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  The bubble rooms were, in my opinion, the highlight of The Sky Launch. The ten circular rooms ran the circumference of the second floor. Each room had its own entrance and was completely enclosed to ensure privacy. Or rather, a sense of privacy. It was an illusion since each of the rooms also had a window that overlooked the dance floor below and if you looked across, you could see everything that happened on the other side. Plenty of times, the things that went on in those rooms were rated R and, more often, rated X.

  The bubbles, however, had been neglected in promotion for as long as I’d been an employee of the club. I’d gotten my promotion partly on the promise to find ways to better use the unique feature. Promoting them for bachelorette parties—that plan was gold.

  David didn’t seem to have the vision I did. “We’ve had bachelorette parties in here before. Not many, but a few.”

  “And they always go well, don’t they?”

  “The customers are always pleased.” He twisted his lips as he considered.

  With his constant fidgeting and weird faces, I wondered briefly how I’d ever thought I was attracted to the man.

  The answer was that I hadn’t been. Not truly. David had been a nice option when I’d been too afraid to go after any men who really turned me on. I’d thought I could have a future with him. I’d figured that being with a man like David was the cure to my obsession—not actually caring for him kept me from the outrageous behavior of my past.

  And he’d been cute enough. We’d never gone all the way, but we’d come pretty close, and becoming aroused had never been a problem.

  All thoughts of David had disappeared when Hudson entered my life. I gave up the safe bet for the real thing, and, even with the ups and downs of loving Hudson, I didn’t regret it one bit.

  David regretted it, however. He wanted something more between us and had told me so just the day before. But he knew where my feelings lay. He knew whom my heart belonged to.

  Now he brought his pen up to his mouth and bit on the already chewed end. Pen between his teeth, he asked, “How do you expect to draw people to book the rooms for that?”

  “Marketing.” Obviously. That had been my emphasis area of my newly acquired MBA, and I was anxious to use it. It was what I had to offer the nightclub—my expertise. “We’ve never advertised those rooms to any specific market. They’re underutilized and wasted space compared to what they could be used for. And if we bundled the rooms in packages designed specifically for soon-to-be-married brides, I think we could really attract some attention.”

  “Yeah, I see some potential.” Finally. “What’s your strategy?”

  “I need some time to put it all together into a formal plan, but I’m thinking I could book some meetings with wedding planners. If I can offer a good deal, they’d tell their clients. Maybe we can give them referral bonuses or offer them a certain percentage of our booking fee as a kickback. But first we need to design some packages. Include some party trays and a certain dollar amount from the bar and we’ve got something to sell.”

  Behind me, my phone beeped with an incoming text. It had died on my way to the club right after I texted Hudson my plans for the afternoon. Luckily I had a spare charger I kept in the office by the file cabinets and I’d plugged it in as soon as I arrived. “So what do you think?” I asked as I crossed to my phone.

  “I think you’re onto something. Let’s do it.”

  I grinned triumphantly before glancing down at my message.

  “I’ve arranged the cook. Will you still be home for dinner?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I responded, his use of the word home making me as giddy as it had that morning.

  “Pierce?”

  David’s question broke through my euphoria. “Yeah, it’s Hudson.”

  “Something good?”

  I hadn’t realized I’d been smiling until then. “Everything good.”

  Leaving the phone to continue charging, I returned to the chair I’d been sitting in. “I’m meeting him for dinner. Don’t worry, I’ll be back by the time my shift starts.”

  “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about changing your schedule.” David stood and came around the front of the desk, leaning on the corner. “I promoted you so that you could do this kind of stuff. We have enough managerial coverage. If we need someone else—which I’m sure we will if your plans work out like I know they will—Sasha’s ready to be a manager. Your gift, what you bring to The Sky Launch, is your business ideas. I need you to go work magic. That’s not my department.”

  “So,” I furrowed my brow, “what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying make your own schedule. I need you on the clock forty hours a week—not a problem for you, you work addict—but you can put it in whenever you need it. Set up those meetings with the wedding planners. And I’d like to go forward with your idea of expanding hours and our services. That’s going to take a lot of daytime planning as well. You’ll need to meet with cooks and additional staff. It’s going to be a lot of work.”

