Rosalie Undone (Book Six)

by Elizabeth Kelly

  “A glass of wine, please.”

  “Red or white?”

  “White. Thanks, Porter.”

  He brought her the glass and shook his head when she reached for the purse. “On the house.”

  “Thank you, that’s very nice of you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He moved to the other end of the bar.

  Rosalie sipped at the wine. It helped ease her dry throat. She took a deep breath, glancing to the left at the sound of raucous laughter. The two women sitting at the end of the bar screamed laughter again. They looked familiar to her and after a moment, she placed them. They were the two drunk women who had wandered down the hallway the night Hudson said he would help her.

  They were racoon shifters. She’d worked with Betty long enough to recognize a raccoon shifter when she saw one. The prettiest one took a long drink of her beer and smoothed down her dark hair before nudging her friend. Rosalie followed their gazes. Hudson had returned. He walked behind the bar, and Rosalie bristled when the pretty raccoon shifter grabbed his arm as he walked past her.

  He stopped, and Rosalie could feel another bite of jealousy when the woman traced her long painted nails up and down his forearm. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but her stomach was in a tight knot and she could almost feel her chest going blotchy from anger. The woman crooked her finger, and Hudson leaned down so she could whisper in his ear.

  He shook his head and straightened, tugging his arm free. The racoon shifter pouted at him, and he shook his head again before continuing toward Rosalie. He stopped in front of her. “Hey.”

  “Hi, Hudson.”

  He didn’t say anything else and she took another swallow of wine to try and calm her nerves. What was she doing? Was she really trying to get back into Hudson’s good graces with food? She was an idiot.

  “What, uh, what are you doing here?” Hudson asked.

  “I brought you lasagna,” she blurted.

  His gaze dropped to the container sitting on the bar. “You made me lasagna?”

  “I, well, it was in my freezer. I mean, I made it, just not tonight. I cooked it a couple of weeks ago and froze it for nights when I was working late and didn’t feel like cooking. I heated it up though, before I left so it’s not like frozen or anything. Anyway, I should go. I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have -”

  “Hudson?” Porter was back, and he gave them both a cheerful grin. “If you want to take your dinner break a bit early so you can spend it with Rosalie, go ahead.”

  There was silence. Rosalie wanted to sink into the floor. Porter stared at Hudson. “Hudson?”

  “Yeah, okay.” Hudson grabbed the container of lasagna. “Follow me.”

  She slid off the bar stool and followed him to a booth in the corner near the hallway. It was twice the size of the other booths in the bar and the table had a “staff only” sign sitting on it. Hudson sat down and picked up a napkin-wrapped fork and knife sitting on the table. Rosalie slid into the booth across from him, placing her glass of wine on the table.

  Hudson made an irritated snort and Rosalie looked up to see Tori bouncing toward them, a beer in hand. “Hey, guys. You on your break, big guy?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Nice. Those two sexy ladies over there asked me to give this to you.” She sat the beer down on the table before wiggling her nose at Rosalie. “Hi again. You’re…Rose, right?”

  “Rosalie,” she said.

  “Yeah, right. You’re Lincoln’s friend. I haven’t seen him in the bar for, like, days now. Is everything okay with him?”

  “He’s on vacation,” Rosalie said.

  “Oh nice. Good for him.” Tori paused, her pert little nose wriggling in the air before she squealed. “Oh my God, are you and Hudson, like, totally dating?”

  Rosalie turned bright red. Hudson glared at Tori. “None of your business.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so grumpy. It’s not like we can’t tell. She stinks to high heaven.”

  She smiled at Rosalie. “No offense, hon. I’m just not into polar bear.”

  Rosalie stared at her as Hudson growled under his breath. Tori giggled and pushed on his broad shoulder. “Don’t be upset with me, big guy. It’s not like you wanna bang me anyway.”

  She winked at him and walked away, the sway of her small hips catching the attention of several shifters.

  There was an awkward silence and Rosalie cleared her throat. “So, uh, the bar looks good. They did a good job with the renovations.”

