“Congratulations again on today. You killed it.”

I smiled. “Thank you. For everything, Hudson—taking a chance on me, getting me the opportunity at the network, all the things you’ve done to help make everything come together, and even celebrating with me tonight. I don’t think it’s fully hit me yet that I’m going to be on the Home Shopping Channel showing the world Signature Scent. And truly, I owe it all to you.”

He shook his head. “I just cracked open a few doors. Everything else was all you.”

We stared at each other until the elevator tried to close. Hudson’s hand stopped it, but he took that as his cue. “Goodnight, Stella.”

“Goodnight, Hudson.”

He stepped back, removing his hand.

The longest fifteen seconds ticked by while I stood in the car, waiting for the elevator doors to slide closed again. A sense of panic washed over me when they finally started to move, and at the last second, I stuck my hand between them, causing them to bounce open again.

Hudson had turned to leave, but he looked back when he heard the elevator open.

“Would you…want to come up for coffee or something?” My heart pounded inside as I waited for him to speak.

“Coffee?” he eventually said.

I bit my lip and nodded.

Hudson searched my face. “You sure you want me to come up?”

When I took too long to debate my answer, he smiled sadly. “That’s what I thought.”

I let out a relieved exhale and shook my head. “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. I tease you that I’m waiting for you to ask me out, but it’s not really about you making the first move. It’s about your head being clear on what you want. This isn’t over. I’m just waiting for that little whisper in your head to get loud enough for you to listen.”

“What whisper?”

“The one that keeps telling you that despite your trust issues and concerns about our business relationship, you want me as much as I want you.”

I smiled halfheartedly, and Hudson took both of my hands in his. He lifted his chin to the empty space in the open car behind me.

“Now why don’t you get back in the elevator before I lose the last shred of self-control I have and join you.” He raised one of my hands to his lips and kissed the top. “Go.”

I nodded and stepped back in. Pushing the button on the door panel, I said quietly, “Thanks, Hudson.”

He winked as the doors began to slide closed. “Enjoy Theo.”

CHAPTER 17

Stella

The rest of the week flew by. Olivia and I worked day and night to get all of the marketing materials finalized, while Hudson focused on the orders-and-financing side of things. By Saturday morning, only a few of the rushed shipments had come in, so it was pretty daunting that the segment I’d taped was going to air at three o’clock this afternoon, and then orders could start pouring in. At least I hoped they poured in. Everything was in motion, but I wouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief until the warehouse was full of all the products necessary to start shipping.

To add to that stress, I was a nervous wreck about seeing myself on TV. The last couple of days, I’d started freaking out that Signature Scent might bomb. I knew the show flashed the quantity remaining like a ticker at the bottom of the television screen, and I’d had a recurring nightmare that throughout the segment I only sold three boxes and there were 49,997 left after my hour was up.

I’d really wanted to stay home and watch the segment today by myself while I alternated between chewing my nails and hiding my face under a cover. But Olivia had organized a viewing party at her apartment. She’d been so kind and supportive, it was impossible to say no. So now here I was, Ubering downtown with two-dozen homemade cupcakes on my lap to watch the show with a dozen people from the office.

I’d obviously known the Rothschild family wasn’t poor, since their business was loaning money to other businesses, but when we pulled up to the address Olivia had given me on Murray Street, my breath caught. Wow. She lived in one of the new, fancy skyscrapers in Tribeca—a modern tower of curved glass that widened as it went up. The design was super sleek, the type of building featured in Architectural Digest or some other glossy magazine. Even the entrance was intimidating. It jutted out onto the street in an imposing way, as if to show people who had to move for whom. Stepping out of the Uber and looking up, I suddenly wished I hadn’t baked the cupcakes I’d brought and had instead picked up something more professional-looking from one of the dozen overpriced cupcakeries that had popped up all over the City the last few years. I also really wished Fisher hadn’t had to go out of town this weekend on business. I could use him by my side today.

I sighed and tried my best not to feel inferior just because I couldn’t even afford the enormous plantings outside the front door. Olivia’s apartment was on the fifty-third floor, but I had to check in at a desk in the lobby. The security guard gave me a keycard to slide into the elevator panel, rather than pushing a button. As soon as I inserted it, the doors slid closed and the fifty-three button illuminated. I took a deep breath as the fast-moving car climbed its way up, but with each floor that passed, my nerves became more and more frayed. When the doors opened, I’d expected to have a few minutes to collect myself in the hallway, but instead I stepped directly into Olivia’s apartment.

She greeted me with her usual bubbly enthusiasm and swamped me in a hug. “Eeep! I’m so excited! I can’t wait! You’re the first one here.”

“That makes one of us. I think I might throw up.”

Olivia giggled as if I were joking, but my stomach did feel pretty queasy at the moment. She ushered me from the entryway into the kitchen. However fancy I’d thought her apartment would be based on the building from the outside, I’d underestimated. The kitchen was beautiful, complete with high-end appliances, sparkling granite, and two big islands. But the living room was the showstopper.

“Wow. Your view is just…” I shook my head. “It’s incredible.”

Floor-to-ceiling windows lined the adjoining living room, showcasing sprawling views of the water and city.

Olivia waved it off. “View-shmew—these cupcakes look delicious. Do you mind if I have a bite of one now?”

I laughed. “Of course not. And I think you can have more than a bite. They’re actually sugar-free. I found the recipe on a diabetes website. I ate one for breakfast this morning while I was baking them, and they’re pretty damn good, if I say so myself.”

“You’re an angel!” She popped the lid off one of the plastic containers and chose a vanilla one with chocolate frosting. Peeling the paper off the bottom, she motioned to the giant windows I couldn’t take my eyes off of. “I used to think that was everything I wanted. And then Hudson bought his brownstone in Brooklyn last year. He has no view, but he has a little backyard, and the building has so much character. It feels like he lives in a real home. This place…” She shook her head and licked a line of icing off the top of the cupcake. “I don’t know… It just sort of feels like I’m staying at a luxury hotel or something. Charlie only stays with her dad a few days a week, and she already has friends who live on their block. I’ve lived here for two years, and I don’t know a single person in the building. I sort of feel like I live in an ivory tower up here.” She laughed. “Don’t tell Hudson I said that. I wouldn’t want to mess with our delicate dynamic. He thinks it’s his job to teach me about life, and I pretend I don’t need him to.”

I smiled. “Your secret is safe with me.”

A bell sounded overhead, and Olivia walked to an intercom system on the wall and pressed a button. “I have a delivery from Cipriani,” the voice said.

“Great. Send them up, please, Dave.”

Just as she released the buzzer, a man I recognized—though I hadn’t actually met him—walked out from a hallway on the other side of the living room. Ugh. I’d been so busy worrying about seeing myself on TV and how Signature Scent would do that I hadn’t stopped to consider that Olivia’s husband would be home on a Saturday afternoon. Of course I’d apologized to Olivia multiple times. For the most part, I didn’t feel embarrassed when I spoke to her anymore. We’d somehow been able to put what I’d done behind us. But I’d never spoken to her husband, and I prayed it wouldn’t be too awkward. Though the grin on his face as he strode toward the kitchen had me freaking out a little.

Olivia waved between us. “Mason, this is the guest of honor, Stella. Stella, this is my husband, Mason. Mase, the food is here. Why don’t you make Stella a drink while I deal with the delivery?”

My face heated with renewed shame as he extended his hand. “Nice to finally meet you.”