Chapter 17

17

Hudson

Hudson’s Luck:

Just when I think I’ve figured shit out, it all goes to hell in a handbasket.

Another of the endless calls Bruce Ames referred to as “quick check-ins” interrupted my early-morning breakfast with the family.

“Hudson Wilde,” I answered, stepping away from the table where I’d been cutting up pancakes for my niece Pippa. She sat fat and happy in her big high chair off the end of the giant wooden kitchen table that separated the farmhouse kitchen from the attached family room area. My brother West caught my eye and nodded before moving seats to continue helping his daughter with her food.

“Good morning, Hudson,” Bruce began in his booming voice. “Hope I’m not bothering you on a Sunday morning. Listen, I’ve had another idea for the pub…”

As he continued to spout off about yet another one of his ideas, I clenched my teeth in frustration. I hated every bit of this project. When I’d busted my ass at Texas A&M to get an MBA in finance, I’d pictured myself working my way up the corporate ladder as a financial analyst the way my father had—business suits and corner offices, spreadsheets and board meetings. I certainly had not pictured myself managing the grand opening of a small-town pub in a graphic T-shirt and blue jeans. My business education had been accounting heavy and marketing light. It had been all about high-level analysis and not at all about low-level daily business operations in the fickle restaurant business. My corporate experience was about the nuances of negotiating multimillion-dollar mergers. Now here I was trying to figure out which napkins to order and how many highball glasses were needed.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

“Have you had a chance to meet with Ms. Murray yet?” Bruce asked, shaking me out of my distraction.

“Yes, about that. I thought we were expecting Devlin Murray himself to come help out?” I asked. It would be a big relief if Cait had come in his place. She and I got along well, and I knew the town would adore her.

“Something came up, I guess. The driver said it was a young woman he dropped off last night. She told Hank that Devlin was her uncle. You didn’t meet her when she arrived?”

When I’d learned Devlin was coming over for a few months to help launch the pub, I’d arranged for him to stay in my grandfathers’ bunkhouse to save the poor man from the excessive showy wealth of the Ames family manse. I hadn’t gotten to know Devlin very well the week I’d spent there, but I’d learned enough to know he wouldn’t fare well watching Veronica Ames and her lady friends order the housekeeper back into the house for another pitcher of Bellinis before their next tennis match. I assumed he’d be much happier cracking open a cold one on the ranch porch with Doc and Grandpa.

“The contractor needed to go over a few things, so I was at the building until late. By the time I got in, Grandpa and Doc had already taken care of everything. I guess she’s not awake yet.” I didn’t dare mention overhearing Grandpa tell Doc their new guest had overindulged on the flight to Dallas. No need to start anyone off on the wrong foot with Bruce. There was a lot riding on the success of this launch. No reason for him to know Cait seemed to suffer from the same fear of planes Charlie did.

I cursed myself for letting the Irishman enter my thoughts for what had to be the millionth time since I’d left Ireland.

“Well, then I’ll let you go greet her and make sure she has everything she needs,” Bruce said. “We’ll all meet up bright and early tomorrow morning to get started with the interior designer. See you then.”

After hanging up and sliding my phone back in my pocket, I returned to the table to reach for my mug of coffee. I hadn’t taken the second sip when my sister Sassy walked in.

Followed by Charlie Murray.

Not Cait.

Charlie. My Charlie. The Charlie who’d abandoned me without saying goodbye as if I was some cheap trick he’d picked up in a bar. Well… maybe I had been a cheap trick he’d picked up in a bar, but I’d still been stung by the rejection. And considering the sleepless nights his memories had caused for me the past few months, I resented the hell out of him and his perfect, sweet self. How in the world was I going to handle Charlie Murray here for the next few months? That was easy: I wasn’t. It wouldn’t work. No way.

I felt something land on my foot, and suddenly my leg was burning. “Shit!” I cried, jumping back out of the way of my fallen mug. Hot coffee had spattered all over the floor, barely missing the legs of the high chair. The thought of any coffee marring Pippa’s perfect baby skin shot adrenaline through my veins in a rush. I snapped my head around to Charlie. Why was Charlie Murray in my grandparents’ kitchen? Seeing him walk into a room filled with my family members had caused a near-horrific accident. This was all his fault. “I thought they were sending Cait. Why are you here?” I snapped across the room.

Everyone went completely silent and gaped at me. I kept my eyes on the intruder as I felt my heart hammer dangerously in my chest.

He was so damned beautiful I wanted to cry. But not nearly as much as I wanted to scream at him for showing up out of the blue without giving me time to prepare, to figure out how I felt about it.

Charlie’s voice, when it came, washed over me like the familiar sea breeze that blew across the cliffs near his home. “I’m here to protect what’s left of my family’s reputation, you lying piece of…” He caught sight of Pippa and stopped before adding the curse word. “The question is, why are you here? I thought you lived in Dallas?”

