Fixed on You (8 page)

The lengthy ride gave me one more
chance for a silent pep talk.
Three years sober, Laynie. You cannot fixate
on him. You cannot obsess.

But as I checked in with the
pretty blonde receptionist, I felt an aching stab of envy because she got to
work close to Hudson on a daily basis. God, I was already in trouble. He didn’t
make it into the
Oh, fuck
category of attractive men for nothing.

“Miss Withers,” the blonde said
after notifying her boss I’d arrived. “He’s ready for you.”

I checked my watch—four-twenty-two.
How long had Hudson been waiting? Did I get the time wrong?

The thick double doors behind the
receptionist’s desk opened, seemingly by themselves. She must have pushed a
button somewhere. “Right through there,” she said.

I stepped tentatively into the
office. Hudson, who sat behind an expansive modern executive desk, stood when
he saw me. “Alayna. Come in.”

When I caught a full view of him,
I froze. In his well-lit office, I truly saw Hudson Pierce for the first time.
And he was gorgeous. He wore a pin-striped three-piece suit with a crisp white
dress shirt and a plum and white striped tie. His black thick-framed glasses,
which should have screamed nerd alert, had me slipping in my panties. He looked
sharp and smart and commanding and…wow.

I swallowed. Twice. “Am I late?”

“Not at all.” His sexy voice made
my knees buckle and I suddenly regretted my high-heeled Mary Janes. “My last
appointment finished earlier than I’d anticipated. Have a seat.”

 Determined to appear poised and
with it, I straightened my stance and strode to the chair he gestured at in
front of his desk.

“Hmm,” I said, looking around
after I was seated. The generous office space continued the modern décor
throughout. Behind his desk were floor to ceiling glass windows giving a
breathtaking view of Midtown. “Nice place. Not what I’d pictured, but
incredible.”

 Hudson unbuttoned his jacket and
sat down, brows raised. “You pictured my office?”

My cheeks grew warm. Now he
thought I’d been thinking about him. I had been, but he didn’t need to know. “I
thought you’d be more traditional. But the modern really suits you.”

A small smile crept on his face.
“Actually, I have a designer. I have no idea what’s modern or contemporary or
traditional. She showed me pictures of things she thought I’d like and I
nodded.”

I grinned, knowing he was
attempting to put me at ease, but my stomach bunched into knots. Hudson’s
office was unfamiliar territory for a nightclub bartender and we were meeting
to discuss an unusual business deal. And he was so fucking hot, he dazzled me.

“I hope you don’t mind if we get
to business first.”

“Of course not.” If business was
first, I wondered what would follow.

Nothing. Nothing would follow
because when we were finished I would politely thank him and leave his office.

Ha ha, right.

“As I said earlier, I’m very
pleased that you’ve accepted my offer. Before you officially agree, though, I
want to make sure you understand exactly what I am asking of you. We tabled
this discussion last night…” He paused and I suspected he was recalling the
reason the discussion was tabled. At least, that’s what I was thinking about.
“So I neglected to mention a key point.”

Hudson leaned back in his chair,
placing his arms on the rests. “I’m a very high profile man, Alayna. Convincing
my mother that we are a couple requires putting on a show for the world. That
means you will be ‘on duty’, so to say, at all times. When we are together
around other people, we will play the happy couple. When we aren’t together,
you must still act as though you’re mine.”

Was it my imagination or had he
emphasized the words
you’re mine
? Either way, goose bumps travelled down
my skin.

“You can’t tell anyone that we
are not really in a relationship.”

I creased my forehead and my
mouth suddenly went dry. “I hadn’t realized that.”

“No, I suspected as much.” He
narrowed his eyes, gazing my reaction. “Are you still interested?”

I didn’t really have a choice.
Either accept it or give into Brian’s wishes. Besides, whom would I want to
tell? Liesl. And David. Was I still thinking about David with tall, hot, and
devastatingly handsome sitting in front of me? Yes. Because David had the
potential of being real. And frankly, I didn’t know that I actually liked
Hudson beyond the whole physical thing. I certainly shouldn’t. 

“How long would we keep up the
act?”

