Chapter 33
CHAPTER 33
JULIETTE
I can spot Phillipa watching us from above the ridge as we walk out of the house and get into the car. She’s sitting on a horse and is so far away that I cannot make out her disposition. As we get into the car, she is joined by Elizabeth.
I won’t miss those two, but I will miss Alejandro, whom I have said a brief goodbye to as Hudson seems in a rush to get out of the house. He said he has business to take care of. From what I can gather, it seems Frank found out about him and Jasmine, and now, they actually hate each other.
“You wanted to tell me something back in the house,” Hudson says as we pull out of driveway. He was on a call with his pilot earlier on, asking how soon the jet can be fueled and ready to fly. Judging from listening to his end of the conversation, the pilot said thirty minutes.
I don’t want to tell him about Alison. He has too much on his plate already, and I probably know why she did it.
“Spit it out,” he says, sensing my hesitation.
“It was Alison who brought Benny to town. She convinced him to lie and told him you were holding me against my will.”
Hudson simply nods and continues driving.
“You’re not going to say anything?” I ask him.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it,” he says and continues driving.
“Is she in trouble?”
“Alison? She knows what comes with what she did. She’ll welcome whatever recompense I have for her. Don’t you worry about her.”
“I told you she was out to get me,” I say with a sigh, tired about everything.
“And I should have listened to you. But none of it matters now. You’re going back home, and I’ll deal with Frank.”
“You won’t do anything stupid or dangerous, right?” I ask him.
Hudson smiles bashfully at me. “Do I look like someone who would do such a thing?”
“Dangerous, yes. Stupid, no. You’re spontaneous. Who the hell thinks of a fake engagement on their feet like you did?”
He shrugs. “I had a problem that needed an urgent solution, and you were there. I confess I didn’t give much thought to it, and the plan was riddled with many holes.”
“It would have worked. If Alison didn’t fess up, it would have worked.”
The jealous girl. She worked it all out so well that to Phillipa, Hudson remains the saint in all of this, and to Benny, he is the villain. Maybe she was just worried about the company and didn’t want Hudson for herself.
Well, none of it matters anymore. I’m going home. I wonder what I’ll do when I get home. Do I return to the agency or look for a new client to work with? Do I look for some other job? My contract and time with Hudson Sinclair are over. It’s time to return to the real world. Hudson said he’d come to me, yet something about that doesn’t satisfy me. I’m compelled to believe him, but I fear that putting distance between me and him will have him quickly forgetting all about me. He is Hudson Sinclair; he can have any woman he wants.
“We didn’t see this till the seventh day,” I say with a sigh.
“Don’t worry, you still get paid. You did a stellar job.”
“I had the best costar,” I say.
We both ignore the elephant in the room. We both did a good job because, at some point, it stopped being a job. That was it.
The rest of the ride to the airport goes on in silence. Hudson helps me bring my bag to the jet.
“How long before we lift off, Reece?” Hudson asks as we settle inside.
“Whenever you’re ready, Mr. Hudson.”
“I won’t be making the flight with you, Reece. It’ll be just you and Juliette.”
“Alright, Mr. Hudson.”
“Please make sure she arrives at her home safely.”
“Yes Sir, I’ll make a couple of calls to have a car for her upon arrival.”
“That’ll be great.”
“Thank you, Reece,” I chip in.
“You’re welcome, Miss,” Reece says and walks away, returning to his cockpit.
I’ll miss these luxury perks when I get back to Dallas. Hudson has exposed me to a life of lushness and now, I have to return to my reality. At least, I’ll have my seventy thousand dollars. I have no reason to return to the agency. I’ll take a week to rest when I get back to Dallas and then reach out to a realtor about acquiring a space for my bakery. I have a space in mind already. It’s in the business center of town that is sure to bring in a lot of traffic. I’ll have to target lunch hours as the time I’ll have the highest traffic. If it gets high enough, I’ll need to hire an assistant to help to deal with hiring, running the bakery, and the day-to-day activities. I have a lot of work to do, but I won’t focus on that now. I’ll enjoy this little time I have left with Hudson.
