She pulled back to look at him. “Checkbook?”
“A million dollars, the going rate for a dance with you. You drive a hard sell, Miss Sinclair.” He grinned down at Allie, then swept her into his arms, whirling her around his living room. She was breathless when he finally brought them to a stop.
Caught up in his playful mood, she smiled coyly at him through her lashes. “You knew I was high maintenance when you met me.”
Hudson’s head fell back and he laughed. “Alessandra, you bring new meaning to high maintenance.”
Allie’s mouth dropped open. “Is that so?”
“And I wouldn’t change a thing.” His eyes were lit with warm amusement. “I love the way it takes you an hour to order a cup of coffee.”
She pursed her lips, but it was no use. His you-can’t-stay-mad-at-me grin was impossible to resist. And even though she was pretty sure she should have been offended by his comment, Allie couldn’t help but be won over by the obvious affection in his voice. She smiled and shook her head. “Glad I amuse you, Mr. Chase.”
“Always, Miss Sinclair. Always.” He brought their bodies closer together and his hand flexed against the small of her back.
“Thank you again, by the way. We never would have met our goal without your donation.”
“I was glad to help. You should be feeling some sort of triumph with your obvious success. And you managed to break the monotony of old fogies with a herd mentality clustered around tables.”
His words of praise touched her. Allie had put a lot of work into making her event different from the typical fare served in a run-of-the-mill ballroom. The fact that Hudson had noticed meant the world to her.
“Do you plan these types of events frequently?”
“The museum was my first major fund-raiser.”
“Well, you’ve set a high standard. I look forward to attending any future events you plan.”
She opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again.
Hudson didn’t miss a beat. “Out with it.”
“The Harris Group offered me a position planning fund-raising events full-time.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Impressive. That’s a prestigious organization.” He spun her away and then yanked her back against him. “Are you taking the job?”
She shook her head. “I turned it down. But Mr. Harris said the door was always open if I changed my mind.”
“And have you?”
“No. Although it was certainly a tempting offer.”
“I can’t just leave the foundation. I made a commitment and people are expecting me to see it through.”
“Let me ask you this—what do you want?”
She chewed on her bottom lip as she considered her reply. “I love my work at Better Start. The people I’ve met there are amazing, so committed to helping kids. But I also loved putting together that event. All of it, even the aggravating details. With this new position I could still raise money for the foundation, but I could also help so many other worthy causes.” She paused and her voice grew softer. “For the first time in my life I feel like I’ve found something I’m actually good at. Me. Not my family’s name or money. Just me.”
“It’s your life, Allie.” He tugged her closer, curling his fingers around her hand and pressing it against his chest. “You should do what makes you happy.”
She leaned into him, not entirely sure they were still talking about her job. They swayed gently from side to side as Sinatra crooned about a summer of young love. The lyrics conjured images of sandy beaches, entwined hands, and lingering kisses. But just like the song said, all summers come to an end, and so had their dance.
“Hmm, the summer wind.” Hudson pressed his cheek to her temple and his warm breath fanned over her ear. A delicious tingle swept over her skin and she shivered. “Cold?”
“A little.” It wasn’t a total lie.
He ran his hands up and down her arms, soothing the goose bumps that had formed. “Sit. I’ll get a fire going.”
Allie sat on the rug in front of the fireplace while Hudson stacked several birch logs on the grate. “So what about you?” she asked, drawing her knees up and leaning back against the couch. “Is running an empire what you’ve always dreamed of?”
“Not exactly. But then again, dreams change.” He lit the starters and then closed the screen, staring into the stone fireplace as the white bark crackled with flames.
The question was meant as nothing more than a lighthearted inquiry, and his sobering reply surprised her. She waited for an explanation, but none was offered.
“How so?” she finally prompted.
He came to sit with her, sliding in behind her and pulling her between his legs. “Well for starters, I never saw myself going to college, much less owning my own company.”
She wondered what had altered Hudson’s path in life. Obviously something had since he was now one of the most powerful businessmen in the country. But during the summer they spent together, he never showed any interest in college whatsoever.
“What changed your mind?”
Hudson picked up Allie’s hand and fit it into his palm. “It was either that or continue to work on the docks. Driving that damn boat and running with the same old crowd was obviously getting me nowhere.”
Allie turned in his arms, not quite sure how to ask the obvious. “How did you—”
“Afford it? Loans, work study. I took whatever jobs they gave me, but usually I was stuck washing dishes in the cafeteria. On the weekends I hustled as a barback.” He cracked a slight grin. “More dishes.”
She settled back against his chest. “Doesn’t sound like you had much time for fun.”
Hudson frowned. “I wasn’t there to have fun.”
The flames shot higher as the logs caught. She watched them and couldn’t help but think about her own college experience. Being invited to the right parties had been almost as important as getting into the right classes, maybe more. And paying tuition had certainly never been a concern. Hudson had gone to college to work hard and change his life. All on his own.
“What made you decide to take on Wall Street?” she asked.
