“Thanks for the ride, Mr. Rhodes.”

  Her dimple pops, and before I can chastise her about something, anything, she hops out of my car and hurries toward her apartment building, chatting with her doorman for a second before disappearing into the lobby.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Scarlett

  “Any holiday plans?”

  I’m at my desk on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, working through emails when the question comes out of nowhere. First, I look around at the inanimate objects surrounding me, like maybe the West Elm lamp I brought in to spruce up the place has been a sentient being this whole time and I didn’t realize it.

  Across the room, Kendra looks at me expectantly. She’s willingly asked me a question.

  “Oh, just seeing family. You?”

  I try to sound casual about it, like a dad testing the waters with his hormonal teenage daughters. You don’t want to spook them into remembering they hate you.

  “Same, yeah. My brother’s visiting.” She’s looking at her computer again, scrolling with her mouse.

  I nod like, Cool, cool.

  Inside, I’m elated.

  Since Halloween, Kendra has been neutral toward me, but there have been no conversations outside of work-required questions. Did you send so-and-so form back to Sophie? Have you heard back about any delays with XYZ contract? Maybe Kendra’s just getting in the holiday spirit and she’s happy she gets to see her brother soon. Maybe she got laid last night.

  I have mixed feelings about the holiday weekend. On one hand, Wyatt is flying in from London and Conrad and his fiancée Hannah are coming in from California. They’re supposed to get in this afternoon and we’re all meeting for a late dinner at our family’s favorite Italian restaurant downtown. Then we’ll see a late-night screening of whatever superhero movie is currently in theaters—our Thanksgiving Eve tradition. Outside of stuffing our faces tomorrow, my mom has an entire weekend of wedding planning scheduled for Conrad and Hannah. It’ll be one of the few times they’re in Chicago before their March wedding, so my mom is in full-on strategy mode. I’m tagging along too, mostly to act as an impartial judge during crucial decisions (i.e. cake tasting). It’s a thankless job, but someone has to do it.

  Cooking for the holiday will be a team effort. My dad and mom usually tag-team the turkey. Wyatt and I will be on cocktail duty. Nyles and Barrett will handle the sides, and Hannah and Conrad are on appetizers. Our group text has been insane this week with people sending and vetoing recipe options. Who knew there were so many ways to cook green beans?!

  All in all, it’ll be a fun weekend with my family, but it’ll also be the longest I’ve gone without being in the office since I started at Elwood Hoyt. I don’t know why I care. I guess I’m just really going to miss my office plant and adequate-at-best desk chair. And what am I going to do without the free Costco brand K-Cup pods from the break room?

  Never mind that I won’t see Hudson again until Monday.

  That’s beside the point.

  Irrelevant.

  Still, I can’t resist going to check in on him in the afternoon. I know he’s busy with the Zion Oil and SolarCo merger. A few hours ago, his office was filled with people. Now, though, he’s solo.

  I’ve gotten so used to seeing him dressed for the gym that it’s jarring to take in his navy suit and tie. Behind his desk, he’s Mr. Big Shot in all his glory.

  “I can come back later if you’re busy.”

  His dark eyes track my every step into his office. “Later isn’t any better.”

  “Then I’ll just leave this and go.”

  I set a coffee on the edge of his desk and am about to step back when he asks, “Why are you still at the office?”

  People have been trickling out since noon to take advantage of the holiday. It’s close to 4:00 p.m. now, and the place is all but deserted. I told my mom I was going to try to leave an hour ago.

  I can’t meet his eyes for some reason. I look down at my nude heels. “Oh, just ticking off a few last-minute things.” Lingering is more like it… “Are you going to try to leave early?”

  He checks his watch. “No later than 6:00. I have to make it over to Red’s Bakery to grab pies for tomorrow.”

  I look up, watching intently as he rubs his jaw. My stomach tightens as if it’s my hand doing the touching. I wonder what it would feel like. That scratchy stubble… “I take it the closing went well?”

