Not letting up, Matt finally grabbed my wrists and pinned them next to my head. The hold didn’t hurt, but it was firm and unbreakable.
He placed his forehead against mine, and his minty breath washed over me. I tried not inhale that cologne that he wore because I loved that smell, but after holding my breath for a moment, I had no choice but to take in the intoxicating smell of Matt Hudson.
“Baby, you have to listen to me, Okay?”
He sighed when I shook my head and nudged his forehead away with mine.
“Everything is fine. John is helping Trevor back at the sanctuary, and they will call if there are any problems. Lucas and John pulled your truck out of the pond and Dalton has a friend who’s working on getting it running.” I shook my head as he wiped away my tears.
I didn’t want everyone helping me. How was I supposed to thank them?
“Don’t n-need your help,” I hissed ignoring the burn in my throat.
Matt chuckled again, and I wanted to slap him.
“Actually Alison my love, you kinda do.” He ignored my glare, turned back to the tray sitting on the nightstand, and placed it on the bed next to me.
“I want my clothes,” I told him even as he draped a napkin across my sheet-covered chest. I wasn’t even going to address the fact that I was butt naked underneath the cool gray sheet that was covering me. I was too mad to be worried about exposing scars he’d already seen.
“Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” He explained nodding toward the bowl of broth, and what looked like, a cup of tea.
I grunted and look away not wanting to spend one more second staring into those green eyes of his.
“Okay, if you want me to feed you I will, but you will eat Alison. You haven’t had anything in days, and doc says we need to start getting broth in you right away.”
I turned my head back to give him a smirk when I realized the man wasn’t kidding. His determined look told me he’d hold me down and pour the soup down my throat if I didn’t cooperate. I gestured for the soup and instead he handed me the spoon while holding the bowl in his hands.
I gave him a look of disbelief, and he answered with a hard look of his own. Sighing, I used the spoon to take several spoonfuls of the tasty chicken brother and then gestured that I was finished. I could tell he wanted me to eat more. Well tough! My throat burned like the dickens, and my stomach had shrunk over the past week and didn’t feel capable of holding anything more.
I leaned back against the pillows and was shocked when I felt my eyelids grow heavy. I tried to fight the exhaustion that was pulling at me, but as I felt my body grow limp, I gave up the fight. My last memory was of a feather light kiss brushed across my forehead as sleep claimed me.
Matt
“Here lad, it looks like you could use this,” Cami’s happy, Irish tone announced as she placed a cup of coffee down in front of me.
I sat back and smiled, I had been so busy agonizing over Alison that I had not even heard my new sister in law come in the kitchen.
Pulling up a chair across from me, she plopped her chin on her hands and watched me carefully. Damn, my brother was lucky. Not only was Camille funny, sassy and smart but she was incredibly talented. Dalton had actually turned one of her sketches into the dream home they now lived in, on the hill just past Lucas and Sara’s cottage.
Dalton hadn’t been kidding when he had spoken of a grand gesture. Like a true Hudson, Dalton had almost screwed up his chance at happiness with Synclair’s cousin, Camille or Cami as everyone called her. Yet, somehow my brother was able to whisk the woman up on a horse and ride her up a hill to a home he’d built for them with his own hands, her dream home. It seemed like Dalton like was in fast forward. He had left Carson City to fly to Ireland to help get ready for Synclair and Reece’s Irish wedding, came back married…apparently by drunken accident to Camille and then spent months trying to figure out how to fix his screw up.
As happy as I was for my brother, I couldn’t help but realize that building Alison her dream house was not going to win her over.
“Well, go on Matt, you look like you’re half dead and haven’t slept a wink in days!” she admonished as I grabbed the cup and took a large gulp of much-needed caffeine.
“Holy..what the..” I sputtered as coffee spilled from my mouth onto the oak table.
“Baby, you didn’t give him your mother’s Irish coffee, did you?” My asshole brother chuckled from the kitchen doorway.
