Braden raised his eyebrows at her in clear frustration.
“What?” she asked defensively, though she did feel guilty for not letting Hudson explain. But the memory of all the men before him who had used her for one reason or another stayed with her, and when she’d heard Hudson’s words and realized he’d lied, he’d broken something precious between them.
It was easier to focus her anger on her twin, and she took two steps forward, giving him a hard shove. “You’re a jerk!”
“Hey, what did I do?”
She frowned at him because to her it was obvious. “You took Hudson’s side, and you let Damon, Austin, or Jaxon hit him!”
A smirk lifted Braden’s lips, and he shook his head, finally letting a laugh escape. “Pick one, Bri. Either you’re mad at him or you’re not.”
She couldn’t help the pout that pursed her lips. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t. But you’re being a stubborn princess, and it’s not like you to jump to conclusions at something you overheard or to ignore everyone’s calls. We’re all worried about you.”
“I’m allowed time to process,” she said, annoyed he didn’t understand her feelings.
“You’re not processing. You’re sulking.”
She tucked a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. “Same thing,” she grumbled.
Her brother grasped both her forearms. “Look. I get you’re pissed. Hudson should have been up-front with you about what his father wanted in exchange for the money. He wasn’t honest with me, either. Not until yesterday but I think he was humiliated. It’s embarrassing to have to ask for money and get forced into a corner.”
She knew that. She’d just been so shocked and hurt, the words she’d heard throwing her back to other times, other men.
“You need to listen to what he has to say,” Braden said. “And you also need to decide if you really think Hudson is like the guys who came before him or if he’s different and deserves you. I happen to think he does.”
And that was saying something, Bri knew. Her twin never approved of anyone she dated. Nobody was ever good enough.
“Who hit him?” she asked, ignoring his words for now. She’d deal with her life and with Hudson on her own terms.
As if they’d planned it, Braden held his hands up just as Hudson had. “You won’t hear who from me.”
“Men!” she shouted at him just as a group of players exited the locker room, laughing and rowdy, drowning out her yell.
Chapter Eight
Bri hated being stubborn, but she meant what she’d told Braden. She needed time to process what had happened, and that took her a couple more days. First she’d had to separate her past from her present, and that wasn’t easy. It meant she had to remember the assholes who’d used her, and there hadn’t been just one.
Then she’d had to deal with the fact that Hudson hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her the truth when all she’d done was stand by his side. She’d gone to New York, subjected herself to his rude parents, waited at the hotel while he went to ask his father for the money, and held his hand during his brooding silence on the flight home. He’d had a few weeks since then to open up, and he hadn’t. Trust was important, but was it a deal breaker?
She supposed that depended on his reasons, and she hadn’t let him explain. Which brought her to now, looking at herself in the mirror and admitting she’d been exactly what her brother called her. A stubborn princess and it was time she acted like an adult.
After stopping at a sandwich shop on the way to the clinic, she drove downtown and pulled into the gravel parking lot. Her hands had healed, and she wasn’t surprised when she saw Jimmy standing by a dumpster in the back of the lot. She drew a deep breath and climbed out of her car, food in hand, not surprised when Jimmy walked toward her.
“Hi,” she said, holding out the sandwich she’d brought him.
“Is that for me?” Surprise filled his gritty voice.
She nodded. “There’s water in there, too.” And also a twenty-dollar bill, but since she didn’t want a repeat of last time, she didn’t mention the money. He’d find it soon enough.
He grabbed the bag, and this time she released her grip fast so he didn’t drag her down. It helped that she was wearing sneakers and not heels.
“Take care, Jimmy.” She walked toward the building, in her mind already thinking about all the improvements Hudson and her brother could make once they were ready and excited about the prospect.
She let herself in, discovered a full waiting room, and resigned herself to wait. Striding up to the desk, she smiled at Nikki. “Hi. Do you think I could wait in the back office until Hudson has time to talk?”
The brunette smiled. “Sure. Dr. Northfield is the only one here, so it may be awhile.”
“That’s fine.” After the torture she’d probably put him through, she deserved to be kept waiting.
Bri made herself at home in the office Hudson and Braden shared, smiling at the pictures on the desk of her twin and Willow, whose wedding was coming up in a few months. May fifth to be exact. They planned a small affair at a local catering hall because July in Florida was just too hot to hold an outdoor event.
An hour passed and then another. The longer she waited, the more her nerves increased. Did Hudson not want to see her, or was he just so busy he couldn’t make time yet? Her stomach knotted, and she tried to kill time scrolling social media on her phone and occasionally attempting to read a book on an app, but she couldn’t concentrate. She was afraid she’d pushed him too far by not talking to him after the game, but then she reminded herself of the filled outer room and tried to calm down.
After a while, she rested her head on her arms on the desk and shut her eyes.
* * * *
What a fucking long day. Hudson had back-to-back patients, each one serious in its own way, and with Braden needing the day off and Thomas having abdicated the place to Braden and Hudson, he’d been on his own. Thank God for Janie, the nurse they’d recently hired, who was as reliable as she was efficient. Even Nikki had abandoned them midday when her mother called because she’d had an accident, and Nikki had to rush off to be with her. He hadn’t had five minutes to eat, let alone sit down and take a load off his feet.
