“I’d love to stop by the club when it’s open, check things out so I can come up with some ideas for a campaign.”
“How about tomorrow evening?” Hudson asked.
I deflated momentarily at the thought of spending a Friday evening away from Hudson. But, he was right in his suggestion. Friday was a great night to see the club at its best.
Aaron appeared as if he also regretted giving up a Friday night. But who could say no to Hudson Pierce? “Sure.”
“We open at nine, but if you can come by around, say eight-thirty, we could talk a bit before it gets crazy.” Good thing I had my business plan already outlined. Otherwise I’d have to pull an all-nighter to be prepared.
Aaron agreed to the time and then began discussing campaign ideas with Hudson. Feeling like a third wheel, I excused myself again, and left to wander.
I made my way first to the Shakespeare Garden with a second glass of champagne in hand, stopping here and there to admire the unusual plants, their fragrances mixing and lying heavily in the sweltering June air. From there, I journeyed through the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. Astounded by the tranquil beauty in the rolling landscape, I found a bench to sit on and enjoy the view as dusk fell as I sipped on my beverage.
Now and then, other guests passed, and eventually a man in a navy suit showed up accompanied by an older gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair that matched his silver three-piece. They lingered over the pond and in the quiet gardens, their conversation drifting over to me.
“The deal closed Monday?” the navy suit asked. “Unfucking believable. You’re a lucky son-of-a-bitch, you know that?”
I closed my eyes, hoping to close out the conversation that was in stark contrast to the serenity of the environment. But then, a familiar word caused my ears to perk.
“…Plexis wasn’t something he wanted to let go. Had to fight him tooth and nail.” It was the older guy speaking now, speaking about Hudson’s beloved company that he’d fought to keep from being sold by his shareholders, but lost. “Fortunately, the rest of the board was not on Pierce’s side.”
This guy must work for the corporation that bought Plexis out from under Hudson.
“So what are your plans now?” the younger guy echoed my internal questions.
“With Plexis? Well, there’s a lot of money in it if we break it up and sell off the pieces.”
My stomach fell with the salt-and-pepper’s admission. It was exactly what Hudson had been afraid would happen. It would mean a lot of jobs lost.
“But we’re not discounting the idea of reselling it as a whole.” The older man turned toward the younger, eyebrow raised. “If we had a good offer.”
“Oh, are you expecting me to offer?” Navy suit guy took a step back. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to get my hands on Plexis, but I don’t have that sort of money right now.”
“Just thought I’d put the bug in your ear. In case.”
The men resumed walking the path, the older one smiling at me as he passed.
I waited until they were several feet away before I shot up from the bench and headed off in the opposite direction, back toward Hudson. This was his chance to get Plexis back, to turn it into the company he’d envisioned it could be. I’d even helped him work out some preliminary ideas on how to make it profitable. I was as excited as I hoped Hudson would be, knew he would be.
It took a bit of searching before I spotted Hudson in the Cherry Esplanade. He was conversing with a striking auburn-haired woman, maybe a little older than me. An unexpected knot of jealousy formed in my gut, and I had to keep myself from running to his side.
He saw me as I approached, his eyes beaming with a fondness that made the knot loosen. “Alayna.”
The way my name slid off his tongue—it never failed to make me dizzy.
Hudson turned to the woman who I could now see was definitely older than me, perhaps by ten years. “Please meet my girlfriend, Alayna Withers. She’s running the promotional division of one of my nightclubs.”
The woman introduced herself before Hudson had a chance. “Hi. Norma Anders.” Her focus went right back to Hudson. “I hadn’t realized you were seeing anyone, Hudson.”
“We’ve been private. Her wishes, not mine.” Hudson’s lie tickled me. “But I’ve finally convinced her we should tell everyone.”
Norma’s mouth tightened as her eyes swept me from head to toe. “Congratulations, then. Honestly, I’m glad you’re done with the Werner girl. She was entirely too bubbly for you, if you ask me. Plus, I never trusted her. She was up to something, Hudson.”
I tensed. Never mind that the woman obviously felt familiar enough with my man to give him dating advice, she had thought Celia and Hudson were together. I’d thought that had only been the perception of their parents. Was there something I was missing?
Hudson straightened at the mention of Celia as well, and I felt his eagerness to get away from Norma—to get me away from Norma.
“It was nice to see you here tonight, Norma. Those reports—”
She touched his arm as if it was second nature. “I’ll get them to you on Monday.”
“Thank you, Norma.”
It was a good thing Hudson pulled me into his side and led me away or I may have socked the woman in her hazel eye. Or punched him. “First name basis, huh? That’s…different.” Hudson rarely called anyone by first name unless they were important to him.
He was nonplussed by my aggravation. “We’ve known each other for years. First name basis becomes inevitable after so much time.”
“Why does she think you were seeing Celia?” It felt like the Celia/Hudson conversation was a dead horse, yet new information kept popping up, and there I went beating it again.
“Celia often accompanied me to charity events and functions where Norma saw me socially. You know that.”
A blush crept up the back of my neck. I’d never told him that I’d internet-stalked him. That’s where I’d seen the dozens of pictures of him with Celia. He knew me too well.