Throwing me a hand towel, Camille smile sweetly at Dalton, “Of course I did, a little whiskey in the morning wakes a lad up, and your brother there looks like gobshite!” she answered as she got up and walked into my brother’s waiting embrace.
“Gob-what?” I asked as I mopped up the remains of coffee, whiskey, and cream from my lap, table, and face.
Dalton grinned and smooched his smiling, blue-eyed wife, laughing as she squealed when he nuzzled her neck.
“Gobshite, it means you look like crap brother,” Dalton answered while playing with Cami’s thick auburn ponytail.
I sighed throwing the soggy hand towel on the counter and placing my only hope for caffeine in the sink.
“I saw Synclair before she and Wyatt left today, she said that Alison had woken up and wasn’t very happy with you,” Cami said as she grabbed another coffee cup from the cupboard and filled it, thankfully, with straight black coffee.
Giving her a grateful smile I greedily gulped the black liquid like it was a lifeline. I had only slept a few hours here and there since I placed Alison in my bed. I hated seeing her toss her head in pain as her fever had ravaged her body. It had taken me and at least one other person to get her to swallow the pills that Doc Williams had left for her, and it scared me at how little water or broth we had been able to get down her swollen throat. Hell, at one point I had gathered her in my comforter and was going to take her to Carson City General. However, Pepper had said that waking up in a hospital wouldn’t win my any points with her aunt and for some stupid reason, I had buckled. Yep, it was definitely a weak moment when I chose having a shot at being with Ali over her health. Reece had been the wise one that pointed out that, “dead girls make awful girlfriends,” but Synclair, Cami, and Sara convinced me that if Alison’s fever hit the hundred and three range, they would personally drag her to the emergency room.
So, I had sat and wiped a cool washcloth on her forehead, woke her every four hours to give her medicine, listened to her cry for her parents, her leg that would always cause her pain, and her beloved animals back at her Sanctuary. In six days, I still hadn’t figured out a way back into Alison’s good graces. When she had woken up, I had been so damn happy to see color back in her cheeks that I had probably overdone it in the friendly department. I could still see those haunting, dark eyes of hers staring up me full of suspicion. Who could blame her? The last time I’d seen her I had practically called her a lying, thieving, broken, whore.
“I am so fucked.” I groaned and put my aching head down on the hard tabletop, only to growl when Camille grabbed my hair and pulled my head back.
“You’re a damn gigolo, Matthew!”
“Escort sweetie, he likes to be called an escort,” Dalton corrected smugly as he leaned against the counter smiling like a jackass.
Rolling her big blue eyes, Camille smirked and thankfully released the grip on my head, “Sure..escort, male hooker, boy toy, whatever,” she waved her hand. “I’m saying that women pay you to say all the right things, to seduce them, to make them feel special and all that stuff, so why aren’t ya doin’ that Alison?”
I blinked in surprise at Camille’s crude but spot on comments. The fact that I had resigned from the escort agency was a moot point, why wasn’t I using all my seduction knowledge on Alison? Probably because Alison didn’t react to my charm the way most women did.
“This is ridiculous. Camille’s right, women did pay me to be their dream man. I never had to guess where the best place to kiss or touch them was. Shit! Women cha
sed me! It was never the other way around. What the fuck am I doing?” I said aloud to no one in particular.
Dalton clapped me on the shoulder and laughed as he poured himself some coffee. “You have it bad, brother!”
Camille glared at Dalton, and some unspoken conversation took place between them. Feeling like I should give them privacy, I scooted back my chair and made my escape to the family room couch. No sooner had I sat down then I saw Dalton come flying through the kitchen door trying to regain his balance.
“You help your brother Dalton Hudson; your moves weren’t all that smooth either. In case you’ve forgotten!” Camille hissed as she returned to the kitchen.
Dalton smiled, and I smiled back, letting the jerk know I had caught his wife manhandling him into coming into the family room to talk to me. I had to remember to get Camille those blueberry scones she loved so much!
“It’s simple, but it sucks,” Dalton said on the edge of the sofa and at least tried to look less cocky.