  “Without a hitch.”

  My smile is genuine when I congratulate him. “I’m surprised you aren’t celebrating.”

  “I will be—with pie.”

  I laugh. “Right.”

  I rock back on my heels.

  “Don’t get soft on me over the weekend.”

  Considering there’ll be no training for us because of the holiday…

  “Oh please. You’re the one I need to be worried about getting soft.”

  “True. I guess you could get in a session with Jasper.”

  Jasper. I almost choke.

  “Eh…no.” I concentrate on the windows behind him. “No Jasper.”

  “Not a boxing guy?”

  “Not-my-boyfriend guy.”

  When Hudson doesn’t reply, I’m forced to look at him again. I want to know why he’s gone silent. He’s frowning like this news upsets him for some reason. Maybe he’s just confused. I feel compelled to add, “Anymore. And don’t you dare say something crass like Lucky him or I’ll steal back that coffee.”

  He leans forward and yanks the mug off the desk like he’s scared I’ll make good on that promise.

  “You broken up about it?”

  I’m surprised he’s even asking. It’s not like he and I usually have heart-to-hearts. This would be the first.

  “The breakup? No. His parting words…eh.” I shrug a shoulder and try to laugh it off. “Let’s just say he gave me a lot to think about.” I say the last part with emphasis so he’ll catch my meaning.

  Hudson does his signature scowl. “I don’t want to hear it. It’ll piss me off. No, never mind—tell me.”

  I chew on my lip, almost tempted to confide in him, which is wild considering I haven’t told anyone about Jasper’s comment. When I texted my law school friends to tell them the news of the breakup, they were bummed for me until I assured them it was truly for the best. My parents were strangely relieved, my dad especially. I thought they liked Jasper, but when I brought it up to her, my mom said she liked him because I liked him. The same couldn’t be said about my dad.

  “Nah. Never liked him.”

  To which I laughed. “Dad!”

  He shrugged. “Eventually, if you two became serious, I would have told you my true feelings. But until then, I felt like it was best to just let it run its course.”

  Nyles has been the only one to try to dig for more intel. He doesn’t buy that Jasper and I just outgrew each other. He thinks there’s something more to it. I’ll have to watch the wine at Thanksgiving tomorrow or I’ll be spilling all the details, the good, the bad, and the ones I haven’t even had the courage to admit to myself yet.

  “It’s nothing,” I tell Hudson. “People say dumb stuff during breakups. That’s all.”

  He doesn’t say anything; he doesn’t have to. His silence is the best interrogation tool there is, like he knows if he sits there stoically for long enough, eventually I’ll crack like a pistachio, start to sob, and tell him all my deep, dark secrets.

  It strikes me, suddenly, how strange it is that I’m here in his office just chatting with him. There was no reason for me to come see him. I didn’t even think to come up with an excuse, and he didn’t ask for one. I don’t know how or exactly when it happened in the nearly two months I’ve been working at Elwood Hoyt, but somehow out of all my options, all 700+ employees, I’ve befriended Hudson Rhodes.

  “Scarlett—”

  “I—”

  We speak over each other, and I’m the one to forge ahead. I point back toward his open office door. “I should get going. My mom’s probably wondering where I am. Have a good holiday, okay?”

  The Monday after Thanksgiving, we have a department-wide meeting. Everyone is crammed into the conference room where we got our team assignments on my first day on the job. Sophie warned us what to expect, i.e. a lot of extraneous fluff better sent in an email.

  I don’t mind the fact that it’s a waste of my time. Hudson will be here.

  When I arrived, I took up a spot in the back, and I have the perfect vantage point; I don’t even have to be sly about it as I watch him stroll in. There’s a tightening in my stomach the moment he walks through the door, an infusion of adrenaline like I’ve been hooked up to an IV. Today, he’s decided to torture us all in a dark gray suit with a pale blue-gray tie. He had a haircut over the weekend, just a trim, but that jawline seems especially fierce today. He props himself against the wall near the door like he’s hoping to make a quick exit later. He crosses his arm over his chest, using it to prop up his elbow. He rubs his bottom lip, deep in thought for a few moments, and then he starts to scan the room, ever-so-slowly looking over his shoulder.

