The Fixed Trilogy: Found in You(35)

I started to look away but not in time. Our eyes met across the sidewalk. “Hudson, I’ll let you talk with your peeps. I’m going to look for the girl’s room.”

He pulled me closer. “Maybe I’ll have to come find you there when I’m done here,” he whispered before kissing me on the forehead.

I felt the blush spread down my neck, even though his words were rather innocent compared to how he usually talked. But I was so aroused already that anything he did or said was a trigger. It was also inconvenient. I didn’t want to be flustered and horny when I spoke to Paul. He’d surely assume it was for him.

I took deep breaths as I walked toward Paul, calming myself. He waited until I was only a couple of feet away before he spoke. “Should I be worried that you’re stalking me? Again?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t bother explaining.” He nodded toward the man I’d left. “That was Hudson Pierce, wasn’t it? If you’re with him, I get why you’re here.”

I tried not to let it bother me that he knew so much personal info about me. Julia would have told him eventually anyway. “Yes, that’s Hudson. We’re seeing each other.”

“Huh.”

I watched the gears spin behind his eyes. I didn’t spend months memorizing every detail about him to not realize what he was thinking. “Hey, there’s nothing to gain from this information, Paul. He knows about you and my past, knows about the restraining order, and if you have any intention—”

“What the f*ck intention would I have? You’re acting like I’d blackmail you or something. Which is pretty ballsy coming from someone who handcuffed herself to my desk naked.”

“I’d say it’s a damn fair assumption since you pretty much blackmailed me just this afternoon.”

“That…wasn’t blackmail. Exactly.” He rubbed at his nose, like Pinocchio disguising his lie. “It was heavy-handed persuasion.”

“Whatever it was, it was pressure, and I didn’t like it.”

“Look, Laynie—”

“I know, I know.” I didn’t need him to try to persuade or pressure or whatever the hell he wanted to call it. I got it already. “You want this deal for Julia, and because I really want to work with her, I’m agreeing to it. But I don’t want any interaction with you. Zip. Nada. I don’t want to bump into you at events or have you showing up at my club or calling me—none of it. I want the restraining order restrictions to be adhered to. This can’t come back to bite me in the ass, okay?”

“Fine. Whatever.” But the victory gleamed in his eyes. “It won’t come back to bite you. It’s only me and you this affects.”

“Tell that to Hudson. He would not like it if he found out that I signed a deal that even remotely involved you.” And suddenly I realized that if I didn’t want Hudson to find out about Paul, I couldn’t tell him about meeting with Celia either. It would open the door for him to find out the things she and I had talked about. Like Paul. And there was no way Hudson would take that lying down.

“Why would he care? As long as we keep it professional and at a distance like you said, this doesn’t have anything to do with him.”

“Because, while you and I both know that most everything that happened between us was my fault—”

“Most everything? Try everything.”

I gave him a stern look. “You did cheat on your fiancé.”

Paul shrugged.

What an ass. “Anyway, Hudson doesn’t see you as innocent. And it’s not because I said anything to point you out, it’s simply because…” I couldn’t finish the statement. I didn’t have the answer. “I don’t know why. He sees the good in me for some reason.” Good that I was beginning to doubt existed.

Paul chortled. “I didn’t know from his reputation that he was a psycho.”

I stepped forward, closing in on his personal space. “You know what? You need to shut the f*ck up. He is not a psycho. I am not a psycho. You, however, are an *. I can still back out of this shit. Go ahead and throw whatever you want to throw at me, I have Hudson Pierce on my side.”

“And wouldn’t he love it if the whole world knew about his girlfriend’s criminal past? He’d be a laughing stock. Especially when I tell everyone how you sought out Party Planners Plus so you could work with me again.”

My heart felt like I’d been dropped three stories. “But that’s not true.”

He shrugged again, that carefree shrug of someone holding all the cards. “People don’t care if it’s true. They love gossip, particularly when it’s about the elite.”

My mouth tasted sour. “I thought this wasn’t blackmail.”

“Not yet, it isn’t.” He leveled his gaze at me. “Does it need to be?”

A chill ran down my spine. I was trapped, as I’d known I was earlier, and I knew it even more definitively now. “Fine, Paul. I’ll do the deal but on the terms I listed.” Over his shoulder I saw Hudson striding our way. “I’m walking away now. Smile and head the other direction.”

I didn’t know if he did what I said because I left him, striding to meet Hudson before he came any nearer. “Hey.” I felt breathy and lightheaded and not in a good way.