My family watched the proceedings like a tennis match. I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned, the only people in the room were me and the man who held my most terrifying secret. One of us needed to go, and it wasn’t me.

“You should go,” I ground out, pointing toward the door.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest, and I noticed for the first time he was wearing the same loose-necked fisherman’s sweater he’d been wearing the first time I’d seen him. Only this time he had a T-shirt on under it, covering what I now knew to be the most delicious shoulders on earth.

I swallowed.

Charlie’s nostrils flared. “I’m not leaving, but don’t let me keep you here, Hudson. Feel free to go back to the city and your big corporate job of stealing people’s family businesses.” His voice lowered to an angry growl at the end, and I knew right away he blamed me for everything.

“I’m not stealing your business,” I said. “And you’re definitely leaving. If you think I’m spending the next few months working with you, you’re mistaken. Go back home, Charlie.” I turned around to find some napkins to begin wiping the coffee drips off my shoes.

“Why should I leave?” he asked, clearly exasperated with me.

I turned back around and let it fly before my brain could kick in and save me from making a huge mistake.

“Because leaving is your thing, isn’t it? That’s all you seem to do when I’m around anyway.” My heart was already in a million pieces just seeing his face and hearing his voice, but when I let those angry words fly, I realized just how hurt I still was after waking up to an empty bed that morning in Cork. I’d thought we’d shared something special that night. Waking up alone had proven I’d been the only one who’d felt that way.

It was then that I noticed his eyes weren’t sparkling with anger, they were sparkling with unshed tears. Oh god.

“Charlie,” I breathed, taking a step toward him as he swiveled away from me and brushed past Sassy toward the door. I wanted to touch him, to hold him, to run up to him and throw myself at his damned feet to beg his forgiveness. But my entire family was watching. I cleared my throat. “Charlie, wait.”

He turned to me, his gorgeous red hair following around in an arc. My fingers itched to touch it, to feel the familiar silky thickness against my skin.

Charlie’s anger was gone, and he looked… lost.

“I won’t…” He looked around, seeming to acknowledge the rest of my huge family for the first time before looking back at me with pleading eyes. “I’m sorry. You know I won’t…” He sighed. “You’re right. I’ll go. It’s best if I go. This clearly isn’t going to work.”

He turned back the way he came, Sassy running after him begging him to wait up for her.

I stood there in shock, lips numbing quickly and hands beginning to tremble. “I have to go,” I whispered.

But before I could move toward the direction they’d gone, my brother West stopped me with hands on both my shoulders. “Woah. Dude, hang on. Let Sassy go after him. She’s not going to let him go anywhere until he calms down anyway. Now sit down and tell us what the hell that was all about. You have never, in my entire lifetime, lost your shit at someone like that. Not even me.”

I glanced toward the front door. “No, I need to go talk to him. I was just surprised, that’s all.”

“Who the hell is that guy?” Otto asked. “I thought he was a chick. One of Sassy’s friends or something. He’s fucking gorgeous. The kid looks like a model for Christ’s sake.”

His husband smacked his man in the stomach. “Ass,” he muttered.

Otto looked at Walker with a sheepish smile. “Tell me you didn’t think the same thing and I’ll apologize.”

“Shut up. That’s beside the point,” Walker grumbled, unable to meet Otto’s eye. Otto laughed and kissed Walker’s temple before putting his arm around the guy and pulling him in close.

My brother Saint adjusted the front of his sweats like a horny teenaged punk. “I wouldn’t mind a few minutes alone with that gorgeous boy. Those lips. Did you see how full they—”

I wanted to punch the fucker, but instead, I cut in, trying not to flare my nostrils like an angry bull. “He’s none of any of y’all’s fucking business. Hands off. He’s here to work, dammit. Not be… whatever you’re thinking. And he’s not a kid. He’s twenty-eight.”

“Oooh, you know Hudson’s building up a head of steam when his Texas twang comes out in full force,” Nico said with a laugh. “Y’all better watch out,” he teased.

“Everyone shut the hell up,” I barked. “Seriously. This is my job we’re talking about. The success of this project is the difference between me handing out lollipops and dog bones in the drive-thru at the Hobie Credit Union and me making vice president at Ames International. Don’t you see that? This is a big damned deal to me.”

Saint’s twin sister, MJ, stood up and walked behind me to rub my shoulders. “Dang, Hud. Now it all makes sense. You were acting like a freaker, and it turns out you’re just scared for your job. That’s something we can all understand. For a minute there, you were coming off as… I don’t know. Weird. Like a lover’s spat or something,” she said with a laugh.

My siblings all cracked up at the idea of their one straight brother getting territorial over a man. My stomach clenched. That wasn’t what had happened, was it? It had just surprised me was all. I’d been expecting Cait. Marketing guru Cait. Not Charlie. Sweet, funny, too-tempting Charlie.

I closed my eyes and pressed into them with my fists.

This was going to be a disaster. I had to find a way to send the beautiful man home.