Little smartass. My phone vibrates again before I’m able to respond.
Rae: Fine. I give. You caught me. Yes, I’m still willing to help you. What do you have in mind?
My fingers fly over my keyboard and I’ve hit send before I can take it back.
Me: Have coffee with me tomorrow? We can talk then.
Rae: Sure. Where and when?
Holy shit. I just asked Rae out!
“Oooh! You said a bad word! Pay up!” Joe exclaims next to me.
Oh hell. Apparently I said that out loud.
“Dang, kid. I can’t catch a break with you.” I dig a quarter out of my pocket and hand it over. She closes her tiny hand around it and holds it to her chest like it’s the most precious treasure she’s ever received.
Me: 10 AM? We can meet at Perk.
Rae: Done. See you then.
Score! I do a fist pump, bouncing around a few times.
“You’re weird,” Joey says, giving me side-eye.
“Whatever. Where do you think you get it from?” I stick my tongue out.
She taps her finger to her chin, just like she’s seen me do a thousand times when I pretend to think on something. “True.”
I laugh and tell her it’s time for bed. She complains, but I finally get her in there.
I’m on cloud nine as I close her bedroom door and head down the hall to my soon to be old room. I still can’t believe that any day now I’ll be living in my own house, a house that I own.
Don’t get me wrong, my mom has been a godsend these last few years, allowing me to live at home and save up enough money for a sizeable down payment. Hell, even when a last minute electrical issue popped up, she didn’t complain that Joey and I weren’t out by our planned move-out date. Instead, she hooked me up with a good friend of hers who needed someone to watch his sublet while he found a new permanent tenant. She said it was my space to use for quiet time before I don’t have it anymore.
So, I stay in the apartment about two or three nights a week to make sure everything is good with it, though my time is still mostly spent at my mom’s.
When it comes down to it, I’m a twenty-four-year-old single father and business owner. I should be out on my own, taking care of my own priorities, and not relying on my mom so much. I don’t overload her or anything, but it’s about time she moved on with her life and lived for herself for once—not looking after me and Joey all the time.
It’s time we all moved on and started living our lives again, me included.
After a quick shower, I settle into bed. I’m close to being asleep when light spills over my face. I crack open one eye to find Joey standing in my doorway.
“What’s up, bug? Bad dream?”
“No. I just missed you.” My heart skips a beat.
“Well, come on then. Hop in,” I say, lifting up the blanket and scooting over what little I can. Joey’s only seven, so space isn’t really an issue. Good thing, too, because this bed is only a twin.
“Thanks, dude.” Joey yawns as she climbs into bed, curls up into a ball, and snuggles up close to me.
“I love you, kiddo.”
“I love you more, Daddy.”
“You little liar.”
“You big liar.”
I fall asleep with a smile plastered on my face.
9
Rae
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“Hurry the fuck up, Hales! I have shit to do!” I yell through the bathroom door.
“Go poop somewhere else!”
“I said shit to do. Not shit to take!”
“You can still go somewhere else.”
Haley’s been in the bathroom for the last thirty minutes doing God knows what. It’s pissing me off because I’m supposed to be meeting Hudson in twenty minutes at a coffee shop that’s almost ten minutes away. As soon as I was done with my shower, she skidded in there and locked the door behind her.
“Calm your lady bits, little girl! I’m finishing up now!” she yells back. I roll my eyes because “finishing up now” probably means about ten more minutes for her.
Of course I’m right—eight minutes later, she finally comes out. I glare at her as I rush inside to brush my teeth and run a comb through my still wet hair, pulling it back into a tight ponytail. I swab on some mascara and decide I look decent enough in my plain white t-shirt and dark skinny jeans. It’s obviously not going to get any better since I have to leave in about two minutes if I want to make it on time.
Even after speeding a little, I’m still about four minutes late. I rush inside and frantically start looking around for Hudson. When I don’t see him, my hopes are dashed. Did he forget?
I take a seat at an open table and lay out some of the notes I managed to make last night after work. I check my phone as I’m looking over everything. He’s ten minutes late and only has another five before I leave.
My phone buzzes. I snatch it up quickly, hoping it’s Hudson with a good excuse. It’s not. It’s Maura, who I made the mistake of telling I was meeting Hudson this morning.
Bestie (NOT PERRY): Wellllllll?
I laugh, because the fact that it says “Not Perry” next to Maura’s number means she got ahold of my phone and changed her name…again. She and Perry have this war going when it comes to who gets to be my best friend. I’ll never tell Maura this, but Perry wins, though only slightly.
Me: Can’t talk right now. We’re about to have coffee. Call you soon. x
I switch my phone to silent as the door to Perk flies open.
“I am so damn sorry, Rae! I had to take care of something at home. I swear I’m usually on time. I promise,” Hudson rushes out, throwing himself down into the chair across from me.
He’s looking at me with those beautiful ocean-colored eyes. They’re still perfect. He’s still perfect.
Chill, Rae. He’s just a guy, a possible client at that. You’ve been on one accidental date, that’s it.
He frowns. “You’re mad.”
