Page 16 of Off the Record

“Have you left yet?”

Charming. No greeting whatsoever. “I’m about to.”

“Can you stay? Or…have you eaten?”

“I just got off work,” I remind him.

“Sorry. I meant do you have dinner plans?”

“Some of the office people are getting together for drinks, but probably not for a few hours.” I shake my head, thinking of what Andrea said about Hudson’s lack of friends. Despite my better judgment, my heart gives a pang of sympathy. “Would you…uh…like to join us?”

Hudson is silent for a moment, the time stretching out. I’m grateful his immediate words aren’t trying to fire me, but this possible dinner invitation is questionable. His reputation makesme think he doesn’t have great motives, and itisFriday night. Then again, it could be an invitation for nothing more than brainstorming. I see Simone across the way getting into her car and raise my hand to wave.

“I’m not sure,” he finally says. “Can you come back up here? I’ll order some food.”

I reach my car and toss my scarf on the passenger seat. When I glance at the other end of the parking lot, Leo and Kyla are walking away from the elevator, holding hands. I look away, considering. “Is this a work meeting?”

“Are you enquiring if you’ll be paid overtime?”

“No, that’s not—” Ugh. I just want to keep my job. “Sure. I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Great. See you soon.”

“Okay.” I hang up and stand there, staring at my phone. He hadn’t said what he’d thought of my articles. What did I just agree to? More workshopping ideas that won’t come to fruition? I’m tired, I want a break from writing, and I don’t really want to try and think of more concepts tonight.

But I also want to keep my job. I close the car door, lock it, and head back inside.

The office isempty when I reach our floor. The windows darken as the sun sets, streaking pink and orange across the sky. I find Hudson in the conference room with his laptop open and a phone to his ear.

“Yes, two people,” he says into the phone while waving me in. “Allergies?” he asks me.

“None.”

“No allergies,” he repeats into the phone. “If you can throw in the—yes, I loved it last time. Add it to the menu full time and you have a customer for life.” Hudson laughs at whatever the other person says, and it’s the first time I’ve heard that sound. It’s rich, deep, and smooth like a molten lava cake. I want to hear it again.

Great, so I’m developing a crush on my boss. No biggie.

I take the seat across from him and pull out my computer, setting it up like we’re about to begin a meeting. Except it’s Friday afternoon in Nashville and the sun is leaving, making the office look dim. The lights are off in some of the rooms, and we feel eerily alone.

Hudson hangs up the phone, then does that thing where he looks at me and my ears start to ring with awareness. “I read the articles.”

“And you’re trying to gently find a way to fire me?” I joke.

“They’re brilliant, Paisley.”

Warmth blooms in my chest. His voice is so earnest, I could jump across the table and kiss him. The whole point of this iskeepingmy job, so I refrain. “Brilliant? They’re about a barten?—”

“A bartender and a fast food attendant, yes,” he says, nodding. “They’re so real and spirited. They have your voice.”

That warmth is now bubbling up, overflowing.

“I couldn’t identify it earlier, but I pulled up the Carnton article for comparison.” He rises, dragging his computer with him until he reaches the chair beside me and sits down. My Carnton article is open on the screen. “You’ll notice the segments I highlighted weeks ago for standing out are specifically about Maggie, the woman who walked you through the property. I mentioned that at our first meeting, but at the time I didn’t realize it’s not her take on Carnton that’s interesting. It’s justher. It’s so obvious—I should have noticed it before.”

He waits for me to look, but I can’t get over what he said. He only took over the company fourdaysago. I shift in the chair to face him. “Weeks ago?”

“Um, yeah.” He looks between me and the computer, like he doesn’t understand why I’m confused.

“When you came to the meeting about the columns last month, you had already been researching each of us?”

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