Come Down Under Read online

  Weirdly enough, that included all my rowdy nights out at the clubs. I hadn’t even gone out last night. I hadn’t had any desire or inclination to, either. It was the first time in months that I’d been home at night when Luke hadn’t been.

  After dropping Rose off, I’d considered calling up Shane or some of my other boys for a night out, but I just hadn’t been in the mood. I’d come home instead, and I’d been in bed before nine. On a Saturday fucking night.

  I didn’t regret it. An early night had actually been exactly what the doctor ordered. Well, an early night and working out some of the pent-up tension after my day with Rose. Three times.

  I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her after I’d dropped her off. In fact, I’d been so close to dragging her out for another activity just so I wouldn’t have to leave her just yet that I was pretty sure I’d racked up a few speeding fines while making my getaway.

  While I didn’t know her well yet, I really liked what I had gotten to see from her so far. She seemed to be the whole package, and it was a package I was afraid I might become obsessed with before the semester was over.

  Every hour I spent with her, I found myself wanting more of her, more time with her. Even just about the entire day yesterday hadn’t been enough.

  Earlier this morning, I’d even thought about calling to invite her out for breakfast. I’d stopped myself, though, because I’d already smashed through the personal-professional boundary twice in so many days I’d known her.

  A soft creak from the front door told me Mom was home. Sure enough, I heard her footsteps padding into the penthouse a second later.

  “Hey, honey,” she said when she spotted me, my fingers wrapped around a giant mug of ice-cold coffee. “What are you daydreaming about?”

  “Daydreaming?” I frowned. “I wasn’t daydreaming. I was thinking.”

  She arched a brow at me, lifting her feet to slide her heels off while giving the windows a pointed look. “No one sits in front of a glass wall staring out at the city so long that their drink goes cold when what they’re thinking about doesn’t constitute daydreaming. So I repeat, what did I catch you daydreaming about?”

  I sighed. “How did you know my drink had gone cold?”

  She rolled her eyes, taking a seat on the couch kitty corner to my armchair. “It’s obvious, dear. I can see from the ring on the inside, the way you’re holding the mug, and the lack of steam. It’s cold. Why are you stalling?”

  “I’m not stalling.” I scoffed, dragging my eyes away from hers and focusing on the blue sky outside again. “It was just a question. You sounded so sure when you said my coffee was cold. I wanted to know how you knew.”

  “I’m observant.” She narrowed her eyes at me, probably thinking I wasn’t watching her out of the corner of my eye. “Are you going to tell me what’s on your mind, or are you going to make me guess?”

  “It’s my new intern,” I admitted. Mom and I didn’t hide stuff from each other, which was another reason our living arrangements at the moment worked.

  But I also wanted to tell her about Rose.

  She frowned at my mention of an intern, though. “You didn’t tell me you’d started an internship program. I thought you said it was too much of a schlep.”

  “It is, but she was sent to us from Oxford. Shane set it all up months ago. He’s been looking for ways to expand our reach into the United Kingdom and came across a call for mentors. It all kind of snowballed from there.”

  “Oxford?” She sat back, looking impressed. “She must be smart. Aren’t all their students smart?”

  “I don’t know about all of them, but she is. She’s about to graduate with her doctorate in business.”

  Mom nodded slowly but then tilted her head to the side. “That’s great, honey. I think it was a really smart move to take her on, but what’s going on with you? Why are you thinking about her on a Sunday morning?”

  “Because she’s also ballsy, forward, funny, and gorgeous.” I watched as shock took hold of my mother’s expression. Her jaw loosened, her eyes opened almost comically wide, and she blinked too many times.

  But then a smile started spreading, and she leaned forward, rubbing her hands together eagerly. “She is, huh? Jude Hudson, why is this the first I’m hearing about this woman?”

  I shook my head. “Calm down, Mom. This is the first you’re hearing about her because it’s the first I’m really thinking about her. I only met her on Friday.”

  Eagerness shone from her eyes as she crossed her jeans-clad legs on the couch and turned her attention fully on me. “Tell me everything. Where is she from? What does she look like? Best of all, what did she do to make you say she’s ballsy? I like the sound of that.”

  “So do I.” That was the fucking problem. I lifted my foot to place my ankle on my knee, then rested my hand on it as I thought about where to begin.

  Since it wasn’t a very long story, I went back to Friday morning and started there. When I was done telling her pretty much everything I knew about Rose, Mom didn’t seem so eager anymore.

  “She’s going to be working directly under you for the six months?” Worry darkened her eyes.

  My brows pulled together. “Yeah. Why? Is that a problem?”

  “It’s not,” she said, taking a deep breath. “You’ll just have to be very careful. Office romances can go south quickly, and when they do, you’ll still be forced to see that person every day. In your case, you’ll be forced to mentor her for the rest of her time here, sharing an office and so on.”

  “I guess you’re right.” I ran my hands through my hair and gripped the ends of it, letting my head fall back against the chair. “I haven’t really thought too much about the possible consequences.”

  “I’d say,” she said quietly. Mom lapsed into silence for a minute after that before clapping her hands together and getting up. “But you have good instincts, Jude. I’m your mom, and I’m supposed to give you advice, but you should trust your gut. What does it tell you about this Rose?”

