Devoured - Cathryn Fox Page 0,68

stretch my legs, which are still protesting the long flight from London, where I head up the UK division of BLD Global Ventures, or Bold, as we affectionately call it. ‘It’s just as well that we’re such good friends. We’ll work out any differences of opinion, as we always do.’

We’ve stayed friends and partners by acting as if our sexy encounter had never happened. I try not to think too hard about our complex little trio, but I suspect we were both conscious of protecting our relationship with Sterling.

My relationship with my ex is convoluted after our amicable divorce. Our marriage was short—both of us realised almost instantly that we’d rushed into it. I was desperately seeking the happy-ever-after my siblings had, and Sterling seemed intent on proving something to his overcritical stepfather. We were equally to blame, so we shelved our disillusionment and hurt. We valued the growing business we’d started after university, and we’d just entered into a lucrative partnership with Hudson. We couldn’t allow the divorce to ruin all that. Now it helps that we live on separate continents.

Hudson pushes his chair away from the table and swivels to face me. ‘Sterling and I can always rely on you to keep us in check.’ He rests his chin in his hand and shoots me a rare look of indulgence. Perhaps he too is enjoying the different dynamic in Sterling’s absence.

Interesting...

‘I’m glad to hear you acknowledge that you can’t spell Bold without D.’ I grin, delight warming my blood. Sparring with Hudson has never felt this sexually charged.

The sound of his throaty chuckle skitters down my spine, setting off a series of delicious shivers. Clearly I’ve sorely neglected my sex life of late. But working with two driven, self-assured men requires constant impetus. Hudson in particular will settle for nothing less than global domination. One of the reasons he’s pushing to expand Bold farther into Europe and Asia.

‘It’s the B in BLD that’s most important.’ He flicks off the screen we’ve used for our meeting, as if he’s won the argument, and then heads to the bar. ‘Drink?’

I nod, relaxing now business is done for the day. ‘Scotch, please.’

He pours generous measures from a crystal decanter into two glasses and grins. On any other man, his arrogance would be repellent. But playful Hudson, a sight rarely seen, could charm a nun out of her knickers. And he more than compensates for his God-given confidence with his wit, his razor-sharp intelligence and his ruthlessly insightful business mind.

Despite that, I can’t allow him to think he’s bested me with the naming order. ‘Keep believing that if you like.’

He quirks an eyebrow, his expression irresistibly roguish. ‘Everyone knows the first initial takes precedence. That’s why Sterling fought so hard for the spot and got stuck in the middle.’ Sterling’s surname, Lombard, accounts for the L in BLD.

We laugh, more sparks bouncing between us. Spirited exchanges are how we’ve managed our attraction all these years since we first met, when I was engaged to Sterling. Neither of us would risk our highly successful multinational company for something as clichéd as meaningless sex.

I join him at the comfortable seating area, which faces his corner office views of Tokyo. The sky has lost its pink and orange hues of earlier and turned drab shades of grey, which dampen the vista of the Imperial Palace gardens thirty-two floors below and the glow of Tokyo Tower.

‘Well, as your equal partner, I heartily contest that.’ I take the tumbler he offers, my fingers unintentionally brushing his.

Our eyes meet. I watch him over the rim of my glass, excitement fizzing in my veins. I’m taking a gamble by flirting back. Or maybe I started it. I take a sip of the top-shelf liquor, allowing its potency to deliver a delicious thrill.

‘Of course you do,’ he says.

I love that he knows me so well. I’m the youngest of five siblings. The baby. I’m used to fighting battles, wrestling my share of attention and clamouring to be heard over the hubbub. I’ve never allowed coming last in the birth order, or in the company initials, to define or hinder me.

We settle side by side on his sumptuous sofa. I hold his eye contact in challenge, enjoying the playful direction our trivial argument has taken. ‘Don’t you agree that it’s the climax that’s the best part?’

Hudson brings out my competitive side like no one else, perhaps because in business he himself is so cut-throat. So audacious. So relentless. In truth, neither