Page 149 of Baby Girl
His intense stare is too much, so I break the connection and look at the carpeted floor. “Yeah, after reading what you wrote, I had questions, so I, um, wrote my reply. And also shared more about me.”
The office is so fucking quiet that we both jump when his computer makes the notification sound for an email arriving in his inbox.
Hudson chuckles and shoves his hand through his blond hair, disrupting the put-together style. “Sorry, you’ve caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting you to return the journal.”
“Oh,” is my super eloquent reply. My cheeks burn hotter than the blaze of a thousand suns. I raise my hand, palm out. “I’m sorry. I can take it back.”
The hand holding the notebook snaps back into his chest. “No.”
I bite my lip trying to stop a smile, and I lower my hand back down to my side.
He clears his throat, eyes shifting to the side. “Ah, I mean, no, that’s okay. Just because it’s unexpected does not mean it isn’t wanted. I can’t wait to read your reply. Is it okay if I respond?”
He stumbles over the request, but I nod before he has even finished asking. “Yes, please.”
The awkwardness of this encounter keeps increasing with every passing second, and my limit is rapidly approaching. Forcing myself into his office was hard enough. I didn’t sign up for silently staring at each other.
I start to step backward toward the door. “Okay, well, now that I’ve given it back to you, I’m going to go.”
That seems to snap Hudson out of whatever is going on with him. “Actually, can I show you something before you go?”
Shifting my weight, I glance back at the open door and then to him, pulse pounding like I’m running a marathon. Nothing will happen while the door is open. At least, I don’t think it will. “Sure.”
Hudson goes back to his side of the desk and swaps the notebook for his phone. As he unlocks it, he sends me a conspiratorial grin. “You have to promise not to tell Darcy, he’ll kill me if he finds out.”
I press my lips together to try to smoother another smile. “Did you do something bad?”
He shrugs, thumbs tapping and swiping, until he finds what he is looking for. “It depends on your definition of bad. Did I hurt anyone? No. Did I steal something? Also, no.”
“But if Darcy knew what you’d done, he’d be mad?” I press, already knowing I’m definitely eager to be in on the secret.
“Definitely. He hates people seeing his art before he thinks it’s ready. But after how our session went on Saturday, I didn’t think I would ever be asked back again and assumed that this piece would never be seen by anyone. So, I snuck a photo before I left.”
Hudson offers me his phone over the desk, and I take the few steps to reach it. My breath catches in my throat when I see the sketch of us sitting with our backs to each other, hands and arms bound from fingertips to shoulders. There are a few light and dark green streaks over our arms, adding depth to the intricate rope work, but they seem like they’ve been added as an afterthought.
Hudson’s head is tipped back, a look of ecstasy on his face, while mine is turned down, expression hidden by the curtain of my hair.
The warmth of his chest wraps around my back and fingers ghost down the side of my neck, and my eyes slide closed as Hudson’s heat floods the side of my body. Tipping my head to the side a little, I give him more room to reach my collarbone.
“He is a fantastic artist. The emotion he is able to capture, even in a simpler form of his final pieces, always takes me by surprise.” The low murmur of Hudson’s voice causes goose bumps to erupt along my arms.
His cologne, woodsy with a hint of musk, flavors every inhale and clouds my mind. In this very moment, all I want is to feel Hudson’s lips on the curve of my neck, to feel his arms gripping my biceps as he holds me flush against his body.
But then he takes a step back, and coolness creeps in between us, deflating the desire that surged inside me. “I can send it to you if you like?”
I have to give myself a mental shake before I’m able to offer him back his phone, my little fantasy having gripped me hard. “I’d like that, thank you.”
He smiles and nods as he takes it, immediately following through on the request. My phone vibrates in my back pocket, and I automatically reach for it but don’t take it out. “Thank you for showing me, and I promise not to tell Darcy.”
Hudson grins and steps back, giving me space to make it to the door. “If I manage to sneak any more pictures of the series he is doing with you, I’ll send them through as well.”
I widen my eyes. “Naughty.”
He laughs. “I like living on the edge.”
I don’t think he meant it the way I’ve interrupted it, but with the mental fantasy still whispering in the back of my mind, I can’t help but think,Oh, boy does he ever.
His features harden with a look I only ever got to see when we were in a scene, clearly reading my mind with his dommy powers. “Now who’s being naughty?”
