Page 13

HADLEIGH

ONE MONTH LATER

“ S hop is cleaned, and books are closed out for the day. I’ve got everyone scheduled for the rest of the week. Now, what do you say we head home?” I ask seductively, eyeing my gorgeous tattooed mountain man.

“Oh, yeah?” Hudson grumbles, closing the distance between us and wrapping his arms around me. His large hands go to my hips, squeezing and grinding me against him.

“Is that a ‘yes?’” I tease, licking my bottom lip slowly and watching it undo him. His eyes dilate, and he growls deep in his throat, leaning in for a kiss.

“First, I need help with that tattoo I mentioned earlier,” he murmurs, grabbing my hand and turning down the hallway, dragging me along behind.

“Help with a tattoo?” I scrunch my face. He mentioned this hours ago, when I was distracted with customers and some of the artists working for him. I thought I heard him wrong, but now I shake my head mystified.

Hudson always surprises or teases me in some way. Sometimes, it’s a practical joke, like jump scaring me, or setting up the coyote call in the bathroom and letting it howl when least expected.

Of course, there are also the sweet surprises, like the time he covered my car in Post-its that, when put together and decoded, clued me in on a concert he’s taking me to at the Vegas Sphere to see My Chemical Romance.

Or when he left two tickets to Hawaii inside the bathing suit drawer of my dresser, letting me know we’re going on a surfing vacation this fall.

But helping him with a tattoo? I can’t imagine what he’s thinking. “I’m not like my silly brother,” I grumble, frowning. “Which means I absolutely don’t want to learn how to tattoo. Especially not you.”

I replace “dumbass” with “silly,” reminding myself I shouldn’t talk so disparagingly about Andy anymore.

After all, he’s been in rehab for a month now, scared sober when he saw me abducted by his associates.

Their bodies were both recovered after the flash flood, along with the crushed, waterlogged SUV.

My brother’s trying to turn his life around and do better. And while I’m not holding my breath, having been through this with him too many times to count, I also want to be supportive and help him succeed.

“Especially not me?” Hudson questions, wheeling back around. “Now, you’re breaking my heart, Hadleigh. Are there other men you want to tattoo?” The wicked glint in his eyes confirms he’s up to something.

“You are incorrigible,” I scold, swatting playfully at his shoulder.

“I can’t reach it. So, I need you to finish it for me.”

“Finish a tattoo for you? I can barely write legibly, and you know how awful I am at drawing. No way.”

“Well, can’t you at least manage a straight line or a circle?”

I cross my arms over my chest. “I am absolutely not using a tattoo gun on you.”

“But you’ve made me use it on you, Cub,” he counters, his hand sliding beneath the denim knee-length skirt I wear. His fingers run playfully over the bear he tattooed on my upper thigh to commemorate the craziest first and last date of my entire life and my new nickname.

“Not fair,” I moan, hungry for his hands, tongue, and cock. “It’s been a long day, Boss Daddy. I need you buried balls-deep, railing me and making me forget my own name.”

“Fuck,” he whispers, nostrils dilating and lips parting hungrily. “You know what I want, Hot Stuff?”

“What?” I pant.

“I want … no, I need, like I need air to breathe, your pussy on my tongue. Right now. But first”—he levels his gaze on me—“I require your steady hand.”

I shake my head.

“Please, Cub.”

“Oh, alright, I know you’re teasing me. Show me whatever it is you’re trying to practical joke me into.”

“A new tattoo,” he says, unbuttoning his shirt and pointing. “I need you to finish it.”

My hands go to my mouth, tears filling my eyes as I gasp. I can’t believe my eyes:

Hadleigh Marie Bardot, do you believe in love at first sight? The kind that never fails, never lets you down, and never hesitates? If so, will you marry me?

Yes or No

His eyes redden as he appraises my reaction, big splashy tears flowing over my eyelashes. “Yes, Hudson, with every part of my being, yes!”

He pulls me into his arms, lips devouring mine passionately. “Good,” he says between kisses. “Because I haven’t been able to imagine living without you since before I even knew what living with you was like. From the moment I laid eyes on you through the tattoo parlor window. “

“You’ve never changed your story,” I laugh breathlessly. “Always maintained it was love at first sight.”

“And I will until the day I die, Cub. Maybe I don’t know how to explain it. But it’s not every day a man flings himself off a cliff for the girl of his dreams.”

“No, it’s not,” I whisper, kissing him tenderly, my heart overflowing with love.

“I think we can both agree I went outside of my comfort zone for you?—”

“Oh, no, Boss Daddy, I know where you’re headed with this, and absolutely not. I won’t fuck up your skin or that beautiful tattoo.”

His emerald eyes plead with me. I know exactly what he’s doing, and I’m having no part of it. I shake my head.

“But, Hadleigh, how will I know what your answer is if you don’t mark it?”

“What am I going to do with you?”

“I’ll let you practice on another part of me, if that helps?”

“You’ve lost your mind.”

“The moment I met you, Hadleigh. Come on, Cub. You can keep a steady hand that long.”

“Alright,” I giggle, shaking my head. “But you owe me after this.”

“Owe you how?” he asks, licking his lips.

“The best head of my life.”

“Done,” he chuckles. “I’ve spoiled you rotten. Haven’t I? Now, you’re entitled, thinking you get this thick, long tongue daily.”

“And other things,” I purr. “It’s only going to get worse, so much worse, once I’m Mrs. Adair.”

“You’d change your last name for me?” he asks, his voice raw.

“Of course. Because I want to belong to you and be yours always.”

“Fuck, I love you.”

“And I love you,” I whisper.

Hudson wipes down the tattoo chair with disinfectant, encouraging me to sit on it, my feet hanging over the edge. He takes the rolling stool, holding himself steady as he talks me through it, and I manage to create a thin, delicate circle around the “Yes.” I admire my work as he gazes down on it.

Fumbling with his pocket, he pulls something out, handing it to me with a big grin.

“Oh my God, Hudson, it’s gorgeous.” I hold a diamond solitaire on a white gold band. It sparkles in the shop’s light, stunningly clear and large.

“Did I do okay?”

“Better than okay. It’s breathtaking.”

“No, you’re breathtaking,” he corrects, helping me slide it on my ring finger.

“I love it,” I whisper, more tears pouring down my cheeks. He wipes them away with his rough, work-hardened thumb. Suddenly, seizing my hips with a dark chuckle, thick and rich like molasses, he pulls me towards him on the tattoo chair, hiking up my skirt.

“What are you doing?” I gasp.

“Giving you the best head of your life,” he says

“In the tattoo parlor?”

“Yes, Hadleigh. Because I’m a man of my word, and when it comes to you, my stunning, breathtaking wife, I never hesitate,” he growls, burying his head in my silky panties with a ravenous chuckle.