I shout Hudson’s name and beg him for more. He gives it to me. The pleasure is a cascade that doesn’t end. I’m trapped under that waterfall, completely unable to come up for air. So far gone that I barely register when he comes too. It’s all a part of the aftershocks. My voice still echoes off the walls of the small room, Hudson slowing his pace and drawing out the pleasure for both of us.
My body is shaking like I’ve run a marathon. I don’t move when he turns the vibrator off and pulls out of me. But he doesn’t leave. I nearly have the strength to turn over, but I do. “Okay,” I say, yanking him down to kiss me. “You win. Mission accomplished. That’s the best sex I’ve ever had.”
Hudson chuckles as he kisses me, and then we both freeze.
A soft cough comes from the doorway to the bedroom, and we both look, staring in horror, at my parents.
6
Hudson
Oh fuck.
This is bad.
Really bad.
It’s bad enough that Erin is a guest, but fucking a guest and then being caught in the act by her parents after making their daughter scream is probably the worst thing that could happen.
I see it in her face.
She’s already facing humiliation because of everything that’s happened with vet school and her dreams. Her entire life plan. This isn’t going to help.
How can I fix this? This was all my idea, and I’m not going to let Erin suffer embarrassment because of me. The door closes, and in seconds we’re scrambling for our clothes. Thank fuck that my jeans are here in the bedroom, even though my shirt is in the living room. It could be worse.
Erin’s face is horrified, and with those eyes that hide nothing, I can see that she’s freaking out. This is the smallest guest house that we have on the property, and the fireplace is open between the two rooms. It’s not exactly like we can come up with a story while her parents are in the next room.
An idea pops into my mind from nowhere. It’s a little risky, but it could work. She has clothes on now, and I catch her and pull her to me. Panic is written all over her face. I kiss her softly, and it’s just as intoxicating as ever. One touch of her lips and I’m completely lost. It’s an effort to pull away, but I do, and I whisper in her ear. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”
She bites her lip, and I can see by the look on her face that she’s unsure if I actually do have this, but I do. My own panic has settled, and I know this will work. I open the door and we head out into the living room where Mr. O’Neill is sitting on the couch—where I feasted on his daughter—and Mrs. O’Neill is in the kitchen looking lost.
I walk over to my shirt on the floor and pick it up. They already caught us having sex. The fact that my shirt is on the floor shouldn’t exactly be a surprise. I smile at the two of them. “I’m sorry about the surprise.”
Her father blinks. “Well, uh—”
“I was hoping to talk to you more privately before you found out this way, but it didn’t feel right in front of the rest of your party.” I hold out a hand to Mr. O’Neill to shake. “Officially, I’m Hudson LeGrand. I’m Erin’s fiancée.”
The whole room is so silent that you could hear a fly land on the counter if there was one. Including Erin.
“Fiancée?” Mrs. O’Neill asks.
“We meant to tell you yesterday, but there wasn’t a good time.”
I see the looks on her parents’ faces, and they’re probably thinking about all the times that Erin said she was visiting here. They likely think she was coming here all those times to see me. It makes sense given the story that she’s already spun. And Mrs. O’Neill nods. They’re skeptical, but they buy it.
Mr. O’Neill clears his throat and laughs a little. “Certainly not a conventional introduction.”
“Again,” I say, “sorry about that.”
“Either way, I’m glad to meet the man that’s making my daughter happy.” He finally takes my hand and shakes it.
Her mom isn’t quite as forgiving. “Why?”
Erin swallows. “Why what?”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” she asks. “Why don’t you have a ring?”
Finally getting on board with the story, Erin smiles and takes a step closer to me. “It’s new, and we wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while. A ring is coming, but we didn’t need one to know what we wanted. And we don’t want to make a big deal about it, so if you could keep it quiet for now…”
Mrs. O’Neill holds up her hands. “Of course.”
“Yeah,” her dad says, “I don’t even know if I’ve processed it enough to tell anyone.”
I laugh, trying to keep the mood light. “I don’t blame you.”
“We came over to,” her mother pauses. “We just came to see if you were ready for breakfast.”
“Right. Breakfast.” Erin says. “I’ll be over soon—just take a few minutes to freshen up.”
I try to keep the grin off my face and fail absolutely.
Mrs. O’Neill looks at her daughter for a moment before pulling her into a hug. “This is such a surprise. But I am happy for you. Really. After everything.”
The words are quiet, but I’m close enough that I can hear them. Her mom sounds emotional, and the way Erin’s fingers are clinging to her, she’s emotional too.
“We’ll see you at breakfast,” Mr. O’Neill says, standing.
“Okay,” Erin says. She’s still quiet, but for the moment she doesn’t look panicked, and that’s about all that I can ask.
She walks them to the door, and there are a few more quiet words that I don’t hear before they head out and it closes behind them.
Erin comes back into the living room so slowly it’s like she’s moving underwater. Her face is blank. She looks up at me and blinks, suddenly realizing that I’m still here, and she wakes up. “What. The hell. Were you thinking?”
7
Erin
“What. The hell. Were you thinking?”
Those are the only words in my brain right now as I look at Hudson. Engaged. Engaged. He told my parents that we’re engaged.
“I’m sorry,” he says. And then he’s running his hand through his hair, pacing back and forth across the living room. “I swear that I really am sorry, but it was the only thing that I could think of that made sense with the story you told them about coming here and why you would be in bed with me.”
I roll my eyes and look at him. “You could have just said that we’re dating, Hudson. Jumping all the way to engagement is a little premature, don’t you think? Not that it matters now, we just have to go with it.”
Hudson smiles. “Yeah. I guess that would have been a little easier. I just—”
“You what?”
“I saw the look on your face,” he says. “The panic. The fear. The embarrassment. I didn’t want you to feel that anymore. And I thought that a fiancée would be…I don’t know. More respectable? Something that was more than just a boyfriend. I thought they’d be happier. I’m sorry, Erin. But I’m going to back you up on this. Completely.”