Chapter 2
Chapter Two
HUDSON
Do you smell that?
The distinct scent of sweat and desperation?
Yeah, that’s emanating from me.
The moment I saw Sheridan and Archie walk through the doors of Magical Moments by Maggie, I knew I was going to say something stupid.
I felt it in my bones.
I’ve been rocked the last few weeks with the pressure of growing the company and proving to everyone that not only did my brother and I make a good decision to step away from our father, but we made a good, life-changing decision for the people who depend on us. And when I got wind of a possible buyout with the Wimbachs to expand our low-income housing globally, I knew it was an opportunity we couldn’t miss.
So seeing Archie and Sheridan in need of help, well, it prickled my ears.
I told myself to be cool, to not jump in with a solution to whatever problem they were facing. But do you remember that desperation I was talking about? Yeah, it grabbed me by the balls and started tugging, telling me I needed to leap in like a goddamn hero, arm extended into the air, ready to save the day. And before I could stop myself, I was offering up my assistant to Sheridan and Archie as a well-enthused Regency ballroom dancer without even blinking an eye.
Pretty sure I would have offered them my right nut if they’d asked for it—that’s how desperate I am to make an impression .
Did I consider how this might affect Sloane? Maggie? Or even Everly?
Not in the slightest.
Did I consider that she might not know anything about Regency ballroom dancing?
Nope.
Did I think to myself, Oh, Sloane has brown hair and could get the time off because I’m her boss, so she’ll do ?
Absolutely.
I absolutely fucking did.
I could not have made the decision in my head faster before I spat it out to the room.
“Really?” Sheridan asks, her hands clasped together now, so much hope in her expression.
“Of course,” I say, even though I can feel the questioning stares of Everly and Maggie directed at me.
Well, not just questioning but concerned. I can’t even look in Sloane’s direction. Those fucking huge-ass eyes of hers are probably as wide as can be.
“Do you know anything about Regency dancing?” Sheridan asks Sloane.
Before Sloane can even open her mouth, I continue to dig my grave. “She was just telling me the other day how she’s been partaking in some ballroom dancing in her spare time. More modern waltzes, but I’m sure it’s the foundation for good footwork. I have no doubt she’ll be able to pick it up quickly.”
I also have no doubt she probably wants to stab me in the throat with her pen to get me to stop talking.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Yes, any experience is great,” Sheridan says just as a phone rings and Archie pulls it out of his pocket.
“Sorry, I need to take this,” Archie says and then stands from the table and walks toward the back of the store .
When he’s out of earshot, Sheridan says, “Sorry about that. His father has been sick, and well, we’re trying to speed this wedding along so he can be a part of it. Everything that we’re doing for the wedding is really for him, hence having it in England with a Regency theme.”
“That’s really sweet,” Everly says.
“I’m kind of in love with the idea of holding a Regency-themed wedding. Sounds dreamy,” Maggie adds.
Sheridan smiles as I sit there, my skin prickling with the awareness that I just threw my assistant into a position I’m fairly certain she not only doesn’t want to be in but that she has zero experience at.
Maggie asks Sheridan about the decor and what she plans on wearing. Sheridan gushes about the colors—iceberg blue and cream. She regales us about the flowers—lilies. And sings praises about the club where the wedding will be held—it has an ornate ballroom with painted ceilings where the reception will take place. All the while, I remain as still as possible, sweating and mildly panicking because I fear if I turn to look at Sloane, she’ll be one breath away from chopping me in the esophagus with the side of her hand, cutting off all oxygen.
“Yeah, so it should be a great week of celebrating. We can’t wait,” Sheridan says just as Archie returns to the table.
He softly smiles. “Sorry about that. Darling, we’re going to have to head out. Unfortunately, some tests came back for my father that were not what we were hoping for, and well, my father needs me in London.” He looks at me and continues, “I’m going to have to cancel our meeting for today. My deepest apologies.”