He opened the door to his office and stopped short at the sight that greeted him. Bri sat in his chair, head resting on her arms on the desk, her dark hair falling over her shoulders and face. Even so, he knew it was her, and his heart started beating again for the first time since his fuckup at her mother’s house.
He supposed that Nikki, in the frenzied worry about her mother, had forgotten to tell him Bri was waiting, and he wondered how long she’d been here.
He unhooked his stethoscope and laid it on a filing cabinet and took off the white medical jacket he’d taken to wearing here before walking over and placing his hand on her back.
“Bri?” She didn’t move, so he rubbed her shirt with his hand. “Hey, beautiful, wake up.”
“What?” Startled, she jumped in her seat, her entire body jerking upright, twisting her head up to meet his gaze. “Hudson! Jesus, you scared me. I must’ve fallen into a really deep sleep.”
“Apparently,” he said with a chuckle. “How long have you been here?”
She blinked and glanced at her watch. “Three hours. Nikki didn’t tell you I was here?”
He shook his head. “Her mom had an accident, and she rushed out. Sorry about that. But it was an insane day. I just locked the place up before coming in here.”
“It’s fine. I didn’t mind waiting.” Now that the fright had passed, she looked wary of him, and he didn’t like the feeling.
He pulled Braden’s chair over and settled in beside her.
“Your eye looks better.” Obviously she wasn’t ready to jump into the heavy conversation.
“It’s fading to a nice shade of puke yellow.” Damon had a mean punch, but Hudson refused to out which brother had hit him.
All
three had seen their sister crying, and Damon had gotten to him first. It had taken Braden and his shrill whistle to calm everyone down and tell them it was a misunderstanding and none of their business. Then Christine Prescott had issued a stern warning to her sons, but the joy of the day was gone.
Hudson had driven Macy and Jaxon to Bri’s house to get her car, and Jaxon had remained there, watching, until Hudson had gotten into his car and gone home. By then he’d already texted Bri a few times and called twice. He’d figured out she wasn’t ready to talk to him, so leaving was his best option. He owed her mother a happier birthday party and Bri a lot more.
Bri reached out, and this time, she allowed herself to touch him, gently palpating around his eye. “Does it hurt?”
“Nah. I’m fine.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course you are. Far be it from a man to admit weakness.”
He took her soft hand in his. “You’re my weakness, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.”
She glanced down at their hands, and he did, too, noticing how much more tanned and rough his skin was than hers.
“I’m so used to expecting the worst from men, I overreacted. I heard something, and I jumped to the worst possible conclusion, but that would never have happened if you’d just told me the truth.”
“You’re right. But you have to understand my position. You’d just admitted to me that I was the first guy not to want something from you. I knew how you felt about it, and there was no way I’d ever put you in a position where you didn’t know if I was asking you to marry me for money or because I loved you.” Just the thought made him physically sick.
“And if I told you what my asshole father wanted, you’d probably have offered to marry me so I could get the clinic money, and then you’d always wonder and be insecure.“ He waited until she lifted her head and met his gaze. “And I’d never do that to you.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I should have stayed and heard you out, but your words were so damning, and on top of saying you loved me just an hour or so before? I thought for sure I’d fallen into the same trap all over again.”
“I made the wrong choice, and though we all know I’ll make more mistakes in the future, I promise you’ll never doubt that I love you again. Do you forgive me?”
She nodded, a smile on her beautiful face. “Do you forgive me for stringing this out and making you wait?”
He grinned. “I’d wait forever for you, and don’t you forget it.”
“I can promise you I won’t.”
They each leaned forward, their mouths meeting in a long kiss that ended too soon.
“Now about that fundraiser.” She’d left the folder in his possession when she’d run from the house, and in the days that had passed, he’d been through it over and over. “I cannot believe what you put together in such a short time. The items the guests will bid on will go for thousands each.”
A trip to the Bahamas on Asher Dare’s private plane and a week in his beach house, front-row seats to concerts and sporting events, a visit to a movie set, and more.
He couldn’t begin to name them all or imagine how much money the event would raise. “You did all that for me?”
She nodded. “Because I love you.”
“So you’ll be my date for the event?” he asked.
“You know I will.”
Satisfied, he held her hands tighter. “Just so we’re clear, you’re mine, Bri. And I love you for the amazing, wonderful woman that you are.”
Her answering smile hit him in the heart.
“I know,” she said, a saucy glint in her eyes. “You love me enough to take a punch from my brothers and not tell me which one hit you.” She shook her head and laughed. “I’d call that true love.”
“You’re damned right,” he said and sealed his lips over hers.
Epilogue
The night of the fundraiser, Hudson found himself in his tuxedo, watching while Bri worked the room like the pro she was. He didn’t know whether to be more proud or grateful that she’d put her talents to use to make his dream come true. He didn’t deserve her, but he wasn’t letting her go.
