Harper smiled. “I hit that location almost every weekend. Maybe I’ll see you there sometime.”
“We could go together,” Allie tacked on.
“Oh, lord.” Harper’s eyes grew wide. “I’m not sure Nick is ready for your special orders yet. Better give him a few weeks before you hit him with a request for a two-pump skinny vanilla latte, extra hot, light on the foam.”
Allie turned to Hudson, who threw up his hands in surrender. “Don’t look at me to defend that one.”
“Fine.” Allie directed her attention to Nick. “Then maybe you can teach your brother how to use his espresso machine.”
“Sorry, but dude’s a lost cause.”
Everyone laughed at his expense, but Hudson couldn’t have been happier. The conversation flowed easily between the foursome, and he couldn’t help but notice how Nick and Allie smiled throughout dinner. Harper joined in, even pitching Nick a roll from across the table. For nearly two hours the room was filled with the sounds of forks clinking, wineglasses chiming, and the laughter that was the icing on the cake.
Nick leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. “Damn, Allie, that was good.”
“Did anyone save room for dessert?”
Christ no, Hudson thought as he dropped his napkin on the table. He was stuffed, not to mention that dinner had gone on long enough. He was ready for Frick and Frack to say their good-byes and hit the road so he could be alone with Allie.
“I couldn’t eat another bite,” Harper said. “Hats off to the chef.”
Thank fuck. For a moment Hudson wondered if he’d said the words out loud. But since he hadn’t been kicked in the shin under the table, it was safe to assume he hadn’t.
Everyone stood up to clear the plates from the table, piling one on top of the other, then loading the silver on the top.
“Oh, fuck,” Nick said.
Hudson’s gaze snapped up to his brother, then shot to the window. Outside, Lake Shore Drive had become a snow-covered parking lot. At least two feet of snow had accumulated over the course of the evening, blowing and drifting across the lakefront road. One by one people were abandoning their cars as they ran out of gas.
“Oh, shit.” Allie moved closer to the window. “We can’t send them out in that,” she whispered to Hudson as he came up behind her. “They won’t even be able to get a cab.”
Goddamnit, she was right. “No, of course not. They’ll stay here. I have plenty of room.”
Allie lifted up on her tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. A far cry from what he had in mind, but the night was still young. With a little luck their guests would get to the sugar plums dancing in their head portion of the night sooner rather than later.
***
Being relegated to his bedroom put a serious kink in Hudson’s plans. And not in the way he preferred. While he’d enjoyed the hell out of the evening, when he agreed to the whole deck-the-halls thing, he’d envisioned utilizing the tree, the roaring fire, and the twinkling lights to create the perfect setting for his own version of Christmas festivities. But Mother Nature had other plans. Like him hosting a slumber party for his brother and his girlfriend’s eccentric best friend.
Allie came into the room and shut the door behind her. When she flipped the lock it became clear she had some plans of her own.”I have a surprise for you.”
He cocked his head to the side. “You already gave me your gift.”
“That was just something to put under the tree that you could open in front of Nick.” Her eyes held a wicked gleam that shot his intrigue into the outer limits. “This gift requires a more private venue.”
In succession, her fingers began working the dainty buttons that ran down the front of her red sweater. The two sides split open little by little as she went, until the top edges of her lace bra were revealed along with the gentle swell of her breasts. His hands curled at his sides. Sweet hell, that’s what he wanted.
He took a step forward but Allie turned and headed toward the bathroom. As she did, she glanced back and purposefully let the shoulder of her sweater drop, showing him the soft female skin he knew covered her entire body. Hudson let out a groan as he began to feel the effects of her, the sharp edges of his hunger recontouring inside his pants. At the same time he heard Allie’s soft laugh from behind the bathroom door.
He cursed under his breath, and after a quick adjustment strode into the office connected to the master suite. He moved around the massive desk that anchored the room and slid the top drawer open. The sight of the long, thin box embossed with the Cartier logo sparked a now familiar ache in his chest as the remnants of the teen boy of his past collided with the hope he felt for the future.
After Allie he was never going to be the same again. She was what had been missing in his life. He’d never felt truly whole with other women. He could travel on business for extended periods and never miss them. He could have one latched to his arm and forget she was in the same room. And he’d walked away numerous times without a second look back. But Allie consumed him. Challenged him. When they made love, he felt complete.
He tucked the box in his pocket and strode back into the bedroom. Allie stood before him in a black satin-and-lace baby-doll. The sight of her stopped him dead in his tracks, and all the blast from the past mumbojumbo became a distant-fucking-thought. He sucked in a breath; she was a knockout.
“Do you like?” Her hazel eyes focused on him and her soft blonde curls fell against her pale skin. A juxtaposition of the innocence she still possessed and how incredibly uninhibited she could be with him.
Only him.
“Do I like?” His brows shot up as he moved closer to her. “I love.” His fingertips brushed the top of her breasts, tracing the edge of the satin cup. “Damn, Allie, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
Allie smiled and a gentle blush colored her cheeks. “Well, it was either this or the slutty Mrs. Claus.”
He chuckled. She could have sauntered out in sweatpants or even a damn potato sack and he would have loved it, because it was her. He wasn’t a guy who was hung up on all that expensive lingerie, stockings, and bra’s that pushed what he wanted to unleash up to a woman’s chin. But he was also a red-blooded male who wasn’t about to complain. Jesus Christ, she was perfect. Blowing out a harsh breath, he told the hard-on behind his fly to cool it. “I have a present for you.”
“I don’t need anything else, Hudson, I have everything I could possibly want under this roof.” Her arms slid around his waist.
“I disagree.” He pulled the leather box out from behind his back. It was tied with a red bow, the signature of a Cartier Christmas, and although a black bow would have normally fit his mood around the holidays, this year the cheerful red suited.
Allie opened the box and gasped. Nestled inside was an anklet like none other, custom made with Hudson’s distinct specifications. Delicate white-gold ropes intertwined and were anchored in the middle by a single seashell charm set with flawless diamonds.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed. Tears welled in her eyes, and he wondered if she was remembering a similar exchange ten years prior when he gave her the carnival trinket.
“I thought this would be more appropriate than that cheap thing you’ve been wearing tucked inside your boots.”
“I love that ‘cheap thing,’” she said. “And the fact you kept it all these years . . .”
Hudson closed the distance between them. He brushed his lips against hers once, twice, then kissed her deep and slow. He was gentle and careful, tilting his head and stroking the inside of her mouth with his tongue.
Christ, every time he kissed her, it was better than the time before.
Allie’s hands slid underneath his sweater. They were soft and cool against his hot skin. He shifted back and in one motion yanked the cashmere over his head and pitched it to the side.