Accidental Abduction (Masked Men of Sage Springs #1)

Chapter Five

Hudson

Viv had said she wanted a grand gesture. She said she wanted someone exciting and adventurous who’d help bring her fantasies to life. A few years ago, I was her fantasy. I could do this. I would do this.

Even if I wasn’t sure if I could do this.

“Fuck, Huds. Stop. You’re making me nervous. Everything will be fine. I promise we have all the details for the party in place. People will have fun. You will enjoy yourself for once. I told you we had this all under control. Charley will be on for the first two hours before Gianna takes over for her, and I can stay longer if they need me. But we don’t need you .”

Blowing out a breath, I braced my palms on the edge of the bar, gripping the surface until my knuckles turned white. I knew Hazel was just trying to reassure me, but she didn’t know why I was currently freaking out. If she did, she’d probably be telling me I was a dumbass, like Reid had.

Hazel and my girlfriend—or whatever she was now—had never gotten along, despite being slightly closer in age. I wasn’t sure if it was Viv’s loud distaste for her best friend, or if Hazel just genuinely didn’t like her. Viv had tried so hard when we started dating to include Hazel in things, even trying to set her up on blind dates with some of her friends, but their relationship had never blossomed beyond having me in common.

“You’ve taken nights off before,” Hazel said quietly, placing her hand in between my shoulder blades and rubbing until the tension drained away. She was right. I had taken nights off before and things at the bar had been fine. I had a team that knew how to manage a crowd and just because there was a party didn’t mean they couldn’t handle it.

“I know. I know you guys have got this. I trust you, but tonight is different. If things go off the rails, I don’t know if I can fix this.”

Hazel leaned against the side of the bar, leaning over until I looked at her face. “Is the bar in trouble or something? You would’ve told me if something was wrong, right? I know you’re the one in charge, but Dad wanted us to be partners.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, dropping my head forward. “The bar is fine. I’ve just got other things on my mind right now.” Like trying to find my balls to pull off my plans for later. They’d been stashed in Viv’s purse for so long. I wasn’t sure if I still knew how to use them.

“Are things okay with you?” she asked, and I sighed loudly, closing my eyes. “You’re not sick or something, are you? I know you’ve been stressed lately, but if something else is going on, we can get coverage for you behind the bar.”

Fuck. Now my little sister was convinced I was dying.

No, Haz, I’m just being a dramatic little bitch because my girlfriend sort of dumped me, and I have one shot to get her to take me seriously. And if I fuck that up, I’m not sure what I’m going to do.

“I’m fine.”

“Is...” she hesitated, her hand squeezing my shoulder. “Is something going on with you and Viv? She’s normally up your ass when you’re here for holidays, and I haven’t seen her today. Actually, I haven’t seen her for a few days. She is coming, right?”

I have no fucking clue.

She’d given me the impression that she was going to come tonight, despite things being strained between us. But she hadn’t texted me since I left her apartment, and I was too afraid to text her before I’d decided to go through with this.

“I don’t know. Things are...” I wasn’t even sure how to explain what was going on in my head to her. “...complicated. She’ll be here, but I’m not sure if she’s coming for me.”

“Did you guys break up? ”

Yes. No. I had no fucking clue.

“Kinda. I guess. Things are just a little strained right now. But I’ve got a plan to show her that I can change and be what she wants.”

Hazel pushed on my shoulder, gripping my jaw and turning my face toward her. My sister was a tiny thing, but she had a fire underneath the shy demeanor. “What did she do?”

“She didn’t do...”

She pushed my shoulder, and I watched the concern on her face morph into something a little bit unhinged. Charley may scare me, but a pissed off Hazel was kinda terrifying. “Is she trying to get you to sell the bar again? I told her it’d never happen and...”

“Wait, what?” I stopped her growly rant with a hand on her shoulder. “When did she say anything about selling the bar?”

“A few months ago, I overheard her and one of her little minions talking about you two buying a house together once you’d sold the bar. Charley lit into her for trying to manipulate you into selling, but I told her the bar was never going to be for sale. She tried to walk it back by telling me I’d mistaken what she’d said, but I heard everything Viv told her friend. She was so absorbed in their conversation she hadn’t realized I’d been standing there the whole time.”

This was the first time I’d heard about it, but maybe Hazel had just misinterpreted what she’d heard. We had been talking about getting a house together, but we couldn’t agree on what we wanted and neither of us had been willing to compromise at the time.

“I’m not selling, so please don’t worry about that.” This place was as much my dream as it had been to my father and his father before him.

“I know. You would’ve talked to me first. And I know you’d never do that to Dad.”

It’d been a point of contention when I’d graduated high school that he wanted to make sure I actually wanted the bar, not only because I felt obligated. Once I’d gotten my degree in restaurant management a few years later, he’d retired within a year, knowing his legacy was safe .