“You look worried,” Hudson says, pulling my mind back to the present. “What’s on your mind?”
“I’m thinking about my bakery. There’s a lot of work to do to set it up. It feels a little overwhelming.”
“But that won’t derail you, right?”
“No, it won’t.”
“That’s what I thought. I know you. I know you’ve got it. Nothing is so big you can’t deal with it.”
“Well, I hope so,” I say chuckling.
“Come here,” Hudson says, and I find myself gravitating towards him so naturally. God, I’ll miss him so much. He settles me on his lap, his arms around my waist.
“Won’t you come with me?” I ask him.
“Soon. I just want to stay here a little longer.”
“I don’t want to leave,” I say, letting myself feel vulnerable with him. “I’ll miss you. You messed with my head so much, Hudson. You’ve messed with me so much.”
“I didn’t mean to,” he says and pulls me into him. I let myself fall helpless as his lips found mine.
“Are you sure about that?”
“You’re not my type, remember?”
I laugh and hold his face in my hand, my fingers tracing the line of his face and feeling his stubble. He looks so calm and collected, even though I can tell he’s troubled.
“How do you do it? Remain calm in the face of trouble?”
“I’m not thinking about it now. I’m here now with you; nothing else matters. You think I’ve messed with your head, you’ve done even something more terrible to me. You’ve changed me from the heart out. You remember Jasmine, don’t you?”
Why is he talking about her now, God?
“Yes, I remember her. You just got in trouble with Frank because of her, remember?”
He chuckles. “The other day, you asked me where I was and said I was lying. You were right. I was lying. I was with her. You’d stirred so much hunger in me, and I needed some relief, so I went to see her. But I just couldn’t do it.”
“You couldn’t what?” I ask him, wondering if he is saying what I think he’s saying.
“I couldn’t make love to her. That’s never happened to me. But you came into my life and stirred it all up. You messed me up badly and now, all I think of is you. No one else. I don’t see myself with anyone else, only you.”
So, that was what Jasmine meant when she said I had him in a bind.
“Hudson,” I say, scarcely able to believe what he’s just said.
“It’s alright, I understand it now. I see it. I know what it is.”
He’s looking right into my eyes, and my heart flutters. What is this? What’s happening?
“Juliette, I think I know what this is. I have never let myself feel these things, and I always guarded my heart against them, but you found a way to break through them. So, I’ll tell you one thing, and I want you to hold on to it. When I said I’d come for you, I meant every word of it, not because I need you out of town but because I need to focus and yeah, there’s a truth to that. You’ve been a constant source of distraction.”
“Oh, Hudson,” I say, still absolutely speechless.
“Shhh,” he says and places his finger on my lips. “Don’t say anything. As I was saying, you’ve changed my life and shown me something I will forever hunger for, and that is why I won’t let go of you. I need you in my life because I love you.”
“Hudson, I love you too. I don’t have the words to express what I feel now, but God, you make me feel jittery.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” he says, kissing me. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I kiss him. The kiss is wet and messy, but I don’t care.
I wish the kiss could last forever, but soon, we must pull apart because he has to get to work. Letting him go is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I have to do it. He said he’d come back; all I can do now is believe that. I let him go.
“Good luck,” I say.
‘I don’t need it. You should say that to Frank.”
“God, must you always be so cocky?” I ask, laughing.
Hudson kisses me again.
“So, did you fall in love with me in under seven days?” he asks.
“Took just six,” I tell him.
“I told you it was going to happen.”
“We both failed at that, didn’t we?”
Hudson lingers for a while, but in the end, he leaves, and I’m alone. Reece announces that he’s gearing up for takeoff, but I hear nothing of his words. I cry as the plane lifts off, looking at the outline of Manhattan’s skyline. All this beauty, yet only one thing will I remember of my time in Manhattan. Only one person.