“Please, sit,” Hudson said.

“Sorry. I was just admiring the view.” Jesus, I probably looked like an idiot. I hadn’t realized I was still standing, staring dumbly out the window, until he’d said something. I sat now, crossing a leg over the other, hoping my blush wasn’t too evident.

“It is rather distracting,” he said. “That’s why my desk faces away from it.” He sat at his seat before asking, “Did you two have a nice holiday?”

The day before had been the Fourth of July. I’d spent most of the night walking around the city. While Norma was being spanked by her boyfriend and the rest of the country ooh’d and ah’d over colors in the sky, I’d made my way to the Four Seasons. I’d wanted to just be in a place that we’d been together, JC and me. My key didn’t work in the door, and when I went to check on it at the front desk, I was told the room wasn’t booked to JC Bruzzo anymore.

It was only then that it truly hit me how gone he was.

“Lovely,” Norma said. “Thank you for asking.”

I sensed that next she was going to ask him how his holiday was in turn. Since small talk was not my thing, I cut her off before she did. “I really appreciate this opportunity. Norma said she faxed my resume over earlier, so I didn’t bring that with me. I’m happy to tell you anything you want to know about my current job duties or my schooling or ideas I might have for The Sky Launch. I think there’s a lot of potential to make that club the ‘it’ place, and I believe I have what it takes to help get it there.”

Hudson sat back in his chair. “I did get your resume. I only looked it over briefly, but I’ll pass it on to Alayna Withers. I’m sure Norma explained what Alayna’s looking for?”

“She did. Is it Alayna that is actually doing the hiring?” I hadn’t gotten many details from Norma. She’d simply said it was a job made for me and to show up at two.

“I own the club, but Alayna is the General Manager. I have very little to do with operations. I’m happy to help with anything I can, but hiring you is not my decision. She asked me to find someone capable of running the place with her, though, and I think from what I know about The Eighty-Eighth club and your education, you would be a perfect fit.”

A beep sounded, like a notification on a phone. “Excuse me,” Hudson said, pulling out his cell from his desk drawer.

As he checked his message, Norma leaned over and whispered, “That’s Alayna’s ringtone.”

“Oh.” From only the few things he’d said, I could tell the guy had a total hard-on for his girlfriend. He talked about her with a note of awe and reverence in his tone. I bet he didn’t excuse himself to answer just anyone’s texts. Hers, though…

For a moment, I let myself be jealous. Until I remembered that I too could have someone loving and adoring everything I did. But I’d told him no.

“It seems Alayna is on her way up now,” Hudson said, tucking his phone back into his desk. “She can meet you in a few minutes.”

“Perfect timing.” Norma smiled stiffly, and it occurred to me that she wasn’t that fond of Alayna. Or the idea of Alayna, anyway. Though my sister was happy with Boyd, she’d loved Hudson from afar for too long to easily accept another woman in his life.

The insight made me strangely feel closer to her than I had in a while.

“Hudson.” Even the way she said his name had a tenderness to it. “While we wait for her to join us, I have to ask. If you do hire—” She paused. “I mean, if Alayna hires my sister, I’d want to make sure there were certain security precautions taken at The Sky Launch.”

“Norma—” I stopped myself before I said something sisterly and inappropriate. I turned to her boss. “Whatever security the club has, I’m sure is fine.”

“You’ll be happy to know that The Sky Launch has top-notch security.” Hudson pinned his focus on Norma. “The thing most precious to me is at that club. Believe me when I say the place is safe.”

“Thank you, Hudson, for understanding.”

It was irritating that I was being talked about like a weak thing that needed protecting. It really wasn’t that dramatic of a situation. “I’m not in any danger or anything. I wouldn’t want you to think I’ll be a problem in that way. It’s just that my father—”

Hudson put up a hand to stop me. “Norma told me that you’d like to keep your reasons for transferring private. If you’d rather not share those reasons with Alayna, I’d prefer not to hear them either. I don’t want to keep any secrets from her that aren’t absolutely necessary.”

There was another exchange of glances between my sister and her boss. Obviously, the two had secrets of their own. Business related, most likely. No wonder she’d had such an epic crush on him—the two of them were tied together through the jobs that they both loved. I wondered if either of them realized exactly how tied they were.

“I believe I just heard the elevator.” Hudson stood from his desk and crossed to his office door. As soon as he opened it, a woman walked in. He cupped his hands around her face. “I got your text. What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“No, not hurt.” She was shaking. She was scared. I could sense that kind of fear a mile away. It was familiar.

Immediately, I felt bonded to her. Even if Norma didn’t like her, I did. While her focus was elsewhere, I studied her. She was quite attractive—thin, brunette, dressed well.

“Alayna, what is it?” The way Hudson looked at her with such affection and concern…it was too sweet. It pulled at something in me. Made my chest throb. Made me a little bit bitter.

I turned away.

“I need to show you something. Can I—” Alayna cut off when Norma stood up.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Alayna gathered herself, masking her previous emotion. “I didn’t realize you weren’t alone.”

“Alayna, you remember Norma,” Hudson said.

“Yeah, I do. Norma Anders. We met at the Botanic Gardens event.” Her tone was tight. There wasn’t any wonder as to why—my sister wasn’t very gracious to her.

“We did meet then. It’s good to see you again, Alayna.” Norma focused on Hudson. “If you two need to talk alone, we can step out.”

“No, no. I apologize for bursting in. It’s not like me to interrupt.” Alayna sounded embarrassed.