The Fixed Trilogy: Fixed on You(65)

“For me.” I pulled to a standing position and rubbed my hands along his shoulders. “Wow, H. You’re tense.” He sighed as I massaged my fingers into the knots of his back. “What’s getting you stressed out?” I hoped it wasn’t our girlfriend/boyfriend show, though his tight muscles could have been attributed to the activities of the night before. The man had performed some moves that had to have required a great deal of strength.

“This situation with Plexis.” He paused and I knew he was deciding whether to say more or not. It wasn’t in his nature to share, but I’d thought I convinced him that he could talk business with me. I continued working his back as I waited, giving him a chance to continue.

My patience was rewarded. “The board is moving to sell. I need to come up with an attractive proposal to convince them it’s more profitable to keep the company.”

Even though he couldn’t see me, I nodded. I studied the screen over his head, enjoying the quiet moans that escaped from his throat as I massaged his tension away. “You’re redistributing production?” I asked. But I didn’t need his answer. I could see from what he’d entered that he was. “You’d make a whole lot more if you moved those North America lines to your Indonesia plant. You’re far from capacity there.”

“Oh, you’re one of those types who resort to taking jobs away from American people to cut costs.”


“Not usually,” I said, balling my hand into a fist to push into the rock under Hudson’s shoulder blade. “But you’re going to lose all your USA jobs if you don’t do something, right? Losing a few is better than losing them all.”

“Yes,” he admitted.

I smiled as he changed his data to implement my suggestion, giddy that I’d offered an idea that he’d accepted. Throwing a bit more back into my hands, I felt Hudson’s tight muscle close to releasing. “Take a deep breath.” He did and I pushed once more into his knot, feeling it loosen as I did.

“Thanks,” he said, slightly awed, rolling his shoulders.

I shook my hands out. “You’re welcome.”

Returning my focus to Hudson’s work I noticed the technical specifications sheet of a new product on the pile next to him. “Besides,” I said, reaching to grab the piece of paper, “if you start producing this energy efficient bulb in the American plant in its place, you’ll maintain those jobs and save money with that new tax law. Plus you’ll get a tax break for employing Americans.”

Hudson shook his head. “That law only benefits new companies.”

“No, it benefits any product that hasn’t been produced in the U.S. before, new company or not.”

“I don’t think that’s correct.”

I’d led an entire seminar on the new tax code my last semester at Stern. I knew what I was talking about. His opposition was a challenge. “Do you have a copy of the current tax code?”

“On my Kindle. Under there somewhere.” Hudson nodded his head at the stacks of reports sitting next to him.

I moved around the couch and started to dig through his piles in search of the device. “Wouldn’t you be more comfortable at a table?”

Without looking at me his lips curved slightly as he said, “I wanted to be near you.”

His answer surprised me. The other men in the room weren’t paying attention to us. He hadn’t said it for them. He’d meant it.

“I like being near you, too,” I said, when I recovered enough to speak. I didn’t look at him, hiding the blush from my admission while searching for the Kindle. After I found it, I quickly looked up the law I was referring to and handed the proof to Hudson.

“Well, well,” he said after he read it. “Looks like you’re onto something here.”

He started to hand the Kindle back to me, but paused, studying me.

I couldn’t interpret the meaning, but the intensity of his gaze made my chest tight and my thighs warm. “What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.” Passing the Kindle to me, he asked, “Would you mind sharing your thoughts on the rest of my proposal?”

My heart sped up, delighted at the invitation. From what I’d learned about Hudson, inviting his girlfriend—or woman he was sleeping with, anyway—to work on a business project with him was not his typical mode of operation. It was new territory for him, which made it exactly the territory I enjoyed charting most.

We spent the rest of the afternoon working together, Hudson bouncing ideas off of me as I researched further information when he needed it. While I’d always enjoyed the world of business, I hadn’t thought it could be so fun, hence the reason I’d chosen to manage a nightclub rather than to pursue an office job. But now an office job seemed rather appealing. Especially if that job included working side by side with Hudson Pierce. Though, with all the accidental brushes and searing looks we exchanged, I doubted we could manage working together for a prolonged period of time without losing most of our clothing.

But, really, that only made the job sound more appealing.

The savory aroma of a roast wafting from the kitchen wing caused my stomach to growl. I stretched. “Is it close to dinnertime?”

Behind me, Mira answered. “I was just coming to tell you dinner is served.”

“I didn’t realize you were home. When did you get back?”