“Really,” Emily said, with a bit of an evil smile. “That’s a pretty idealistic view of success, wouldn’t you say, Hudson?” She was clearly trying to start something. “Do you think it’s realistic to run a business that way?”

Annika looked full-on at Hudson, ready for him to unleash his arrogant sarcasm on her. But his eyes were soft as he regarded her. “Is it idealistic?” he asked, almost wonderingly. “Sure, I guess.” He shrugged and continued, “Is Make Up clearly the more moral company? I’d say yes. Does Annika do more good in the world than I do? Again, the answer is yes. Hands down.”

Annika’s mouth popped open. Of all the thousand and twenty verbal insults she’d been mentally preparing for Hudson to lob at her, she hadn’t expected him to actually say something so … so nice. “Um—” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, unable to think of a single thing to say. She’d been disarmed. Completely, thoroughly disarmed.

Wait a minute. Was this just one of his verbal kung fu tricks? Giving her a compliment to keep her on her toes? Saying seemingly nice things with a patronizing, arrogant edge? Maybe she’d just missed the edge because she’d been mentally preparing a response. “I don’t need your pity,” she snapped. “Make Up’s doing just fine being the more moral company. Moral doesn’t equal unsuccessful or pathetic, Hudson.”

She expected him to laugh, to have a pithy rejoinder at the ready. Instead, his eyes widened just a touch, and he looked almost … hurt. It was a minute change, and probably wouldn’t be noticed by anyone else except her, but he looked like he’d really meant what he’d said, like he’d put a bit of himself out there, and she’d just shit all over it. What the hell was going on? Annika blinked, feeling disoriented—which wasn’t uncommon for her around Hudson Craft.

Emily grinned. “Well, on that note: Are you both ready to go head-to-head at the EPIC pitch event in Napa? From what I hear through the tech grapevine, Make Up and Break Up are two of the top contenders. I’ve heard the board of judges has a soft spot for businesses that have a philanthropic or humanistic bent, Annika, but on the other hand … Break Up’s been steadily getting more and more popular. It has a working business model. Who wouldn’t want to be part of all its success?”

“Break Up’s ready,” Hudson said, his confident smile back like it had never slipped at all. “We’re going to go in there and really dazzle those judges, Emily. It’s not our first time pitching at such a large-scale event.”