She won’t appreciate it if I ask her to marry me so I can get access to the money to fund the clinic. Not at all.
If I tell her what happened here today, she might offer to marry me in order to help me achieve my goal, but then she’ll never know that I am marrying her because I love her.
I do, but even I know we need more time to cement our relationship. And I’ll never take something as important as knowing she is loved away from her. Which means she can never know that my father has offered me the money with these strings attached. All I can tell Bri is that my parent has turned me down, and after meeting Martin Northfield, she’ll have no trouble believing he can do something that cruel.
Son of a bitch, I think, pissed at my father for fucking up the best thing in my life and putting me in a position of having to give up the clinic, leaving it to Braden to handle alone. Of course, I can go to the bank and attempt to take out a loan, and I will, but I don’t have enough credit to fund what I need. Only my trust fund has that kind of money, and it is within my father’s discretion to turn me down. Unless I get married and knock up my wife.
Fucking perfect, I think in disgust. If and when I have children, I swear I’ll never use them, treat them like a commodity, blackmail them, or give them anything less than unconditional love and support.
And the same with the woman I love.
Chapter Seven
Brianne
For the next few weeks, I live in a state of bliss in my relationship with Hudson. We see each other at work, sneaking moments alone in my office when we can, and begin alternating sleeping over at his apartment and my house, though recently we’d just begun using my house as our base. He brought things over and left them there. My bathroom now has his razor and shaving cream, toothbrush, and shampoo.Who knew a man could be fussy about his hair care, I muse, enjoying having him in my personal space.
I grin as I dress for my mother’s birthday party we are attending this afternoon. All has been quiet in my work world, no player crises to handle, but Hudson has gone to the stadium to treat some of the players.
He is doing his best to push forward with clinic plans despite having been turned down by his father, who refuses to release the principal of the trust fund money. So Hudson is busy making appointments with a bank to apply for a loan, and he and Braden are discussing bringing on investors to make their dream a reality.
I have a plan of my own to help him, but I want the money I hope to raise to be a surprise, and I intend to fill him in after we return from the party at my mother’s house.
Hudson walks into the house just as I enter the kitchen. He drops his keys in the dish I leave for that purpose near the frontdoor and strides up to me, planting a long, deep kiss on my mouth.
“Mmm,” I say as he lifts his head. “Do that again.”
“My pleasure.” He snakes his arm around me, pulling me close and closing his lips over mine.
The kiss sends tremors of awareness sizzling up my spine. I can get used to this, Hudson coming home to me every day, us living in a real home that we made together. In fact, I want a future with him with every fiber of my being.
“I love you,” I say, shocked when the words came out of my mouth.
He blinks, his eyes opening wide.
“I… You don’t have to say it back. I just… It slipped,” I say, my face hot with embarrassment.
He cups my face in his strong hands. “Did you mean it?” he asks, his voice gruff, his expression vulnerable. Unless I am misreading him, which I don’t think I am.
Swallowing hard, I decide to go with the truth. No pain, no gain, as the athletes who surround me like to say. And Hudson has given me no reason not to have hope.
“I do.” My heart pounds so fast in my chest it hurts.
His features soften, those sexy lips turning up in a smile. “Good because I love you, too.” His lips come down hard on mine again, his tongue slipping into my willing mouth as he backs me against the nearest cabinet.
We devour each other, our kisses hot, our bodies grinding against each other to the point where my panties grow damp enough that I know either we stop or we’ll end up in bed. Which I want desperately, but we don’t have the time.
With regret, I pull away. “If we keep this up, we’ll miss the party.”
He frowns but releases me, taking a few steps back and catching his breath. “I need to shower and then I’ll be ready.” Hisgaze skims over my outfit, a pair of fitted black pants and a pink scoop-neck top that tucks into the thick waistband.
“You look great.” His eyes darkens as they meet my gaze, and he inches closer again.
I hold up a hand, stopping him before we end up with our hands all over each other. Again. “Go shower,” I say halfheartedly. Because he said he loves me, too, and I really want to take the time and enjoy the moment.
“Later,” he promises in that deep voice I adore. He jogs out of the kitchen, and a few minutes later, I hear the running of the shower.
Smiling, I stop in the bathroom and check my makeup in the mirror. Some gloss and I’ll be okay. Then I grab my mother’s present and slip on my shoes, waiting for him to join me, ready to go.