  “Yeah.” Hudson was staring at the container of lasagna.

  “Hudson?”

  He finally looked up at her and she gave him a small, apologetic smile. “I’m very sorry about earlier. It was none of my business and I shouldn’t have pushed you to talk about it. Also, I shouldn’t have called you a jerkface growlypants. That was very immature and – are you smiling? Why are you smiling?”

  Hudson’s grin widened. “Just never thought I’d be called jerkface growlypants.”

  She sighed. “I promise I have a higher maturity level than a twelve-year-old. I was just angry and – and I’m not great with witty comebacks. Anyway, I really am sorry. I brought you the lasagna as a peace offering.”

  “I’m sorry too,” Hudson said. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry with you.”

  “No, you had every right to be angry and I -”

  “I didn’t,” he said. “You were just trying to be nice and I was a…jerkface growlypants.”

  She smiled at him and the tension in his shoulders seemed to ease a little. He hesitated and then said, “Samuel was my best friend. He died a few years ago.”

  “I’m very sorry for your loss.” She reached across the table and squeezed his hand, surprised when he linked their fingers together.

  “Thanks.” He stared at their clasped hands for a moment before releasing her and peeling off the lid of the container. “This smells really good.”

  “You should probably heat it up for a few minutes,” Rosalie said.

  He placed his napkin on his lap and took a large bite of lasagna. He chewed and swallowed before grinning at her. “Nah, it’s still warm and delicious.”

  “Good.”

  He dug in with obvious enthusiasm and she watched him eat for a few minutes before saying, “Hey, Hudson?”

  “Yeah?” He hadn’t touched the beer the raccoon shifters had sent him, and she stared at the amber-coloured liquid.

  “Do I smell like you to other shifters?”

  His face went red and he stabbed at the lasagna. “Yeah.”

  “I thought you said that the bite was just, uh, a bite. That it wasn’t a claiming thing like with wolves,” she said.

  Shit, could he hear the weird excitement in her voice?

  “It’s not permanent,” he said. “You just smell like me because we’ve been…”

  “Oh, right,” she said. ‘So, if we stopped, uh, having sex, I wouldn’t smell like you anymore?”

  “It would take a few days for my scent to wear off, but yeah, eventually you wouldn’t carry my scent.”

  She sniffed her arm and he grinned at her. “Only other shifters can smell it, Rosie.”

  She blushed and lowered her arm. “Well, it explains why that guy backed off.”

  He tensed, dropping the forkful of lasagna back into the container. “What guy?”

  “Hmm?” Rosalie was staring at the two raccoon shifters who were sitting at the bar and still staring at Hudson. Maybe she should walk by them a couple times, let them smell Hudson’s scent on her.

  “Rosalie,” Hudson’s voice was a low growl, “what guy?”

  Still preoccupied with the raccoon shifters, Rosalie said, “When I first came in, this guy was kind of angry with me and then he got a little crude, but -”

  Hudson’s growl was louder and angrier. Rosalie tore her gaze from the raccoon shifters and gave him a startled look. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “Who’s the guy?” Hudson snarled. “Point
him out to me, little human.”

  She stared at the beard on his face, at the tips of his fangs and shook her head. “No.”

  “Do as I say, Rosalie.”

  She shook her head again. “Nope, no way. Not when you’re all… growly and weirdly angry.”

  “Did he touch you?” Hudson asked.

  “No. He was just crude, but then he sniffed me, and he must have smelled you, because he apologized and left.”

  Hudson was still growling and staring around the bar. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Hudson, look at me.”

  She squeezed his hand until he finally looked at her. “It was no big deal. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I just didn’t understand what he and his friend were talking about, but now I do. Relax, okay?”

  He leaned forward, the intensity in his gaze making her feel oddly turned on. “If any shifter touches you, you tell me immediately. Do you understand, Rosie?”

  “Yes,” she said. “I will, Hudson.”

