Page 94 of Scandalous Contract

“Thank you.” My mouth watered at the smell of salted caramel.

“I’ll head back up front.”

“Remember to stay away from the front doors when it starts to get bad.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he told me.

Smiling, I used my chin to nudge the bag open. Inside were two large blueberry muffins with the crystallized sugar on top.My favorites.And the smell was divine. This was just what I needed to get my morning started. And I didn’t have to wonder who they were from. I already knew.

Smiling, I mumbled to myself, “How does he get it right every time?”

“So you really are dating someone?” a deep voice said from next to me.

I’d forgotten entirely about Hudson. I side-eyed him as he stared at my coffee.

“At first, I thought you were sending yourself those gifts.”

“Why would I do that?” I asked, frowning.

He shrugged. “To make everyone think you had someone.”

I didn’t have someone. But I won’t lie, this was starting to feel like I did. How did he know I would be here this early? And how did he know exactly what to get me? I smirked. Julian Cattaneo has been spying on me. Why the hell wasn’t I mad?

“You’ve never smiled like that for me,” Hudson mumbled.

And.... the smile was gone. This man could fuck up a wet dream. I faced Hudson.

“And you’ve never once remembered something that I like,” I countered.

There was that tick in his jaw again. “Trying to remember everything you like would be like studying for the bar exam or something. Most women are simple. They’re happy that youthoughtof giving them something, so they don’t care what it is. Why do you have to be so picky?”

“Picky? Wanting a man to listen to me and retain the information I tell him is being picky? Wanting a man to care enough to notice the small details is being picky?”

I swear they didn’t make men like my father anymore. Well, there was Julian...

“I give and give to you and you never even care,” Hudson complained.

“For Christmas, I drew your name in the gift exchange,” I told him. “I asked you what you wanted and you said you’d like whatever I got you.”

“See, I’m not picky.”

“About two weeks before the exchange date, you and I were talking, and I saw that you weren’t wearing the cross necklace you normally wore, the one with your grandparents' names engraved on the back. You told me it had gotten stuck when you were leaning down, and you ended up losing the cross. What did I get you for Christmas?”

He swallowed. “You... You got me a new cross, exactly like the other one, with my grandparents' names on it.”

“Yes, I did. Because I listen when you talk to me. Marcy pulled my name, but you switched with her because you wanted my name. She told you that she’d already asked me what I wanted, and I told her I wanted a gift card to that new restaurant on the boulevard.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I remember her mentioning that.”

“What did you get me?”

“I... I got you a great gift, Stefanie.”

“You got me a necklace with your birthstone on it.”

Why the hell would I want his birthstone? It felt kind of creepy to me. Kind of voodooish. I never wore it.

“I gave it to you so that a part of me could always be with you. It was thoughtful.”