Page 12 of The Prey (The Hillers of Barratt County #6)

Hudson Hanan was a complete and utter asshole . The king of assholes.

She had been aware of that man all day. He’d done it to her on purpose. She knew he had. Each time he passed her desk, she lost focus completely. So much so that Shayna, her closest friend at the office, had been watching her with a puzzled expression on her face for at least the last hour.

“What’s going on with you and Hudson? Talk to me. I am seriously trying to understand why we are not in the middle of WWIII here, after three years of battles?”

Gia just shook her head. The way the man had been skulking around the office—it was obvious he was plotting something. He had that same look his son had when he was plotting to steal a cookie. “The man is up to something. I think he likes confusing me.”

“Honey, they all do. But I’ve seen the way he looks at you lately. It has definitely changed . No more death rays, for one thing. Rays of a different sort—lust rays, maybe? Something you want to talk about?”

“Apparently, when he stayed with my family, he somehow got the impression that everything had changed between us. On a personal level. I do not agree. But getting him to believe that… well, the man is a complete and utter ass, Shayna. I am even more convinced of that now. He’s also planning something.

I can see it in his beady little eyes.” Those eyes were trained on her again, too.

From his office window. She barely resisted sending him…

a rude gesture her mother would clobber her for using.

She didn’t. She was a professional, after all.

“If that means he wants you to take that suit off of him and just see what happens…go for it. Like right now. I will cover for you both. I promise. He’s actually one of the best men I’ve ever met,” Shayna said, glancing toward the man in question.

“Hudson’s a good guy, a great father, great brother, and a great boss to work for.

However, I sincerely doubt he’s ever been known as an easy kind of man. ”

“You have no idea.”

Shayna leaned forward. “So, is something really happening between the two of you now? I’ve been waiting for that to happen. For years, actually.”

Gia wasn’t even going to think about what Shayna was implying here. She just wasn’t. Nothing would ever happen between her and Hudson Hanan. It just wouldn’t. “What do you mean? We’ve despised each other for years.”

“Gi, with that kind of heat—heat that is obviously between the two of you and has been for like forever, there’s no despise about it. And now, the way he watches you… it’s almost enough to make me go back on my vow of eternal celibacy.”

Shayna had made a very clear vow after her ex-husband had taken off when he’d learned their second child was also a girl.

“Just… nothing is going to happen between Hudson Hanan and me. It’s just not. No matter what he is scheming up in that complicated man-brain of his. It is just not going to happen.”

“So…has he kissed you yet?”

He’d tried. It just hadn’t happened. It wasn’t going to happen. And it had better not happen.

She spent far too much time thinking about what she would have done if it had happened. There were no easy answers in that one.

Hudson had changed everything, damn him.

She went back to work, with the Lawrence file spread out in front of her.

She had not changed her opinion of Officer Bernard.

She strongly suspected he had lied. Hudson hadn’t been there for the original depositions—how was he supposed to know?

He was just going to have to take her word for it.

She was going to make that point known, the first chance she had.

She had the Martinell case open as well.

She printed out the historical ruling and was making notes when a sound near her desk had her looking up.

Shayna was gone, making a run to the courthouse.

Gia looked around the office—everyone seemed gone.

Of course, it was near lunch. She shivered.

She always hated when the building was empty like this.

She turned when she heard the sound of someone behind her.

And there he was.

Mr. Hudson Hanan himself.

“May I take you to lunch, Counselor?”

The invitation came with that undertone he had been using with her lately. The one that said it was just a matter of time until the man won whatever it was he was after. She was definitely what he was after now. And…nope. Just not going to happen.

Three years of animosity wouldn’t just go away overnight because he suddenly realized she had girl parts! And she wasn’t an idiot—men had looked at her exactly the way Hudson Liam Hanan was right now before.

No. Gia wasn’t buying in to this game of his. She just wasn’t.

Gia stood. “I have a lot to say to you.”

He just looked at her from those big brown eyes of his, a wicked smirk on his lips.

Oh, the man drove her insane.

“I was counting on it. Grab your bag. Lunch is on me.”

Minutes later, they were in his truck. He even opened the door for her. Probably so he could throw her off. Probably. His hand brushed her spine. Scorching her. The man had hands like fire.

Hudson seemed to dwarf the overly large truck—which was ridiculous. Three of her brothers drove the exact same make and model of truck. She’d ridden with her brothers millions of times and never felt this… almost trapped. On edge.

Aware.

That was what it was—she felt aware of him in a way she hadn’t in a long time. Damn him, why had he changed everything?

She studied her personal nemesis as he drove.

He really was a physically beautiful man.

He was taller than all of her brothers—a bit broader through the shoulders.

Strong, too. She’d seen him without his shirt a few times.

He was definitely a very beautiful man. It hid his demon soul—that was the only explanation she had.

Maybe Gunn should do an exorcism? She was so going to discuss that with Hala very, very soon.

Then she and Hudson could go back to the way things were before. Before he went insane and everything.

“What do you want to say to me?”

“About Martinell…”

“I decided you were right. I’m going to rework things. The jurisdiction argument is weak. And we probably won’t use Bernard at all. I’m waiting on copies of the reports about him you mentioned.”

“You don’t believe me?” Of course he didn’t—Mr. Have to See it For Himself Hanan. She’d been proving herself to him for three years now. She was about ready to chuck him straight out the window.

“I do believe you. And if that man is abusing his power, I want to know about it. See what else he’s done.”

Gia just stared at him. Hudson Hanan backing down?

She checked the sky. No pigs flying this time. “You’re admitting you’re wrong?”

This was insane. Utterly beyond insane.

He pulled into the parking lot across the road from the diner. “Stay there. I’ll help you down.”

“I’m not helpless, Hudson. And this is not a date. Let’s just make that clear.” Probably best to get that out there before the man started getting ideas. She fought a shiver. She could imagine what those ideas would possibly be.

Or…more ideas. It was obvious he had already had ideas he shouldn’t be having.

He hadn’t touched her even once while in the office or anywhere else on the clock, but his eyes—the way the man looked at her…

This man was completely and utterly dangerous to her.

It was time she admitted that.

He might be a pain in her ass, but apparently she was aware of him physically. In a way she hadn’t been with a man in a long time. She was going to have to figure out what that meant for her soon. Very soon.

Then he was around the truck, opening her door. Gia acted instinctively and turned, ready to slide out. His hands were there, on her waist. She felt the press of the cast against her. Then his good hand was sliding up, running along her spine, to cup the back of her neck just below the heavy braid.

“What are you doing?” She squeaked—she actually squeaked. His hand felt so hot, so…dangerous. Her entire body shivered.

He was playing her now. She knew exactly what the man was doing. Gia spun, getting herself away from danger—and temptation— as fast as she possibly could. “ Not happening, Hanan. Just what are you after here, anyway?”

She was a Hiller; they faced challenges head on.

This man was definitely a challenge.

“Everything. You’d better get ready. I want everything you can give . ”

He meant it—she could see that in his eyes. The man was a man on a mission.

Gia hurried inside the diner, where safety waited.

Even just temporarily.