Good. She had a feeling Hudson wouldn’t be underestimating her again anytime soon. Score one for Make Up.

She turned to June and gestured to the take-out containers. “Shall we enjoy our dinner?”

June helped herself to a veggie taco. “Mmm. The view, the music, the ambience … what’s not to love?”

“Exactly.” Annika poured them each a glass of tamarind agua fresca, studiously keeping her eyes away from the other side of the rooftop, as much as she wanted to peek. The trick was to appear casual, totally in control, even though she knew Hudson, wherever he was, would get wind of what she’d done fairly quickly. And then he’d begin to uncoil.

She sipped her agua fresca, unable to keep the smile off her face. “I can’t even hear their obnoxious music anymore, can you?”

“Nope, not a note.” June swallowed, and said quietly, “Incoming.”

Trying to hide her delight, Annika looked over her shoulder to see Hudson striding toward them, his eyes laser-focused on her. He’d changed out of his blue T-shirt and was wearing a Ralph Lauren button-down, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He moved surely through the space, as if he was perfectly confident he was exactly where he was meant to be.

Annika’s smile faltered. Shit, he looked really pissed. She straightened her shoulders and brushed down her mermaid skirt, attempting to appear calmly confident, even though her palms were dampening slightly.

“What the hell?” Hudson said when he was close enough to speak to her. His eyes were spitting sparks; his face was dark, a sky before a thunderstorm. Strands of blond hair blew against his forehead, but he made no motion to smooth them away. A gentle, warm breeze blew across the rooftop, carrying his scent to her. He smelled incredible. He must’ve slapped on a little cologne—something that made her think of ocean and sand and wind and sea salt.

“Hello to you, too,” she said, raising her glass at him.

His voice was low, but throbbing with annoyance. “Annika, this is my event.” His eyes roved over the band, her gigantic sign, and the table. June gave him a placid smile. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“The building manager said you only rented that half of the rooftop,” Annika said, repeating the same lines she’d rehearsed in anticipation of this very confrontation. She batted her eyelashes. “Is that not true?”

“Yeah, but that’s because no one else was on the books.”

Annika shrugged. “I guess you should’ve been a little less cheap and sprung for the whole rooftop anyway.”

He stepped forward, closing the gap between them, towering over her even more because she was sitting. Annika’s breath caught in her throat, but she was determined not to let him see. “I thought you were all mad about me supposedly stealing your idea. So who’s stealing whose idea now?”