Page 3 of Bridesmaid By Chance
Yup, this is my life.
Sloane Galloway, twenty-two-year-old assistant to Hudson Hopper, making sure all of his wildest dreams and business goals are met, a.k.a. fetching him drinks and telling him people are waiting to talk to him on line one.
Fresh out of college, I was looking for any sort of job, an internship, or anything that paid and could give me experience in…well…in anything. I majored in business management with no idea what to do with that, interned at a dying newspaper for a few months, and then desperately pleaded with Jude, my brother, to help me find something where I make some money and earn more corporate experience.
Enter Hudson Hopper into the chat.
He needed an assistant.
I’m great at assisting—even better at listening and catering to your every need.
It was a match made in heaven.
I make decent money. He doesn’t use and abuse the assistant role. And well…I’m learning quite quickly with every demanding email and phone call that business is a lot about slapping on a smile and being gracious even when it’s the last thing you want to do. I can safely say executive assistant is not the future career for me. I’m not sure the corporate life is for me either.
Corporate jobs feel a bit soulless, and the emphasis on money and making more of it feels wrong as someone whose family struggled for years to figure out where our next meal was going to come from or how we were going to afford the roof over our heads.
What do I want to do?
That’s yet to be determined and something that I hope I figure out along the way.
The door opens to Hudson’s office and—just like every other morning when he strolls in wearing his bespoke suit, head down, looking at his phone—I feel my stomach flip, my skin break out in an acute sweat, and my pulse beat faster, because…
Oh.
My.
God.
He is so handsome.
No,handsomeis not even the most suitable word to describe him. He’s…ungodly.
Olive skin; full, light brown hair; and eyes the color of the sweater Andrea Sachs wears inThe Devil Wears Prada…cerulean blue. His long legs are endless, his waist, thick but narrow, and his shoulders are broad, rounded in muscles that pull on his button-up shirts whenever he removes his jacket. Not to mention one of the best asses I’ve ever seen in a three-piece suit. And when he’s in the state of full-on concentration with his sleeves rolled up—his brow pinched together as he stares down at his notes—he’s stunning. It’s hard to pull my gaze off him from where I sit at my desk, looking into his office, wondering if there is a way I can ease the tension for him, something more than just bringing him a drink.
Hudson pulls his attention away from his phone and looks up at me. The same mandatory smile he offers me every morning plays on his lips as he says, “Morning, Sloane.”
“Good morning, Mr. Hopper,” I answer, my hands folded in front of me.
And just like every other morning, he turns his attention away from me and brings it to his desk where he takes a seat.
Do I wish that he’d give me more than just his smile used for employees?
Of course.
Do I wish he noticed the outfits I spend a great deal of time putting together in an effort to impress him?
Obviously.
But that’s wishful thinking because this is Hudson Hopper. Not only is he way out of my league, significantly older than me, and my boss, but he’s my brother’s friend, brother-in-law, and business partner, and there’s no way Hudson would ever cross that line.
I know this from how upset he was when he found out that his brother, Hardy, was cross-pollinating with Everly Plum, who works for Maggie Mitchell.
Maggie owns Magical Moments by Maggie and is the official event planner for Hudson and Hardy’s co-op. She’s the owner of Bridesmaid for Hire as well, which is an emerging, booming business that rents bridesmaids to brides and grooms in need. Everly heads up the program and recently helped Hardy’s friend, who needed someone to train the maidof honor. Long story short, Hardy fell for Everly, and Hudson had a conniption about it.
I heard him ranting about how you don’t mix personal with business. It was a rough day in the office to say the least.
“Any meetings today?” Hudson asks in a gruff voice as he picks up his green drink and mumbles, “Thank you.”