  It takes him so long to reach me, and when he does, our gazes lock. His brown eyes soften. The harsh lines in his forehead ease. Hi, the look says.

  A thousand butterflies fill my chest.

  Hi.

  It feels like he looks longer than he should, like we’re just indulgently staring at each other while the world keeps spinning. I shift and peer down at my watch, wondering if he’s still looking.

  I want him to be.

  The dangerous thought strikes me like a lightning bolt—a revelation I don’t want.

  I’m glad for the distraction as the meeting picks up. They throw a lot of information at us, more than I was expecting. There’s applause and acknowledgment of the merger Hudson wrapped up the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It’s so obvious how uncomfortable he is in the spotlight. He adjusts his collar and nods, not even looking around the room.

  Afterward, when they release us, I don’t feel like shoving through bodies, so I give people a chance to leave so I’ll have a clear path to the door. Hudson hasn’t moved from his spot. He’s scrolling on his phone. I pass him, and he seamlessly falls in step beside me.

  His shoulder bumps mine unintentionally in the shuffle. When my hand grazes his, I yank it away and wrap my arms protectively around my waist.

  Everyone around us is rehashing their holiday weekend, but we don’t say anything as we walk side by side toward my office. At the door, I branch off and walk in. My body is humming, and when Kendra comes in behind me, I almost can’t look at her for fear she’ll know everything. But what is there to know that’s not locked inside a vault in my chest? So Hudson looked at me during a staff meeting? So he walked me back to my office? That’s hardly enough to hold up in court. Both things could totally be written off, especially the last one. My office is on the way to his office. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was reading too much into all of it.

  Nyles kept pestering me about my love life over the weekend, like I expected he would.

  “So you’re telling me there’s no one else?”

  “I’m completely single,” I told him. “I’m not even on any apps right now.”

  But the truth felt like a lie. I couldn’t even look him in the eye as I said it. It’s how I feel right now with Kendra in my office, like I’m harboring a big bad secret.

  Fortunately, with how much time everyone took off over the last few days, the office is buzzing. A new email with a new task pings my inbox every five minutes. I restructure my to-do list a dozen times, trying to keep ahead of the things Sophie will want returned to her the fastest.

  Kendra asks me if I want another cup of coffee, pointing to the forgotten mug on my desk. I’ve been so busy I forgot to drink the second half of the cup I poured for myself first thing when I arrived.

  “That’d be great, thanks.”

  I finally take a break at lunch so I can head down to the food court, but I take my sandwich right back up to my desk and eat while I work.

  It feels like I blink and it’s 7:30 p.m. Kendra packs up her stuff and nods at me on her way out. I shut down my computer—heart racing—as I take my workout bag and head down to the gym. I never know if I’ll arrive before or after Hudson. I never know anything about our encounters except that it feels like the rug could be pulled out from underneath me at any moment. For now, he finds me entertaining enough to toy with like a mouse, but for how long?

  Each night is the night he might not show up, and each night he walks through the gym doors and comes to find me, it feels better than the last, like all the hope that’s been building to a breaking point inside me all day hasn’t been in vain.

  I’m flat on my back, resting after a set of crunches when I see his shoes in my periphery. I turn and tilt my head. He has his hands on his hips. Today, TODAY, is a backward hat day.

  “Are you going to lie there the rest of the night or are we getting in the ring?”

  I hold up my hand, and he steps forward to take it. I feel his grip down in my toes. His hand is powerful and tight. He hoists me up so easily and then I’m on my feet in front of him, head tipped back. Our hands are still linked for one…two seconds… He lets go, and I smile before shoving him playfully on the shoulder.

  “Let’s go.”

