The Invitation

Hudson’s eyes seared into me. “Oh, he was asking you out. Make no mistake about that.”

“But I—”

He interrupted me. “You were perfectly polite and professional. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

I shook my head. “So why does it feel like you think I did?”

Hudson stared down at his feet for what was probably only a few seconds, yet felt like an hour. Eventually, his eyes met mine. “I’m just a jealous asshole. I don’t mean to take it out on you. I apologize.”

Oh...wow. I didn’t think he’d be so honest. I smiled sadly. “Thank you. For what it’s worth, if the roles were reversed and the photographer was a beautiful, female ex-model who asked to show you around, I’d be jealous, too.”

Hudson looked into my eyes. “You know, we don’t get jealous of things we don’t want.”

“Want has never been an issue for me. It’s just…so much could go wrong.”

“Or so much could go right.” Hudson forced a smile and nodded. “But I get it.” He glanced around the room. “I don’t see the boxes in here. Let me check the bedroom. Do you have a list of what we should have received?”

“Yeah…” I sighed. “I can pull it up on my phone.”

I sat down on the couch and dug my phone out of my purse. As I started to scroll, I noticed something sticking out of the corner of the couch, tucked between the cushions. It looked like a book. Without giving it any thought, I pulled it out and laid it on the end table so it wouldn’t get lost. But when I caught the title on the front, I did a double take.

The Thorn Birds.

Hudson and I had talked about this book the other day. He’d said he hadn’t read it.

I picked the book back up and began to thumb through the pages. About three-quarters through, one of Hudson’s business cards was tucked inside like a bookmark.

“They delivered two box—” Hudson froze. His eyes rose to meet mine, but he said nothing.

“You’re reading this?”

He set the boxes on the coffee table in front of me. “You mentioned you liked it the other day. I usually read a lot while I travel.”

My heart swelled inside my chest, leaving me a little breathless. I shook my head. “You knew I thought Marco reading Amalia’s favorites was romantic.”

Hudson was quiet for a moment before tapping on the boxes. “How many were left to be delivered?”

“Umm…” I hadn’t finished looking to find out. I swiped to my email and searched for the one Olivia had sent with the shipping confirmations. “I think those are the last two. All of the props are being delivered tomorrow morning from a local company.”

He nodded. “I’ll carry these down to your room for you.”

I shook my head. “That’s okay. It’s just a few outfits. I can take them.”

Hudson pushed his hands into his pockets and kept his eyes down. The shy demeanor was very un-Hudson-like.

So many emotions swam through my head, and I stood, not knowing what to say, though the conversation about the book felt unfinished. Eventually it became awkward, so I took the boxes and figured it was time to go.

“Thank you again for dinner. I’ll see you in the morning?”

“I’ll be down at your room by the time they get started.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

He opened the door and our gazes caught once more. Why did it feel like my heart was breaking? “Goodnight, Hudson.”

I made it down to my room but couldn’t bring myself to go inside. I had two boxes in my hands, yet I just stared at my door.

What the hell am I doing?

For the last few weeks, I’d been reading a diary and rooting for a man to get the girl because of all his sweet gestures. Yet in my personal life, I had a man who listened to me, a man who’d forgiven me for crashing his sister’s wedding, and for giving him a black eye. I’d called him an asshole on more than one occasion, yet he’d done nothing but help me get my business off the ground and stand by my side the entire time. He was also an adoring father, which says a lot about a man. Not to mention, I was ridiculously attracted to him.

So why the hell don’t I take a chance?

I’d told myself it wasn’t a good idea to mix business with pleasure because of the way things had turned out with Aiden. But my business had already exceeded all my expectations, and we hadn’t even made the website live yet for the general public. So it wasn’t that. I thought back to my conversation with Hudson a few minutes ago.

“So much could go wrong,” I’d said.

But maybe what he’d said was more important.

“So much could go right.”

The truth was, I was afraid to take a chance. But I realized now that by not taking a chance, I might miss out on something really beautiful.