Page 6

She righted herself. I quickly did the same.

“Hudson Goodson, I don’t need your help.” Full of fire, she ran a hand over her hair to smooth it, then continued with her palms straightening out her dress, like a prim and proper city girl. But I could see the Texas chick inside of her still. Wonder what it’d take to wake that wild side of hers up again?

She grabbed her things and huffed away, stumbling across the parking lot. With her suitcase rolling beside her, she balanced a few bags on her shoulders, redistributing the weight, looking about to fall over.

“You really have been gone a while. Your mama’s house is this way.” I called after her and thumbed behind me.

She stopped, sighed loudly, and then she slumped over, head down, shoulders shaking. Her cries hit me hard and I ran toward her, but too late. She leaned too far on the handle of the case and it collapsed, sending her to her knees on the ground.

I scooped her up and carried her back to my truck. In my arms, her body weighed next to nothing. Too bad I wasn’t carrying her to my bed instead.

“Wha-what are y-you doing?” She sobbed, bringing her arms around my neck and holding onto me tight.

“Taking you home.” I opened the passenger door of Blue Betsy and deposited her gently on the seat. Then I ran back and collected her things from the middle of the parking lot and threw those into the back.

When I reached her side, her face scrunched as she swiped her tears away. “Why are you driving Carson’s truck?”

“Carson’s? It’s been mine for a few years. He needed money to start his shop, so I bought it.”

“He sold her to you? But… he loved this truck. He put so much time and effort into it.” She reached out, running a hand along the dashboard as if petting a loyal family dog.

“Shoot. Either you’ve had more to drink than I thought, or your memory’s bad. Who do you think taught him how to fix this thing up? I probably put in just as much—if not more—work into it. Couldn’t see letting this beauty go to someone outside of the family.”

Which was my problem in a nutshell. Couldn’t let go of my infatuation with Lacey, either.

Up until her sophomore year, I’d thought nothing of her. Just an irritating friend of my brother’s. Then I’d gone off to firefighter school in Austin and worked there a couple of years until I finally got a job at our hometown station.

The day I moved back, she and Carson were celebrating their eighteenth birthdays with a combined party at our house. Somehow, she’d blossomed into a gorgeous young woman. And a helluva lot less irritating.

I admired her for all of her talk about moving to a city, even more when she actually did it. Many people in this small town had dreams, very few fulfilled them. Yeah, she got my heart racing. But being years older, I ignored it. Not to mention, being Carson’s girl and best friend at the time, I wouldn’t dare pursue her.

How time changed everything... He moved on. She moved away. Even when she would visit her mom on rare holidays, they hung out, but just as friends. I asked him once about their relationship. He claimed no interest in her beyond friendship.

Now he’d popped the question to Emme, Lacey returned to town, and here I was, unattached, and undeniably bothered by the sight of her. But how would Carson take it if I pursued her? Hell, she probably wouldn’t even want me if I tried.

In her seat, she tugged at the seat belt, but it wouldn’t give. I stepped up on the sideboard. “Here. Let me do it. The old belt gets stuck now and then.”

I leaned over her and buckled her in, to the sound of her breath catching. Her chest rose and fell. The creamy skin there called my name, as if begging to be touched.

“Thanks,” she breathed.

“No problem, Lace.”

“Hm. Besides my mother, you’re the only one who ever called me that.” Then she bit her lip and looked away.

I backed off before she could cry, or before I did something stupid to that bottom lip of hers, like capture it with my mouth. I shut the door and ran around to my side. All kinds of warnings went off in my head.

What the hell was I doing? Getting any closer to her would be a bad idea. What would Carson say? Besides, she said she’d be here for the summer. Not forever.

I needed to keep myself in check around her. I reached down to adjust myself before opening my door, because fuck if my cock didn’t get the message.

4

CHAMOMILE AND CONFESSIONS

HUDSON

Good old BlueBetsy rumbled to life.