His hand loosened at my hip. “Norma must have assumed we were a couple. It never occurred to me to correct her.”
My mouth tasted bitter. “Because you liked that people thought you were with Celia.”
“Because I liked that Norma thought I was off-limits.”
“Oh.” Maybe I could let the Celia horse rest for a while. But now I had a whole other slew of questions about Norma.
But before I could ask, he offered. “Norma manages the financial division of one of my companies.”
“Then you’re co-workers.” I wondered how she’d gotten such an elite position. Had she slept her way to the top? The familiarity she had with him was unnerving.
His mouth twitched, fighting a smile. “Why, Alayna, this shade of jealousy is becoming on you.”
I clenched my jaw. “That’s not a comforting response.”
“Not co-workers. Boss and employee.”
Though I appreciated that he’d taken my mood seriously, his answer irked me. Hudson was technically my boss, after all. “That’s a familiar scenario.”
He stopped suddenly and turned to face me full on, his eyes blazing with determined insistence. “I’ve never been your boss, Alayna. If anything, you’re the one who owns me.”
Well, wow.
Whatever Norma had with Hudson, she didn’t have what I had. The realization was moving.
Unable to maintain the intense eye contact, I turned my gaze to the Esplanade that I hadn’t quite taken in as of yet. The lush grassy spread was lined with large cherry trees, full and green.
Hudson followed my stare. “Have you seen pictures of the cherry blossoms when they’re in bloom?”
“No.” I’d seen pictures of the Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival and imagined the Esplanade must be nearly as beautiful.
“It’s brea
thtaking. All the trees filled with pink popcorn. The fragrance is absolutely incredible.” He swept his thumb across my cheek. “We’ll come here in the spring.”
“That sounds lovely.” I meant it. At the same time, my stomach twisted at both the prospect of still being with Hudson in the spring and the idea that I owned him. Both notions were so completely wonderful and also entirely too rushed. Could I maintain a relationship with him that long? Could I live up to the woman he obviously saw me as to him?
Rather than dwell on it, I refocused my mind on the bit of news that had set me searching for him in the first place. “Hey, I have something to tell you that you might be interested in.”
Placing his arm at the small of my back, Hudson directed me out of the Esplanade.
“It doesn’t have to be now,” I said, realizing his intention to take me up on my information at that very moment. “You can finish your mingling first.”
His mouth was hot at my ear. “The only mingling that interests me at the moment is the mingling of our genitalia.”
“You’re insatiable. You had me in the car.” But his suggestion caused my skin to tingle with want and anticipation.
“It wasn’t enough.” He pulled me off the path through a hole in the hedges—somewhere we certainly weren’t allowed to be—and pushed me up against a tall tree, his hip anchoring me in place. “I can never have enough of you.”
My breath caught in a moment of complete adoration for the man in front of me. This man who had worked through his own demons to let me in his life, had ignored every natural inclination to stay closed off and instead was trying his damndest to be with me in the way we both wanted.
I buried my gaze in his eyes. “I love you.”
He bent closer, his nose grazing the skin of my cheek. “Is that what you pulled me away to tell me? I’m not complaining if it is.”
I giggled. “You pulled me away, not the other way around, silly. And it’s not what I had to tell you. But I’m glad every time I get to say it.”
Hudson’s mouth curled into a slow smile, but movement on the path nearby caught my attention. I turned my head toward the small group walking up and spotted the salt-and-pepper man walking past. “Actually, you picked the perfect location. You see that man over there?”
Hudson followed my eyes. “The one in the tan?”
“The man next to him.” I gave him a minute to make sure he got a good look. “Do you know him?”
“Not that I recall. Should I?”
I shrugged. “Not necessarily. But I overheard him talking with another guy—” I swiveled my neck around, looking for the other man. “—that I can’t see right now. Anyway, not important. The salt-and-pepper man works for the company that purchased—wait for it—Plexis.”
Hudson relaxed his hold on me and studied the man one more time before he walked past. “How do you know this?”
“I heard him. When I was wandering earlier. He was boasting about how he was lucky to snatch such an amazing company from the likes of Hudson Pierce.”
Hudson’s posture stiffened. “Go on.”
I bit my lip. “You were right. They’re planning to dismantle the company.”
“Damn it.” It wasn’t often that Hudson showed any emotion where business was concerned—or showed any emotion period—yet I’d guessed he’d felt passionately about the company he’d lost. Now I knew for sure.
It made my next bit of news so much sweeter to deliver. “But he mentioned that they might be interested in selling if they got a good offer first.” I waited until I saw the wheels spinning behind his eyes. “You know what that means? It means all you need to do is get in there with a good offer.”
In a flash, he had me pinned again, pushing his body heavily against mine. “How about I get in you with a good offer?”
“Hudson!” I pushed lightly at his chest. “I’m serious.”
“So am I.” He nibbled along my jawline.
Unable to ever resist his advances, my body was already yielding, melting underneath him, throbbing with need to be closer. Still my brain continued to pursue answers. “I thought Plexis meant something to you.”
“It does.” He smiled as he bent in toward my lips.
