Starstruck - Book Four Read Online Free PDF Page A

watch another minute of his interview. He had
just lied. I knew he had to be all political and professional, but it still stung
to hear him say they were still a part of each other’s lives and he had fun
working with her. A tiny part of me wondered who was being lied to…the anchor
or me.
     
    Don’t go there, I reminded myself. Don’t go to that place.
You’re just going to get all worked up over nothing and he’s going to pick up
on it and you’ll have another fight. Don’t do it.
     
    “Brynn?” It was Hudson. He hadn’t been gone but five or ten
minutes and he was already home. I didn’t even hear him come in.
     
    “What are you doing back so soon?” I asked as I spun around,
startled. “Shit, you scared me.”
     
    “I left my phone…” he said. I could see by the look on his
face that he knew I’d watched his interview. “I saw what you were watching.”
     
    He sighed. He was so annoyed at me, I could tell.
     
    “I like watching you in action,” I said as I tried to
plaster a fake smile across my face. I didn’t want to start another fight, even
if I was secretly ticked.
     
    Hudson shook his head. He knew me too well. He knew exactly
what I was doing.
     
    “I don’t have time for this right now,” he said. “I’m
running late.”
     
    With that, he turned and left through the garage door.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 5
 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I hated that Hudson walked out like that. I hated that he
caught me watching his interview red-handed. I just wanted things to go back
the way they were. I wanted to rewind to just before he left when he kissed me
goodbye and said he couldn’t wait to see me later that night.
     
    I never would’ve flipped on the T.V. Well, I probably would
have but I would have skipped right past his interview. Okay, maybe I wouldn’t
have done that, but I would’ve kept more of an open mind. I should’ve been
proud of him for just doing his job and staying professional. Had he told the
interviewer the truth about things between he and Ava and how tense they were,
it would’ve thrust him back into the spotlight. It would’ve thrust all of us
back into the spotlight.
     
    I’d been a little less pursued lately by the paparazzi. Ever
since they found out who I was, posted a few salacious and embarrassing
photographs, then realized I was a boring girl from the Midwest, things died
down a bit. I didn’t want to go back to that, and Hudson was probably just
protecting us by downplaying Ava’s psychotic antics and saying they were still
friends.
     
    I decided then and there that I wasn’t going to bring it up
to him. He was a good man. A kind man. He had a huge heart. He didn’t owe me an
explanation. He didn’t owe me anything. He’d already taken me under his wing
and showed me a world beyond anything I’d ever imagined. He put my mother in
treatment for crying out loud. Hudson was a good, good man. I needed to do
nothing except love him.
     
    With that revelation, I decided to do something special for
him that evening. He was always doing special things for me. I never returned
the favor. What do you do for a man who has the entire world on speed dial? He
could have anything he wanted with the click of a button.
     
    “Flor,” I called out from the sofa.
     
    “Yes, Miss Brynn,” she said as she came from a hall bath,
rubber gloves still covering her small but sturdy hands.
     
    “I think I’m going to make dinner tonight for me and
Hudson,” I said. “You can leave early today if you want.”
     
    She studied me for a while before flashing a reserved smile
and thanking me in Spanish. I could never tell what she was thinking, and I
still wasn’t sure she even liked me.
     
    The morning faded into afternoon, and as the sun began to
set in the sky, I had still not heard from Hudson. I knew he was going to be in
meetings all day, but I never asked when he’d be back. I just assumed he
wouldn’t be gone all