The Fixed Trilogy(Fixed on You, Found in You, Forever With You)(200)

“He won’t be with anyone. He’s with you.”

“But how do you know?”

“I…” She paused as if she were going to say something and then changed to something else. “Just do.”

I scowled. That answer wasn’t satisfying.

“What? Are we in grade school?” She sighed. “I can tell by the way he looks at you. Everyone can. Come on, Laynie, he asked you to move in with him. After what? A week? He’s into you, girl.”

“All right, all right. You’re right.” I glanced at the clock above the bar. “The renters are supposed to be here in twenty. We should go down in case they get here early.”

“Um, okay.” Liesl suddenly looked as nervous as I felt. “Hold on a minute.” She shuffled the spears around then rearranged them in the same design.

Jesus, now she was the one making me crazy. “Leisl! They could be waiting at the door—”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” She jumped from her stool. “Wait; one more thing.” She took her phone from her shorts pocket and typed a message to someone. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Internally, I rolled my eyes. “You didn’t have to come in tonight. I could have handled this myself.” I headed to the stairs at a fast pace but had to slow down to wait for Liesl, who was walking at turtle speed.

“I know. But I thought you could use the company. It’s not a good idea to be in the club alone.”

As if I wasn’t in the club alone all the time. Strange that she suddenly cared about that. “It was very thoughtful of you.”

“Uh-huh.” She bit her lip. “Um, are your bags packed?”

“Yep. Jordan will have them when he picks me up.” We continued the descent of the second flight of stairs and the main dance floor came into view. And my heart stopped. “What the…”

The floor was covered—absolutely covered—in red and white rose petals. The main lights had been turned off and candles were set on the tables surrounding the floor, illuminating the space with an ethereal white-yellow glow. It was beautiful and romantic.

Liesl made a small gasping sound. “Wowzers.”

It hadn’t been like that when I’d arrived only an hour before. Liesl had been with me the whole time, so it couldn’t have been her.

A figure stepped out of the shadows, his hands tucked casually in his pockets.

“Hudson?” Just like that, I forgot how to breathe. The sight of him…even in his rumpled attire, his suit jacket missing, his dress shirt untucked—he was stunning. “You did this?”

He nodded. His focus went to my friend. “Thank you, Liesl, for keeping her occupied.”

I turned to her, eyes wide. “You knew about this?” I still hadn’t fully grasped that he was the renter, that this whole arrangement was for me.

“Hey, he kept calling and you wouldn’t talk to him and then he trapped me into this whole surprise you thingamabob. He asked me to keep you busy upstairs while he did—” Liesl gestured at the room. “All this.” Her expression said she felt guilty about the betrayal. “He’s my boss, what was I supposed to say?”

“He’s not your boss,” I said, remembering his frequent claim to me.

At the same time, Hudson said, “I’m not your boss.”

My eyes flew to his at the dual mention of our inside joke. Then they were locked there, as if there were nothing else in the world to look at but him. As if the only things worth meaning could be found there.

And he gazed back at me with the same intensity.

Distantly, Liesl’s voice penetrated through the haze. “I’m going to slip out the back. ‘K, thanks.”

I’m not sure I even addressed Liesl. She was already gone—I was already alone. With Hudson.

Part of me wanted to run to him. But I couldn’t let myself. Even though I was ready to forget every bad thing that had transpired between us, I understood that if we didn’t fix things first, we could never last. So I walked to him instead, my legs shaking as I stepped down to the dance floor, and this time it wasn’t because of the espresso.

Though there were many things waiting on the tip of my tongue, he spoke first. “‘Bags packed’?” He stepped toward me, one brow raised. “Are you going somewhere?”

I could hear the tension in his voice. He thought I was leaving him. It made it that much sweeter to be able to say my next words. “Oh, nowhere special. Just Japan.”

“Because… I was in Japan?” His expression was so hopeful and adorable, I melted a little. Or a lot.

“Yeah.” I circled him, taking in the details of his setup. The tables draped with white cloths, the candlesticks letting off a vanilla fragrance. “I thought I could put my stalking skills to use to find you.”