My body tensed, and I turned my head to look at him. His gaze was still facing the water, but his jaw was tight.
Oh, God, he knows.
At that moment, Hudson turned his head, and our eyes locked.
The ferocity in his gaze made my heart stutter as he said hoarsely, “It was just facts, Taylor. Words on a page, and a picture so we could recognize you. The only thing I really got out of reading that whole dossier was the fact that you’re a survivor. It gave me some hope that you’d be stubborn enough to still be breathing once we found you. It’s mostly just a history so we can anticipate any problems we might have.”
I relaxed a little, but I couldn’t manage to tear my eyes away from Hudson.
God, the man was intense, but the apprehension in his gaze was very, very real.
Obviously, he was worried about how I’d take the fact that he’d studied me before he’d ever met me.
“I get it,” I said softly, and really, I did comprehend why they needed some info on people they were going to risk their lives to rescue. “I understand that it was probably necessary.”
I saw Hudson visibly relax as he said, “Nobody saw it except me, Taylor. Marshall put everything together, but I’m not sure how much he actually read. Like I said, it was just words on paper. If you ever want to tell me what it was really like for you as a child, that will be your choice.”
I looked away from him to watch the last few moments of a gorgeous sunset, and because I needed time to get my head together.
If I’d spent one more minute looking into those sexy, empathetic eyes of his, I might have started to believe that he’d understand.
I wasn’t ashamed of my past.
And I’d had Mac to help me fight through my emotional turmoil.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to share that information with Hudson, I just wasn’t sure how to do it, or if he could ever understand. Yeah, his childhood had been dysfunctional, but we’d been raised in two different worlds, and because mine would probably seem totally foreign to him, I wasn’t sure he’d be able to relate.
Once it was dark, Hudson rose from his lounger. “Time for that ice cream,” he said in a much lighter tone.
I shot him a dubious look, but I took the hand he’d offered, letting him pull me gently to my feet.
I stumbled forward a little after I got up, and crashed into his massive chest.
“Sorry,” I said breathlessly as I looked up and saw him watching me.
Any time I was this close to Hudson, my body reacted instantaneously.
My heart would start to race, my brain shut down, and all I could do was surrender to the way he made me feel.
I started to drown in his masculine scent, and the feel of his warm, hard body.
I wanted to move closer, wrap my arms around his neck, and jerk his head down so I could taste those sensual lips of his.
Instead, I backed away a little before I made a complete fool of myself.
“Taylor?” he queried in a graveled voice.
“Yes?”
He took my hand and started leading me slowly toward the French doors, like he was still afraid I’d fall and break my neck. “If I’d been your classmate at Stanford, I would have been all over you. I have no idea what’s wrong with the idiots you went to school with, but it’s highly possible they were intimidated by the fact that you could probably kick their asses.”
If his statement had been uttered for my amusement, it worked. I laughed like I hadn’t done in a very long time.
Young, hot billionaires like Hudson Montgomery would never have to seek a woman out for a date. Women found him, and I had no doubt he had a lot of eager females panting just to get his attention.
Honestly, I’d probably be one of those panting women if there was a chance he might be seriously interested. Not because he was rich and gorgeous, but because he was an absolutely amazing guy.
I smiled up at him as he opened the door to let me enter in front of him, and I kept my mouth firmly closed. I knew a guy like Hudson Montgomery could never be sincerely interested in an ordinary woman like me.
Hudson
Jax has absolutely no idea he’s going to get his ass kicked.