“I landed an internship and discovered it was a place where I excelled. Moving in on vulnerable companies, cultivating serious ins with private resources, leveraging billions of dollars or killing deals at the drop of a hat. . . after a while, it all became a game. A sport, really.
“Your very own version of Monopoly?”
He chuckled. “I suppose. And I liked the power and control that came with having money.” His arms tightened around her. “Although none of it could make up for what I’d lost.”
“You mean your mom?” she asked softly.
“And Nick.”
“Nick?”
Hudson nodded. “They took him away from me.”
What? Allie sat up. “Took him? Who took him?”
“The county.” His words were barely audible. “Not five minutes after telling us our mom was dead.”
Hudson closed his eyes and his brow creased as if he were in pain. He was quiet for several moments and she began to wonder if he would continue. But then his eyes opened and his body tensed. He turned his head to look at her and she saw unthinkable horror reflected in his eyes. Allie held her breath.
It was all coming back to him.
“When the doctor came out, he had the sheriff with him and some lady from DCFS. He told us he was sorry, that they’d done all they could.”
“Nick must have been so scared,” she said, her voice mirroring his.
“I’ll never forget the look in his eyes when he realized what was happening. He started screaming, begging me not to let them take him. Christ, I think the whole damn hospital heard him.”
Her heart clenched as she imagined a frightened young boy losing his mom and then being taken from his home. “Did they give you a reason?”
“They gave me a load of crap about how it was all in his best interest.” He ran his hand through
his hair and exhaled a harsh breath. “Yeah, fucking best interest.”
“Next thing I knew the sheriff was trying to take Nick out to the car, but his hand locked down in a vise grip on my arm. The more the sheriff pulled, the harder Nicky held on. He kept screaming for me to do something but the sheriff was already unsnapping his cuffs like he was expecting trouble from me.” Hudson’s face grew pale, and when he spoke, the sound was more gravel than voice. “There wasn’t a damn thing I could do except pry his fingers off my arm.”
A log in the fireplace shifted and a spark popped. Tears burned Allie’s eyes as she watched Hudson stare blindly at the flames in front of him. His pain and anguish was palpable. In the end, he had been the one to tear his brother away. He had been the one to break his heart. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard that must have been for him.
Silence stretched between them. Once again Allie found herself wondering what had become of Hudson’s father. She’d asked about him when they were teens, but Hudson’s terse reply had made it clear his father wasn’t a subject he wished to discuss. And as much as she wanted him to open up to her, she refrained from asking. Instead she merely held his hand and waited, letting Hudson reveal what he wanted at his own pace.
Long moments passed before he cleared his throat and continued. “After that Nick was dumped into foster home after foster home. He’d call, beg me to come and get him, threaten to run away. I tried to get him released into my custody, but who would give a young kid to a fuckup?”
“You were just a kid yourself, Hudson.”
He gave her a sideways glance. “I should have had my shit together. My brother needed me, but I didn’t have the means to get him out of that defective system.” He sighed, and in a quiet voice added, “The way things played out that summer gave me a cold, hard look at my life. Everything I’ve done since then has been driven by my need to never feel that helpless again.”
Allie placed her hand on Hudson’s cheek, urging him to look at her. “What happened to Nick wasn’t your fault. It’s obvious how much you love your brother, Hudson, but there wasn’t a lot you could do back then. You’re trying to do right by him now; that’s all that matters.”
“You saw for yourself, he’s a train wreck. I’ve done nothing but fail him in every way.”
“You’ll get him the help he needs. Even if we have to camp out at his apartment, he’s going to rehab.”
He gave her a halfhearted smile and pressed a soft, quick kiss to her lips. “I appreciate that, but Nick’s my responsibility, not yours.”
In that moment Allie realized Hudson had always seen Nick not just as his responsibility, but also his failure. As she listened to his story, she couldn’t help but feel as though she shared part of the blame. If she hadn’t disappeared from Hudson’s life without so much as a good-bye, would she have been someone he could’ve turned to? A friend when he needed one the most? He’d had to face his battles alone then, but it didn’t have to be that way now.
“Hudson, you’ve taken on so much already. Let me help if I can. I just . . . ,” she choked back a sob. “I wish I could go back. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m sorry I hurt you.”
His fingers touched her cheek. “No need to apologize, Allie. I’ve never regretted any of the time we spent together. Those days with you were the best of my life.” He cocked a slight grin. “You were the first woman I cared about and didn’t just want to take for a ride.”
Allie smiled and shook her head. Ever the bad boy. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about that last night on the boat a time or two over the past ten years. Or the night we rode that Ferris wheel about a dozen times.” She snuggled against the warmth of his chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than I was that summer.”
“And this?” His hand stroked up and down her back. “This feels good, doesn’t it?”
Allie tensed, knowing he was asking so much more than a simple question, and Hudson stilled.
“Don’t answer that,” he said, sliding out from behind her. He stood and jogged up the stairs. When he returned he had something in his hand and that shy smile on his lips.
“I believe this is yours.” He held out his hand and a delicate string of shells dangled from his fingertip.
Allie’s mouth fell open on a gasp. It was a shell anklet, her shell anklet. She recognized it immediately. To her, that anklet represented all they had once shared. She’d been devastated when she lost it on their last night together, leaving her with nothing to remember him by.
