My Unfair Godmother(78)

Hudson stared in the direction my family had gone. “Well, at least you’re finally listening to me about men.” I rolled my eyes. “I never had a crush on Robin Hood. Bo cured me of thinking bad boys were a good thing.” For a moment I worried this would count as a lie and my sparkler hat would go off. Because really, Hudson had cured me of that as much as Bo had. I hurriedly added, “I like more solid men now.”

“Solid?” Hudson’s eyes slid to mine again. “As opposed to wispy, transparent men?”

I ignored that line of questioning. “Do you have a plan?” 238/356

Hudson opened his mouth to speak, then shut it as his gaze shifted over my shoulder.

I turned and saw Little John leading a large brown horse over to us. He was a mountain of a man, with arms like tree trunks. I had noticed this fact before, but now it made me gulp.

Little John stopped when he reached Hudson. “Robin says I can ride out to the main road with you if you like. Give you a head start to the village.”

“No,” I said too quickly. I didn’t like the thought of Little John and Hudson out in the forest alone. What was to keep Little John from killing Hudson and thereby cutting off one of our ways to return to the twenty-first century?

“No thank you,” Hudson said more casually. “I’ve already had one of your escorts out of the forest and it was quite enough.” Little John grunted. “As you will. But you’d best be on your way.

You’ve a ways to go.”

Hudson put his arm around my waist, as calmly as if he’d done it a hundred times before. “True enough. But it’s hard for those who are courting to part ways.”

Little John’s gaze bounced back and forth between us and he made a grumbling noise. Twelfth-century lingo wasn’t my strong point, but I was pretty sure Hudson had told Little John I was his girlfriend.

To prove the point, Hudson pulled me closer. I leaned into him, playing along. He smelled of campfire smoke and earth and steel. I was glad for the excuse to lean into him, even if it was an act on his part. “You can stay for a few more minutes, can’t you?” I asked.

Hudson smiled down at me. “If that’s your wish, I wouldn’t think of disappointing you.”



239/356

Very pretty dialogue. I bet the book would use it for the next page.

Little John grunted, then turned and walked back to the others.

When he was out of earshot, I said, “What’s your plan?” Hudson kept his arm around me, and leaned toward my ear as though he were flirting. “As soon as the Merry Men aren’t looking, we both leave. You can pretend you’re just walking a little ways into the forest to kiss me good-bye. If you’re with me, Robin Hood will have to take your family to the meeting place. It’s the only way he’ll have a chance at more gold. We won’t come back with horses though; we’ll come back with the wizard.”

I considered this while Hudson ran his hand across my back. My skin tingled where he touched it, making it hard to consider much of anything else. “My parents will worry if I take off.”

“We’ll call them on the walkie-talkie and tell them what we’re doing.” His lips brushed against my ear. My knees felt weak.

“The king’s men are looking for me,” I whispered.

“We’ll take back roads.” His hand tapped the small of my back, waiting for my decision.

I pulled my mind away from the curve of his lips and the depth of his brown eyes. Which was the greater danger—the king’s men or the Merry Men? I tried to think it through logically, but logic wouldn’t stick. Emotion made the decision. If I left, I was risking my safety, but if I stayed, I was risking my family’s freedom. I couldn’t do that to them, not after I had already put them through so much.

“I’m with you,” I said.

Hudson massaged a slow circle on my back, which sent more tingles radiating up my spine. “The Merry Men won’t expect you to go far. Not with so many of your possessions sitting out in the open. They know you’re guarding them.”



240/356

I put my head against his chest. His heart beat a slow, steady rhythm against my cheek. “I can’t lie. If I tell them I’m going to kiss you good-bye, we’ll really have to kiss.” I glanced up to see his reaction to that.

He smiled and wound a strand of my hair around his finger. “I’d be happy to kiss you good-bye.”

I inwardly winced at the double meaning. Of course he would be happy to kiss me good-bye. He probably couldn’t wait to put me and this whole horrible episode behind him.

Which meant when we got back to the right century, I was not only moving to a mansion, I was moving to a mansion in Hollywood, so I could have famous actor friends that I would flaunt when I came back to visit Rock Canyon.