“Who?”

She rolled her eyes. “Uh, the man who hasn’t taken his eyes off of you since he walked in. Hudson, of course. I see the way he looks at you.”

“He’s excited about today…about Signature Scent.”

She pointed her finger at me. “He’s excited about you.”

I glanced over my shoulder at Hudson, and our eyes met once again. I couldn’t deny that I’d felt like the center of his focus today. He looked between his sister and me, and his eyes narrowed. He absolutely knew we were talking about him.

I sighed. “He’s a great guy.”

“So…” Olivia shrugged. “Why are you two still playing cat and mouse, then?”

“We’re in business together. He’s an investor in my company.”

“And…”

“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “If it doesn’t work out, it could be pretty messy.”

Olivia sipped her champagne. “Life is messy. You know the only time it’s not? When you’re not living it—when you’re just going through the motions.”

“I know… But—”

She interrupted me. “What happened to the woman who crashed my wedding and ran out laughing and drinking champagne?”

I laughed. “God, that’s a good example of being a mess.”

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “But look where that mess led you. To a new business and a new best friend—and if you ask me who the new best friend is, I’m going to punch you. We’re having a moment here.”

I chuckled. “I get what you’re saying, but I told you what happened with Aiden. A lot of our fights centered on being in business together. He would question how I spent money, and we would argue over the direction things should go. It was really the beginning of our problems.”

Olivia shook her head. “I think you’re wrong. Not to be crass, but the beginning of your problems was him sticking his dick in another woman.”

“Not that it’s a valid excuse, but he turned to someone else because we weren’t getting along.”

“No, he didn’t. He turned to someone else because he’s a piece of shit. That was just the most convenient excuse.”

I sighed. “I guess…”

“Did I tell you that Mason and I met at work?”

“Really? At Rothschild Investments?”

She nodded. “Hudson brought him on as director of IT. He was there for three years, and we were dating for two of them. We worked together on a few projects, and we didn’t always see eye to eye.”

“He owns his own IT firm, right? Is that why he left?”

“No. There was nowhere for him to grow at Rothschild. We only have a few IT people, and he wanted to keep growing. But my point is, we worked together and fought. That didn’t lead him to cheat on me.” Olivia looked over at her husband and smirked. “Occasionally it led to some hot, angry make-up sex on my desk, though…” She held up her hands and her face scrunched. “Oh God. Don’t do that with my brother because my office is so close. I once walked in on our parents, and I still haven’t gotten over it.”

I laughed.

“Seriously, Stella. If you’re not into Hudson, that’s fine. But don’t let what happened with your ex, or your fears of things getting messy, ruin what could be a good thing. Some of the best things in life are messy—buns, sheets after good sex, lava cake, watermelon. Do I need to go on?”

I smiled. “No. I get it.”

Hudson walked over with a bottle of champagne and topped off both our glasses. Noticing the label, I said, “No wonder this is so delicious. It’s the good stuff. I’ve run out of the bottles I stole from Olivia’s wedding, so you might want to hide any you have left when I’m on my way out.”

Olivia laughed. “I’m going to go help Mason put out more food. You two continue the celebration without me.” She walked away but looked back over her shoulder so Hudson didn’t see and winked.

I smiled. “Your sister is pretty amazing.”

“She’s not too bad,” Hudson agreed. “But don’t tell her I said that.”

He’d walked over to fill our glasses, but didn’t have one of his own. “Where’s your champagne?”

“I have plans.” Hudson looked at his watch. “I actually need to be going. I was coming over to say goodbye.”

“Oh.” Disappointment gripped me, along with maybe a tiny bit of jealousy. I forced a smile. “Well, have fun.”

Hudson’s eyes narrowed before he eventually grinned.

“Are you jealous because I have a date?”

“No,” I said—waaay too quickly.

He tucked his hands into his pockets and flaunted a smug smile. “You are.”

“Am not.”

He leaned forward, his nose almost touching mine, and whispered, “Jealous.”

“You’re so full of yourself. You can’t even tell the difference between happy for you and jealous.”

He pulled his head back. “Oh yeah? You’re happy I have a date?”

I plastered on a smile and pointed to my mouth. “Yes. See?”

The look on Hudson’s face told me my attempt at a smile came out more like one reflected in a fun house.

He chuckled. “I’m picking up Charlie from some playdate. My ex went to a doctor’s appointment with her sister who’s pregnant and might not make it on time, so I told her I’d take her home.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Happy it’s not a real date?”

Yes. I shrugged. “Whatever. It’s your business.”

He rubbed his chin. “I was thinking of coming back after. Think you’ll still be here?”

“Maybe I have a date tonight. Would that bother you?”

Hudson’s jaw flexed. “I’m not the one who pretends I’m not interested, so I don’t think you’ll be surprised to know it would.”

I’d been teasing, and it backfired. His face was too serious to screw around. I sighed. “I don’t have a date. I’ll probably be here.”

Hudson shook his head. “You’re a pain in my ass.”

I sipped my champagne. “Well, apparently you like pains in the asses.”

His eyes dropped to my lips. “You know I’m counting all the times you torture me. Eventually I’ll get even.”

“And how will you do that?”

He leaned in and kissed my cheek, then moved his lips to my ear. “With my mouth.”

I blinked a few times, taking in Hudson’s smirk as he walked away.

He spoke over his shoulder. “Hold that thought, Stella. Your whisper is getting almost loud enough that I can hear it.”

Oh boy. I’m in trouble.

CHAPTER 18

Stella

I’d started to think Hudson wasn’t coming back. It had been hours since he left, though with the stress of the show over, I’d relaxed a lot and was able to have a good time. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t watching the door constantly. Half the guests had gone, and a few more were getting ready to leave. I went to the bathroom and figured I’d soon call it a night, too. But when I came out, Hudson was sitting at the island drinking a beer.