“As long as we feel we can
without imposing too much on our personal lives. The longer the better,
obviously, but if my mother sees that I am capable of falling in love, she
won’t try to press me into a loveless marriage, even if you and I have ‘broken
up.’”

“Are you still interested?”

“It’s eighty thousand dollars,
Hudson. That’s a drop in the bucket for you, but for me...I understand if I
have to work for it.”

He relaxed, nodding. “Good.” Hudson
pressed a button on his desk.

“Yes, Mr. Pierce?” The sweet
timbre of the receptionist’s voice filled the room.

“Send him in, please, Patricia.”
Hudson stood and pressed another button on his desk.

I’d heard her answer the phone as
Trish when I’d arrived and I wondered if he was opposed to nicknames for people
in general, or if he just knew the weight of using a proper name—the power it
held over people.

The doors opened and a
dark-haired, muscular man in a black suit walked in. If Hudson hadn’t already
sent my horny button into overdrive, I was pretty sure this guy would have set
it buzzing.

“This is Jordan,” Hudson said, crossing
around to the front of his desk. Jordan nodded. “He’s been assigned to drive
you to and from work and anywhere else you may need to go.”

Not that I wanted to turn down
such a beautiful gift, but one thing I loved about NYC was alternate modes of
transportation. My parents died in a car accident. Cars weren’t my favorite. “I
don’t need a driver.” Then, so I wouldn’t seem ungrateful I added, “I usually
get my exercise running home.”

“Then he will drive you to work
and follow you home when you run to make sure you arrive safely.” Before I
could argue, Hudson eyed me sternly. “Alayna, my girlfriend would have a
driver. She’d also have a bodyguard. I’m willing to forego the bodyguard if you
use my driver.”

I took a deep breath. “All
right.”

“He’ll be waiting downstairs to
take you to the club when we’ve finished. Thank you, Jordan.”

Jordan nodded again and then left
the office. Hudson pushed a button and the doors shut behind the driver.

“And Alayna, wipe that look off
your face. Jordan’s gay. I wouldn’t have hired him for you otherwise.”

I folded my arms over my chest,
embarrassed and chided. Also, I decidedly did not like Hudson. Beyond the
sexual appeal, anyway. “Anything else?” I couldn’t look at him.

He leaned back to sit on the
front edge of his desk, his body close enough to touch without much movement on
my part. “My mother is hosting a charity fashion show on Sunday. That will be
our first outing as a couple.”

“Okay.” I crossed my leg over the
other, his close proximity making me fidgety. And while I was so affected by
him, I realized he’d been nothing but business since I’d arrived. Had his move
on me the night before been a way to insure I’d accept his proposition? If so,
he was a total ass.

“Your loans will be written off
as of nine a.m. Monday morning. A written confirmation will be sent to you.”

“Don’t you want to wait and see
if we pull this whole thing off first?” I hadn’t meant to come off snotty.
Well, not entirely. I was beginning to feel like a deal he was negotiating. I
didn’t like it.

“I’m really not worried about it,
Alayna.” Hudson seemed on edge as well. “But if you prefer, I’ll postpone the
write-off by one week.”

“Fine, whatever. Do I sign some
agreement or something?”

“I’d rather there isn’t a paper
trail on this.”

“But if anyone questioned my
loans being paid off—“

“I would pay off my girlfriend’s
loans.” Of course he would. “And any other debt. Do you have other debt?”

“No.” I had a Visa I’d charged
up. He didn’t need to know about that. “Is that all?”

Hudson shrugged, the gesture
out-of-place for such an assured man. “Unless you have any other questions.”

I hesitated to ask, but I had to
know. “When we’re together, in public, I mean, I can hold your hand and…kiss
you?” I peered at him through my mascara thick lashes.

The corner of his lip twitched. “I
expect you to. Often.” Um, wow. “Anything else?”

Thinking about kissing him, I ran
my tongue over my lower lip. “No.”

“Then the business portion of
this meeting is done.” He stood and moved back around to his side of the desk.
He removed his suit jacket and hung it on the back of his chair. Fuck—the vest,
tight across his torso, showing his lean muscular middle—yeah, it was
distracting.

