Starstruck - Book Three (8 page)

“So how long are you two love birds in town for?” she asked.

“Until tomorrow,” I said.

“When did you get here?” she asked, confused.

“This afternoon,” he answered.

“Okay, so I’m confused,” my mom laughed. “Why are you
leaving so soon?”

I opened my mouth to tell her all about Luke and Piper and
the betrayal, but I didn’t have the energy. I didn't want to rehash it again or
experience an ounce of the pain I’d experienced just hours earlier.

“Work,” Hudson said. “I have a work function tomorrow that I
can’t miss. Last minute.”

Hudson, once again, came to my rescue. I squeezed his hand
to thank him.

“Would you like something to drink, Hudson?” my mom offered.
“I have beer, wine, and water. I might have some milk? I’ll have to check.”

I glanced up at him and nonchalantly shook my head no. She
just wanted an excuse to have a drink herself. She wasn’t going to run off to
the kitchen and crack a beer without offering one to her guest. Even in her
drunk state, she knew it wasn’t proper.

“Thanks but no thanks,” he said. “We’ve got an early flight
to catch in the morning. I can’t be having too much fun tonight.”

Her face looked disappointed but she nodded politely. She
was just itching for another drink and it was killing her.

“We should probably get going,” I said, not wanting to stay
for another moment in her smelly house. She was probably counting down the
minutes until we were gone so she could have another drink.

“Aw, so soon?” she pouted.

“I’ll get a hold of you when we get back to L.A., Mom,” I
said as I stood up and gave her a hug. “Sorry we can’t stay longer.”

She stood up and hugged each of us, lingering a bit too long
with Hudson. She treated him like family, which I’d appreciated, but she was
also very over the top.

We left the house, and I sniffed my shirt the moment we got
back in my car.

“What are you doing?” Hudson laughed.

“You don’t think it reeked in there?” I asked.

In his usual polite fashion, he didn’t answer.

“You probably think I’m some low life scum now,” I said. “That’s
the house I grew up in. And that’s how we lived.”

Hudson snickered. “Brynn, give me more credit than that. The
way your mother lives is not a reflection of who you are as a person. I’m not
with you for your background or where you come from or who your parents are.”

I realized then just how irrational I was being about the whole
thing.

“You’re an amazing person,” he said. “And I have a feeling
you had to do a lot of growing up early. You probably raised yourself. And you
know what? You did a damn fine job.”

I took a deep breath. Hudson always knew exactly what to say
to make me feel better.

“Your mom needs help,” he said. “I don’t she can get that
kind of help here in Rock River.”

“Yeah, she does need help,” I huffed. “Try telling her that
though.”

“What if I offered to treat her to a luxury rehab facility?”
he asked. “They’re all over California. They’re practically resorts. We could
lure her out there and get her the help she needs.”

“She can’t afford that, Hudson,” I said. “It’s a nice
thought though.”

“I don’t think you heard me correctly,” he said. “It’ll be
my treat. I’ll do this for her. For you really.”

“What if it didn’t work?” I asked. “And you’d spent all that
money on her. I would feel awful. I couldn’t do that to you.”

“I want to do this for you, Brynn,” he said as he took my
hand. “Let me do this for you.”

“It’s too kind of you,” I said. “Can I think about it?”

He seemed frustrated with me.

“What’s there to think about?” he asked. “I want to do this
for you, and I want you to have the mom you deserve. She’s missing out on so
much of your life, and you’re missing out on so much of her life. It shouldn’t
be that way.”

I knew I’d be stupid to turn down his offer.

“Wouldn’t you like to have a little piece of home with you
in L.A.?” he asked.

Part of me wondered if he was just trying to eliminate any need
for me to ever come back to Rock River. If my mom wasn’t here, I’d have no
reason at all to come home.

“Let me do this, please,” he pleaded. “If not for you and
your mom, for my mom.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“She died of a heroin overdose when I was eighteen,” he
said. “She spent every last dime I made as a child actor on her drug addiction.
I was too young to know how to get her any kind of help. I’m the one who found
her.”

My heart broke on the spot for him. No wonder he had never
talked about his family. I inwardly chided myself for thinking he had any type
of ulterior motives.

“Wow,” I said. “That must have been difficult for you.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It feels like forever ago, but
in some ways it feels like just yesterday.”

“Okay,” I said. “You can help my mom.”

I could only hope and pray that by getting my mom the help
she needed, it would be closing an old wound of Hudson’s.

“Thank you,” he said as he kissed the underside of my hand.
“As soon as we get back to L.A., I’ll make some calls and handle all the
arrangements. It’ll be your job to get her out there.”

“Sounds like a plan. Now let’s get out of here before my mom
wonders why we’ve been sitting in her driveway for the last ten minutes,” I
giggled. “She probably thinks we’re making out or something.”

The flight back to L.A. from Des Moines was long and
arduous. I had barely flown at all in my life, and the last two months had been
making it feel like such a chore. I didn’t know how Hudson got used to being
such a jetsetter, but it was something I was going to have to get used to
sooner or later.

As we pulled into his driveway several long hours later, I
just wanted to go inside and change into pajamas. I dreamt of collapsing on his
silky soft bed and burying myself in his luxurious covers. Some mindless T.V.
was in order, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I would be out cold.

