The Best-Kept Secret. Melinda Curtis
pulled into a small parking space in front of the video store. The rain was still coming down. And down. And down. Today wasn’t Rosie’s day for breaks.
“You can wait here,” Rosie said to Hudson, trying to make it sound more like a command than an option.
“And miss out on mermaids? Not a chance.” Hudson’s grin was unexpectedly mischievous.
That couldn’t be. Hudson was the somber, straight-laced, unlikable McCloud. And Rosie wanted him to stay that way.
CHAPTER FOUR
“CASEY MENTIONED you’re having pizza for dinner,” Hud said as they pulled up in front of Rosie’s apartment. “I like pizza.”
“Are you trying to come over for dinner? ’Cause my mom says you need to wait to be asked.” Clutching his movies, Casey’s eyes were uh-oh wide at Hud’s transgression. “Besides, those are work clothes. We don’t eat in work clothes.”
Strike one.
“How about if dinner is my treat? There. I asked you to dinner, not the other way around.” He turned, his face inches from Rosie’s and let his gaze drift to her lips. They were incredible, kissable lips. Surely, she knew that.
Without looking at him, Rosie ran her tongue across her bottom lip and shook her head.
Strike two.
Pointing at his mother with his thumb, Casey explained in a whisper, “That usually means no.”
Strike three.
Hud wasn’t much of a baseball fan, but he needed a second chance at bat. As soon as the car stopped, he leapt out and opened his umbrella, then bent over to help Rosie out, taking her petite hand in his. She lifted her head to look at him as they stood huddled together in the shelter of the umbrella, the rain a curtain around them. And there it was—the spark.
“We can’t leave things like this,” Hud blurted. He meant the endorsement of the party, of course.
There they stood, staring at each other as if they were lovers and this was the last time they’d see each other. Her riotous curls had become even wilder during the day and framed her face in a way that made her dark chocolate eyes seem huge. If he hadn’t been holding her hand between them, he might have reached up and brushed a curl off her cheek. All in the name of keeping her off balance, of course.
With a shriek of excitement, Casey hopped out and ran across the sidewalk into the apartment building foyer. He held the door open by leaning at a forty-five degree angle. “Mommy, come on.”
Rosie blinked and let go of Hud’s hand.
“He’s a great kid,” Hud said. He’d always heard moms were suckers for a compliment about their children.
“Nice try, but the answer is still no.” She started for the door, leaving him no choice but to follow with the umbrella.
Hud took over doorman duties from Casey. Rain bounced off the ground angrily. Barefoot, Rosie stood in the foyer clutching her bag containing his file and those shoes of hers she protected like the crown jewels. Casey bounded up the stairs while their gazes locked once more.
“We’ll meet again,” Hud promised.
“I think not.” Rosie turned and headed toward the stairs.
Turn around. If she looked once more, he had a chance. At what, he wasn’t sure.
Turn around.
Rosie hesitated on the fifth step, but she didn’t look back. And then she continued to climb. Hud let the door swing shut and retreated to the car.
“Where to?” Graham asked.
“Home.” To change. It was pizza night and, according to Hud’s source, nobody ate pizza with work clothes on.
LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER, Rosie pounded across her apartment’s hardwood floor in blue jeans and a T-shirt, mumbling, “That better not be Hudson McCloud.” She yanked open the door.
An umbrella with ducklings on it clattered to the parquet floor. Looking like a gypsy with her dark hair beneath a scarf, Selena held up hands splattered with neon blue paint, dropping a leash as she did so. “We come in peace.”
Something big, furry and four-legged bumped Rosie out of its way.
“Wet dog! Wet dog!” Selena ran inside the apartment after him, clumping across the floor in purple plastic rain-boots adorned with leaping frogs. “I’m sorry. I should have held on to the leash.”
Casey was giggling even though Axel had him pinned against the couch and was trying to eat what was left of his cookie. Rosie ran to get a towel. When she returned, Selena was still trying to control the overly friendly beast.
“Here.” Rosie tossed a towel over the dog’s back just as he started to shake the water out of his fur.
Chaos erupted and Rosie ran to get more towels amidst Selena’s apologies.
“Now that Drew is too old for anything that isn’t played with a ball, I brought over the finger-paint set that used to be his. It’s great for rainy days,” Selena explained. Rosie envied the way Selena handled everything with Drew confidently, as if he were her second, not her first and only, child. Selena coaxed Axel into laying down and began rubbing his belly. “I didn’t mean to unleash Axel on you, but he had to go out and I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.”
“No harm done.” Holding a towel, Rosie scanned the living room for more water to wipe up.
“Really? You looked like you were going to kill me when you opened the door.”
“She thought you were the mayor,” Casey said, tossing a towel on the floor.
“Oh, wow. Today was the day you met the McClouds. How did that go?” Selena dropped her voice. “Was Hudson as handsome in person as he is on camera?”
Rosie chose to overlook this last question. “I turned them down.”
“Then who were you expecting?” As soon as Selena stopped rubbing Axel’s stomach, the near pony-sized dog rolled to his feet, ready for action.
“The mayor,” Casey repeated as if Selena was missing something obvious.
“Hudson gave us a ride home and told Casey—repeatedly—that I was going to help him get elected mayor.”
“And my mom doesn’t lose.” Casey spoke with pride, making Rosie smile and hug her little champion.
“You know, Rosie,” Selena began, rising to her feet. “A lot of the candidates you take on have a strong sense of ethics and truly want to help people, but just once, for me, could you back someone single and gorgeous, like Hudson McCloud?”
Rosie laughed despite the drama of the day. “How can you expect me to offer you tea after a remark like that?”
“Just because we’re single parents doesn’t mean we don’t date.” Selena paused to smile slyly. “Oh, I forgot. You took an oath of celibacy when you had Casey.”
“What’s sell-basey?” Casey asked with a confused expression.
Selena bent down to Casey’s level. “It’s another word for loneliness—”
“Stop, stop, stop. Don’t you have a dog to walk?” Rosie pointed to the door.
“I’ll go, but remember one thing.” Selena held up a finger. “Because you didn’t back Hunky McCloud, you missed out on the perfect opportunity to date him and for him to introduce your friends to all his single, rich friends.” Selena batted her eyes.
“I don’t want to date him or his friends. He’s not my type or yours, either.” Hudson was off-limits in more ways than one. She hadn’t told her friends who Casey’s father was, so she didn’t expect Selena to understand.