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Since they’d eaten there a few times already, Hudson knew what he wanted, and so did Kayleigh. After the server had taken their order and left them, Hudson said, “How was your morning?”
“It was fine,” she said. “I had my department heads meeting.”
“So did I,” Hudson told her. “Well, it was more that Alexander had a meeting of his department heads, and I’m always expected to attend.”
“Did it go alright?”
“Basically. There are always issues, but Alexander handled them with minimal yelling. How was yours?”
“There were a few minor issues, but nothing that could be associated with the other things that have been going on.”
“Do you find your team to be cohesive?” Hudson asked.
They spent a little time talking about the personalities of her team. He had formulated his own opinions of each of them, but he was curious how she viewed them, since she had a more personal relationship with those employees.
After their food arrived, Hudson told her about his pending trip to Baton Rouge.
“Is this just a check-in kind of trip? Or is something wrong?”
Hudson told her what Alexander wanted her to do while he was there.
Kayleigh’s brow furrowed. “Do you think the renovations aren’t valid?”
“Alexander just wants verification. He is a suspicious man by nature, and it’s not often someone can get something by him. So we’ll see if his gut feeling on this is correct or not.”
As they talked about the trip, Hudson realized how much he enjoyed being able to hold a conversation with Kayleigh about his job without her zoning out. Women he’d dated in the past hadn’t enjoyed it when he’d talked about his work or how his day had gone.
Kayleigh, on the other hand, was engaged in their conversation and didn’t just listen to him, but also gave her thoughts—which were insightful—on what they were talking about. Hudson really, really liked that.
Probably a bit too much.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kayleigh was slow to leave the gym on Wednesday morning, knowing she wouldn’t be seeing Hudson again for several days. It shouldn’t make a difference, but it absolutely did.
Her time left with him was limited as it was. He didn’t live in Serenity. His home was on the other side of the country. Eventually, he was going to leave Serenity for good.
He might be back once in a while, but she’d never be able to spend time with him like she had been able to over the past few weeks. Her heart hurt at the thought.
“I hope your trip goes well,” Kayleigh said as she prepared to leave the gym.
She tucked a strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail back behind her ear, wishing that she wasn’t a sweaty, sloppy mess. That Hudson’s last sight of her before this trip was of her that way, didn’t sit well with her pride. But there was no way to change that now.
“I’m sure it will, but hopefully I won’t have to be there too long.”
“I hope everything is as it should be there.”
“It will definitely be less stressful for everyone, if that’s the case. Alexander will get involved if what he suspects is true, and trust me, no one wants that.”
“I’m sure.” Kayleigh had only had positive interactions with Alexander, but she knew that his company wouldn’t be as successful as it was if he was a pushover.
“Anyway, if you need me for anything here,” Hudson began, as he used one of the gym towels to wipe his face and neck. “Or if something occurs regarding the issues we’ve been dealing with, don’t hesitate to contact me.”
“I won’t,” Kayleigh assured him.
There was an awkward moment of silence that Kayleigh wanted to fill with all kinds of words that weren’t appropriate to their relationship… situation, so instead, she said a stilted goodbye, then left the gym.
As she walked back to her office, Kayleigh tried to ignore the pit in her stomach.
