‘Sure.’
She waited until he got out of the car and closed the door before answering. ‘Hey, honey, sorry to keep you waiting.’
‘Who are you and what have you done with my brusque-to-the-point-of-rude friend?’
Karly snickered. ‘I’m usually busy when you call me at work and don’t have the time to listen to you wax lyrical about your hot boyfriend for thirty minutes.’
‘But you’re not at work.’ Summer’s chuckles alerted Karly to the good old Acacia Haven grapevine working overtime again.
‘How do you know?’
‘Because I popped in there a quarter of an hour ago and your grandfather told me you were out all day with Hudson.’ Summer made smoochy sounds. ‘Sounds like you’ve got a lot to tell us, Karl.’
‘I do.’ More than her friend knew. Because despite initially viewing Hudson as the enemy come to destroy all she valued, spending the day with him solidified what she already knew.
She liked him a lot and she shouldn’t. It wouldn’t end well.
‘Actually, that’s why I’m calling. Nev and I can’t make brunch on the weekend, so we were thinking if you’re free tonight we could catch up?’
Karly eyed off Hudson’s butt as he perched on her bonnet, torn between wanting to spend the evening in bed with him again or catch up with her friends. Considering Summer was doing her a huge favour in facilitating a possible investment in her dream, Karly knew there was only one choice.
‘Sure, tonight sounds good. Yours or Nev’s?’
‘Nev said she had a stack of leftover guacamole from the Vault so she’s making nachos.’
‘Definitely hers,’ Karly said, already salivating. Nobody in town made Mexican like Nev.
‘Okay, see you there around six-thirty?’
‘Sounds good.’ Karly disconnected at the same time Hudson glanced over his shoulder at her, one eyebrow raised as if to say, ‘What’s keeping you so long? I want to get you inside and ravish you.’
She needed little encouragement but an evening with the girls could be the reality check that grounded her. Spending time with Hudson while he was in town was nothing more than a pleasant interlude, a brief—albeit special—fling she’d remember fondly after he left. That’s all it could ever be. She didn’t harbour dreams of happily-ever-after like other women her age. She wanted to build her own damn picket fence, thank you very much. As for children, what kind of mother would she make considering her own had dumped her on Pop and her father had been no better?
That’s the thing about Pop’s honesty. It meant he’d told her the truth about her parents when she’d hit her mid-teens and started asking questions she wished she hadn’t. Her dad had knocked up her mum; Pop and Chris had lived in Melbourne their whole lives, but her mum was from Acacia Haven so she wanted to come home to have the baby. But after Karly was born her parents wanted to head back to Melbourne so Pop had moved here to look after her. A big responsibility, considering her flaky parents were killed and Pop ended up raising her. She’d be eternally grateful to him for that and she loved him with all her heart, but she doubted she could ever be that selfless, so motherhood wasn’t on the cards for her.
When she made no effort to move, Hudson slid off the bonnet and came around to the driver’s side and opened her door. ‘Everything okay? You look a little shell-shocked.’
‘Just thinking,’ she said, getting out of the car. ‘I was going to ask you in but the girls want to catch up tonight.’
‘No worries.’ But when his gaze dipped to her lips, as if remembering that scorching kiss in the car and knowing it was a prelude to more, Karly was worried. Worried she’d become too attached too fast to this insanely sexy guy.
‘I’m not sure how long I’ll be but I shouldn’t be too late …’
His mouth quirked into a wicked smile. ‘Is that your way of asking me over for a booty call later?’
‘Maybe.’
She aimed for nonchalant, undermined when he hauled her closer to plant another kiss on her lips.
‘What was that for?’
‘A promise for later,’ he said, too cocky for his own good as he sauntered away, leaving her with a distinct hankering to run after him.
CHAPTER
34
Heidi had spent the last three hours going over the documentation Rayne had emailed her regarding the sale of The Knick Knack Shop. She’d have old Roger look over it tomorrow but she knew the lawyer wouldn’t find anything amiss. Rayne would be the last person to screw her over.