  That seemed to calm him, and he leaned back and picked up his fork again. He continued to eat lasagna, as if he hadn’t almost freaked out and shifted. Rosalie took another drink of wine. Man, she’d never really understand shifters.

  “How was the rest of your day?” Hudson asked.

  “Fine. I did some research about getting my real estate license, I already know most of it, but I want to have a proposal put together for Jace when I go back to work about how I’ll balance schooling and work. He’s already said he’ll work with my school schedule, but I want to be prepared for my meeting with him.”

  “When are you going to start?” Hudson asked.

  “Probably next year. There’s a course starting mid-January. It seems like forever, but it’s the end of September now, so really, it’s only three months. After that, I went to my mom’s house for dinner and a visit.”

  “Did she get her sink fixed?”

  “Yeah. A plumber came out yesterday and fixed it. How’s work going?”

  “Busy,” Hudson said. He finished off the lasagna and placed the lid on the container before wiping his mouth. “That was really good. Thanks, Rosalie.”

  “You’re welcome. So, it’s been busy, huh? Lots of, uh, people in tonight?”

  “For a Tuesday night, yeah.”

  “Good, good… what did that raccoon shifter say to you?” She asked and then blushed.

  He glanced at the two shifters. They were staring at him and the one winked at him. He looked back at Rosalie. “How do you know they’re raccoon shifters?”

  “I work with one,” she said. “I recognized the nervous energy and dark circles under the eyes.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, they’re one of the easier shifters to pick out.”

  “So… what did she say? I saw her whispering in your ear.”

  Rosalie! Cool it. You’re not dating for God’s sake.

  “She asked me to go for drinks after my shift.”

  Her face went hot and then cold and then hot again. Through numb lips, she said, “Oh. Are you?”

  “No.”

  “You can,” she said. “I mean, we’re not actually dating so if there’s someone you’re interested in…”

  Rosalie! What are you doing? Shut up!

  She ignored her inner voice. As much as she hated the thought of Hudson hooking up with the pretty raccoon shifter, she would feel terrible if he had a chance at a relationship and didn’t take it because of her. He was her friend and she wanted good things for him. Even if the thought of Hudson in the raccoon shifter’s bed made her want to barf.

  It almost looked like hurt in his eyes, when he said, “You want me to go out with her?”

  “What? No! I mean… we’re friends and I want the best for you. If you’re attracted to the raccoon shifter, then I don’t want... that is, I wouldn’t want to -”

  “I’m not going to go out with someone else while we’re…together,” he said.

  Relief swooped through her.

  He didn’t say he wasn’t attracted to her.

  She grabbed her wine glass and drank the rest of it in two large gulps. It was fine. No big deal. In two weeks, she’d be with Lincoln, the man she loved, and she’d be happy – no delighted – if Hudson started dating that trampy little raccoon.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she said.

  “You’re angry.”

  “I’m not angry,” she said.

  “I can smell your anger, Rosalie.”

  She sighed and lied through her teeth. “I was just thinking of something my mother said earlier about shifters. She’s racist about shifters and it pisses me off.”

  “You can’t choose family,” he said.

  “Yeah, I know.” She smiled at him, trying to work up her nerve to ask him to come over after work. Before she could, he glanced over at the bar.

  “I should get back. My break is almost over.”

  “Oh, right. Of course.”

  She slid out of the booth and grabbed her purse and the empty container, staring in confusion at Hudson when he stood next to her. “What?”

  “I’ll walk you to your truck.”

  “It’s only nine,” she said, “It’s perfectly safe.”

  “I’ll walk you,” he repeated.

  “Thank you.” She walked toward the door, acutely aware of Hudson’s hand resting against the small of her back, of the brush of his body against hers. He walked her out of the bar and across the parking lot to her truck. All things considered, she’d gotten a pretty decent spot close to the bar, but she still liked that he walked her out. Apparently, chivalry was a turn on for her.

  She unlocked her truck and before she could lose her nerve, said, “Do you want to come over after work?”

