Accidental Abduction (Masked Men of Sage Springs #1)

Chapter Seven

Hudson

Just put it on. Put on the mask and take a deep breath. You got this. This is what she wants. You’ll chase her, take her back to your place, and remind her how good you can be together.

And then what? One hot night and she’d agree to work things out? Putting on this mask wouldn’t be a band-aid, and as I stared at it peeking out the top of my backpack, a sense of unease swept over me.

“What are you still doing in here?”

I jumped at the voice coming from the office doorway.

“I thought you were out there trying to pick up women with bad boy issues?” Reid still hadn’t put on a shirt. Instead, he was casually leaning against the doorframe with his helmet tucked under his arm, and I suddenly wished I had half the amount of swagger he had.

Judging by the loud music and voices coming from the other side of the building, the party had gotten into full swing while I’d been hiding in my office. I hadn’t meant to stall joining the chaos, but since no one from the door had been sent to tell me Viv was here, I’d used the time to catch up on paperwork. It’d been so long since I’d had to think about trying to catch a woman’s interest that I’d forgotten how. And I was having some major performance anxiety.

“Which you should be doing too,” he laughed. “But it seems like you’re in here having some existential crisis dressed all in black, like you’re about to rob the place, instead of out there being charming so you can finally hook up with someone who doesn’t want to change you.”

Now that things were shaky between Viv and me, he hadn’t hesitated to make his opinion of her known. Deep down, I knew how much he disliked her, mostly because she didn’t seem to respect my decisions, but he didn’t know her like I did.

She was smart, and passionate, and when we met, she’d been reckless and thirsty for adventure like I once had been.

“What exactly are you supposed to be? A black cloud?”

It felt like one was hovering over me right now. “No, this isn’t the whole costume,” I said, gesturing toward the rest of it.

“Ah, I see you took my comments about masked men to heart. Maybe you’re looking for a bit of action from a girl with bad boy issues tonight, too. I just hope you don’t pursue the wrong one.”

I hoped that too.

“Just let me get this deposit put in the safe and I’ll come find you.”

“You better. Because as scary as it is, I’m making it my duty to be the voice of reason tonight. I think you need a wingman more than I do.”

He might be right, but…

“Hey, is he in there?” A familiar voice asked from the hallway. My heart started beating faster, a sweat breaking out on the back of my neck.

“Yeah, he’s getting ready, but I can give him those if you want.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it,” Charley responded, and I watched as she handed over a stack of receipts and her part of the tip share. She was mostly concealed by the doorframe, and part of me wanted to interrupt so I could see what she’d decided to wear to the party, but she wasn’t the woman I should be focusing on right now.

Last year she’d been a sexy devil, and I remembered forcing myself to keep my eyes away from her the entire night, because thinking about how hot she looked was definitely not respecting my relationship with Viv, or her place as Hazel’s friend .

“Make good choices out there,” he teased, stroking his thumb over the back of her hand. “Don’t let someone who doesn’t deserve you charm you out of those tiny shorts.”

“You seem to be mistaking me with someone else,” she giggled, pushing a fingertip into his chest. “We both know I’m going to be the one charming some unsuspecting undergrad out of his costume at the end of the night.”

“Come find me if you need me to scare off any creeps.” His hand covered the back of hers where it rested on his bare skin, and an irrational flare of jealousy licked up my spine.

“I can handle myself just fine, but there’s an angel out there that might need your services.”

His eyes cut from the concealed woman in the hallway to me, his eyebrows lifting. I wasn’t sure who she was talking about, but a text coming from my pocket distracted me.

Mikey: Viv is here. Look for the dyed pigtails and pink boots.

Reid frowned at me, shaking his head, like he knew exactly what the message on my phone screen said. “Go have fun, Char. I think I’m gonna have my hands full dragging Hudson out of this office and forcing him to relearn what having fun is.”

“Good luck with that,” she laughed, and I closed my eyes as I tried to calm my nerves.

“You’re the one who has control of what happens tonight.” He crossed the room, shoving Charley’s tips into my hand, and bending his knees slightly until I looked him in the eyes. “So don’t fuck it up. Just because something is comfortable doesn’t mean it’s right. You don’t have anything to prove to anyone but yourself.”

“Thanks for the pep talk,” I said sarcastically, and he narrowed his eyes as he pointed across the room.

“Put that mask on and go find someone who deserves that side of you.” He turned on his heel, storming through my open door without a backward glance. I knew he was trying to be supportive, but I wasn’t even sure what I deserved right now.

Hadn’t I been a shitty boyfriend ?

Didn’t I have something to prove to Viv?

I wasn’t sure what the right answer was, but I crossed the room and pulled the mask from the bag, running my thumb over the elongated black shape that was supposed to be a mouth.

“Don’t fuck this up, dipshit,” I muttered to myself and pulled it over my head, tucking the fabric into the open collar of my hoodie with shaking hands.

It was time to stop playing it safe.