocked I could only stare at Matt, he looked jealous! No! Why would Matt be jealous of his brother? Especially when any fool could see he was madly in love with Synclair’s cousin, Cami. Well, everyone except Dalton, who appeared to be dumber than a moron.
Dalton’s smile faltered a bit when he glanced at Cami and then he brought it back when he turned toward Matt.
“So it’s like that?” Dalton said, not even trying to hide the surprise in his voice.
Gripping me tighter, I tried to ignore the fact that my breast was smashed up against Matt’s very hard, very masculine chest. “No..Yes...shit,” Matt told his brother while still glaring at me.
Dalton laughed and backed toward the tiny car and the angry, Irish woman that was waiting for him.
“Wait,” I yelled, suddenly remembering the dog we had saved. “I need the dog!”
This time, it was Cami that answered, “Naw, they’ll never let ya keep him at the Inn, I’ll bring him back to the house, and he’ll have a right good time catchin’ the birds that seem to plague us.”
Cami smiled, and I couldn’t help but nod my head. After all, what choice did I have? I couldn’t keep the dog at the inn, and I hadn’t even figured out how I was going to get the big dog home, but he was coming back to the states with me. There was no way I was going to leave him behind to be given away to an owner who could be worse than the last guy. Still, I didn’t know Cami that well. Would she be good to him?
Dalton walked back to Matt and I and handed him my small carry-on bag, which he took with one hand while still carrying me.
I cringed when the poor dog woofed, never taking his large eyes off me as Dalton climbed into the front seat. The dog crawled into Dalton’s lap and immediately began panting when Dalton rubbed behind his ears affectionately.
“He’ll be okay Ali. My brother, Reece, is a vet, and we live on a ranch with lots of animals and even a few dogs, none of us would hurt one,” Matt whispered gently, somehow guessing my concern.
When Cami pulled away, I had expected Matt to put me down. The man had been holding me up for the last ten minutes, and his arms had to be ready to fall off by now. Surprising me again, Matt swung back toward the inn and didn’t slow his steps until he had swung open the door with one hand and was greeted by a plump, older woman with a warm smile and red cheeks.
“Well, hello!” she smiled and clasped her hands together at her chest. With her white hair and twinkling blue eyes, she was exactly what I would have imagined Mrs. Claus to look like. If that wasn’t funny enough, she was joined by an older gentleman, with a long white beard, peppered hair and full round belly. Yep, I had gotten off the plane and stepped into the North Pole. Part of me was waiting for the little elves to come out next.
“You must be part of the Hudson weddin’ party!” The jolly man said as he laughed. Not just any laugh, but a full belly laugh, jiggle and all. Seriously, I wanted to sit on his lap and tell him what I wanted for Christmas.
“Yes, I’m Matthew Hudson, I believe we’ve booked a series of suites for the next four days, I was wondering if I could get my key so that my girlfriend could rest. She has difficulty with her hip and it makes her leg sore,” Matt explained to the now concerned looking couple.
I didn’t hear what the man replied, didn’t see Matt sign anything or take the key in his hands. In fact, when Matt gave his regards and began walking up the old staircase, I could only manage a wave to the kind couple. Girlfriend? What the hell? Date from Hell, maybe! Or how about
the woman I blackmailed to be here!
Deciding not to even look at Matt, I turned my head and watched with fervored interest as the red wallpaper and photos of various Irish landmarks rushed past as he stomped down the hall towards where our rooms had to be.
He didn’t say anything as he fumbled with the key in the old lock and wouldn’t look at me as he swung open the door and strode toward a huge, white canopied, four-poster bed. I was about to comment on what beautiful suite it was when he dumped me on my ass, on the softly, quilted bed and stomped over to the massive stone fireplace that was located on the opposite wall.
I sat there and watched him jam wood that had been in a metal basket on the hearth, into the fireplace and grab the matches that were sitting on the mantle. As soon as the fire was blazing, he stood up, glanced at me with a disgruntled expression and opened a door that gave me a glimpse of a large, tiled bathroom and shut the door. Scooting back on the bed, I grabbed the lamp on the nightstand and switched it on. The room was cozy and made me feel like I was in some romantic, mountain Chalet. Deciding I had better unpack the few items I had brought with me, I grabbed my bag off the floor where Matt had dropped it and limped over to large, Cherrywood dresser. I pulled out my underwear, socks, jeans, pajamas and t-shirts, then hung the dress that Matt had sent me in the closet and placed the heels, purse, and jewelry in the second drawer of the dresser.
I had debated whether or not to even bring the damn dress, it would have served the arrogant man right if I only wore jeans to his brother’s wedding. But I had relented when Trevor had pointed out that this was Reece and Synclair’s special day, not an opportunity to stick it to Matt Hudson. Speaking of Trevor, I hadn’t texted him to let him know I had arrived yet. Grabbing my phone out of the front pocket of my bag, I sent off a quick text. I felt kind of sad leaving Trevor to take care of all the animals while I was gone, Pepper wouldn’t be able to help him since she’d be at camp. Still, Trevor loved those animals as much as I did, so I knew it was all in good hands.
No Refunds No Exchanges: A Hudson Family Series- Book 4- Matt and Ali Page 17