  It felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head. “Seriously? I mean, seriously do all that amazing stuff and make my own hours?” This was my dream job coming to fruition. All the hours of fighting with my brother Brian about wasting my education and the job opportunities I’d turned down with Fortune 500 companies—this made every doubt and heartache worth it.

  “Yes, seriously. I wouldn’t joke about this shit. Start with taking tonight off.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t run the upstairs bar with one person.”

  “Liesl’s coming in. It’s already covered.”

  Of course Liesl would agree to work a shift for me. She was pretty much my one and only friend in the city. Half space cadet, half genius, she was everything I wasn’t—free and laid-back and flirtatious without having to worry about becoming attached. Even though we were complete opposites, she understood me like no one else and was much more generous to me than I often deserved. “She worked for me the whole time I was in the Hamptons. I can’t make her do that.”

  “She volunteered. We hired that new waitress, and Liesl’s determined she be trained right—her words, not mine. And if you’re going to set up some meetings for tomorrow, you’ll need to adjust to being awake during the day. Right now you’re sort of a vampire.” He moved his eyes down my legs. “A tan vampire, but a vamp nonetheless.”

  I laughed, hiding my unease at the obvious lust in his stare. I stood to put us on the same level. Otherwise it felt like he was looking down at nothing but tits. “Thank you, David. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m…” There weren’t words for how grateful I was for this opportunity. “Just thank you.”

  “You deserve it.” He straightened from his leaning position and threw his arms out to his sides. “Hug it out?”

  “That got me in trouble last time.” Hudson had walked in on that and been pretty pissed. He wasn’t a man who shared. I’d managed to talk him down, convinced him my hug with David had been innocent, which it had been, as far as I was concerned. Still, Hudson suspected there was something more between me and David. And, like a chicken-shit, I hadn’t been able to bring myself to admit he was right. David and I did have a history. But compared to what I felt for Hudson, it seemed like an insignificant detail.

  I stuck my hand out toward David. “Settle for a handshake?”

  He nodded as he took my hand. He held it much longer than he should have, his thumb caressing along my skin, sending unwanted goose bumps down my arms.

  I pulled away, hoping he hadn’t noticed. Though I felt nothing for David, my body still reacted to his. He was plain but attractive—his eyes a dull blue, his hair dark blond and curly. He worked out but had a stocky frame. He’d never been my type, and my reaction was likely only out of habit. But it was enough to make me feel a weight of sudden guilt—I shouldn’t hide my past with David fro
m Hudson. I’d been quick to accuse him of keeping secrets in our relationship, and here I was doing exactly that. It was wrong, and I knew it.

  I also knew I wouldn’t tell him. I doubted he’d let me continue working with David if he knew we’d had a past, and if he found out on his own, my silence might help in my defense. I’d explain to Hudson that I didn’t say anything because there was nothing to say. He’d understand.

  Maybe if I kept telling myself that, I’d eventually believe it.

  Chapter Four

  Hudson was already home, jacket discarded, when I got back to the penthouse that evening. He met me as I stepped out of the elevator, greeting me with a lush kiss that swept me off my feet.

  “Well, hello to you, too.”

  “You’re late,” he said against my lips.

  “And?”

  “I worried.” His mouth swept across my cheek and down toward my earlobe.

  My eyes widened both in surprise and at the yummy thing he was doing to that sensitive spot below my ear. “That something had happened to me?”

  “That you weren’t coming.”

  I pushed him back to meet his eyes. “Why Hudson Alexander Pierce, did you worry I’d stand you up?” It was silly to even think about. “Don’t you realize I’m the kinda girl that sticks?”

  He leaned back in to rub his nose against mine. “If you acted as smart as you are, you would have stood me up weeks ago.”

  “Good thing I don’t act smart.”

  “Good thing for me, yes.” He released me and took my purse off my shoulder, which he stowed in the coat closet. Then, weaving his fingers through mine, he tugged me after him through the foyer toward the living room.