Hudson carried our bags in and sat them in the kitchen. He
slipped his arms around my waist and spun me towards him. He wanted to get
frisky, but I didn’t know how to tell him I didn’t have an ounce of energy left
in me. The last two days had been draining.

He kissed my neck and tickled my sides with his fingers as I
brushed my hair out of the way. I wanted him, but I also wanted to go to bed. I
couldn’t have both.

As his lips nibbled my earlobes I had no other choice but to
succumb to his desires, but as soon as I did there was a big splash outside in
the pool area.

“Did you hear that?” I asked as I popped my head up.

“No,” he said as he continued leaving kisses up and down my
collarbone.

“It sounds like someone’s outside in your pool,” I said. “Is
Flor working tonight?”

“Ha,” he laughed. “She wouldn’t be in the pool. And no,
she’s not working tonight.”

“Can we go check it out?” I asked. His hands were busy but
his mouth was even busier. His hands slipped under my top as he pinned me
against the kitchen island with the weight of his hips against mine. “I’d hate
for it to be paparazzi or something trying to take pictures of us.”

He stepped back, sighed, and nodded. “It’s not paparazzi,
but if it makes you feel better, we’ll go check it out.”

He pulled a giant flashlight from a drawer in the kitchen
and headed out towards the sliding door towards the pool. At first he shined
the light through the glass, hitting every angle around the patio and
waterfall.

The pool was lit up, but it was still plenty dark outside.

“I don’t see anyone,” he said. “It was probably a bird or
something. Now, where did we leave off?”

He walked over to me with a mischievous look on his face and
tugged me close by the band of my jeans.

“Hudson,” I whined. “Let’s go outside and look. I swear I
heard a big splash. It wasn’t a bird.”

He grunted and stopped what he was doing. He spun around and
slid the door open so he could step outside. As he clicked on his flashlight
once again, I saw someone moving back by the grotto.

“See!” I whispered as I pointed. “There!”

He shined his light back towards the grotto.

“Who’s there?” he yelled out. “Show yourself or I’m calling
the police.”

I clutched onto his arm, my fingernails digging into his
flesh.

“Brynn, there’s a Glock 42 in the top left drawer in the
kitchen by the stove,” he said. “Bring it to me.”

My heart raced. I’d never touched a gun in my life, and I
didn’t even know he had one in the house. How come I’d never come across it
before?

I let go of his arm, albeit unwillingly, and trekked inside
to grab the Glock.

“Here,” I said as I handed it to him mere seconds later. I
hated touching that thing. The cool metal of the handle gave me chills.

“Who’s back there?” he yelled again. “You have two seconds
to show yourself or I’m shooting.”

I covered my face with my hands as the pit of my stomach
churned. This was either going to be nothing or it was going to be something
very bad, like something out of a horror movie.

“You don’t have to shoot,” a woman’s voice giggled. “It’s
just me, silly.”

Out from the grotto emerged none other than Miss Ava Fox,
string bikini barely covering her lady bits. Her body was incredible but her
smile was evil. She emerged from the grotto as if she owned the place and had
every right to be there.

“What are you doing here, Ava?” Hudson demanded to know.
“How’d you get in here?”

“You gave me the code, remember?” she said. She was talking
to him, but her eyes were on me, menacing me with every move.

“I did no such thing and you know it,” he said. He rested
his gun down on the table. “How’d you get in here?”

“Don’t you remember that weekend during the reshoots?” she
cooed. I came up to your hotel room, we drank a little. You couldn’t keep your
hands off of me for two seconds. You told me you missed me.”

I wanted to throw up. I wanted to run away. But for some
reason, I was paralyzed. My feet were cemented to the patio floor.

“You made love to me twice that night,” she continued. “Two
amazing times. It was incredible.”

She studied my face, and I knew right then and there that she
was trying to get a reaction out of me. I refused to let her see me crack.

“Get out of here, Ava,” I said. “You don’t belong here.”

Hudson seemed simultaneously shocked and pleased that I was
standing up to her.

“Hudson,” Ava pouted. “Tell Miss Iowa USA here the truth
about us. Tell her before you take this too far with her and break her poor
little heart.”

Hudson shook his head. “Stop it, Ava.”

“She deserves to know about you,” she said. “And all your…ways.”

“Ava,” Hudson seethed.

“You don’t date someone for two years and not learn a thing
or two about their deepest, darkest secrets,” Ava cooed. She began to walk out
of the pool and towards us, like some siren emerging from the ocean.

“What is she talking about?” I asked him.

“Nothing,” he said. “She’s trying to scare you away from me,
that’s all.”

Ava tossed her head back and laughed maniacally.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Ava said. “Hudson Smith
has no secrets at all. Brynn, are you sure you know what you’re getting
yourself into with this one?”

“Why are you still here?” I replied, ignoring her question.
“You’re not wanted or welcome. Get out before we call the police.”

“How do you like that ring he got you?” she asked. Her eyes
glowed with malicious intent as she stared at my hand. “I bet he told you it
really meant something, huh? How adorable. You two make me sick.”

I clasped my ring and hid it from her sight, staring at
Hudson and pleading silently for an explanation. How did she know about the
ring he gave me?

“One last time,” Hudson seethed. “Get out, Ava.”

“I’m going to call the police if you don’t leave,” I added.

She slinked on past Hudson, drawing her hand across his arm
slowly in the process.