“Because of Jessie and this mess.”

“She tell you about Tim? The separation.”

“A little. Mostly we talked about Jessie and our feelings about her.”

“Huh.” Hudson finished his beer and set it down on the table. “She didn’t try to convert you to the Tarot?” he asked dryly.

“She tried. I resisted.”

Hudson gazed into Becca’s eyes and a smile teased his lips. “I’ve…missed you,” he said slowly.

Becca felt the backs of her eyes burn and she had to look down at her beer. She was not going to embarrass herself. Not. “So, you think Jessie was murdered and left in that grave?”

“I think she ran into-trouble-and she died because of it. She’s never contacted me,” he added. “Maybe I’m giving myself too much credit, but I always thought she would, if she were alive.”

“You never thought she ran away?”

“Oh, sure. At first. I didn’t want to believe she was totally gone, and I sure as hell didn’t want to believe any of McNally’s theories. And I didn’t want any of us to be involved,” he added as an afterthought.

“But now…?” she asked, a sense of dread crawling up her spine. “Do you think one of the kids who went to St. Lizzie’s is involved?”

“I hope not.”

But he sounded like he were trying to convince himself. “So, what if it’s not Jessie?” Becca asked. “I mean…what if it really is someone else?”

“Then who is it? And where the hell is Jessie? What’s she been doing? What kind of life did she make for herself? Can you see her married? Having children? Living a normal life?”

“That would be a leap.”

“Was she as different as I remember?” Hudson suddenly asked, as if the question were wrung from him. He got to his feet and paced around the kitchen, stopping by her chair. She had to turn her neck to look up at him. “We keep talking about her and she’s taken on mythological proportions, but she was just a girl with a history of running away. All we know for certain is that bones were discovered in the maze. If they aren’t Jessie’s, then whose are they?”

Becca lifted her palms.

“I don’t want to think about it anymore,” Hudson said. “I’d rather talk about-anything else. Got a subject you want to discuss? The economy? Global warming? Whether Zeke and Vangie will actually ever get married?”

“I pick number three.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”

Uncomfortable, Becca got up from her chair, but she was too close to him so she moved toward the counter, leaning her hips against it. “Okay, what’s going on there? There was a ring on her finger…?”

“Zeke’s never been in love with her.”

“But he gave her an engagement ring.”

“He’ll find some reason not to go through with it. He won’t follow through. It’s not his way.”

“Ahh…”

“We were both bad about follow-through once. I like to think I’ve gotten better about it.” He came to lean beside her at the counter. A long pause ensued. Becca was fully aware of his slim hips so close to hers. “I’m sorry I never called.”

“You already apologized. Sort of. I could have called you, too.”

“No, I should have called,” Hudson said tautly. “I wanted to. I wish I had.”

“I thought you were still in love with Jessie,” Becca admitted with difficulty. “I’m not sure you aren’t still.”

“Like Zeke, I’m not sure I ever was,” he admitted. “We were sixteen.”

“Some people fall in love at sixteen.”

“I wanted to-be with you.”

Becca glanced sideways at him in surprise. “When Jessie was still here?”

“She knew I had feelings for you, though I never said anything. She always knew.”

“I didn’t know,” Becca said a trifle breathlessly. Her heart was starting a giddy galloping. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing!

“I couldn’t act on my feelings, and I didn’t know how to break up with her. I was thinking about it and then she was gone. I kept thinking she’d come back and I’d make this clean break. When I saw you that summer I didn’t care anymore. Zeke thought I was trying to bring Jessie back, but that wasn’t even close. I let him think it, though.”

“He talked you out of seeing me,” Becca realized.

Hudson grimaced. “Zeke didn’t want me with anybody, but his words made me rethink things. I wasn’t really ready to be with anyone seriously. I was a dumb college kid. And Jessie’s disappearance was still like this entity.”

“It’s not anymore?”

“No.” They stared at each other for long moments. She saw his blue eyes darken with a simmering emotion, one she understood well.

Feeling slightly light-headed, Becca murmured, “I think I’d better leave before I do something I’ll regret.”

He seemed about to argue with her, then inclined his head in agreement.

“You’re not going to try harder than that?” she asked, her words sounding far away to her own ears.

With a sensual smile curving his lips, he slowly reached for her, turning her into him, his hands sliding up her back. She ran her arms around his chest and for a moment their lips were a hairsbreadth apart.

He said, “I think I’d like to kiss you.”

“I think…you should…”

She felt his lips press against hers. Felt the promise of something about to ignite. Her insides seemed to melt. She wanted nothing more than for him to sweep her into his arms and carry her up the creaking old stairs to his bedroom.

“Hudson…” she whispered against his mouth.

“Hmmm?”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

In the next split second her fantasy became reality: he picked her off her feet and carried her up the ancient stairs to a room that faced the mountains-his parents’ bedroom all those years ago. Without another word, he fell with her onto a mattress that sagged and groaned, and kissed her as if he thought he might never again get the chance.

Becca let go.

Of her guilt.

Of her reservations.

Of her sanity.

Her mouth opened of its own accord, the taste of him familiar and erotic, the scent of him bringing back memory after memory of pleasure. His hands scaled down her ribs as if he knew her, and as he peeled off her clothes, she returned the favor, kissing his exposed skin, feeling the strength of taut, male muscles. Exploring his hard, strong shoulders and the sinewy arms that held her tight.

His mouth touched all those places he’d found years before. Behind her ear, the slope of her neck, the cleft between her breasts. She felt his heat, as white hot as the blood running through her veins.

She reminded herself that she would feel regrets, that nothing so incredible came without pain, but she didn’t care. Her need was too fierce, and she reveled in the pure, potent passion that streamed from his body to hers. His tongue ran rough against her breasts, circling her areolae, teasing and toying with her nipples, then delving lower while her hands threaded in his hair and the scent of him filled her nostrils.

Be careful, Becca…you haven’t told him about the baby. His baby…

Refusing to listen to the voice in her head, she gave in to the pleasure, felt his hot breath against her skin, his hands molding her flesh, his tongue and lips causing quicksilver pulses to run through her blood.

The back of her throat went dry as sand, but inside she was melting, hotter and hotter, her body beginning to writhe, the throb of desire pounding through her brain. She closed her eyes as the first spasm hit, rocking her, and when the second quake followed, she cried out, her fingers curling in the sheets, her body convulsing.

He came to her then, body and soul. His lips found hers and she kissed him with the need of all those years of wanting him, hating herself for her desire, dreaming of him. Hudson…it had always been Hudson, even when she’d married another man and now…now…

She let out a low moan as he entered her, her legs wrapping instinctively over his, his lips and mouth hot and wet. He thrust once, then again, and she cried out as he shifted, lifting her so that she was sitting, facing him, his legs beneath hers as he forced her buttocks tight against him.