I realize I haven’t said a word to him since he sat down at the table. I’ve been too busy staring.
“I’m not, really. It’s fine. I was four minutes late myself, and I’m usually not late, so there’s no reason I should hold it against you.”
Hudson sinks back into the chair, relieved. “Thank God. I thought you were gonna be so pissed and refuse to work with me, which would suck because I really do need your help.”
“Oh, so this is a work date? Not a date date?” I put on my best innocent face and bat my lashes at him.
He freezes, and all the color in his face drains.
If he’s going to be late, I’m going to have some fun with it. I let my eyes water and bite my lip, making it seem like I’m holding in some serious tears. “I just…I thought… Never mind,” I say, turning my attention to the window to gain some sort of composure because I’m about to lose it. Once I have myself under control, I turn back to a still very pale Hudson.
“Uh, I…umm…shit. Rae, listen…I didn’t mean this as a date, just a…” He trails off in a state of confusion, doing that fish thing with his mouth again. He clears his throat and attempts to form an actual sentence.
Laughter bubbles up and spills—ungracefully, I might add—from my mouth at his attempts. I think there’s a snort in there somewhere too.
Hudson begins clearing his throat and shifting uncomfortably in his chair, glancing around the café, politely smiling at other customers who are openly staring since I’m not being all that quiet.
I swipe away the tears and take a deep breath, trying to sober up some.
“I’m fucking with you, Hudson. This is just a business meeting. Come on, you’re buying me a coffee for being so late—and so gullible.” I grab my purse and head to the front counter, leaving Hudson sitting at the table gaping at me.
I’m looking over the menu when I feel him approach. He steps into me, his warmth falling over me like a blanket. He’s nearly plastered against me, causing my breath to catch. There’s no way h
e doesn’t hear it.
“You’re something, Rae. I like it,” he says softly in my ear, his lips ghosting the shell of my ear.
Luckily the barista turns toward us, his words drowning out my shallow breaths.
My words are nonexistent, and I guess I stand there longer than I should because Hudson orders for me. “We’ll take two large black house coffees, please.”
We. The word rings in my ears, causing my heart to flutter and fill with warmth. That word sounds good…too good.
“Thank you. How’d you know what I wanted?”
“Shot in the dark. Can’t go wrong with plain coffee. You can change it if you want,” he says.
I shake my head and make my way to the pickup counter while Hudson pays. I take the opportunity to study him from afar. He’s dressed in simple jeans and a semi-tight short-sleeved baby blue shirt, making his eyes and messy dark hair stand out against his lightly tanned skin. He must have spent the day outside yesterday because he’s a bit darker than he was on Friday night.
“Here you go, gorgeous,” the barista says as he slides my coffee toward me and winks.
I thank him and look over in time to catch Hudson scowling at the poor high school kid. Laughing, I pour a generous amount of cream and sugar in my coffee, topping it off with a few shakes of cinnamon.
“Cinnamon?” Hudson crinkles his nose in disgust.
“Don’t hate. It’s delicious.” He still has a look of disbelief plastered on his face. I sigh. “Let me guess, black? No sugar or anything?”
He smiles, takes a sip of coffee, and lets out an exaggerated, “Mmmmm.”
As we settle down back at the table, I flip open my small folder of ideas. “So, I’m not entirely familiar with your situation at Jacked Up, but I did a little research after work last night.” I flip to my page of notes and begin reading off some facts I found. “It opened in 1985, so you’re coming up on your thirty-second anniversary. It’s locally owned, obviously. You have six employees total and don’t seem to have much of an online presence, or at least not one that I could easily find.”
“It’s one of the things I want to work on. Our website is shitty and in desperate need of an update. You couldn’t find us on social media because we don’t have any accounts, which I know we need to remedy. Currently we have one small billboard and a tiny spot in the phone book—not that anyone really uses that anymore—but, yeah, that’s about it.”
I cringe. “That’s it? Dang. That’s not a lot. Well, you’re already aware of your lack of social media presence, so that’s good. I know a few up-and-coming web designers that would be more than happy to help you out for a reasonable price. It’ll help build their portfolio and give you something fresh, so it’s a win-win for both of you. How do you feel about a whole new look?” I ask hopefully.
He thinks on it for a minute. I like it. I like that he takes the time to think about what’s best for his business instead of just jumping into anything.
“I can be persuaded. I’m not entirely fond of what we currently have, but I also don’t want it to turn into a huge expense.”
“We can talk with the graphic designer about that when we do the website. You’re going to want everything to blend together anyway, so updating it all at once would probably be best, and cheapest. Speaking of that, how about business cards? I know you have them, but have you thought about passing them around town? I mean, you’re a small business, and in little towns like this, the small guys like to stick together. I think if you talk with a few places about getting some counter space for business cards, it could be good.”
Hudson nods. “Yeah, I think a few places might be open to doing that. Could work out well for both of us, too. I’m liking this, Rae. Anything else?”
