Fucking hell…
Rosie brushes a patch of her elbow along mine, nudging me in the subtlest way she knows how, to let me know that she just heard Hudson’s comment too.
I bet her face is a picture, but I don’t look to see if I’m correct. I can’t.
I can’t physically make myself look away from Hudson.
Or the challenge he’s proposed.
If there’s one thing I’m certain about myself, it’s that I never, not ever, back down from a challenge.
Nor do I ever lose.
Tilting my head up to face his, I allow my lips to curl up at the edges. “Good to know.”
Hudson nods. If he expected me to back down, he certainly doesn’t show it. “On one condition.”
Should I weigh up the possibilities of what his said condition is? Probably.
Should I weigh up the pros and cons? Probably.
Should I just stick to my original plan and avoid Hudson at every cost? Probably.
But he’s piqued my interest…
I raise a manicured brow and let my question fly from past my lips. “Which is?”
“I need you to help me demonstrate how to squat using the weight rack. My client, Mitch, he’s having a bit of trouble and—”
“What makes you think I know how to squat with a weight?”
Hudson says nothing, but raises both of his brows, as if to say, “Come on, don’t play me for stupid.”
“Ask Rosie,” I say, immediately wishing I hadn’t. There’s something stirring inside of me which is jumping for joy that Hudson’s asking me and not anyone else.
Hudson shakes his head. “I’m askingyou, Giselle.”
I’m nothing but a puddle on the floor.
Oh my god.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah.” I bob my head in agreement. “Where do you want me?”
The bright overhead lighting of the gym makes it hard to miss the way Hudson’s pupils blow wide at my wording. I’d meant it in an innocent manner, but I’m starting to realise that Hudson Millen isn’t an innocent man.
Not in the slightest.
Rosie’s eyes are wide as I pat her upper arm, muttering a “I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Bitch, I’m holding you to that,” she whispers back, pressing her lips together in barely contained glee.
I take another moment to peer over at Hudson, watching the lats in his back flex and release as he speaks to a blonde-haired man in front of him.
Hudson jerks his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to me until both of the men are looking my way expectantly.
