The Fixed Trilogy: Forever With You(41)

My thoughts flashed again to the name I’d seen on his call log. “Though I bet Norma wouldn’t mind if I wasn’t around.”

“Norma again?” He grimaced. “What’s brought her up?”

“You’re going to laugh.” Or he was going to be pissed off. Taking a deep breath, I let it spill. “You fell asleep with your phone and I checked to see if you had gotten my text. Then…oh god, don’t hate me.”

“What did you do?” His tone was curious.

I lowered my gaze. “I checked your recent calls. I saw you talked to Norma.”

When I peeked up, I found he was smiling. “Let me guess—that bothers you?”

His amusement erased my hesitation. “You called her at eight-something at night. From your bed.”

This time, he laughed. “Come here.”

I didn’t move, infuriated by his response.

He composed himself and turned to face me, holding his hand out as he had before. “Alayna, come here.”

Sighing, I went to him. “I told you I was always going to ask about her.”

“Yes, you did.” Hudson wrapped his arms around my waist and settled his forehead against mine. “It was business. I needed to get some figures together for the meeting this morning, and the ones she’d sent me earlier in the day didn’t add up.”

“It was business,” I repeated, relaxing into him. “Always business. Always the excuse.” Asking him didn’t really make a difference. I knew what he’d say. But it would nag at me whether I voiced it or not. Speaking up gave me the chance to hear his story stay the same, one of the bonuses of communicating.

I pulled my head back to see his face and found his grin was back. “Why are you smiling at me?”

“Because I adore it when you’re jealous.” He circled my nose with his. “You know this.”

“Shut up. I hate it. I can’t believe you like seeing me crazy.”

“I like seeing that you care.”

I didn’t know if I should laugh or be concerned. Why would he need my reassurance? “I love you. You know that.” Hadn’t I proven that time and again?

“Yes, I know.” He tightened his grip around me. “Your jealousy shows me your words are true. It’s nice. Keep being jealous. Or crazy, if that’s what you want to call it.”

“You’re so weird.” I ducked away as he bent to kiss me. “You’re going to get shaving cream all over me.”

“I don’t care.” This time when he came toward me, I met his lips. He kissed me sweetly and tenderly, yet I could feel he was holding back, trying to not get carried away with his passion when he had a schedule to keep.

I wasn’t on a schedule though, and I liked kissing him. I put my hands around his neck and pulled him closer, deeper, moving my tongue in further to play with his.

He had to push me away. “I can’t have you this close anymore.” He swatted my behind as I walked back toward my spot at the edge of the tub.

“I’m sorry I snooped.” But I wasn’t all that sorry. Not anymore. It had earned me a fabulous make-out session that I didn’t regret in the least.

Hudson turned back to the mirror. “Don’t be sorry. You know I have no secrets.” He paused. “Well.” He kept his eyes down as he washed his razor. “You know I don’t care if you snoop.”

My stomach dropped, as if I was coming down the hill of a roller coaster. “What do you mean by that?” I moistened my suddenly dry mouth. “Do you have secrets you aren’t telling me about?”

Without looking up, he shook his head. “Of course not.” He turned to face me. “I simply meant that we can never know everything about each other. Can we?”

“But we can try.”

“Yes. We can try.”


We sat a few seconds in awkward silence with him leaning against the back of the counter and I on the edge of the tub. There was something more beneath his statement. Something dark and heavy. I was both drawn to it and turned off all at once. Maybe he was referring to the details of the things he’d done to people in his past. I’d heard some of his stories—none of them pretty. I never expected he’d share each and every past guilt. It would be cruel to want him to relive his pain. I certainly hadn’t told him every one of my past indiscretions.

But what if there was something else…something new, something present. Were there secrets that he kept from me that were relevant to us?

How could I ever know?

“Speaking of Norma—” He was the one to end the weirdness. “How did your interview with Gwenyth go?”

Talking business was the perfect escape from the worry that was edging into our pleasant morning. I jumped right in. “I offered her the job, and she accepted. She’s leaving Eighty-Eighth Floor without notice. They knew she was trying to leave, it seems, so she’s working today as her last shift there and will be at The Sky Launch tonight.”

I hadn’t realized how excited I was about having a partner until right then. Wow. I was going to be the manager of The Sky Launch. And I wouldn’t fail because I had a good team—Hudson, Gwen, and a slew of other great assistants. Why hadn’t I let this sink in before now?

“Congratulations!” Hudson caught my enthusiasm. “I’m glad you hit it off.”