“Hmmm…well, other than what we’ve already hit on, which I think would help a lot, I would strongly suggest considering getting rid of your wasted space in the phone book and put that money into advertising in the local paper and possibly even those little free thrifty magazines. Maybe even take out a few spots in Boston? For all we know they could have some real shitty auto shops over there, so it wouldn’t hurt too much to stretch your advertising area.”
He takes another moment to think, and then nods again. “I like this. I like it all. You have some great, small ideas I didn’t think of that could help get the word out about the shop a little more. I have to be honest, Rae, I was nervous to hear your thoughts. I wasn’t sure how we could help boost the business in a way that wouldn’t cost me a fortune, but I think you’ve managed to throw out some great ideas I can work with.”
His compliments make me blush a little. “You’re welcome. It was no problem at all. I even did a little research on ad space prices,” I say, handing him the folder.
He eagerly takes it and begins looking over the info I’ve gathered. I can see the approval on his face, and damn if it doesn’t make me feel like I’m floating among clouds.
After several minutes, he smiles to himself. Then he turns the charm my way. “How about we go on a real date now? Not a business meeting, not a coffee date, but an actual date date?”
HUDSON
“Please.” It leaves my mouth before I can stop it.
I just asked Rae on a date, even though I didn’t plan on ending this business meeting doing so, and she’s sitting here staring at me with a confused look on her face.
In reality, dating is the last thing I need to be adding to my hectic life, so maybe I shouldn’t have asked her, but…I wanted to. I had to. There’s no doubt in my mind now that I have to see where this…connection or whatever it is we have goes.
But she’s not saying anything. Maybe I jumped the gun? Maybe she doesn’t want to date me now…
Fuck. I’m her client now. That has to be it.
“Shit. Sorry. Just forget I said—”
“Yes.”
“—anything. It was a—wait, what?”
“I said yes, Hudson. I’d love to go out on a date with you. One that isn’t about a business project and that I can be prepared for. One that’s not with Maura or Tanner. Yes,” she says again.
“You said yes.”
She chuckles. “I did. Why are you so surprised? You asked me this on Friday night. I wasn’t going to let you off the hook with a business meeting/coffee date, you know.”
Her teasing eases the nerves racing through me. “You’re right. I don’t know. I just thought maybe you wouldn’t want to with us potentially working together.”
“Potentially? As if. I have you hook, line, and sinker and you know it.”
Though she means it in terms of business, she has me in other ways too. I don’t even know this girl but feel the strangest connection to her, like her car was meant to break down up the road from my shop, like she’s supposed to fit somewhere in my world, no matter how crazy it sounds.
I peer over at her to find her staring at me, her green eyes lit up with joy. “You do, Rae. You do.”
10
Rae
I shouldn’t like Hudson as much as I do, especially since I just met the guy, but I can’t help feeling a connection to him. I have no idea why, but he feels…safe.
I like safe.
“How about dinner at my place on Wednesday?” he asks hopefully.
“That sounds perfect.”
He shoots me a wide smile. “Good. Good.” He’s still smiling like an idiot. “I hate to do this, but I have to get going.”
“Oh that’s no problem. I have some stuff planned this afternoon anyway.”
We gather our things and head toward the door together. I never really understood the appeal when those hunky heroes did it in all those romance novels I read, but the moment Hudson’s hand finds my lower back, I get it. That one small touch feels so intimate.
“Can I walk you to your car?”
I dip my head and he steers me toward my little sedan, beating me to the door and opening it for me.
“Thank you so much for your help with Jacked Up, Rae. I fee
l like we’ve been stuck lately, and I think this is going to pump things up for us. I saw a card in the folder, so I’ll give that website guy a call tomorrow,” Hudson says, stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels.
God, he looks so cute when he’s being shy.
He stands several inches taller than me, and I have to tilt my head back to smile up at him. “It’s no problem. I’m glad I could help.”
“Seven thirty okay? For Wednesday?” he asks.
“Perfect.” He rocks back on his heels again, like he’s not sure what to say next.
“Hudson?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll see you Wednesday.”
He smiles again as I climb into my car.
When I glance in my mirror before I turn out of the parking lot, he’s still standing there with his hands in his pockets and that perfect smile plastered on his face.
I park in front of my apartment and switch my phone back on. I’m not surprised to see that Maura’s texted eight times while I was with Hudson, and I give her a call.
“Finally! You can’t just leave a girl hanging like that! Spill. Now,” she yells into the phone.
“First, calm down; you’re hurting my ear,” I say in my best motherly voice. “Second, I have a date Wednesday.” She squeals so loud I have to pull the phone away while she gets it all out. “Ears, woman!”
“Sorry!” she whispers. “I’m just so excited for you! I can tell you like him a lot. Tanner told me a little about him and he seems like a stand-up guy, Rae.”
I’m not sure I find anything Tanner says to be reassuring, but I’m glad Maura approves. “Good. So, how was your second date with Tanner last night?”
“Glorious!” she rings out. “He’s so sweet and funny, Rae. I know he seems like a dick sometimes but it’s all a show, like he has to prove he’s macho or some crap like that. I swear, he’s so considerate and awesome when it’s just the two of us. I really like him, Rae.”
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