He shot me a look. “They probably heard you all the way in China.”
“Hilarious.” I rolled my eyes as I stepped toward the door, but I turned back. “I’ve been thinking about us. About what we’re doing.”
His expression sobered. “What about it?”
“I enjoy working with you,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “We make a good team.”
“We do.”
“And I was wondering if maybe... if you might want to make it official.” I took a deep breath. “The partnership, I mean.”
He stared at me, and for a moment I couldn’t read his expression.
“You want to be business partners?” he finally asked.
“Maybe. Yes. I mean, we already are, kind of. But I was thinking about something more... permanent. I don’t know what it would look like exactly, but it might work.” The words were tumbling out now, faster than I could control them. “I’ve been working on the app I showed you. And I think with your experience and my creative vision, we could really make it work. We could build something together.”
There. It was out. My baby, my dream, the thing I’d been protecting and nurturing for years—I’d just offered to share it with Hudson Gable, a man I’d hated over six months ago.
“What about Knot Your Average Wedding?”
Well, at least he didn’t laugh in my face. “Like I said, I don’t have all the details figured out yet, and I haven’t talked to Anica. But?—”
He cut me off before I could swallow my aching feet. “We should talk about this after the wedding.”
Had I misread everything? Gone too fast, asked for too much?
But Hudson smiled, and the relief that flooded through me was almost as dizzying as the orgasm he’d just blessed me with.
“I’d like to talk about it,” he whispered. “I’d like it a lot.”
Before I could respond, there was a sharp knock at the door.
“Ms. Landry? Mr. Gable?” It was Penelope. Again.
Back to reality. Back to the wedding.
CHAPTER 14
He Jinxed It
MARI
The reception glittered like a storybook come to life. Fairy lights danced across crystal, laughter bubbled over the string quartet’s melody, and Lia and Manny couldn’t stop beaming at each other as they moved from table to table, greeting their guests. The Royal Gardens ballroom had transformed from merely beautiful to magical under our direction, and I allowed myself a moment of pure, unfiltered pride. We’d pulled it off. Perfectly. Even Devonna’s fuckbuddy Garrett looked bored, leaning against a wall with no one to toss out.
“You’re looking entirely too pleased with yourself,” Hudson said, appearing at my side with two flutes of champagne. He had loosened his tie, and his hair was a touch disheveled from running his hands through it.
“I have every right to be pleased with myself,” I replied, accepting the champagne. “We just orchestrated the wedding of the year without a single disaster. Not one drunk uncle. Not one sobbing bridesmaid. Not even a minor cake catastrophe.”
“The night’s still young.”
“Don’t you dare jinx us, Gable.” I clinked my glass against his. “To perfect weddings and brilliant partnerships.”
Something flickered across his face. It vanished so quickly I might have imagined it.
“Speaking of partnerships,” I ventured, the bubbles from the champagne giving me courage, “have you thought any more about what I said earlier? About the partnership and the app?”
Hudson’s shoulders tensed. “Mari, about that?—”
