slightly more relaxed. So for now, if you want a glass of wine, I’ll go get you one, but otherwise, I want you to sit right here until I can run us a bath.”
“A bath?”
My body warmed at the thought.
His eyes turned molten and he bent down and kissed me softly. “I’ve always wondered if it’s big enough for two.”
Which meant no other woman had been in that tub with him. Definitely not that woman in red. Nina.
“Okay.”
“Now, I also have a shirt doused in red wine, the reason why I wasn’t wearing one when you got here, by the way.” At his words, my cheeks heated. I doubted him so easily. “I want to get that soaking. Is there blood on any of your clothes besides your scarf and coat?”
I hadn’t even realized there was blood on those items, and I didn’t want to know if it was Josiah’s or Manny’s. “There shouldn’t be.”
“So. I think tonight has been equally shitty for both of us. Can I get you something to drink, because I definitely need something.”
“Do you have the Pinot Grigio?”
“I went out and bought six different brands when you realized you didn’t hate that one, but what about something different? A margarita, maybe?”
I’d almost tried one at the restaurant earlier, but since no one else there was old enough to drink, I’d held off. “That sounds great, actually.”
“Good.” He kissed my nose and a pleasurable wave rolled down me.
How was it possible he really was this good? And more… how could I have been lucky to find someone so patient with me? He was right, we had a lot to talk about. Starting with tonight’s fiascos and going all the way back to this morning, why he’d started pulling away this entire week, but we’d get there. Staring into his beautiful face, seeing his earnest expression, I didn’t doubt that at all.
“Now sit. I’ll get the water running and then get drinks made, but you—I don’t want you moving an inch.”
He turned to head toward the bathroom, grabbing my scarf, and before he could get too far away, I grabbed his hand and squeezed.
“Thank you, Hudson.”
“It pisses me off you think you have to thank me for any of this when it’s the absolute least a decent person would do. But I also want you to know I get it. I get you trusting someone fully will take time, especially after how we started. So don’t worry about it, Lilly. I love you.”
He loved me.
My jaw dropped and I gaped at him. He’d told me he fell in love with me in photographs, but he hadn’t straight out admitted it. A rush of warmth flooded my veins.
He loved me. Tears blurred my vision and my fingers went numb. I stood in front of this man who was so damn good who believed in me… who loved me…
“Hudson—”
“You don’t need to say anything. I know.” He silenced me with a kiss before I could say anything and when he pulled back, he dipped into the bathroom, not giving me a chance.
The words burned the tip of my tongue to say them back, to shout them through his home so he’d hear me. Hell, I’d stand on the rooftop deck and scream them to the entire city. But not now. Not when I had to tell him about Manny and he had one hell of a story to tell me. Because I was pretty damn certain he told that woman he wasn’t going to marry her which meant his story would be longer.
But now I understood what Angie had told me. And even what Sandra tried to say.
Hudson didn’t need or want anything from me. Except me.
Which meant I finally figured out exactly what to get him for Christmas.
I didn’t listen to him and I definitely moved more than an inch. By the time Hudson returned with two margaritas on ice, I’d already stripped out of my clothes and wrapped myself in a towel.
I had a few sips of the drink while the bathwater ran, just enough to send a rush of warmth through my blood. The sour made me scrunch my nose, but I couldn’t taste alcohol at all.
“I like this,” I said, holding my glass up. With every small sip, the tension in my shoulders softened.
“I like you,” Hudson said. His own drink was in the corner of the bathtub.
He stripped out of his clothes, unashamedly, and I took in every inch of his body while he