The Sudden Love (Hudson Brothers #3) Read online

  The Sudden Love

  Emma Vikes

  Contents

  The Hudson Brothers Series

  My VIP Romance Reader Group

  Description

  Prologue

  1. Everett

  2. Alexa

  3. Everett

  4. Alexa

  5. Alexa

  6. Everett

  7. Alexa

  8. Everett

  9. Alexa

  10. Everett

  11. Alexa

  12. Everett

  13. Alexa

  14. Everett

  15. Alexa

  16. Everett

  17. Alexa

  18. Everett

  19. Everett

  20. Alexa

  21. Alexa

  Epilogue

  A Note From The Author

  My VIP Romance Reader Group

  Also by Emma Vikes

  About the Author

  The Hudson Brothers Series

  Story of Everett Hudson

  By

  Emma Vikes

  © Copyright 2020 - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination. Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18.

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  Description

  It wasn't as if Everett Hudson didn't believe in love. It was more like he didn't have time for love. Hard-working and career driven, the most important thing for him was to have a secure future and his entire world only revolved around achieving that. Well, that was until he ended up blurting out to his family that he was dating a co-worker and fell down the rabbit hole of romance.

  The main reason that Alexa Stone moved to Irving was to support her family even more, financially speaking. The most important thing in her life was her family and she didn't have time for anything else. But then she met Everett and what started out as an innocent crush turned into teetering at the cliff of falling in love when she agreed to fake a relationship with him.

  Would they allow themselves to freely fall in love or would their principles get in the way of what their hearts truly wanted?

  Prologue

  Everett

  The music was loud, obnoxiously so. Lights flashed in different colors, adding to the party-vibe that the nightclub was going for. I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose, while I closed my eyes shut, trying to convince myself that this was what people of my age did for fun. Alcohol, loud music, girls and dancing. It’s what any twenty-five-year-old should consider as fun. Any normal twenty-five-year-old.

  But the music was becoming irritating, reverberating through my head as if someone was trying to hammer the beat into my skull. The lights were flashing too brightly, blinding me, and making me feel dizzy. I saw some girls wandering around, making me fear for their sake, knowing the number of perverts lurking around. Rape cases in Irving were moderately low, but they were still known to happen.

  And then there was the dancing. Good god, the bodies grinding on the dance floor would give the writhing bodies in hell a run for their money.

  “Everett, are you even listening?”

  Leo was looking at me intently. Actually, his gray eyes were fixed behind me. I glanced back and saw a girl sitting at the table behind us, wearing a tight red dress and stilettos, her hair tied in a knot on the top of her head, and her lips as red as her dress. I rolled my eyes. “Do you even want me to listen? We’re supposed to discuss Milo’s bachelor party, but we’re in a nightclub which is the last place on earth that anyone should discuss party plans in.”

  Beside me, Julian snorted. “Will you please loosen up, Ev? I just got back and you already want to “discuss” things. Can’t we just have a nice time, bonding for once?”

  He pushed a drink my way and gave me a knowing look. I rolled my eyes, but didn’t take the drink. “I have work first thing in the morning, Jules. I can’t afford to be hungover, or late because I overslept, so I would really appreciate it if we could wrap this up, so I can go home.”

  Leo whistled, and then brought his attention back to us. “Jules, remember what I told you about uptight geeks?”

  My eyebrows furrowed, an annoyance forming in the pit of my stomach and rising to my chest. Julian didn’t seem to notice. “I know! They haven’t gotten laid!” I said, fuming internally.

  The two of them laughed loudly and then scooted closer to me. Leo placed an arm around me, pulling me closer to him. “When was the last time a girl screamed your name, Everett?”

  “Oh, oh, Everett! Fuck yes! Ye-e-e-es! I love it!” Julian mimicked a girl climaxing, while looking at me, wiggling his eyebrows. “You just need a girl to loosen up those tight knots in you, brother. It’s the perfect solution for your uptightness. Hell, it’s the only solution.”

  I rolled my eyes and shrugged their hands off of me. I turned to Julian first. “One, uptightness isn’t a word, Jules. Two, I care about my job and I do not want to get fired because I went to work hungover or extremely late.”

  Leo snorted. “Jesus, Ev, loosen up! Just for tonight. Look, see that pretty girl in that tight red dress? I’d bang her because she’s my type, and hell, Julian would too. But we’re willing to step aside and let you go for it.”

  “Or if she’s not your type, then what about that one?” Julian nudged me and pointed to a girl at the bar. Unlike the girl that Leo had talked about, this one seemed a lot tamer, more my type. Her red hair cascaded down her back, black shorts revealing perfectly long and tanned legs, and a pastel green, cropped, button down shirt. To be honest, she looked completely out of place in the nightclub while the lady she was with seemed to have come better prepared for the night.

