Page 194 of Bridesmaid Undercover
“Well, don’t come to my fucking office and lecture me about a girl that I like,” I nearly yell. Thankfully my office door is shut.
Hudson pauses and leans back in his chair. I can feel him studying me, that brotherly stare trying to read me, to understand where I’m coming from.
After a bout of silence, he says, “I didn’t know you liked her that much.”
“Yeah, well, neither did I.” I lean back in my chair as well, feeling that emptiness inside of me that’s been gnawing at me all weekend. Because there’s no solution to this. I like Everly, and she’s off limits. Simple as that.
The anger in Hudson starts to fade as the concerned brother appears. “Hardy, you know…you know this isn’t a good idea.”
“I know,” I say as I drag my hand over my beard.
“I don’t want to look like the dick here—I’m just trying to protect everyone.”
“I know, Hudson,” I say, and this time I look him in the eyes. “You’re not to blame here. I am.”
He slowly nods and after another bout of silence, he asks, “Are you going to be able to work with her and be okay with this? Because I was talking to Maggie, and she’s going to have Everly head up some events for us. Is that going to be a problem?”
“No, it won’t be.”
“Are you sure, because I can get someone else to plan them, mainly an event coming up that we’re putting on for some possible partners.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Don’t take the job from her. It’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” he asks.
“Yeah, positive,” I say as I swallow the lump in my throat. “Everything is fine.”
“Okay,” he says skeptically. “because I’m going to need you to work on this event with her.”
“What?” I say, shooting him a glare. “Why me?”
“Frankly,” Hudson says, “Because you’re the one who has the most time. Jude is too busy with renovations, between the pop-up shops with Brody and Haisley’s rentals. And I’m busy juggling everything else, not to mention, I’m going to be down in LA for a week working with Huxley Cane on a few things. You’re not going to have to work hand in hand with her, just shoot over a few emails, let her know what we need, make sure the guest list is set, that kind of shit. Unless, like I said, this is going to be a problem for you.”
I feel my teeth grind together. “It won’t be a problem.”
“You sure?”
“Positive,” I say.
“Okay, because I’m counting on you, Hardy.”
“I know you are,” I say.
“And I don’t want you to think I’m being a dick.”
“I know you’re not. We stepped out and took on this new venture together, and I don’t want to let you down. I don’t want to let Haisley or Jude down. This thing with Everly…it came out of nowhere, and I wasn’t expecting it. We got close while planning the bridal shower and the bachelorette party for Polly and Ken, and then, well…yeah, that closeness turned into so much more. You don’t need to worry about it though, okay? It’s shut down.”
“Thanks for letting me know and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry, man.”
“No need to apologize.”
He stands from his chair and starts heading toward my door. Then he looks over his shoulder. “If she means that much to you, you could always talk to Haisley about it.”
“No.” I press my lips together and wake up my computer. “She’ll feel obligated to say it’s okay when I know it’s not. It’s fine, man, seriously. It’ll take me a second to readjust my thinking, but it’s seriously fine.”
When I think he’s going to leave, he doesn’t. “Give Haisley some credit. She’s married, in love… She may have loosened up these past few years, and she very much might understand.”
“I don’t know,” I say.