I swerved my head to the side and met his eyes. “Then how come all you can think about is sexing me up? Is that all I am to you?” I knew that wasn’t all I was to him, and my words were more playful than anything, but I was disappointed that I’d been wrong about Hudson’s commitment to Plexis.
Adjusting his grip on me, he pressed tight to me again, and moved his lips near my ear. “No, it’s not. You know that your business mind turns me on to no end, especially when your business mind is looking out for my interests. And because I’m not skilled at expressing how I feel in words, I’m wishing I could show you exactly how into you I am at the moment.”
I melted. Completely.
Still my brain struggled for more validation, my voice sounding soft and full of need. “So you’re grateful for the information?”
“Very.” He thrust against me, his hard bulge showing me exactly how grateful.
I squirmed, trying to touch as much of him with as much of me as possible. “And you’re attracted to me beyond the physical?” My words were thick.
But I must have been coherent enough to be understood, because he responded between kissing and licking at my neck. “I’m attracted to everything about you—your body, your mind, your sass. Even your ‘crazy,’ as you call it.”
“You’re crazy, too, if you’re serious about that last one.”
His head jerked up so I could see the sincerity in his eyes. “I’ve never been more serious, Alayna. You’re the first person I’ve ever met who makes me believe I might not be crazy. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
The world stood still around me, and all I could see and hear and feel was Hudson in front of me, on me, in my skin, in my bones. “You need to rethink that whole I’m-not-good-with-words angle, because those words were perfect.”
His nose brushed mine as he nodded once. “Now stop talking and let me occupy your mouth in other ways.”
“What happened to that good offer you had?” I bucked my hips forward, searching for something to rub against, to ease the ache growing between my legs.
“Patience, precious. Patience.” His lips took mine, caressing against them lightly at first then crushing forcefully, as his tongue lapped hungrily inside my mouth. Cupping his hands on each side of my face, he controlled our movements, pulling sweet sighs from my throat that he swallowed with his deep kiss. My own hands pressed into the tree, the bark stinging against my skin in stark contrast to the sweet ecstasy of Hudson’s mouth on mine.
I was lost to everything but him and his all-consuming kiss.
“Excuse me. Excuse me.” I vaguely heard the woman speaking, barely registered her clearing her throat. “Excuse me!”
We broke apart as it finally clicked that someone was speaking to us.
“Excuse me, but the lawn is off limits except for in—” The woman’s voice broke off. “Oh, Mr. Pierce. I didn’t realize that…Alayna?”
Still half-dazed, I turned toward the voice. “Julia? What are you—” Julia had said that she had an event later in the day. “Is your company in charge tonight?”
“Yeah.”
The good feelings that had spread from head to toe during Hudson’s dominating kiss vanished with a whoosh. This was Julia’s event. Julia was standing right here. And if Julia was here, Paul had to be here as well.
With effort, I swallowed. “Ha, wow. What a coincidence.” Did I sound flakey? Nervous? Scared out of my mind?
I gestured toward Julia. “Hudson, this is Julia Swaggert. She’s the owner of Party Planners Plus. I met with her today.” And my ex-subject of stalking, Paul
Kresh, who better not be anywhere nearby or I’m going to shit a brick. “Julia, this is Hudson Pierce.”
The normally confident and assured Julia seemed flustered. “I’m…Mr. Pierce, it’s an honor to meet you. I’m really excited about the potential our companies have working together.” Her face was lit with delight, and I realized just how much this deal meant to her. Understood why Paul was so willing to risk having me around.
As he had done earlier with Aaron, Hudson deferred the attention to me. “You’re in good hands with Alayna. She takes care of all business with the club. I’m merely a name on the deed.” He touched my arm lightly. “If you’ll both pardon me, I see someone I need to speak with.”
There was no one anywhere near our hideout, and I recognized Hudson’s words as a line to leave me to my work. I’d never been more grateful. Not only for letting me own my business deals in full, but because with him gone, the chance of Paul coming up in conversation—or in real life—wasn’t as threatening.
Julia stared after Hudson as he walked away. I didn’t blame her. He was hot coming and going.
“So you and Hudson Pierce?” She waggled her eyebrows. “Is it simply a getting frisky in the moonlight thing or the whole enchilada?”
“It’s, well, both. We’re together, if that’s what the whole enchilada means.” But I didn’t want to talk about my boyfriend. I wanted to know about hers. “Speaking of ‘together,’ where’s Paul?”
She pursed her lips. “He’s about somewhere. He usually stays behind the scenes at these things.”
“Ah, of course.” He was there, though. Which meant I needed to not be. “Well, I think Hudson was about ready to call it a night—”
“Yeah, it certainly appeared as such. Lucky you.”
Her sigh made me wonder how long it had been since she and Paul got frisky. I didn’t wonder too hard. Thinking about Paul and his relationships was the last thing I wanted to do. A polar opposite to the way I’d been when I’d known him before.
“Well, I should get back as well,” she said, sounding reluctant.
But I’d already slipped through the space in the hedge. I spun around to give her a final wave. “Nice to see you at work! You’re good.”
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