  “She looks like she was meant to be strolling in downtown LA in the afternoon, rather than be here in the club,” Leo commented, chuckling, and then he slapped me on the back, “Jules is right. That one’s perfect for you! You two stick out like sore thumbs here.”

  Leo had already had a round of drinks, and he was on the verge of becoming tipsy. His threshold for alcohol was actually remarkable, and it was the same with Julian, which was why I was certain that Leo was trying to push my buttons on purpose and not because he was drunk. This irked me even more, but we were in a public place and I was not the kind of person to cause a scene.

  My older brother stood up, and with Julian’s help, forced me to stand up too. The two of them basically dragged me towards where the woman stood with her friend. Leo had a stupid smirk on his face and Julian simply looked amused at the whole situation. “Alright. Jules, you stay here, and I’m gonna act drunk and spill the girl’s drink on her shirt and somehow make sure that Everett gets laid!”

  Julian laughed beside us and stayed rooted to his spot, while Leo began to drag me again. “This is a very stupid idea, Leo!”

  But Leo wasn’t listening to me. He went ahead with his idiotic plan, and purposely bumped into the woman and successfully spilled her pink drink on her green shirt. The idiot had the audacity to fake a gasp an
d then chuckle. “Oops! Whoops! I’m sorry! Here, let my brother make up for my stupidity.”

  He literally pushed me towards the woman, knocking off the drink in her hand and spilling it on her even more. I grimaced at the whole situation and I could feel the gaze of the onlookers. Leo was hooting behind me and I turned to glare at him but he merely shrugged and stalked off. “I just bought this shirt.”

  I turned back to the woman who was trying to wipe off the liquid that had spilt on her, but was merely trying in vain because she was literally soaked. “I’m so sorry. My brother is just-,” but the words caught in my throat when she looked up at me. Her eyes were a swirl of hazel and green and despite the harsh changing lights, it seemed as if the color of her eyes were the only colors I could see. Her lips were painted a light shade of pink, plump and begging to be kissed, and as my eyes slowly flickered from her face and to the stained- and still wet- green shirt, I could clearly see the outline of her breasts.

  Without a word, I shrugged off the jacket I was wearing and handed it to her, scratching the back of my neck. She stared at it, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and I nodded at the shirt she was wearing. “It’s a thin fabric.”

  Her eyes widened, realizing what I meant, and hurriedly shrugged the jacket on. “Thank you.”

  A brief moment of silence passed between us, when her friend turned to her and whispered something. A look crossed her face but she nodded and we both watched her friend go, her hand linked to the guy she had been sitting with. I stuffed my hands in my pocket and let out a shaky breath, unsure of what I was meant to do. “I’m sorry about my brother.”

  She smiled slightly, shrugging. “It’s bound to happen in places like this. Don’t worry. And you weren’t the one who spilt his drink on me.”

  My right eyebrow rose and I slid on to the seat that had been occupied by her friend earlier. “Technically I did. I bumped into you too.”

  She squinted her eyes and then shook her head. “He pushed you. I’m guessing you’re too shy to hit on me so you had your brother do you a favour.”

  Her statement took me aback and I stared at her, surprised at the amusement and confidence laced in her tone. “Actually, my brothers were egging me on, to hit on someone. Leo finally gave up and just dragged me over here and pretended to bump into you so we could have a conversation.”

  “And then hope that that conversation leads to sex?” she quipped, smirking. I blinked, running a hand nervously through my hair.

  “I’m not that kind of a guy. Really. It’s just my brothers. This is the kind of game that they like and I’m not…I’m decent.”

  She burst out laughing and then began to shake her head. “It’s fine. I’m not taking this whole thing in a bad way. I’m actually relieved that you were the one ‘hitting’ on me. If it was any other guy in this club, I would’ve dashed off.”

  “Why?”

  She tilted her head to the side and shrugged. “You look pretty decent.”

  “Do you want to get out of here? Have coffee or something?” I finally asked after a beat, looking at her shyly. “If I leave with you, my brothers will think that I’m doing what they want me to. But I just really want to leave.”

  She gasped and placed a hand on her chest, right where her heart was supposed to be. “You’re using me?” Her eyes wide, seemingly shocked.

  I blinked, unsure if this was a joke or if she was being sarcastic to mask how offended she was. “I’m not…I er…”

  She burst out laughing and then hopped off the stool. “Come on, Mr. Awkward. This isn’t my kind of scene either.”

  She stretched out her hand for me to take and I took it without hesitation. I glanced briefly at my brothers and saw them pumping their hands in the air, cheering without a sound. Rolling my eyes, I let the woman drag me out of the club. “There’s a Starbucks in the next block. You okay with walking there?”

