Page 14

“Here we are. One chocolate brownie, and your usual, Lacy darlin’,” she says, sliding the dishes on the table and I pull my hand back, away from Hudson and to make room for the dishes. “And an extra spoon for the doc.” She passes a spoon to Hudson, whose eyes are wide, looking between the sundae and brownie. Both portions are huge.
“Thanks, Rochelle,” I tell her, and she smiles.
“Always a pleasure for you, honey.” When she gives my shoulders a squeeze, my heart drops again at the sympathetic look she gives me before she leaves us to it.Everything felt normal, if just for a few minutes.
“This is yum…” Harvey is barely audible over his full mouth, chocolate sauce already dripping from his lips.
“That does look yummy,” I tell him, chuckling, and he nods, clearly enjoying it.
I look at my sundae. Ice cream, chocolate syrup, cream, nuts, and sprinkles, with a big red cherry on top. Nothing could be more delicious.
“Do you want to try?” I say to Hudson, who is eyeing it like he wants to devour it all himself.
“I can’t say no to that offer.” He laughs, and I smile as I push the dish toward him to taste test. As he does, I grab the cherry from the top, my favorite part, popping it in my mouth and enjoying the sweetness before twirling the stem and making a knot with my tongue. Yet another thing I do. Every Saturday. Alone at this diner. It’s always the first thing I do before I dig in. As I take the stem out of my mouth and place it on my napkin, the knot perfectly tied in the middle, I look back at Hudson, whose lips are parted, watching me, his spoon halfway from my dish and his mouth.
“Ahh, you okay?” I ask, confused, as I take a spoonful of ice cream, and he clears his throat.
“Yeah, just… you like cherries, huh?” he asks, eating his spoonful quickly.
“Oh, yeah… College trick,” I tell him, my cherry habit happening so automatically that I totally forgot about how it might look to someone witnessing it. I take a spoonful of ice cream to cool down my flush.
“Can I try?” Harvey asks, his spoon already digging into my ice cream.
“Delicious, right?” I ask him, seeing him nod in approval.
“Here, try mine!” Harvey says, pushing his chocolate brownie toward me.
I take a spoonful and bring it to my mouth, the warm chocolate cake hitting my tongue, and I hum in approval as I close my eyes and savor it.
“Mmmmmmm… So good,” I murmur, opening my eyes, again seeing Hudson watching me, his eyes barely blinking.
“You, ahhh… you’ve got a bit of syrup,” he says, rubbing his lip.
“Ohhh.” I grab a napkin, my cheeks heating all over again.
“No, just here…” His eyes are hooked on my face as he points to a spot on his lower lip. I swipe my finger across my lower lip, following his instructions, and feel the syrup gathering on my finger before sucking it from my skin. He swallows as his eyes watch the movement, his stare almost burning into me, pupils dilating as my heart beats out of my chest.
“Thanks,” I whisper, not confident in my own breath as his stare continues to heat my insides.
“Anytime,” he murmurs. With his eyes on me, a silent feeling bounces around us, both overwhelming and intense.
“How about we try them together? They are both good, but things are always better together,” Harvey says, startling us from our intense gaze as he scoops up a little brownie, then dunks it in my ice cream, his spoon now full of both before he shoves it in his mouth. I watch himdevour the sweet treat as I wonder what the hell just happened. The sizzling tension between Hudson and me is something I haven’t experienced before. I take a deep breath in and count it out in my mind. It doesn’t take long for my nerves to settle as Hudson and Harvey both smile and laugh, and we all eat up our treats, chatting some more and enjoying the afternoon together. It’s the best Saturday sundae I’ve had in forever.
8
HUDSON
Istand with Connor, surveying the room. Tanner has put on a welcome party for me, with some people from the town, his whiskey flowing, and his distillery lit up with flowers, fairy lights, and a blues band playing soulful tunes in the corner.
“Good turnout,” Connor says to me as we look at everyone. I’ve worked the room, talking to more people tonight than I have in a long time. I’ve caught up with some old friends, met new ones. Everyone is welcoming and happy to have me in town as their new medical professional. Tanner and Connor also have a few of their whiskey contacts here, always trying to mix a bit of business with pleasure when they can.
Throughout it all, though, my gaze hasn’t wandered too far from the brunette in the red dress across the room. Lacy looks stunning, breathtaking, really, and my heart clenches just like when I spotted her in town outside the diner last weekend. I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do when Harvey invited us along to herafternoon tea for one at the diner, but the minute she sat opposite me and I got to learn more about her, see her smile and laugh, then watch as she curled that fucking cherry stem with her tongue, I was glad we did.
Tonight, everyone in the room seems to know her and want her attention. She has been working the room too, as well as running around, organizing everyone and everything. She does it so effortlessly and with grace, yet she hasn’t had a break at all, and from what I’ve seen, she hasn’t even had anything to eat. I know because I’ve been watching her all night. She gives everyone time, speaking, smiling, and as I look at her, I admire her outfit, the dress fitting too well, her hair curled just right and shining, her brown eyes drawing me in.
“She went to an Ivy League, you know. Top of her class,” Tanner says, stepping up beside me. He’s obviously proud that he managed to not only hire an intelligent, highly skilled person for his team, but also that she’s local and from the same small town he has called home all his years.
“Who?” I ask him, playing dumb, my eyes not wavering from the vision in red across the room.