Sliding his hand into his front pants pocket, he touched the ring he’d gotten from his grandmother when he’d turned twenty-one. His parents might be assholes, but his grandparents had been the best, and his grandmother had wanted him to give her ring to the woman he loved. It had sat in a safe deposit box for years. Until Bri.
The elegant ballroom she’d talked Nick Dare, the entrepreneur Dare and her cousin on her biological father Paul’s side, into donating his Miami hotel ballroom for the event. The space was filled with the Who’s Who of Miami and other parts of the country, athletes Bri represented, actors and rock stars who were somehow related to the Dare family, and friends and colleagues of theirs. The list went on of people all willing to shell out big money for large-ticket items and who had already paid a hefty per-plate fee.
She glided around the room in her cobalt-blue dress—he knew this after making the mistake of calling it navy blue—making effortless conversation with everyone invited, thanking them for their generosity. Every once in a while, he caught up with her and pulled her into the hallway for a few moments alone.
Like now.
He needed a minute with her before he made a spectacle of himself in front of the famous people in this crowd. Since the men who had her attention were her siblings, he hooked an arm around her waist.
“Gentlemen, I’m stealing your sister for a few minutes.” Hudson had already asked their permission to marry her – more like he’d told them he intended to do so — seeing as how they were the males in her life, and he didn’t want another black eye by springing the news on them in front of a crowd.
Without waiting for a reply, he pulled her away from her family and led her out the ballroom doors, finding a corner in the front of the event hall and backing her against a wall.
“Have I thanked you yet?” he asked, his hands on her hips.
She treated him to a radiant smile. “Only a half dozen times. You don’t need to thank me. We do things for people we love.”
She linked her arms around his neck and rubbed her body against him, making him wish he could kiss that red lipstick off her lips, hike up her dress, and bury himself inside her, but he’d have to put that off until they were alone tonight.
“I love you, too. You have no idea how much.” His voice sounded gruff to his ears.
At his pronouncement, her eyes glittered with happiness.
A state of being he’d become familiar with since she’d managed to put his fuckup behind him and everything had been picture-perfect between them since.
“The good news is we are going to net enough money from this event, added with Braden’s, for you both to begin renovations on the clinic and purchase new equipment.”
“This is everything. I didn’t know I had a need to give back until Doctors Without Borders and then working at that run-down clinic. But it fills a need deep inside me. And so do you.”
The ring felt heavy in his pocket, which was ridiculous, but the knowledge of what he was about to do had him worked up, and he glanced at his watch. “We need to get back to the ballroom. I have an announcement to make.”
She narrowed her gaze. “What kind of an announcement?”
“A surprise one. Now let’s go.” Hand in hand, they strode back into the ballroom.
* * * *
Bri walked with Hudson as he led them to the front near the deejay and emcee hired for the night. Within a few seconds, the music came to a stop, which caused confused murmurs around the room.
“As you all know, we are here to raise money for a worthy cause. The Prescott Northfield Health Clinic,” the emcee began, and the crowd clapped in approval. “You’ve all had an opportunity to place your bids on the items laid out in our smaller room next to this one.”
Bri had been through this with the party planner she’d hired and had walked the room earlier tonight. Some items, su
ch as signed football jerseys, helmets, baseballs, and the like, were visible in a protective case, while things like vacations were listed on a propped sign so people could look over their options and decide what they wanted to bid on. There were also printed brochures on each seat at tables of ten.
The emcee continued his explanation. “You’ve been assigned paddles, and bidding will begin at ten p.m. Now, before I let you return to your evening and the delicious meal to follow, Hudson Northfield would like to say a few words.”
As Hudson made his way to the podium, Bri clapped along with the rest of the guests, surprised when her family surrounded her. She glanced around her to see her mother and a man she’d just started dating along with her brothers and all of their wives.
She’d known they were in attendance, but why were they crowding her now? “What’s going on?” she asked.
Before anyone answered her, Hudson began to speak. “Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us tonight. Braden and I appreciate the generosity you’ve shown for a project that is very close to our hearts. There’s nothing better in life than giving back and helping others. You are all enabling us to do that, and you have our eternal gratitude.”
During the clapping that followed, Bri turned to her twin. “I can’t believe you let him have the spotlight all to himself.”
He shook his head and grinned. “Shhh,” he said, and she pivoted back to face the stage.
She looked up at Hudson, so handsome in his tuxedo. He took her breath away, and he was all hers. She’d learned a hard lesson about listening in, jumping to conclusions, and not trusting her heart.
“Tonight wouldn’t have been possible without one person,” he said, and her face began to heat because she knew he was referring to her. “You all know her because she’s probably called you, badgered you, begged, and pleaded to pull this fundraiser together in a short time. Brianne, would you join me?” He extended his arm and gestured for her to come.
Amidst the clapping, she walked to the three steps leading up to the makeshift podium, lifting her dress as she made her way to Braden. She was used to behind-the-scenes work, and being the center of attention wasn’t her thing, but she smiled at the applause.
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