  With a nod of her head, the two of us headed to the coffee shop in silence, our hands still clasped together. Neither of us made a move to pull away and it was only when we entered the shop that we dropped our hands and looked away. She ordered a flat white and I made my order and just as she was about to pull out her wallet to pay for her drink, I handed my credit card to the cashier.

  “You know you don’t have to.”

  I shrugged. “My brother and I spilt your drink on you. It’s the least I could do.”

  “You gave me your jacket.”

  “Then think of it as a thank you for saving me from the nightclub,” I replied, cocking my head to the side and smiling. She picked up her coffee when the order came and tilted it slightly at me as an acknowledgment.

  “Thank you,” she said with a shy smile, sliding into one of the free booths and I took the seat across from her, “It seems like you’re not a fan of clubbing.”

  I made a face. “Clubbing. Partying. Anything that involves loud music and people grinding on each other, not my kind of thing.”

  “Then why were you there?”

  I shrugged, sipping my coffee. “My younger brother just came back to town. The three of us were meant to discuss our eldest brother’s bachelor party, but Milo had specifically told me he didn’t want one. But Leo insisted so…”

  She giggled, looking at me with amusement in her hazel eyes. “So, you were trapped in a situation you couldn’t say no to?”

  “Why were you there?” I asked, switching gears. “You looked just as out of place as I did.”

  She sighed and then tossed her hair to the side. “A club’s the last place I’d be caught in. Not my kind of scene either, but my friend insisted. We were supposed to have dinner since we hadn’t seen each other in a while, and as a thank you from me to her since she helped me look for an apartment here in Irving. But for some reason she roped me into coming into a club only for her to leave me right after.”

  But I was barely listening to her as she explained, I was too mesmerized with how she talked. The slight Southern lilt in her voice as she spoke, the way her hands seemed to fly around as she explained everything animatedly.

  She suddenly paused and looked at me, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

  “Do I have something on my face?” I shook my head, unsure of what to say. She pursed her lips and then chuckled. “Is this the part where you finally hit on me?”

  I blinked, her statement catching me off-guard again. “No. I was just…I’m sorry I know it’s rude but you’re just…”

  She surprised me again by laughing, really loud. I could feel the other customers glaring at us but she didn’t seem to mind. “You know, you’re really lucky you’re cute.”

  My eyebrows rose. “So are you trying to flirt now?”

  Rolling her eyes, she sipped her coffee, watching me. “No. Not really. I just really want to enjoy my cup of coffee and start a good conversation.”

  She was mesmerizing even with her face hidden behind a cup. She peeked at me with her hazel eyes, crinkled at the side, so I knew she was smiling even when she was drinking coffee. I felt something tug at my heart. “Didn’t you tell me earlier that you knew it’s rude to stare?”

  I swallowed and then laughed nervously, picking up my coffee. I wasn’t sure what was going on with me. Normally, I remained unfazed when it came to women. There were women who would throw themselves at me and they were the ones that I’d go on a one-night stand with. Usually, they were interns from my office, but I had never really formed any romantic relationships. I wasn’t keen on it either. Nor was I familiar with romantic feelings.

  “Yes, I know. It’s just .... It’s hard not to…”

  “Stare?” She finished my sentence, giggling, and shaking her head. “You don’t talk to girls that much, do you?”

  Reluctantly, I nodded my head slowly and mumbled. “Don’t really have time for dating.”

  “Don’t have the time or don’t want to make time for dating?” she asked, giving me a pointed look. And then she placed her cup slowly on the table with a soft thud and loo
ked at me with her mesmerizing eyes. “Don’t worry, that makes two of us. There are just some things that you have to prioritize over dating. But sometimes…”

  “Sometimes…?” I urged her to continue, sensing that she wanted to say more. I always had a good sense of knowing when people had a lot more things to say than they wanted to.

  “Sometimes…” her eyes flickered to mine and it felt as if she was staring into my soul, bringing up all the desires that I’d always set aside to the surface, “Sometimes I just want to be selfish and allow myself to give in to the moment and not worry about the outcome. Sometimes I wish things were easier, and that I was allowed to do the things that just pop into my head. Reckless things.”

  I leaned back, unsure of how I was meant to respond.

  All the confidence she had shown earlier had suddenly turned to awkwardness as she pushed her almost empty cup aside and started to remove her jacket. “It’s getting really late and I have an early flight tomorrow.”

  “You’re not from here?”

  She paused, flashed me a tight-lipped smile and shook her head. “Not yet. But I will be. Here’s your jacket.”

  “Keep it,” I answered quickly, standing up as she did. She stared at me and then shrugged the jacket back on, nodding her head. She picked up the small purse that she was using.