Free Fixed on You by Laurelin Paige Page A

enough to touch without much movement on
my part. “My mother is hosting a charity fashion show on Sunday. That will be
our first outing as a couple.”
    “Okay.” I crossed my leg over the
other, his close proximity making me fidgety. And while I was so affected by
him, I realized he’d been nothing but business since I’d arrived. Had his move
on me the night before been a way to insure I’d accept his proposition? If so,
he was a total ass.
    “Your loans will be written off
as of nine a.m. Monday morning. A written confirmation will be sent to you.”
    “Don’t you want to wait and see
if we pull this whole thing off first?” I hadn’t meant to come off snotty.
Well, not entirely. I was beginning to feel like a deal he was negotiating. I
didn’t like it.
    “I’m really not worried about it,
Alayna.” Hudson seemed on edge as well. “But if you prefer, I’ll postpone the
write-off by one week.”
    “Fine, whatever. Do I sign some
agreement or something?”
    “I’d rather there isn’t a paper
trail on this.”
    “But if anyone questioned my
loans being paid off—“
    “I would pay off my girlfriend’s
loans.” Of course he would. “And any other debt. Do you have other debt?”
    “No.” I had a Visa I’d charged
up. He didn’t need to know about that. “Is that all?”
    Hudson shrugged, the gesture
out-of-place for such an assured man. “Unless you have any other questions.”
    I hesitated to ask, but I had to
know. “When we’re together, in public, I mean, I can hold your hand and…kiss
you?” I peered at him through my mascara thick lashes.
    The corner of his lip twitched. “I
expect you to. Often.” Um, wow. “Anything else?”
    Thinking about kissing him, I ran
my tongue over my lower lip. “No.”
    “Then the business portion of
this meeting is done.” He stood and moved back around to his side of the desk.
He removed his suit jacket and hung it on the back of his chair. Fuck—the vest,
tight across his torso, showing his lean muscular middle—yeah, it was
distracting.
    Hudson stood in front of his
chair and leaned on his desk, his palms flat in front of him. He stared at me
for several seconds, and I itched to know what he was thinking. When he spoke,
his tone was low and even. “In about two minutes, Alayna, I’m going to come
around this desk and kiss you until you’re wet and gasping for air.”
    Oh, wow.
    “But first, let me clear up one
thing that I suspect may be an issue. This charade is mostly about me
convincing my mother. I will be saying and doing things—romantic things,
perhaps—that are not genuine. I need you to remember that. Out of the public
eye, I will seduce you. That will be genuine, but it can never be misconstrued
as love.”
    “Because you’re incapable of
love.” My voice sounded meek and flat.
    “Yes.”
    Curiosity pulled me to lean
forward. “Why do you believe that?”
    Hudson straightened and removed
his glasses, setting them on the desk. “I’m twenty-nine years old and have
never had any inclination toward a woman other than to have her in my bed. I
don’t do romantic relationships. I’m married to my work.” He walked slowly
around his desk toward me. “That, and casual sex, are what fulfill me.”
    I sorted through the oddity of
the situation in my mind. Hudson Pierce wanted sex. With me. But not a
relationship. But he wanted his mother to believe he had a relationship. With
me. So that she didn’t realize her son was incapable of love. Which he was.
    The whole thing had me spinning
in a circle.
    And the worst part was that I
knew that I wasn’t capable of the casual relationship he was demanding.
    Except…I thought back on the
other category two men I’d been involved with in my life—the men that I’d been
too attracted to. Joe, Ian, Paul—they’d all wanted a relationship in the
beginning. If they hadn’t, if they had made a declaration from day one that
they didn’t want more, would it have made a difference in