Found in You(24)

“Do you want me to get you in touch with my company event planners? Not that they’d be helpful in the pre-wedding party arena.”

“Nah, I got some things set up already.”

He took a swallow of his wine, and I guessed it was difficult for him to let me keep the reins on my project. But when he set down his glass, he seemed resigned. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

The meal was delicious—chicken breast stuffed with sundried tomatoes and artichokes. Sautéed zucchini and jasmine rice accompanied the chicken. I’d stayed at work all afternoon, arranging meetings for the week, and had skipped lunch. It wasn’t until I was eating that I realized how hungry I’d been.

“This is so good, Hudson,” I said when my plate was half-clean. “Wherever did you find this cook?”

“She used to be sous-chef at one of my restaurants. Things didn’t work out with her and another staff member, so she works privately for me now.”

I thought for a moment about what I knew from Hudson’s portfolio of businesses. “Fierce?”

“That’s the one.”

Fierce was one of the hottest restaurants in the city. The head chef had a reputation for being a complete hard-ass. I didn’t have to ask if that was the reason she’d left.

My work-oriented mindset of earlier lingered into the conversation. “Would she consider working at The Sky Launch?”

“Then who would cook for us?”

I ignored the rush I had from the way Hudson referred to us as an “us,” and pressed on. “For private events then. It doesn’t have to be a full-time gig.”

“I like the way your business brain works, Alayna. But why don’t we put the job away for the night? I’d like to spend time with the other sexy parts of my girlfriend.”

That shut me up. It was the first time he’d called me that—girlfriend—and holy wow, what it did to me. My chest warmed with what felt like a radioactive level of heat, spreading down my limbs and up into my cheeks. Girlfriend. I was Hudson Pierce’s girlfriend.

Pretending he didn’t know what his statement had done to me—he knew, he so knew—he continued with the common conversation that boyfriends and girlfriends exchanged after a day apart. “Other than work, how was your afternoon? I noticed the books came. Did the delivery go okay?”

I nodded as I swallowed my food, following it with a sip of wine before answering. “They did, and yes, it went fine. Celia accompanied the delivery.”

Though his face stayed even, he stopped chewing for half a second. “Oh?”

I had guessed that Hudson wouldn’t be that happy about Celia stopping by. Ever since she’d spilled the beans about his manipulative past, he seemed to fear what she’d say to me. No matter what I said, he didn’t understand that nothing she could say to me about him would ever change how I felt for him. Perhaps I shouldn’t have told him about her visit, but that didn’t feel right. I was already keeping my history with David on the down low. I didn’t want another secret.

The only thing to do was convince him Celia and I could be trusted together. “She surprised me. I guess I was in the shower when she buzzed up so she let herself in.”

His brows furrowed. “I need to take away her key.”

“Yes, you do.” I didn’t like worrying that she could stop by any time she wanted. “But it wasn’t bad. In fact, we had a nice chat.”

Hudson’s entire upper body tensed. “I don’t like that. At all.”