“I don’t know. Europe. France maybe. Or Italy. Somewhere different. Somewhere neither of us has been so we can discover it together. I think it would be fun.”
“Never been anywhere like that, but I got my passport. I don’t… I’m not all that great at planning.”
He had to laugh. “Well, in your line of work, most of your time is planned for you, so that makes sense. I can plan. By the time we could go, it might even be a good plan.”
“Cool. I’m in.” Jack held the door open to a rustic restaurant that smelled like heaven.
His stomach growled instantly. “Oh. I’m hungry now.”
They were seated in a cozy booth and handed menus, and seconds later, they had water and warm bread.
“Have you been here before?”
“Once or twice. Mackey and I came up first when he was looking at his piece of land.”
“We really lucked out, Jack. I can’t believe the owners waited so long for you to make up your mind. I can’t believe someone didn’t snatch it up out from under you.” Real estate was at a premium these days, and great properties were hard to find.
“They were fans, so they love the idea of having all these rodeo folks on the land.” Jack shrugged like this happened all the time, like it wasn’t unusual.
“I guess I can see the appeal of selling to a celebrity.” Only not really, because money was money. “Ooh, the bread is good.”
“That’s Mackey. I’m the safety man.” Jack leaned in, voice lowering. “Only certain people get to know more than that.”
He leaned forward too. “Oh, that’s me. I’m certain people.” He kissed Jack lightly.
“You are. You’re my person.”
He sat back in his seat and watched Jack carefully. “I waited a long time to hear you say that. I’d have taken even a little piece of that. You have no idea.”
Jack’s face was a little hang-dog. “I had my reasons.”
Of course Jack had reasons. Hudson didn’t have the faintest idea what they were, but there was always a reason. “Did any of them have to do with me?”
“No. Not even a little.” Jack leaned back in his chair, lips a little tight. “I think I told you I had a bad ending, once upon a time. I was—he told me about some things I did that made him leave. I was needy, clingy. So I try to make sure I don’t ask guys for anything.”
“Oh wow. That was a dick move. Men are such assholes.” He noticed how tight Jack’s shoulders were and could hear the tension in his cowboy’s voice. “Ask me for anything. Ask me for everything, Jack—you can have it.”
“I just want you. Simple. Easy. I want all of you.”
“That is simple. You’ve got it.” He sat forward again, picking up the beer list. “I might even give you a bite of my cheesecake if you’re good.”
“What do I get if I’m bad?”
Well, that was easy. “Head. Somewhere we haven’t yet.”
“Darlin’.” Jack gave him one of those long, slow grins. “That’s no incentive for following the path of righteousness.”
His dick heard that loud and clear. “Face it, you’re a bad boy at heart, baby.”
“Soul deep.” Jack didn’t seem the least bit repentant.
“I did keep coming back every year for it, didn’t I?” Everything about Jack said sex to him. It just did. If Jack had turned him down or not wanted to go ahead as a couple, he would probably have come back to Anaheim for more next year. He had promised himself he wouldn’t, that he’d cut off, end things this year. But part of him knew that was probably a lie. Jack’s pull was too strong.
And now he knew that Jack had been waiting on him. Maybe not consciously, but unconsciously, Hudson believed Jack had just been waiting.
He picked up his menu and opened it. “What’s on the menu, cowboy? Besides me?”
23