The Fixed Trilogy(Fixed on You, Found in You, Forever With You)(79)

I skimmed his shoulder with my lips, running my fingers through the soft hair at the base of his neck. “Hudson? Are you going to work all day?”

He stopped typing and rubbed his rough chin against the side of my forehead. “Does my working bother you?”

“Not really. But I was thinking...” I took a deep breath then plunged in. “I didn’t really see your mother yesterday. Shouldn’t we try to spend some time with her today?”

He tensed. “I don’t know if that’s necessary.”

I had guessed he was keeping his mother and I apart on purpose, that he meant to control the animosity between us. While I appreciated the gesture, it was counterproductive. We’d come to the Hamptons because of her. “Isn’t she the person we need to be impressing with our fabulous relationship sham?”

“Being here together is enough.” He straightened his head and returned to his screen, the matter settled in his mind.

But it wasn’t settled for me. I moved to kneel in front of him, demanding his attention. “No, it’s not enough.” He lifted his eyes to meet mine. “I think we should go at her gangbusters. Throw ourselves in her face. You need to ignore your work to make it really convincing, though. Show her that you’re so in love you can’t even concentrate on business. You can only think of me.”

Hudson rubbed a hand over his stubbly face and shook his head.

“What? Not a good idea?”

He shrugged. “It could be a good idea.” He closed the lid of his laptop and placed it on the nightstand. “But do you really want to spend time with my mother? She can be...”

“A total bitch?”

“I was going to say abrasive, but your words fit as well.”

Of course I didn’t want to spend time with Sophia. But I’d realized that she hated me even more than I hated her. Spending time with her would bring more misery to her than to me. “It’s only two more days. I can handle it.”

Hudson reached a hand out to cup my cheek. “You’re pretty incredible, you know?” His eyes wandered down. “Actually, I’m finding it hard to concentrate on anything but your beautiful naked breasts.”

He pulled me in for a kiss, licking his tongue greedily into my mouth.

When his hand circled around my breast, I pulled away. “No, no, no. We can’t stay locked up in here all morning. We have to be downstairs, in the public eye. Or the Sophia eye, anyway. What time is breakfast?”

He sighed. “Eight-thirty.”

“Damn, I’ll have to shower afterward then.” I hopped out of bed and began rummaging for clothes in my suitcase. “Hope no one minds me smelling like sweat and sex.”

Hudson crossed to his own suitcase. “I’m not going to complain.”

As I pulled out an outfit, I remembered the night at the symphony, how Hudson reacted to my hand on his thigh. “I’m warning you right now—I’m playing this full out.” I slipped on some pink panties. “Expect lots of fondling and touching and kissing and such.” A pair of tan shorts followed.

Hudson dressed quickly too, pulling on a pair of jeans, not bothering with underwear. “Thank you for the warning. Though it should probably be me that initiates most of the fondling and touching and kissing and such.” He paused to pull a plain dark t-shirt over his head. “Since it’s my emotions we’re trying to convince her of, not yours.”

I stilled. Did he know my emotions ran deeper? Was he trying to hint that he knew?

No, I was reading too much into his words. I reached behind my back to clasp my bra. “Good point.” I turned to face him. “But can you bring it?”

“Are you challenging me?”

“If it helps.” I pulled a blue sleeveless blouse over my head.

“I don’t need a challenge. I can totally bring it.”

I slipped my feet into flip-flops and swallowed back a laugh, his words sounding so out of character. When I’d composed myself, I met his eyes. “Game on, then?”

“Game on.”

God, he was adorable.

Arriving to an empty dining room, we sauntered into the kitchen where Millie promptly pointed us to the veranda before hustling to get together plates and utensils for us. Hudson took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine and squeezed, a silent reassurance before we stepped onto the battlefield. Then he pulled me outside through the open French doors where we found Mira, Adam, Jack and Sophia already dining on eggs, potato casserole, ham and fruit cups. Chandler, I guessed, was sleeping in after his late night adventure. He was a teenager, hardly expected to be out of bed before noon.

Sophia noticed us first. “Well, well. They managed to leave the bedroom.”