  “Guess what.” I admired his back as I followed him, his taut muscles visible through his dress shirt.

  “You don’t have to work tonight.”

  I stopped short, my hand slipping from his grasp. “How do you always know everything?”

  “I don’t.” He turned back to face me, a smile toying on his perfect lips. “But where you’re concerned I make an effort. David called me this afternoon and asked if I approved of you making your own hours.”

  “And you said, ‘Yes, because then I can conform my schedule to Alayna’s so we can fuck as much as possible.’” I laughed at my horrible imitation of Hudson’s voice.

  “I said I thought it was a good idea.” Instantly, I was back in his arms. “But I was thinking what you said.” His mouth circled above mine, teasing.

  “I love you.”

  He moved tighter into me. “I hope that my ability to change your working hours is not the sole basis of your fondness for me.”

  “It is not. Trust me.” This time I kissed him, licking along his upper lip.

  When he pulled away, his eyes were clouded with desire. “Dinner’s ready, precious.”

  He led me to the dining room where the table was set with a bouquet of white orchids, two lit candlesticks, an opened bottle of wine, and two place settings at one end.

  He waved his hands toward the candles. “These would have a more dramatic effect if it weren’t so light in here.”

  “Yes, it’s terrible that your penthouse has floor-to-ceiling windows that let in so much sun,” I teased. “Honestly, it’s lovely.” Our eyes locked for a moment, caught up in each other.

  Jesus, if we kept looking at each other like that, food would have to wait. I was already feeling moist in my panties.

  Noticing the aroma of fresh herbs, I broke our gaze and looked toward the quiet kitchen. “Where’s the cook? Did she abandon you?”

  “She did not. She cooked and then she left. Our plates are waiting under the warmer.” He pulled a chair out, gesturing for me to sit. “I presume I can manage the service without her.”

  I kept my eye on him as I sat. “Honey, you don’t need anyone’s help with service.”

  “Hey now.” He tapped my nose with his finger as he delivered his reprimand. “Food first. I need my energy to keep up with you. But if we get through dinner, perhaps there will be dessert.”

  “A naughty dessert, I hope.”

  “No hoping necessary.”

  Hudson poured white wine into my glass before filling his own. Then he disappeared into the kitchen returning a few minutes later with two plates of food. He set a plate in front of each of us and then sat down. Together we dined catty-corner from each other, tangling our legs under the table. We chatted about our day and when I told him about my bachelorette party ideas for the club, he was both supportive and impressed.

  “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.”

  I’d only seen that possessiveness of his a couple of times before. It was frightening and thrilling, sending bolts of hormones to my lower regions and raising my arousal levels to full alert.

  It was also unnecessary. “Don’t get all panicked. It was fine.”

  “I don’t want you two to spend time together. Remember, in my script you aren’t friends.” He stabbed at the air with his fork, enunciating his point.

  I clucked my tongue. “Come on, that’s not fair. I only want to feel close to you and she’s your best friend.”

  He shook his head once. “She’s my only friend. It’s different.”

  I stroked my foot up his calf, hoping to lighten his mood on the subject. “She didn’t give away any deep dark Hudson secrets.”

  “Says you.”

  “She only said she was happy that you’d found me.” I paused to let that sink in. “She thinks you deserve someone.”

  Instead of softening, his expression hardened. “That’s a deep dark Hudson secret right there.” He leaned closer to me, speaking low. “So deep and dark, it’s a lie. I don’t deserve you and I never will.”

  “Shut up.” I rolled my eyes then placed my hand over his. “You deserve much better than me. You’re out of my league and everyone knows it.”

  “Alayna—” His tone was a warning.

  I narrowed my eyes. “How about instead of arguing over who deserves whom, we agree that we fit pretty damn well together and leave it at that.”

  “I don’t want you spending time with Celia.”

  Damn, he was serious. So much for getting insider knowledge over coffee. On the other hand, who was he to tell me that I couldn’t spend time with someone?

  But we were trying to make a relationship work. If it was important to him then…“All right, I won’t spend time with her. And I don’t want you spending time with her either.”

  “I can live with that compromise.”