Hudson stood in front of his
chair and leaned on his desk, his palms flat in front of him. He stared at me
for several seconds, and I itched to know what he was thinking. When he spoke,
his tone was low and even. “In about two minutes, Alayna, I’m going to come
around this desk and kiss you until you’re wet and gasping for air.”

Oh, wow.

“But first, let me clear up one
thing that I suspect may be an issue. This charade is mostly about me
convincing my mother. I will be saying and doing things—romantic things,
perhaps—that are not genuine. I need you to remember that. Out of the public
eye, I will seduce you. That will be genuine, but it can never be misconstrued
as love.”

“Because you’re incapable of
love.” My voice sounded meek and flat.

“Yes.”

Curiosity pulled me to lean
forward. “Why do you believe that?”

Hudson straightened and removed
his glasses, setting them on the desk. “I’m twenty-nine years old and have
never had any inclination toward a woman other than to have her in my bed. I
don’t do romantic relationships. I’m married to my work.” He walked slowly
around his desk toward me. “That, and casual sex, are what fulfill me.”

I sorted through the oddity of
the situation in my mind. Hudson Pierce wanted sex. With me. But not a
relationship. But he wanted his mother to believe he had a relationship. With
me. So that she didn’t realize her son was incapable of love. Which he was.

The whole thing had me spinning
in a circle.

And the worst part was that I
knew that I wasn’t capable of the casual relationship he was demanding.

Except…I thought back on the
other category two men I’d been involved with in my life—the men that I’d been
too attracted to. Joe, Ian, Paul—they’d all wanted a relationship in the
beginning. If they hadn’t, if they had made a declaration from day one that
they didn’t want more, would it have made a difference in how attached I became
to them later?

I was justifying and I knew it.
With Hudson, I was an alcoholic walking into a bar but deciding I could
withstand temptation as long as all the bottles were sealed.  

It was a lie I decided to try to
believe. “No romance? I can do that.”

Hudson leaned back on the front
of his desk again. He raised a brow, amusement in his eyes. “Are you also
incapable of love?”

I met his gaze and ignored the
little voice in my head telling me to run. “No, just the opposite. I love too
much. Keeping love out of the equation is a very good thing.”

“Good. No love.”

He stepped forward and leaned
toward me, a hand on each of my armrests, caging me. His stare was hungry, and
a thrill ran through my body, as I realized I was about to be kissed.

But before that happened, I had
to know something. When he moved closer, I put a hand against his chest. His
very strong, rock hard chest. “Wait.”

“I can’t.” But he paused. “What?”

He was inches from my face, and
the lips I longed to nibble on kept my focus as I spoke. “Why me? You could
have anyone you want.”

“Awesome. I want you.” He leaned
in again, his mouth brushing mine, his breath heating my skin.

“Why?”

He pulled back. Not far, only far
enough to look at me. “I don’t know. I just do.” His words came out a whisper,
as if he rarely made statements of uncertainty, and I doubted he did. “From the
moment I saw you...” He trailed off as he brushed his fingertips across my
forehead, his eyes fixed intently on mine, and I briefly wondered which moment—the
night of the graduation symposium or when he’d first seen me in the club?
 

Whenever he meant, his bewildered
possessiveness was sincere, and when and why didn’t matter anymore and the
little voice screaming in my head was drowned out by the loud whooshing sound
of desire pulsing through my veins. I leaned forward.

Hudson didn’t hesitate for a
second, meeting my mouth with his. As doubtful as his words had been, his lips
were confident and firm. He moved a hand behind my neck to direct me, deepening
the kiss, stroking my tongue with his own. He sucked and licked into me, sending
shivers down my spine and I imagined his wet, hot mouth on other parts of my
body. I sighed.

Without his mouth leaving mine,
he pulled me to a standing position. This was better. I could press my body
into him, feel his lust along my belly, get the contact that I yearned for. I
ran my hands through his hair and down along the base of his neck, enjoying the
tingles shooting through my limbs as he moaned against my lips.

A sharp buzzer made us both jump
and pull away. I put a hand over chest, my heart beating rapidly from the scare
and from the intense kiss.

Hudson grinned. “The intercom,”
he explained, his voice ragged. He moved behind his desk and pushed a button.
“Yes?”