Page 111 of Bull Rush

“Charlotte, right?” I hold out my hand, and she takes it, giving it a delicate shake.

“Yes. Ramsey, and this must be your wife?” Charlotte looks at Hazel, and they exchange their own greetings.

“Something like that. We’re in the midst of, um… renewing our vows.” Haze struggles for a good explanation, but I suppose it’s as good as any.

“Ah. Complicated. I’m familiar with how that can be.” She braces her hands on the back of the chair, and before I can say another word or sit down again, the door she came through opens once again, and the owner walks through.

I’ve never seen him up close in person. Only on TV or when I went to a Queen’s Guard game and the camera had panned to his box. But the sharp inhale of breath that comes from Hazel’s direction when he walks in the door would make me jealous if I didn’t already know how in love with me she is.

He looks like every bit the descendant of old money. Perfectly styled blond hair and crystal-blue eyes. A jawline that could cut glass and a tailored suit that rivals anything I’ve ever seen Grant wear. I may not like them, but I’d spent enough years in the pros to spot them.

“Mr. Stockton!” He flashes a bright white smile at me as he holds his hand out.

“Mr. Kelly,” I say in answer.

“Please. Just call me Hudson.” He turns to Hazel. “Mrs. Stockton, I presume?”

Hazel just nods and shakes his hand, quietly smiling like she’s meeting a celebrity. I’m going to give her a hell of a lot of shit for this later. Hudson pulls Charlotte’s chair out for her, and she sits as he invites us to sit across from him.

Just as we do, the bartender reappears with our drinks, setting them down on the table. He turns to Hudson andCharlotte, taking their orders before he disappears out the door again.

“That’s my favorite.” Charlotte nods to the drink in front of Hazel.

“It sounded amazing.”

“It is.” Charlotte nods, and then she looks to Hudson, who smiles at her, a silent exchange in the look they give each other before he leans back in his seat and returns his attention to me. The suit I’m wearing immediately feels three sizes too tight as I consider how out of my depth I am.

“I’m afraid Grant didn’t give me many details about tonight,” I apologize for my ignorance.

“Ah well… It’s quite simple, really. Charlotte here…” He looks at her again in a way that betrays something much deeper than a business relationship and stretches his arm over the back of her chair. “Informed me that our families have a mutual problem that needs to be snuffed out.”

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