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Hudson cleared his throat. “Yeah. Still here.”
“I want to cover a few other things before we call it a night,” Alexander said. “If you’ve got the time.”
They talked for another half an hour, and Hudson suspected he had another trip in his future.
“Once this incident with Wilder is settled, I think you should come back to New York.”
Hudson frowned as he pushed back from the table and walked over to the window, staring out at the lights of the resort. “The main reason I came here is still unresolved.”
“But nothing else has happened, correct?”
“The last incident was someone changing the food order for the restaurants.”
“And you’re still no closer to figuring that out?”
“Not with regards to the couple of things that have happened already.” Hudson paused. “However, I’m wondering if this matter with Wilder is tied in.”
“What?” Alexander fell silent for a moment, then muttered, “That is entirely possible. If information gets out that one of our employees—who works with a lot of guests—was accused of sexual harassment, it would certainly negatively affect the resort.”
“So this might not be about Wilder at all, but rather another way to continue to target this Remington property.”
Hudson listened as Alexander ranted about what he wanted to do to whoever was behind the thefts and everything that had been happening. Unlike how he’d felt about things when he’d first arrived, Hudson actually agreed with a lot of what Alexander said.
He wanted it all resolved, so that it was less stress on Kayleigh. Unfortunately, a resolution would also mean that he’d have no reason to stay in Serenity.
The next day, Hudson had several back-to-back calls with different Remington properties around the world. He’d hoped to be able to spend time with Kayleigh, but the hours slipped by, and when he was finally free, she had already left for the day.
As he spoke with Caleb about his schedule for the next day, he made sure that he’d have his lunch hour free because he hoped to have lunch with Kayleigh. After he’d finished with Caleb, he sent Kayleigh a text to see if she’d be available.
Kayleigh:I don’t believe I have anything on. I should be able to meet you. Steakhouse?
Hudson grinned.If you’d rather meet somewhere else, I’m fine with that.
Kayleigh:Let’s stick with a good thing. Steakhouse at noon.
Perfect. I’ll see you then.
Hudson was happier than he should have been about the prospect of seeing Kayleigh, but there was little in his personal life that brought him much happiness. He felt pride in the work he did, and he had a sense of accomplishment when he handled difficult situations for Alexander. But none of it brought real happiness.
The last time he remembered being truly happy had been before his mom’s death. She’d been a happy person, and anyone around her would have said that she made them happy too. That had certainly been the case for Hudson. She had been the sunlight in his life, and when she had been killed, the light had been extinguished.
Kayleigh reminded Hudson of his mom in a lot of ways. There were no physical similarities between Kayleigh and his mom. Where Kayleigh had dark hair and brown eyes, his mom had had blonde hair and blue eyes. She’d also been taller than Kayleigh by a few inches. But they both had an inner light that warmed Hudson.
After his mom’s death, he could have chosen to move forward and embrace life. He could have chosen to let the light back in. However, his struggle with Alexander’s role in his life had combined with his grief to leave him a mess and searching for stability in his life. Stability he’d found in his job to the exclusion of everything else.
Until now.
As he waited for Kayleigh at the table the next day, Hudson wondered if there was a way for him to broach the subject of dating once everything had been resolved at the resort. He wasn’t sure that getting involved personally when they were still dealing professionally with the issues at the resort as a good idea.
But the situation wasn’t going to last forever, and he absolutely wanted a chance too see if things could go anywhere between them.
They had so much in common, and she had managed to get past the walls he’d erected following his mom’s death. And because of that, she’d touched him in a way no one had been able to in years.
Hudson was sure that he’d picked up a spark of interest from her, though she hadn’t flirted outright with him. She certainly seemed willing to spend time with him, and more than that, she appeared to trust him, even with something so personal and serious as the charged against Wilder.
He’d never dated anyone he worked with in the past, because he’d assumed it would be too awkward when the relationship ended. And he’d always been quite certain that the relationshipwouldend, because that had been the result of the few relationships he’d had.
Surprisingly enough, that wasn’t the case when he thought of Kayleigh. Hudson could actually see the long-term potential for them. The though of not having her in his life wasn’t something he wanted to contemplate.
