That was his cross to bear. Not his mom’s. But apparently she didn’t see it that way. Just as she didn’t see him as a grown man. In her eyes, he was still a child. That wasn’t her fault either. It was the dementia. Just the thought had his chest tightening. She’d been through so much, and apparently life wasn’t done messing with her yet.

Nor him. Because the woman sitting at his mom’s side was no other than the pretty cherry-red–capped skier from the resort. Bailey. Hud stepped into the room and looked at his mom. She was sitting up, dressed, wearing lip gloss and smiling. For a quick beat, he stared at her, so relieved he couldn’t get a word out. She looked good today. Happy. Even playful—although that never boded well for him. “Mom,” he murmured affectionately, and bent to kiss her cheek.

“Hey, baby,” she murmured back, cupping his cheek. “Did you do your homework already?”

Ignoring that, he turned to Bailey and lifted a brow.

To her credit, she met his gaze head-on. “Hello again,” she said with an easy smile.

“You two know each other?” his mom asked in delight.

“We met on the mountain earlier,” Hud said.

“He rescued me,” Bailey said, eyes smiling into Hud’s. “Fixed my ski.”

“Well that makes this even better,” Carrie said. “She’s an artist. I hired her to paint a mural. For you, Hud.”

Because he hadn’t taken his eyes off the woman in the chair, he watched her blink in surprise and her mouth fall open in shock.

“Wait,” she said slowly, dividing a gaze between Hud and his mom. “You’re her son? But you’re not—”

He gave a small shake of his head and she broke off from finishing her sentence. But you’re not a little boy…

Nope. “Mom, we’ve gone over this,” he said quietly.“You can’t just hire people over the Internet, okay? They might not be what you think and you could get ripped off.”

“Bailey’s not going to rip me off,” his mom said, frowning. “And you’re being incredibly rude. Sit down. You’re growing like a weed. You’re so tall you’re giving me a neck kink.”

Hud didn’t budge.

His mom sighed. “I don’t know which of you is more stubborn, you or Jacob.”

Hud knew. It was Jacob. By far.

“Well if you’re not going to sit, at least stop looking like you’re out for blood,” his mom said. “I sought her out. I hired her.”

“And now we un-hire her,” he said. He looked at Bailey. “How much?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, sparks practically coming out her pretty ears. “I wouldn’t take your money.”

“I’ve seen her work on the Internet, Hud,” his mom said. “She’s decorated nurseries for babies. She did this magical forest in someone’s nursery and it was…” She sighed in wonder. “Well, magical.”

Hud turned to Bailey. Her smile was unguarded, easy. Contagious. And then there was her gaze, deep enough for a man to drown in. And in that single heartbeat, he felt the same urge he’d felt the first time he’d seen her. The urge to pull her in and stare into those eyes. They had something, he thought. An inexplicable chemistry. Sparks—and not coming out her ears this time but instead bouncing between them. “Mom, we’re not in the market for a mural at the resort right now.” Then he again turned to Bailey. “A word?”

“Sure.” She got up and, at his gesture, went ahead of him. She was still in her snow gear, minus the red helmet and the sunshine-yellow ski jacket. Without the bulky parka, she was a tiny thing. Bailey was petite and, as he’d suspected, a little fragile looking. Her patterned ski pants were cargo-style with a lot of clear pockets that she’d filled. A packet of tissues. A baggie of nuts. A lip balm… He was still staring at the stuff and absolutely not at her sweet little ass when she turned to face him in the hallway and… arched a sassy brow.

He laughed low in his throat but it was at himself. “You can see why this can’t happen.”

“That’s more than a word,” she said.

Smartass. And hell, he loved a smartass, but he couldn’t joke, not about this. “You can see she’s not well,” he said. “And even if she was, there’s no budget for a mural.”

“Yes, I get that she has problems.” She hugged herself and looked away. “We all do. But don’t worry, because if I do this, I won’t accept payment for it. I’ve already got a paying job Monday through Friday, but I could be here on the weekends. All I’d need is room and board, like any of your other seasonal employees. It shouldn’t take more than two months to get the mural done right.”

The words two and months stuck in Hud’s brain. That was a hell of a long time to have her around.

“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea,” his mom called out from her room.

Hud’s stomach sank because, hell no, it wasn’t a wonderful idea. Having to see this sexy adorable whirlwind for the next two months of weekends was the opposite of a wonderful idea. He leaned past Bailey—who still smelled so good he nearly pushed his face into her neck—and pulled his mom’s door shut.

“Fine,” she yelled from behind it. “But don’t think you can sneak anything by me! No funny business, Hudson Kincaid. You still can’t date until you’re old enough to shave!”

Hud closed his eyes for a beat and then opened them to find Bailey’s gaze on his, her own filled with concern.

Not pity.

He had to give it to her, he definitely appreciated that.

“She’s pretty amazing,” she said quietly. “And she loves you very much.”

“Yeah.” He scrubbed a hand down his face because, damn, she was just as sweet as she looked. “Look, I’ll pay your expenses for today, okay? Just invoice me. I get that you’ve been through a tough time but—”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “You get nothing.”

He paused and considered his words carefully. “I meant because my mom dragged you up here.”

“Oh.” Looking slightly mollified, she nodded. “But the answer is still no.”

“No?” he repeated.

“No, I’m not going to invoice you for my time,” she said just as an orderly came down the hall pushing a cart filled with supplies. This forced Bailey to back up and give the guy room to get by, which was fine except she backed right into Hud, pressing him between the wall and her soft, warm, curvy body.

“Sorry,” she whispered, stepping on his toe and bumping her sweet ass into his crotch. “Sorry—”

He stilled her with his hands on her hips, holding her there until the orderly had passed.

The sound of her sucking in air filled his ears, along with blood rushing through him at the full body contact.

When she could, she stepped clear and turned to face him, her eyes filled with awareness and shock.

Join my club, he thought.

“Okay, then,” she finally said, looking more than a little dazed. “I’m just going to go. Please tell your mom it was lovely to meet her.”

And then she was gone, leaving him to let out a low laugh. Clearly it hadn’t been lovely to meet him. For some reason that little crystal clear snub kept him smiling to himself for the rest of the day.