Page 34 of Amelia and Her Prince Charming
“Yesterday, black. Today,” he looked down, and then up again, “faded green. We’re destined to coordinate.”
I blushed at the reference to our matching underwear. Hehadnoticed. I tried to will coolness into my cheeks before Anita noticed my reaction, but she was way too observant.
Elm pushed us right next to the bed, and Hudson reached out a hand to rest on the top of Quinn’s head. “Quinny, what’s wrong?”
When Quinn didn’t respond, I said, “She’s nervous about how dark it is.”Processing all this, I mouthed to him. Hudson nodded, concern in his eyes.
“Well, I can fix that.” Elm went to the drapes and cracked them open to bring in some natural light. Hudson, normally golden and healthy, looked like he had the transparent skin of a ghost. Still handsome, for the record. Those Blaire genes were really something. “Better?
Quinn nodded and lifted her gaze to take in Hudson. His hand was still on her head, his thumb brushing over the fine hairs sticking out from her braid. She reached up and took his hand and then pressed her little cheek to his palm.
My heart melted. Hudson’s eyes were red, and he blinked a few times.
“That’s a hand-hug,” she informed him matter-of-factly. “Grandma taught me how to do that downstairs, because she said your arm is broken and you can’t do a big hug right now.”
“Well,” he cleared his throat a few times. “I already feel so much better. You give the best hand-hugs in the world.”
“I know,” she said. She turned toward him, finally seeming more like her normal self. “Guess what? I stayed up allll niiiight looong.”
“Noooo,” Hudson said, pretending to sound shocked. “That’s not possible.”
“It is possible. Because I did it.”
“Wow. What was it like?”
“Eh,” she said with an eye roll that blasted me into the future ten years to when she’d be a teenager.
Elm gasped. “Just, eh? What about the movies? The popcorn? The sucker?” he said, dramatically.
Quinn giggled and gave Hudson another hand hug. “I wanted Mommy and Uncle Hudson there.”
Hudson asked her about what movies they watched, and Quinn went into all the details. For someone who described her entire evening as “eh” she sure had a lot of excited things to say about it. Elm and Anita had done an amazing job of helping her not be too scared, even when they must have been terrified themselves.
Quinn held Hudson’s hand in her lap, petting it every now and then as if to make sure he was real. I understood the impulse. I reached out too and needed to feel his hand in mine.
He startled as our fingers touched and then adjusted to give me more space. Was he pulling away on purpose? Did he think that had been an accident?
I reached again, more firmly this time, and grasped his thumb in my hand. He shot a surprised look at me, but didn’t pull away this time. I didn’t even know what message to give him with my look. All I knew was that just as surely as I needed my next breath, I needed to touch him.
His hand relaxed after a moment, and then his fingers gently brushed over my knuckles. I didn’t know if he even realized he was doing it. I took in every angle of his face—the sharpness of his cheekbones, the overgrown stubble on his chin and neck, his straight nose and piercing brown eyes fringed by dark lashes. I knew exactly how soft his full lips were. And how hard his chest was underneath that gown.
How had I not noticed any of this before? Or I had, but it was like seeing him in a whole new light. A light with soft edges. One that was warm and enticing. One I was insatiably drawn to.
He and Quinn were engaged in a serious conversation about what flavor of sucker was the best when it suddenly hit me like a wave hitting our boat. Hard enough that I was glad to already be sitting.
That new light I was seeing Hudson in? It was the light of someone who was falling in love.
But how could I be in love with my late-husband’s brother? With Hudson? He was my best friend. My ride or die. The person I trusted more than anyone else in this world. The person I’d missed so much when he was gone, I’d ached with it. The person I couldn’t take my eyes off of. The person whose hand felt exactly, perfectly meant to be in mine.
I didn’t understand it. Couldn’t understand it.
But also, couldn’t deny it.
Oh no.
I was falling for Hudson Blaire.
Chapter 21