“Oh, we can meet anytime.” I stand. “Business can wait. Please, focus on your family.”
“Thank you, that means a lot to me.” Archie helps Sheridan stand as well, both of them with concerned looks on their faces.
“So…where do we stand with everything?” Sheridan asks, looking between all of us .
Knowing I’m the one responsible for this mess, I jump in, “We’ll get Sloane prepared for the wedding. Just send us the information, and she’ll be ready.”
“Thank you so much,” Sheridan says, looking incredibly relieved.
“Of course,” I say.
Archie turns to Sheridan and says, “Can you wait for me in the car? I need to discuss something with Hudson for a moment.”
Sheridan smiles softly, places a kiss on his cheek, and then takes off with a wave to the girls. When she’s gone, Archie turns to me. “May I have a moment?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You can use my office,” Maggie says graciously.
“Thank you.” I guide Archie to the back, to Maggie’s office, and shut the door once we’re inside. He doesn’t try to take in the space, getting right down to business.
“I need to make this quick,” he says. “I don’t want to stress Sheridan out since she’s already stressed about her injured bridesmaid and the wedding preparations, but that was actually her father on the phone.”
“Oh,” I say. “Is your father actually okay?”
Archie shakes his head. “Unfortunately, no. I received a text from my sister that he was asking for me. I told her we’d fly out tomorrow. Sheridan and I were already discussing that. But Sheridan’s father, Terrance, has been adamant about not selling to you.”
Fuck.
Why the hell not?
“Now, he owns about 10 percent of the shares in the company and doesn’t have much of a say, but he and Sheridan are very close. I know that Terrance’s approval of me matters a lot, and we have a good relationship, something I don’t want to damage over a business deal.”
“I understand that completely and respect it,” I say. The words feel like gravel coming out of my mouth because— 10 percent. You’re going to let a guy who owns 10 percent make a decision about your business?
“So I have a big ask of you.” He presses his hands together and continues. “Would you mind coming to London so my father-in-law could get to know you better? Come to the wedding, show Terrance that you’re a good guy, someone he can trust? I believe you could be the right fit for us, especially with the business practices you’ve been engaging in with the Cane brothers and their business model, but I can’t make the final decision with Terrance harping in my ear.”
“I appreciate your trust in me.” I shift my weight. “Can I ask why he doesn’t entirely trust me?”
Archie nods his head. “Because of, as he put it, what you did to your father.” Christ. “And to be fully transparent, he contacted your father, and well, now he’s trying to work out a deal with him.”
Mother.
Fucker.
I keep my face neutral as I absorb this brand-new information.
“I appreciate you offering up this information. Honestly, you need to choose what’s best for your business, and if that’s keeping your father-in-law happy with you, then I totally understand. If you are granting me the chance to show Terrance that I’m someone he can trust, I’ll take you up on the opportunity.”
“I’m more than happy to. I can have my assistant send you the schedule, but whenever Terrance is in the UK, he spends a lot of his time at the Mayfair Club, where we are having the wedding. It’s one of his favorite places to be, so that would be a good place to start.”
I nod, knowing exactly which club he’s talking about. “Sounds good. I’ll be in touch; looking forward to receiving the schedule. And hey, business aside”—I pat his shoulder—“I’m really sorry to hear about your father.”
“Thank you. That means a lot. ”
“Please let us know if there is anything we can do for you. I know Maggie and Everly would be more than happy to help if anything comes up with the wedding. And if there’s anything we can do to ease some of the responsibility, let us know.”
“Thank you, Hudson. I appreciate it.”
He shakes my hand and then we head out of Maggie’s office. The girls are still at the conference table, and when they see us approach, they all stand.
“It was lovely chatting. We’ll be in touch. Thank you, Sloane, for helping us out.”
“Y-yes, of course,” she says, stumbling over her words.
