Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
I roll my eyes and point at my cake. “I’m going to eat this whole thing, then we should probably go.”
He nods. “You’re right. We should probably go. I’m sure Tate’s done with your car by now. Finish your cake. I’m going to pack up your food so you can take it with you.”
I start to get up. “I’ll help clean up and wash the dishes.”
“Please sit. Enjoy the cake. I got this.”
I sit back down and look at the man that is working around the kitchen. It seems since the first minute I’ve met him, he keeps surprising me. I’ve never known a man to treat a woman like he does, and I’m not sure what to make of it.
He looks up and catches me staring at him. His eyes darken, and the easy smile on his face tightens. I can’t be the only one that feels the chemistry between us, and I wonder if he’ll do anything about it. He points to my cake. “Eat up and we’ll go.”
I look down at the plate in front of me and finish the cake with a smile on my face. I know I can’t let anything happen between us, but it feels good when he looks at me the way he does.
Chapter 11
Hudson
I pull into the parking lot of Jennings Automotive, and as soon as I throw it into park, I am taking off my seatbelt. “Stay put, and I’ll get your keys.”
I might as well be talking to myself, because she’s out of the truck before I even get the door open. I know she’s not going to be happy with me, and I probably should have given her a heads-up.
She’s almost to the open garage doors when I finally catch up with her. “Hey, Ellie.”
She stops and tilts her head back to look up at me. “Yeah?”
She looks inside the garage and back to me. She seems anxious, and I hate that I’m going to be adding to it. “There’s something I need to tell you, but you can’t be mad.”
She puts her hands on her hips. “What did you do, Hudson?”
“Huddy,” I correct her.
She crosses her arms over her chest. “Fine. Huddy, what did you do?”
I put my hand to my chest. “I told Tate to fix everything on your car that needed to be fixed. I’ve already paid for it. We just need to grab the keys.”
She shakes her head like she didn’t hear me right. “You did what?”
I reach for her because I’m over having her this close and not being able to touch her. I put my hand on her shoulder. “Please don’t be mad.”
She’s shaking her head. “Huddy, I can’t let you do this. I can’t… I don’t...”
I interrupt her, already knowing what she’s going to say. “I know you’re not happy about this, but look at it from my position. I want to make sure you’re able to make it out to my house daily, and I need you safe.”
Her face softens. “Huddy…”
I want to shorten the distance between us, but I stay where I’m at. “Please accept this, Ellie. I wanted to do this for you.”
She leans her head back and looks up at me. “You do know you literally just met me, and I’ve never had anyone treat me like you do, Huddy.”
My heart feels as if it’s about to pound out of my chest. “You deserve it, honey. You deserve it and so much more.”
She takes a step toward me, stops, and then takes another. I hold perfectly still even though it’s the last thing I want to do. She’s never initiated any closeness between us, and I’m holding steady, ready for whatever she’s about to do. She doesn’t stop until we’re toe to toe. Her head is tilted all the way back so she can look up at me. She reaches up, strokes her fingers along my jaw, and then rests her hand on my chest. “You’re a good man, Huddy Blaze.”
I reach up ever so slowly and cover her hand with my own. My voice is gruff and filled with emotion. “That means a lot to me that you think so.”
We’re looking into each other's eyes when Tate Jennings comes out of the bay. “Hey guys, you got here just in time. I was about to lock up.”
I don’t want to, but I release my hold on Ellie’s hand and step away from her. “Hey, Tate. Thanks again for the rush job.”
“No problem.” Tate’s holding up the keys, and I hold my hand out. He tosses them to me, and I catch them easily. He looks at Ellie. “You’ll notice a big difference when you’re driving it. We aligned it and fixed a number of other things. The air conditioner works now too.”
Ellie seems so happy. “I have air conditioning?”