duke in England. He moved to America to get out from under his father’s iron hand. His family coat of arms is still hanging up on the fourth floor; I didn’t have the heart to take it down. Someday I will, though, and I’ll donate it to the Boggy Creek Museum. Mr. Pierce did an awful lot for this town.”
“Wow, that’s some really interesting history.”
With a smile, I replied, “It is. I’ll give you a tour after dinner. Right now, I need to get to that alfredo sauce before it burns.”
Ten minutes later, Hudson and I were seated at my dining table, each with a plate of grilled chicken, fettucine noodles, homemade alfredo sauce, and freshly baked bread.
When Hudson took a bite, he let out a low moan of pleasure. “My God, Greer. You really should own a restaurant and not a bookstore. You’re an amazing cook.”
I felt my cheeks grow hot as I took a bite of bread, chewed, and swallowed. “I love cooking, but I don’t think I’d love to do it for a living. It would make me not like it as much.”
“Do you cook like this for yourself?”
“Oh geesh, no way! I usually make veggie trays or sandwiches. Simple things. It’s hard to cook for just one person.”
He rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it.”
A part of me wanted to ask him about his morning visit from Jean, but I decided to go in a different direction. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I’d been spying on him. “So, how was your first day in the cabin? Did you get some writing done?”
He set down his wine glass. “I actually started writing not long after you left last night. Something just clicked, and I wrote for a few hours. Got twelve-thousand words in today, if you count last night’s writing session.”
“Wow! That’s amazing, Hudson!”
He smiled, and I felt my heart jump in my chest.
“Yeah, I was pretty excited. I fell asleep around three and slept like a baby until Jean stopped by, offering up a sugary breakfast.”
I tried to act like this was news to me, but I had a feeling I wasn’t playing it off so well. “Oh, is that so?”
Hudson took another bite of fettucine and nodded.
“Well, I hope she doesn’t become a problem for you,” I said. “I mean, with her stopping by like that.”
He gave me a one-shoulder shrug and shook his head. “Nah. We chatted for a bit, and then I told her I needed to get some work done. She’s pretty cool.”
I was suddenly hit with an image of going to the cabin and peeing around the perimeter to lay claim to Hudson and I started to laugh. He looked up and frowned.
“Sorry, I thought of something, and it made me chuckle. It was nice of her to bring you breakfast.”
“It was, but I asked her not to bring me any more food. I told her that you and I had stocked up on plenty of it already.”
“I take it you wrote after she left?”
“I did for a little bit. Got about two-thousand words in and then started working on the steps at the front of the cabin and chopped some fire wood. It was nice to have the break, to be honest. I put my headphones in and listened to some music and actually got a great workout in. I should have them finished up tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” I asked in a stunned voice.
“Yeah. Don’t look so surprised, Greer.” He jerked his thumb in his direction. “This guy right here can build shit.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, my father will be so grateful that you’re knocking those out so fast.”
“I also replaced the faucet; that’s why I was almost late.”
It took me a moment to realize I was openly staring at him. If God had intended to drop the perfect man in front of me, he’d succeeded. It sucked that said man was only here for a month or so. I could not allow myself to let my feelings for Hudson develop past this crazy attraction I had for him.
“You were right on time,” I said. “What do you mean late?”
“I would have been early then. I don’t like showing up at the last minute. Pet peeve of mine.”
All I could do was nod.
We ate for a few more moments before Hudson suddenly said, “Jean asked me to have dinner with her this evening.”
I paused with my fork almost at my mouth and lifted my brows.