We say our goodbyes, and he takes off, meeting Sheridan at the car out front. Once Archie is gone, I turn toward the girls. “Fuck, I’m sorry.” I let out a deep breath and take a seat at the conference table, feeling the weight of my decision resting like a fucking hippo on my shoulders, the heaviness of it all, tremendous. I scrub my hands over my face. “This account with Archie is a big one, and well, I was trying to be accommodating. I apologize for putting you in a tough spot.”
Maggie looks nervous as she says, “Hudson, we are, uh, kind of full at the moment. We really don’t have any time to take on any extra work and took the meeting just to be courteous.”
“I know.” I drag my hand over my face again. “I’m sorry.”
“Um, just to be clear, since I’m taking notes,” Sloane says from the other end of the table. “Did I hear it correctly that I’m going to be in their wedding? A wedding in London with ballroom dancing?”
“That would be a question for Hudson,” Maggie says. “Care to answer that, Hudson?”
Not wanting to face her at the moment but knowing I need to, I stare down the length of the table and slowly nod. “Yes, you heard that correctly. ”
“Okay, great,” she says, almost sarcastically. “Umm, think I can have a moment with you, Mr. Hopper?”
I hate when she calls me that.
Fucking hate it to my bones.
That’s what my dad makes everyone call him, and for some reason, no matter how many times I tell her not to call me that, she still does.
Maggie clears her throat and stands from her chair. “Uh, I have emails. Yeah, emails I need to look at.” Not subtle at all.
“Same,” Everly says, standing as well.
“Wait,” I say. “Everly, I need to talk to you about the Bridesmaid for Hire program. Possibly help us out here.”
Everly winces. “Yeah, things are really tight right now, but, uh…” She glances over at Maggie. “I think maybe if we move some things around, we can possibly manage it without sacrificing the quality of the other projects we currently have scheduled.”
And I know that nervous look, I’ve made that nervous look before. She’s staring down the barrel of a large workload, but she’s trying to keep her boss happy at the same time.
I don’t want to put her in that position.
So, I say, “I don’t want you having to move your schedule around; that’s not fair to you.”
Nervously, Sloane raises her hand. “Not to be the bearer of bad news here, but I have no idea what any of this entails.”
Silence falls upon us as Everly and Maggie both exchange looks.
After a few seconds, Everly steps in. “I mean, I think maybe I could work some time in my schedule.” Hell, I know she’s just saying that to appease the investor in her boss’s business. And I don’t want to put that on her.
No, I’m just going to put all the pressure on my assistant instead.
Jesus, man.
“No, please focus on your work. I’ll, uh…I’ll train her myself. ”
“You will?” Everly and Sloane say at the same time.
Yeah, you will?
You are not fluent in the program, you have zero idea what Regency ballroom dancing entails, and for all you know, weddings in London could be vastly different than ones in America.
But sure, offer to train her.
“I have to go to London anyway, and I got her into this mess. It would be the right thing to do.”
“You’re going to teach me how to dance?” Sloane asks.
I rub my forehead in frustration. “We will learn together.”
Do I know how to ballroom dance, let alone the dances from the Regency era? The answer would be no, but Sloane shouldn’t have to bear this on her own. Plus, with money comes the ability to hire people.
“We can figure out the logistics. Right now, I think we should leave Everly and Maggie to get back to work, and we can talk about what’s to be expected moving forward.”
“Okay,” Sloane says in an unsure tone. I don’t blame her. I just put her in a shitty position, and it’s not like she’ll tell me no. Knowing her, she’s going to find a way to be the best bridesmaid in the wedding, despite not having a personal connection to the bride. Because that’s who she is. She’s a hard worker, reliable, and good at what she does, even if it’s sometimes as simple as getting me my green drink in the morning. Something I hated asking her to do at first, but I’d needed her out of the goddamn office, so I started sending her on errands.
But now, now it seems like I’ve gotten myself into a fucking pickle.
We offer our goodbyes to Maggie and Everly, I apologize once again, feeling like an idiot in front of the girls—not to mention we didn’t even meet like we were supposed to—and we head out to the street where the driver’s waiting for us. He opens the door, and I slide into the car first, Sloane following closely behind.