“Your usual stuff doesn’t work on Alison because she’s not one of your clients, Matt. She matters, so what you say matters. What you say to her is real and genuine so your typical bullshit doesn’t fly.”
I took a second to absorb what Dalton was saying. Alison was different, I knew she was special the moment I saw her in that damn hotel room. Not only could I not keep my hands off her but also something about her made me want to be the kind of man she would want and not for one night. Admitting I wanted Ali was easy, realizing I was in love with her didn’t even scare me like I thought it would. I didn’t feel smothered or regret about giving up being an escort. The idea of being with Alison and only Alison was exciting and arousing. However, there was the issue of her life being with her animals and my life here in Carson City.
I had no clue on how to make the distance work. Could I live on a ranch that had a bear, a lioness, and a half blind hawk? One of the reasons I had become an accountant was that I hated working on the ranch. I wasn’t lazy, my father had raised us to know all the different jobs on running a ranch so I wasn’t a stranger to hard labor. I just had a thing for being dirty, smelly and unkempt. Yeah, okay maybe I was a little OCD and a little bit of a neat freak. The things that Alison had pointed out in the Inn in Ireland were true. We were opposite. She was an unorganized mess, and I was meticulous.
Still, I had to believe we could make this work. Besides, I still hadn’t figured out why someone was trying to chase her off her land or what her asshat ex-husband was up to.
“Um, is this a private moment where we hug, and you cry on my shoulder?” Dalton asked looking uncomfortable.
I turned my head to ask him what he was talking about and realized that not only was I gripping the throw pillow so tight my knuckles were white, but I felt the odd sensation of a rogue tear trickling down my cheek.
Crying? There was no crying in war! “No, hell no! We are not hugging and I was not crying, I was simply sweating out of my eyes, got it?” I threw the pillow I had been gripping and jumped up from the sofa while Dalton nodded.
“So what are you going to do?” Dalton asked while I paced back and forth like a caged animal.
“I’m going to grovel, I’m going to make the big gesture, and I am not letting Alison out of my sight until she forgives me and us a shot,” I told him feeling more and more sure about my decisions. Yes, it was simple. I would find out who was hassling her, take care of her ex and then we would sit down and figure out how to make the distance work. Yes! That was the plan, a full out assault on her mind, body, and heart until she was in my arms, in my bed and my cock was sliding into her wet heat.
Dalton chuckled, and I immediately frowned at him.
“So…never out of your site? Ever again?”
“Hell no!”
“So, you don’t plan on letting the feverish, woman that you love take off like a woman committing a prison break?”
“Of course not, Alison’s not leaving here until we have things worked out!” I told him finally feeling back in control of my life.
“Holy shite, Matthew yer bird has flown the coop!” A startled Camille shouted as she pointed out the window.
Dalton dissolved into hysterics on the floor while Camille called him names I had never heard before. However, none of that matter. What mattered is that Alison Collins, the woman I loved, that I had just taken care of for six days straight was running across the front yard in one of my gray shirts with matching sweats and no shoes!
What the actual fuck?
Ali
This may have been the stupidest idea I had ever had, but I was angry! No, I was more than angry I was livid. How dare Matthew and his well-intentioned, yet still meddling in my life, family just decide what was best for me. I had been taking care of myself for a long time, and I didn’t need Matt or his non-judgmental, ultra-accepting family to start rearranging my life!
One! Pepper needed to be at camp! If the judge on her case found out she was waiting tables in Carson City, she was looking at a one-way ticket to Juvenile Hall for a whole year! I was sure Synclair and Sara had good intentions for Pepper, and there was no doubt that Pepper wanted to stay close to Jake. Holy crap! I had almost forgotten about Jake! What was I supposed to say? Hey there, remember when you left the ranch that morning, and I was hurt because you never looked back? Well, apparently you left my sister Lela with a little parting gift!
Two! Why were these Hudsons so damn determined to include Pepper? Didn’t they know how devastated she was going to be when we had to leave? And we would be leaving, the sooner, the better.