  What was my gut saying about Rose?

  I want her. And not just her body, either.

  I’d known I wanted to fuck since the first minute I’d laid eyes on her, but I never would have guessed that I might end up wanting more than just a good time from her. The realization was hard to swallow, but the truth was undeniable.

  “Well, let me leave you to keep daydreaming now that you’ve figured out what your gut says.” She smiled but didn’t ask what conclusion I’d come to. I supposed she already knew. Well, hopefully not about the fucking part of what I wanted.

  “Audrey’s late dropping Luke off again,” she pointed out before she left the room with her heels in her hand. “I’ll rustle up something for lunch that we can heat up for him when he gets home. I’m pretty sure he’ll be hungry when she drops him off again.”

  I lifted my wrist to check my watch, frustration bubbling up when I saw my mother was right. Audrey was supposed to have dropped our son off half an hour ago, but of course, there was no sign of them.

  As it tended to do, thinking about Audrey pulled my attention away from any possible good that might be going on in my life. In this case, it was Rose she was distracting me from.

  Another hour passed and Audrey was still a no-show. While I waited, I got more and more frustrated. Eventually, I got up and started pacing up and down the living room.

  When there was finally a knock at the door, I was there in a flash. Before I opened it, though, I dragged in several calming breaths. I didn’t want to get into it with Audrey in front of Luke, which meant I had to take a second to get my shit together.

  I shouldn’t have worried about losing it in front of him. As soon as I opened the door, he brushed past me and immediately headed to his bedroom without so much as a hello.

  I crossed my arms and glowered down at Audrey, who had her eyes glued to her phone screen. “What did you guys do this weekend?”

  She shrugged. “It was fine. He watched a bunc
h of movies and got his homework done.”

  “That’s it?” My brows swept up.

  Audrey looked away from her phone to scowl at me. “What do you mean, that’s it?”

  “You told him you had plans for him this weekend,” I whispered furiously, not wanting him to overhear me if he decided against staying in his room. “He was looking forward to it all week. You even told him you’d take him to see a game.”

  “Stuff came up.” She rolled her eyes at me like I was the one being unreasonable. “I can’t pull out all the stops every weekend, Jude. I have a life outside of this, you know?”

  My head nearly exploded. I couldn’t believe I’d ever had any sort of a soft spot for this woman.

  “He’s your son and you only see him four to six days out of the whole fucking month, Audrey. You can’t get your shit together to try to make him feel like you miss him for two weekends a month?”

  She just rolled her eyes again. “I’m so glad we’re not together anymore.”

  “Likewise.” I slammed the door shut in her face and took the stairs two at a time to check on Luke.

  His bedroom door was closed but not latched all the way. As I rapped my knuckles against it, it swung open. “Hey, Luke. Can I come in?”

  “Okay,” he called, his voice flat.

  I pushed the door all the way open to see him lying on his back on his bed. He was staring at the ceiling with his pillow hugged to his chest and his eyes glistening.

  “Hey, you.” Moving farther into the room, I took a seat at the foot of his bed and gently laid my hand on his shin. “Are you okay?”

  I knew he wasn’t, but I also knew I needed to let him communicate to me how he was feeling instead of making assumptions. It had been in some new-age parenting book Mom had made me read, but I was glad I had. So far, the advice had served me well.

  “What happened, buddy?” I asked when he didn’t say anything. “You seem upset.”

  Of course, he was. His mother had put him on the backburner yet again.

  It sucked. Hell, I was upset about it, too, and I hadn’t even been the one looking forward to everything she’d claimed to have planned.

  “We didn’t go to the game,” he said, still not looking at me. “Or to the museum.”

  “Yeah, I heard.” I squeezed his leg, then put my knee on his bed and lifted myself up so I could lean over to plant a kiss on top of his head. “I’m sorry, buddy. How about I make it up to you?”

  He let out a heavy sigh but nodded just as a tear snuck out of the corner of his eye. As always, it broke my heart to see him like this.

  If I’d thought it would help, I’d have gone to court right then and fucking there to get an order saying Audrey couldn’t see him again. The problem was that by the time their next visit rolled around, Luke would’ve forgiven her and would be excited to see her again.

  And around and around we go.

  “Just give me a few days to make something happen, okay, buddy?” I said, because I really didn’t know how else I could make it better. “I love you, Luke. Always remember that, okay?”

  He nodded. “Love you too, Dad. Do you think I can be alone for a little while?”

  “Sure.” I fucking hated it, but I’d always try to give him what he needed. Even when it wasn’t what I needed.

  What I needed every time this happened was an enormous hug, even if I’d never fucking admit it to anyone. Yeah, I’m just living the fucking dream, aren’t I?

  Chapter 17

  ROSE

  When I got to the office on Monday morning, there was a definite pep in my step. I was going to start this week out right, and I had the takeout baked goods in my hand to make sure it happened.

  Since these people had the best coffee machines in the world right here in their offices, I figured it would be silly to bring coffee. But I’d wanted to bring something, so I’d gone with freshly baked pastries.