When our driver settles into his seat, I say, “Back to the office. ”
He nods and takes off.
I pull out my phone and shoot a quick text to Hardy.
Hudson: I think I just fucked up big-time.
I set my phone on my lap and stare out the window with the phrase you’re a moron playing over and over in my head.
I can only imagine what Hardy is going to say…
After a few seconds of silence, Sloane clears her throat next to me. “Um, are we going to talk about what happened?”
“When we get to the office,” I say as my phone buzzes with a text.
“Okay, sure. Back at the office. Marvelous. I wanted to wait until then too.” She turns to look out her window while I answer my text.
Hardy: Jesus, you have my ass clenching. What did you do?
Hudson: To keep it short and simple, I told Archie Wimbach and his fiancée, Sheridan, that Sloane would be more than happy to fill in as a bridesmaid for them without her consent.
Hardy: Ummm…why the hell would you do that?
Hudson: Desperation.
Hardy: Is that what that smell was that passed by?
Hudson: I don’t need your fucking jokes right now, asshole. I’m in some trouble.
Hardy: Yeah you are. Why the hell would you do that to Sloane? Is she okay with it?
Hudson: From her deer-in-the-headlights look, I would say no. But haven’t talked to her yet.
Hardy: Dude, that’s really shitty.
Hudson: I know! I feel fucking awful. Also, Archie told me that his soon-to-be father-in-law, who owns 10 percent of the company, doesn’t trust us after what we did to Dad. So now I have to go out to London for a few weeks and suck an old man’s ass.
Hardy: Fuck, the visual on that. Take Chapstick.
Hudson: And the worst part, he reached out to Dad to see if he wanted to work with them.
Hardy: The fuck!
Hudson: Yeah. Not only am I having to deal with this business bullshit, but I also have to train Sloane in Regency ballroom dancing.
Hardy: Uh, wait, hold on a second. Where did the Regency shit come in?
Hudson: It’s part of the wedding. Doesn’t matter. I’m fucked. Oh, and the best part, Terrance, the father-in-law, loves hanging out at the Mayfair Club. Archie thought it might be good for me to hang out with him there.
Hardy: Did Archie get the impression you were married? Because pretty sure that’s the only way to get into that club.
Hudson: I don’t know, I didn’t get into it. Either way, if Dad gets wind, you know he’s going to want to join the club, especially if I’m not able to.
Hardy: He’s tried to join before, never got in. It’s one of the things that has plagued him for years and that I’ve relished.
Hudson: Really? Why didn’t I know that?
Hardy: I don’t know. But yeah, that was the club Dad was desperate to join. Imagine if you got in and he didn’t. I think that would be the day hell froze over for him.
Hudson: Probably right about that. Either way, how fucked do you think I am?
Hardy: Well, the buyout situation sucks but nothing you haven’t dealt with before. The Sloane thing, that’s a different ball game because not only are you disrupting the peace in the office that you have with her, but you also know how protective Jude is of his sisters. A pissed-off Jude is not something you’ve faced before and I don’t think it’s something you ever want to face. I saw him crack an egg in his fist the other day. Made me shiver.
Hudson: I don’t think Sloane will tell him.
Hardy: You don’t? What about Stacey? If Sloane tells Stacey and Stacey tells Jude, I could see your face meeting his fist in the near future.
Hudson: Christ. Think I should tell him myself?
Hardy: Are you nuts? I’d talk to Sloane, feel her out. Does she seem up for the challenge?
Hudson: She seems like she wants to melt into the seat next to me.
Hardy: Could be worse, she could be making slicing motions across her neck with her finger while staring you down. You can work with melting into the seat.
Hudson: Yeah, maybe. Fuck, why did I have to be so goddamn desperate?
Hardy: Because you have daddy issues.
Hudson: Isn’t that the fucking truth?