“I never thought I’d see that again.” Her eyes filled with tears. “You kept it all this time?”
“I did.” Hudson sat down beside her on the rug and gently pulled her foot into his lap. The shells slid along the clear string, filling the spaces of ones lost over time as he wrapped them around her leg. When it was clasped, his hand lingered and his fingers caressed her skin. Allie wondered if, like her, he was remembering the night he first put it there.
Gently, he lifted her leg and pressed a soft kiss to the side of her ankle. “You made me feel hopeful,” he whispered.
Allie slipped her leg out of Hudson’s grasp and moved into his lap, her thighs straddling his hips as she held his face between her hands.
“Hudson . . .” Her voice trailed off. There was so much they needed to discuss, so much she wanted to say. But in that moment, the words escaped her.
He reached up and brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “What’s wrong, Allie?”
Her eyes drifted shut and she leaned into his touch. When she opened them, his fierce blue eyes searched hers as if her were trying to see not only into her thoughts, but her very soul. Her heart lurched and she was lost. The only thing that mattered was this man, this moment. She needed to show him with her body all her heart could never say.
She drew a stuttering breath. “Nothing’s wrong. Make love to me, Hudson.”
His hand curled around her nape and he pulled her to his mouth, kissing her long and slow and deep. Allie’s fingers slid into his hair and she held him to her as his tongue slid greedily over hers in lush, dragging sweeps. With a soft moan, she kissed him back, matching his strokes with her own. Exploring, tasting, consuming.
This kiss went on and on like a seductive dance until Allie thought she might come from the sheer pleasure of his lips moving with hers.
Running his hands down her back, Hudson cupped her ass and squeezed. Allie gasped as he yanked her forward, bringing her in intimate contact with the impressive erection straining the front of his jeans.
“What you make me feel . . . ,” he whispered in a low, ragged voice. He held her gaze as he flexed his hips. The thin fabric of her yoga pants offered little barrier, allowing the thick ridge of his arousal to hit that sweet spot between her thighs. His mouth slanted over hers once more, and with a roll of his hips, he pushed into her again and again, mimicking the motion of him inside her until she writhed restlessly in his lap.
Hudson reached down, lifted the hem of Allie’s sweater, and pulled it over her head. Her breath hitched as his fingers traced the lace cups of her bra before curling around the straps and sliding them down her arms. He leaned forward, nuzzling her hair as his hands followed the band to her back. With a flick of his wrist he released the clasp, letting the bra fall wherever it landed.
Lowering his head, he pressed his warm, wet mouth to her shoulder, then dragged his tongue along her collarbone. Anticipation thrummed hot and heavy through Allie’s veins, and she arched her back in silent entreaty. Hudson palmed her breast in one hand, brushing the pad of his thumb over her erect nipple, and flattened his other hand on the middle of her spine. With his fingers splayed wide, he pressed against her, urging her to bend further back.
“So beautiful,” he murmured. His tongue flickered across one nipple, then he kissed his way to the other, leaving a trail of damp heat on her sensitive skin. He laved her slowly, drawing lazy circles around the hardened peak before suckling it deep into his
mouth. Her body shuddered and a helpless moan escaped her lips as he tugged the tender tip between his teeth.
Wanting to feel his skin against hers, Allie slipped her fingers under the edge of Hudson’s T-shirt. The palms of her hands glided across his taut stomach and chest, leisurely exploring his muscular contours as she worked the fabric higher.
Gathering the cotton fabric in her fingers, she lifted it over his head and tossed it to the side. Her hands moved over his broad shoulders before drifting lower. He sucked in a sharp breath as her thumbnails scraped across his nipples, and then suddenly his arms were around her, holding her close as his mouth claimed hers in a passionate kiss. This time when he pulled her into his arms, there were no barriers, no walls. Just skin against skin. Her breathing was ragged and aroused, her nipples brushing against his chest with every rise and fall of her breasts.
In a swift move he lowered her to the floor, sweeping her black yoga pants down her legs and tossing them to the side before stretching out next to her in front of the fire. His heated gaze raked over her from head to toe.
“No panties?” He licked his lips and she practically convulsed.
Dropping her hands, Allie caressed his erection through the soft denim of his jeans. “I prefer wearing yours.” She tugged on his fly, popping the small buttons open one by one, and then slipped her fingers under the waistband of his boxer briefs. He twitched as she took him in her hand, gently squeezing and stroking him from root to tip until a deep groan vibrated in his throat. “In fact, I think I’ll take them now if you don’t mind.”
A sexy grin curved his lips. “By all means.”
He stared up at her, his eyes glittering in the warm glow of the fire as she tugged his boxers and jeans down his legs in one sweep. When his erection sprang free she reached for him again, curling her fingers firmly around his length. Hudson’s eyes closed briefly and he flexed into her palm.
“Now what?” The amusement in his voice was gone, replaced by a raw, heated desire. His blatant need sent a rush of warmth through her body.
“I want you in my mouth,” she whispered.
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