Page 27 of One Quick Obsession

“I don’t have time for you and your growling. I have to get through this list, and then countless other things. We only have a few more hours until the wedding begins, and it has to be perfect.”

I ignored Hudson’s curious look, as I went to the chef and went over the minor alterations. He nodded, although I felt like maybe he should be slightly more worried. But he said he could handle it, and therefore it should all be fine.

And yet nothing felt fine. If this wasn’t perfect, then all of the extra money and time that went into this would be for nothing. The Cages needed to understand that I could handle this.

And me running around like a chicken with its head cut off wasn’t truly showing that.

I moved past Hudson again as I went to the next person, my list feeling heavier and heavier. Why did my chest ache? This made no sense, but it was fine. I could handle this.

By the time I got through my list, I realized that Hudson had been following me, but I continued to ignore him. People moved out of his way, eyes wide, and I hoped to hell he wasn’t around when the wedding started or he would scare the guests.

As I turned the corner to get to the next person on my list, I bumped into the solid wall of man that was Hudson Cage.

“Excuse me. You’re in my way.”

He looked down at me, then gripped my shoulders. He didn’t have to say a word and yet every ounce of trepidation, annoyance, and whatever the hell else I refused to feel burst to the surface.

“Get your hands off me,” I snapped, my breath quickening.

“Scarlett. Breathe.”

As if I didn’t want to? As if I wasn’t already trying to? Why did my chest hurt? And why did he sound as if he cared?

“I’m working, Hudson. If you want to yell at me or growl or do whatever you like to do, do it later. Okay? I’m trying to ensure that this wedding goes off without a hitch, and you’re in my way.”

He let out a grunt I couldn’t quite decipher. “You just stressed out the cake decorator, because you tried to guarantee that the mother-in-law gets a certain iced flower on her cake, versus the other mother-in-law, because they fight. Even though the wedding planner had already told them, and the grooms assured everyone that it wouldn’t matter. And yet you’re panicking.”

“Just because it seemed like a little thing to you doesn’t mean it’s not a huge thing to the person who is worried.” Although the idea of an iced flower when there were multiple of them made no sense to me, but it was on the wedding planner’s list, and I was going to ensure that everything was perfect.

“It’s a wedding. They’re going to say their I do’s, be happy, dance, someone’s going to get too drunk, and someone’s going to break something. But in the end, they’ll be happy, and it won’t matter. You’re doing a great job.”

“And I can do better,” I blurted.

“Scar,” he said with a sigh. “What the hell is going on?”

“Nothing. I just need to ensure that this goes well. It’s the first one of this size that we’re doing.”

“And they have a wedding planner that’s working with your event coordinator. You manage the entire place. You don’t need to be doing these small things.”

“Are you saying they’re below me? That’s rich coming from the owner.” I knew I was losing my mind, but whenever Hudson was around, I tended to do that.

“Scar.”

“My name’s Scarlett.”

“You like it when I call you Scar. You smile even as you tell me you hate it.”

I blushed and shoved at him softly. “Hudson. Stop.”

Though I did like him calling me Scar. There was something wrong with me.

“By the way, I’m not the owner. I just help out my siblings when they can’t be here. And I like to make sure you’re not running yourself ragged.”

“It’s not your place to care if I run myself ragged.”

“Yes it is. Because somebody should fucking care.”

“Watch your language. One of the guests might hear you. Some of them stayed overnight.”