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“Sawyer, welco before turning to Clover “Doesn’t your bride-to-be look beautiful?”

“She always does,” Sawyer said, sounding genuine

Her heart cramped because of course he was She didn’t doubt the attraction between them, only what it meant outside of the bedroom

“Agreed” Hudson leaned toward her and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial level, “May I have this dance beforedetails?”

She laughed at the absurdity of it all, the sound co out harsh even to her own ears “A perfect idea”

The dance floor was crowded but Hudson navigated through the couples to a less crowded corner as if he’d been doing it his whole life, which he probably had As he led them into a turn, she took a hard look at him He was jus

t as handsoht where his brother was dark But behind the flirtatious blue eyes and reputation as one of Harbor City’sNot that it mattered She wouldn’t be around to tease the truth out of hihtened every tilanced at the table where Sawyer and Helene sat, he had so to say

“You et it out now,” Clover said

“Direct” He gave her a curious look “Good That’ll help”

Oh It was going to be that kind of talk “It always helps to speed the process along”

“Agreed” He nodded andcouples “Is this all still fake between you two?”

Her steps faltered, but she recovered quickly “What do you mean?”

“The engagement, you two as a couple?”

Acid gurgled in her sto an emotional breakdown of a sort, she just nodded

“Shit” Hudson griht” He must have seen the confusion on her face because he went on “The job ad I was the one who pulled your resuhty on the outside, but every trip you took wasn’t about just having fun You were teaching English, helping to build businesses, and saving endangered animals Underneath all of that adventurous spirit was a woood in the world, she just needed to find her purpose It seemed to me like you’d be the perfect match for my brother who seems all fucked up in the head about his purpose because it’s not Carlyle Enterprises—or at least that shouldn’t be the sum total of it”