  “It’ll be late,” he said. “After one.”

  “I don’t mind. I’m on holidays, remember?”

  “Are you sure?” He gave her a searching look and she nodded before digging into her purse.

  “Here, this is a spare key to my place.”

  He hesitated, and she gave him an encouraging smile. “I might be in bed and I don’t want to leave the house unlocked.”

  He frowned. “If you’re in bed, I shouldn’t -”

  “I want you to come over. Really. Just wake me up if I’m sleeping, okay?” She pressed the key into his hand. “I mean it, Hudson.”

  “Okay.” He pocketed the key and shoved his hands into his pockets while she tossed her purse and the empty lasagna container into the passenger seat.

  When she turned to face him, he said, “Thanks again for the food. It was really good.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Was she really hoping he would kiss her goodbye? They weren’t in a relationship so why the hell would he? Still, disappointment swirled in her belly when he started to edge away.

  “I’ll see you later,” he said gruffly.

  “Yeah, okay. I’ll…”

  Jealousy suddenly flared. That damn raccoon shifter was standing outside of the bar. She was staring at them, a cigarette burning between her fingers. She studied Hudson’s big body with blatant appreciation, and when she had the audacity to give Rosalie a smug little smile, Rosalie’s jealousy flamed into a burning torch.

  She pressed her body up against Hudson, stood on her tiptoes, hooked her hands around the back of his thick neck and tugged. He bent and then made a startled noise when she mashed her mouth against his.

  She might have taken him by surprise, but in five seconds flat, he was taking control of the kiss. His big hands slipped around her body and he cupped her ass as he angled his mouth over hers. His tongue traced the seam of her lips and she opened immediately. He made a low growl before sliding his tongue deep into her mouth. She sucked hard on it and he squeezed her ass in a possessive way that made her whole body hot.

  He kissed her repeatedly, not with his usual gentleness but in a hard and demanding manner that made her ache to have him inside of her. Maybe she could lure him into the truc
k for a quickie. Show that slutty little raccoon shifter that Hudson belonged to her.

  Rosalie!

  She tuned out her shocked inner voice and reached for the front of Hudson’s pants. She wanted him. She needed him.

  “Stop, little human.” Hudson’s big hand covered hers.

  She whined in disappointment. “I want it.”

  Jesus, she could almost feel the pout on her face.

  He grinned and pressed a quick kiss against her swollen mouth. “You can have it later.”

  “I want it now,” she said tartly.

  His grin turned to a laugh and he nuzzled her neck affectionately. “Later. Go home, little Rosie. I’ll be there soon.”

  “Promise?” She said.

  “Yes.” He turned her and boosted her into the truck. She leaned out and gave him another slow kiss before peeking around his broad body. The raccoon shifter was still smoking her cigarette, but there was a clear look of disappointment on her face.

  Rosalie gave the raccoon her own smug smile, and Hudson said, “Who are you smiling at?”

  “No one.” She pressed another quick kiss against his mouth. “See you later, Hudson.”

  “Bye, Rosie.”

  * * *

  She was sleeping when he slipped into her bedroom, Mr. Pibbles weaving around his legs and meowing at him.

  “Shh, Pib,” he said and quickly petted the cat before stripping off his clothes. He laid them neatly over the chair in the corner and slid into the bed next to Rosalie. The cat jumped up on the bed, purring and meowing and when he headbutted Rosalie’s face, she made a snorting sound and rolled to face Hudson.

  He slid closer and put his big arm around her waist, drawing her up against him. She slung her arm around him and kissed his chest before muttering, “Time is it?”

  “It’s late,” he said in a low voice.

  She didn’t open her eyes, but she kissed his chest again. “Tired.”

  “I know, honey. Go to sleep.”

  “Stay, ‘kay?”

  “Yes.” He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. The soft warm curves of his mate, the sound of her rhythmic breathing, and the low purr of the cat as he sat on Hudson’s hip, calmed him. His fear of having another nightmare disappeared and he drifted.