Three! I didn’t need my neighbor, John, who was apparently related to the Hudson family to take over my duties at the Sanctuary! I mean, I’m sure there’s some bad guy in the Middle East or Africa or somewhere that needed killing, why would he trade that kind of action for shoveling Baloo’s bear shit or hosing down Nala?
The fact of the matter was they were all too wonderful. I had never seen a family more connected or loving. In the few minutes I had spent in the backyard, I could see how much Reece and Lucas loved their wives, even the dog that I had saved from that brutish Irishman wasn’t immune to their charm. The damn dog was chasing around Lucas’s little boy, Logan, like he was a young pup. It was too much, I wasn’t used to all of these people who suddenly acted like I mattered. And Matthew! I had no idea what to make of the about face that the man had made.
Maybe it was just pity because I had been ill? Maybe he was a mental case and had two personalities? Whatever it was I was getting out of this nuthouse! I was getting Pepper and getting home to my animals! I was taken in once by Matt, I had lowered my guard and showed him my deepest fears, and he had turned on me like a rabid dog! No worse! Like a mean, soul-sucking human! No dog, even a rabid one, could ever stoop so low, that was exclusively humans!
So when I had woken up and realized that my fever had broken, and my throat was only slightly sore, I had decided to make a break for it. I wasn’t stupid enough to walk out through the front door, I’d never make it past all of the attack dog Hudsons that were always milling around. I mean, sheesh, didn’t anyone work in this family?
I had rummaged through Matt’s drawers taking a moment of satisfaction as I messed up his neatly folded clothing. Okay, it was a childish victory, but I never said I was above immature acts for my own sense of boosting my self-esteem.
As soon as I found some sweats that I could roll over at the waistband to make fit, I grabbed my cell and sent off a quick text to Trevor. He assured me, all was well and that he and John had everything under control. I had scoffed at that comment. Everything under control? There was no such thing at the sanctuary, not with Richard stirring up trouble, homeowners wanting to have my permit yanked and some jerk sending me threatening letters. Therefore, I seriously doubted that Trevor had things well in hand. Besides, I hadn’t seen my animals in days, and I knew they would start to miss me soon. Baloo would sulk, and nothing was more unattractive than a sulking grizzly bear. I knew h
e’d start walking around his enclosure moaning and huffing until someone came and played ball with him. Then as soon as they tossed the large, red rubber ball that he loved to him, he’d sit on it until it popped. The big baby would probably act so sad that Trevor was no doubt giving him way too many honey sticks for treats.
No, sick or not sick, I wasn’t one to let others dictate my life. I was a strong, independent woman who made her own decisions and I refused to let myself be sucked into some subservient role again because my hormones had decided that Matt Hudson was sexy.
Okay, I may have worked myself up into a little bit of a snit here. In taking a second to go over my escape plan, I realized there was the chance that in my weakened state that my decision to literally fall out of Matt’s second story window to the narrow ledge that I had to hang from before dropping to the cold, January ground like a rock, may have been a little hasty.
Pressing my back against the cool, cream-colored siding of Matt’s home, I decided to give myself a pep talk.
In for a penny, in for a pound! Come on Ali, you have faced wild animals this should be nothing! Stop letting your lady bits make decisions for you! Let’s not forget the difference between you and Matt Hudson are as wide as the Grand Canyon!
So far, none of my pep talk was very inspiring. I was still sick, weak, standing barefoot on the cold grass, and I hadn’t bathed in almost a week! Ewwww!
Okay, you want motivation woman here come the big guns! Matt Hudson is sex on a stick, women literally pay him to give him a night of his time, he’s two years younger than you, and on the hotness scale he’s off the chart, and you are not even on the radar! You have dark eyes, black hair, dirt under your fingernails, the name brand of your purse is Wal-Mart, you can’t compete with those skinny, blonde, big boobed, supermodels who survive on Kale salads and mineral water.
No Refunds No Exchanges: A Hudson Family Series- Book 4- Matt and Ali Page 25