  Can’t go wrong with that.

  As I looked up at the glass monstrosity that was now my office, I smiled. I probably looked like a crazy person just standing out there on the sidewalk smiling at a damn skyscraper, but I wanted to take a moment to appreciate what was about to happen.

  Or at least, what I hoped was about to happen. This felt like the start of my biggest adventure yet, and I wanted to take it all in.

  On Friday morning after meeting Jude, I hadn’t been at all sure how this was going to go. I might have checked out prices for a return ticket while I’d been in the bathroom just so I’d know, but the weekend had changed all that.

  For the first time since I’d gotten here, I got the sense that this might just be the best six months of my life. It was in my hands, and I was planning on making it happen.

  Greeting people and waving at those who looked familiar, I made my way across the lobby to the elevator. I met a lovely girl named Gabby who worked for a company on the twentieth floor. Once she stepped out, I whistled softly as it carried me all the way to the top.

  Jude was already in his office when I got there, even though I was an hour early. He looked as gorgeous as ever in another white button-down shirt, charcoal slacks, and his hair combed back, except for one dark lock that hung across his high forehead.

  I stepped inside with much more confidence than I had last week, holding up the paper bag with a smile forming on my lips. “Good morning, boss. Told you I wouldn’t be late. How was the rest of your weekend?”

  When his gaze snapped away from his laptop screen and landed on mine, his eyes narrowed and I realized instantly this was not the Jude I’d surfed with. This wasn’t even the obnoxious prick I’d met when I’d been in his office for the first time.

  Even that guy had had a light in his eyes. The man I was looking at now did not. He was in such a mood I could practically taste the bitter waves coming off him.

  “You’re not here to chat, are you?” he asked, his tone acidic as he moved his eyes back to his screen. “If you are, feel free to leave.”

  I paused, uncertain about how to handle the situation. “Just being friendly, but you know I’m here to work. What can I do?”

  He flicked a hand at the conference table on the other side of his office. A workstation had been set up at one end of it, presumably for me. “The password for the computer is HudsonTechGuest. One word. You should change it now that it’s going to be yours for the time being.”

  “Sure.” I took a deep breath, still eyeing my incredibly sexy boss. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “What?” He barely glanced at me, annoyance flickering in his eyes. “I don’t have time for this. Just get to work, would you?”

  “I would if I knew what work you wanted me to do. So far, all you’ve told me to do is to change my password.”

  Correction: incredibly sexy but also annoying and dismissive boss.

  Jude shoved a hand into his hair, exhaling loudly through his nostrils. “Once your password is changed, log into your emails. Shane shared our policy folder with you. Work through it. Let him know if you have any questions.”

  My eyebrows rose. “Let him know? Why can’t I discuss my questions with you, my mentor?”

  As I asked, I moved to the workstation and set down my purse and the treats I wouldn’t be sharing with him any longer. Jude scowled at his computer and screwed his eyes shut.

  “Do you ever shut up? How are we supposed to get any work done if you keep talking?”

  I glared at him, my hands on my hips. “How are you supposed to mentor me if I’m not allowed to talk to you?”

  “I didn’t sign up for this, okay?” he said curtly. “We’ll figure it out, but in the meantime, could you please just keep it the fuck down?”

  I rolled my lips into my mouth and bit down to keep from letting a snide retort slip out. Something was going on with him. I remembered Shane saying Jude was dealing with more than I knew, and I understood that, but I wouldn’t stand for him taking it out on me.

  “No, I won’t keep it the fuck down until I know
what’s going on here,” I said, crossing the office again and not stopping until I stood in front of his desk with my arms folded. “For all intents and purposes, today is my first day. As far as I was concerned, we left things on a perfectly pleasant foot on Saturday and now this? You won’t even discuss your own policies with me?”

  Jude’s chest expanded as he dragged in a deep breath. The sudden tension in the room was thick as he slowly slid his eyes away from his screen and brought them up to meet mine.

  He practically seethed. “Leave. I’m not in the mood for this.”

  I planted my feet and lifted my chin. “Neither am I, but I’m also not in the mood for you to treat me like garbage when we’re in the office and like a long-lost friend when it’s the weekend. I don’t vibe with that.”

  He arched an eyebrow, drawing his head back. “Vibe with that?”

  “It means—”

  “I know what it means,” he said sharply. “I’m just not sure what you’re not vibing with. Surely, you can’t mean that you don’t vibe with being asked to work in your workplace.”

  “That’s not what I mean and you know it,” I said firmly, locking eyes with him and trying to find something—anything—in his that would give me a hint about what had brought on this sudden attitude from him. “I’m here to work, and I want to work. But I’m also here to be mentored, not shunted around and not snapped at.”

  Jude gave me a long look before slowly lifting himself out of his chair. The whole situation was so tense and the way he looked at me was so fiery that it would have been hot if it wasn’t so annoying.

  He strode around the desk, then mirrored my posture by crossing his arms as well. Since he was almost a foot taller than me, I had to tip my head back to keep my eyes on his. It wasn’t ideal, but I also refused to look away first.

  This really seems to have become a thing between us at record-breaking speed.