  Maybe I didn’t sleep well last night or maybe I didn’t have enough caffeine today, but my concentration in the ring is shot. Hudson and I are working through drills, but it feels like I’m getting my ass handed to me more than usual.

  Hudson notices too. “Where are you tonight, Elwood?”

  I shake my head and try to focus. I throw a punch, and he easily deflects it. Another weak throw and he has me twisted around then down on my hands and knees.

  I groan and stand up again, angry at myself for not being more focused, angry for letting this thing with Hudson burrow into my every waking thought…suddenly just plain angry. I growl and swing back around. Hudson isn’t expecting it, but he still dips out of the way of my arm. My momentum’s too much and I end up taking myself out. I land on the mat, flat on my back—a complete and utter fool.

  I stare up at the ceiling. My heart might beat out of my chest. My breaths come hard and fast. My blood pulses through me. Everything feels raw, like in hitting the mat, I accidentally dislodged the tight tether I’ve kept on my emotions.

  I’m not even aware that the truth is on the tip of my tongue demanding air, but suddenly my lips are parting like I have to say it. I have to get it off my chest. And if there’s anyone I want to tell, anyone who might make this feeling go away, it’s Hudson.

  “Jasper told me I was boring in bed.”

  Hudson was already approaching me to check if I was okay. Now he crouches down at my side. “He what?”

  I’m still catching my breath so my sharp inhales cut off my words. “He said…I’m boring in bed. The day we broke up.”

  Saying it out loud sounds so hilariously depressing, but the fact is, as a woman in the corporate world who’s already been labeled things like studious, severe, intense, and Type A her whole life, I feel like my feminine prowess has always been in question. I didn’t even quite realize what an insecurity it was for me until Jasper laid it out there and made it crystal clear. I’m a buttoned-up lawyer with nothing to offer.

  Asinine or not, I’ve let Jasper’s words replay in my head a thousand times a day, and I feel vulnerable now that the statement hangs out in the open again, between Hudson and me.

  I hate this feeling, like suddenly I want to shake off my own skin. I have to do something, so I laugh, hoping to downplay it or, better yet, act like I never said anything at all.

  Hudson says my name, trying to get my attention, but I can’t look at him. He reaches out and nudges my side with his fist. Still, I don’t turn my head.

  “Scarlett.”

  I squeeze my eyes closed.

  “Forget it,” I say lightly. “God, it’s stupid.”

  He leans in, lowering himself close to me. For an eternity, he just stays there, not saying a word. When he talks, his voice skates across my skin like a tempting caress, sending goose bumps down my spine. “Scarlett Elwood, you could fucking lie there frozen and you’d still be the sweetest thing I’ve ever felt. If he was bored, it’s because of his own damn issues.”

  His words are so gentle and heartfelt I can barely receive them. I just nod before rolling away and pushing up onto my knees.

  We walk to the locker rooms, we shower and change, and we walk out of the building together, but we don’t ever address the conversation we had on the mat.

  He’s gifting me the out, and I take it.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Hudson

  “I went home and I slept on it. I think we should kill him.”

  At the sound of my voice, Scarlett abruptly stops typing and looks up at me with wide eyes.

  It’s early morning. Scarlett’s the first associate in the office, and she looks like she’s been here a while. Her coffee cup is bone-dry and there are already a few items crossed off the neat to-do list she keeps by her mouse pad. Every day she outlines tasks with precise strokes. I find that random fact sexy as hell.

  “What?”

  Her confusion makes it clear that she heard me but doesn’t trust her ears.

  “If not that, we sign him up for annoying spam emails. I looked into a few different options. My personal favorite is one with singing and dancing cats. We can have them sent to him daily, or even twice a day if you think it’s necessary.”

  Realization dawns about who I’m referring to, and a second after, her face flushes with color and she drops her head into her hands. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about it!” she groans.

  I drape my shoulder casually against the doorframe and lean against it as I take my first sip of my coffee. “Frankly, it’s all I can think about.”