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Chapter 18

When Hudson sht They were fifty feet in the air, and their feet were dangling over nothing but snow and trees She should’ve been her usual anxious

Instead she wanted to crawl into his lap, wrap herself around hi kisses

Not going to happen up here with people both in front of and behind them So instead, she opened the Snickers and offered it to him

He flashed another sed it back to her

So fluttered low in her belly at his s bite of her own and let out an entirely involuntary, heartfelt moan

"You okay over there?"

"Oh,her lips "You have no idea"

Hudson’s eyes darkened and she quickly searched her brain for a diversion "So… you were a juvenile delinquent?"

His gaze lifted from her mouth to her eyes "Yes"

"Did you find the trouble or did it find you?"

"Both"

She smiled "A real badass, huh?" she asked

"Still ah "How about you answer my questions with more than tords and I don’t push you off this lift? Sound like a good plan?"

He grinned She couldn’t push hiood wind could blow her away

"Jacob and I cae ere twelve," he said "We were just about as feral as they co"

He glanced around thehed "Oh, no you don’t," she said "For once the radio on your hip is silent There’s a lull on the mountain, probably becausetheir e their extre beat and then let out a slow smile "Maybe you’re the badass"

"Uh-huh," she said, "and don’t ever forget it Talk"

He s hile word until he was darow up here," he said, surprising her "We grew up near Jackson Hole My dad cae of a very young, sweet girl working as a hostess at a dive bar and grill"

"Your nant, kept us, and did so with minimal help from Richard Kincaid She did the best she could hat she had"

"She’s pretty areed "But there were plenty of problems You’ve seen her fade in and out of reality Itdown a job difficult for her It all kind of collapsed around the time we hit middle school"