Page 26 of If You Were Mine
“That’s true. Is he questioning you? Thinking that you can’t do the job?” I asked, angry on her behalf. Hudson did have an attitude problem, but I always thought it was for a reason. Not that I knew that reason. The Cages all had their own secrets.
“I don’t know.” She threw her hands up in the air. “It’s not like he tells me what those grunts mean. He just shows up, asks to see what he always does. The stupid paperwork that he can send over to the others. And then he stares.”
I met Ivy’s gaze again, intrigued.
Scarlett raised her chin. “No. Don’t give each other that look. It’s not like that kind of staring. I know when a man is hitting on me. Or wants me. That’s not it. I promise you. It’s more that I confuse him.”
“Probably because you don’t swoon at the sight of a Cage,” Ivy said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“That is true. There’s only one of us that swoons at the sight of a Cage.”
At her smirk, I scowled. “Hey. Don’t bring me into this.”
Ivy burst out laughing as we took a turn to go down Main Street. We were heading to the local restaurant, where we could eat outside, and Lucky would be welcome.
“You’re the one who got all defensive. I didn’t even say your name.”
“What else did Hudson do?” I asked, not doing a great job at changing the subject.
Scarlett didn’t even bat an eye, which surprised me. “He just…he always catches me at my worst. And I hate it. It makes me feel like I don’t know what I’m doing even though I’m good at it. I’m not egotistical, I’m not an asshole. I know I have room for growth, but I’m damn good at my job, and he only sees the worst.”
“What happened?” Ivy asked. We took a seat outside of Cage Free, the local diner, and I tied Lucky up where he would be comfortable. There was already a doggy bowl full of water, and I smiled at how happy my precious boy looked.
Scarlett glanced over her shoulder and leaned forward to whisper. “I just had to deal with this stupid thing with the resort guest, and I ended up with coffee all over my shirt. And then when I went to go change, I hadn’t realized that Hudson was in the room.”
My lips twitched. “So you flashed your boss?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know if he was looking. But as soon as I ran away, which I’m not proud of, he didn’t even dare to follow. And then, I was trying to work on four projects at once, because two of my people had called in sick, and when I bent over to keep a small child from knocking over one of our precious vases, another kid ran me into a wall, meaning the vase fell anyway.”
I cringed. “Oh no.”
“Oh yes. Hudson, of course, caught it, and me.” She rolled her eyes. “Because of course Hudson Cage can do everything. The vase was fine, and I didn’t hit the floor. And the parents were all apologetic. Not to me, mind you, but to the precious Cage.”
“Did he say anything about it?”
“Of course not. He grunted, glared at me, and stomped away. I cannot wait for Isabella to take over.”
“It sounds like I need to,” a familiar voice said as she walked up.
“Oh. Hi. Pretend you didn’t hear any of that. And I’m totally professional.” Scarlett’s face turned the color of her namesake.
Isabella just shook her head before taking her seat. “First, sorry I couldn’t show up for the walk. I had three online meetings in a row, because for some reason the love of my life and I decided to live in two places, so traveling is trying to break me. However, I might’ve heard some of it. I’ll take over for Hudson soon. I wasn’t planning on doing it for a while because I thought you two had it covered, but I can. If there’s a problem.”
Scarlett shook her head and began to play with her napkin. “No, no, it’s fine. I was overreacting. Plus, as soon as I stood up and tried to talk with the family, my boyfriend walked in and apparently had seen Hudson’s hands on me, and well, it was another scene. I’m sorry. Your brother’s great.”
“Are you okay?” Isabella asked, voicing the same question Ivy and I clearly had.
“Oh, I’m fine.” Scarlett smiled brightly. “Promise. Ronan has always growled about the Cages more than I do.” She winced again. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m just now learning how to be a Cage, and I don’t know Hudson that well. I’m still learning about these new brothers of mine. So I don’t know why he growls like he does, or why it seems like the Cages that grew up here during the summers seem to know more than they’re saying.”
“Hudson was always pretty doom and gloom when we were younger,” Ivy put in. “At least, in that broody sort of way.” Her lips pressed into a line.
“And he was deployed a few times,” I added. “Though I was really too young to know what that meant at the time.”
Hudson was a full decade older than me, and Dorian was eight years older than me, so it wasn’t as if I could throw stones at my own crushes. But it had never been Hudson for me. No it had been my brother’s best friend instead.
“He changed when he got back, but it’s not like we really knew him.”