“But quit changing the subject. What’s going on? Do I need to let the door know not to let her in? If she hurt you, I’ll make sure she never steps foot in this place again.”

Chuckling, I stepped back and grabbed a bar rag, distracting myself by wiping up nonexistent water spots on the taps. “No, actually, I need you to have the door let me know when she gets here. I’m working on a surprise for her, and I need some time to get things prepared.”

She turned her head, scrunching up her nose. “You’re not proposing to her, are you?”

A resounding, Fuck, no, was almost out of my mouth before I stopped myself from saying it out loud. Why? I wasn’t sure. But I didn’t have time to dwell on why the hell that was my gut reaction. Just because I wasn’t ready to ask her to marry me now didn’t mean I wouldn’t be ready once things were repaired between us. But I needed to pull this off first.

“Not today,” I replied absently. Hazel’s eyes narrowed, but the back door opening halted whatever she was going to say. Her eyes widened, and for a moment I worried that Viv had shown up early and it’d ruin what I had planned. But Reid’s voice had my sister scurrying out the other side of the bar before I could even turn around.

“You ready for tonight, fuck face? It’s going to be epic.”

When I turned around, I saw what had my sister fleeing. “Fuck, put on a damn shirt, you asshole.”

“What? Why?” he asked, placing his motorcycle helmet on the edge of the bar. “I’m already in my costume.”

“We serve food here. No one wants to see your nipples while they’re eating. Cover that shit up.” Reid was wearing a pair of leather pants with a chrome studded belt, his black combat boots…and that was about it. I knew he’d warned me, but I hadn’t thought he’d start the night out showing off his pierced nipples. I figured he’d take off his shirt once he was drunk, but I’d be gone by then, so it wouldn’t be my problem.

“I told you what I was wearing. Charley didn’t seem to have a problem with it when I passed her in the back. Why are you being such a prude?”

“Didn’t you see how disgusted Hazel was? She practically ran away as soon as she saw you.”

“If you hadn’t noticed, your sister runs away every time she sees me, so it’s not just when my nipples are out.” He thought he was being charming, but I was the one who’d had to pay for her therapy—both physical and psychological—after her accident caused by his inability to keep his dick in his pants.

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t scarred her for life with your fuck boy antics, then my sister wouldn’t hate my best friend.”

“Did you really just call me a fuck boy? What are we, eighteen-year-old girls? I thought you’d be the last person to slut shame me, but sorry for having an active sex life you’re clearly jealous of. Get your head out of your ass, dude. This is the chance for you to find yourself again. Don’t waste it.”

Was that what I was doing? Had I been trying too hard to cling to a woman who didn’t want me instead of finding what I really wanted out of life?

“Did you see what Charley had on?” he asked, lowering his voice as he joined me behind the bar.

“Are you seriously going to be that much of a pervert? She’s Hazel’s best friend. They’re not even…”

“She’s twenty-five, Hudson. Charley’s not a little girl anymore. Neither is Hazel, for that matter.” My eyes widened when I noticed his gaze focused on my little sister across the room.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Stop staring at my baby sister like that.” His eyes lingered on Hazel and Charley standing by the door to the kitchen. I still couldn’t make out what Charley had on because my sister was blocking my view of what her best friend was wearing.

“Like what? I was just looking across the room,” he said, smirking at me. He knew how protective I was of Hazel. And I didn’t like the way his face softened while he gazed at her .

“Don’t even fucking think about it. She’s too young for you.”

“Six years is hardly an age gap,” he laughed, and then held up his palms in supplication when I glared in his direction. “I’m just saying. How is the four years between you and Viv any different than the six between Hazel and I?”

“Let’s get this fucking straight, there is no Hazel and you. And I didn’t know Viv when she was in middle school. Charley is just like a…” While she was gorgeous and I wished I had half of her self-confidence, I’d never let myself think about Charley as anything other than Hazel’s best friend.

“I know you’re not this blind. Charley is a fucking smoke show, and you know it. I’ve seen you watching her from behind the bar. You’re attracted to her.”

Was I? I know sometimes I found myself watching her across the crowded bar, but I was just making sure she had the floor handled. She was a force to be reckoned with, but she was still smaller than half the men who hung out in the bar. Watching them hit on her made my protective instincts flare.

“Attraction doesn’t have to be acted on. Despite your track record,” I teased, but he just rolled his eyes.

“You know I’m right. Open your eyes, man. There are plenty of women who’d love to take Viv’s place and won’t treat you like an accessory.”

“What does that mean? Charley isn’t interested in me. So why are we even talking about her?”

He leaned against the bar, blocking my line of sight to the two girls…women, on the other side of the room. “Keep your eyes open to new possibilities. I know Viv was comfortable, and you thought you loved her. But if she’s pushing you away because she’s not getting what she needs from the relationship, maybe you need to let go.”

“I do love her,” I responded weakly, continuing to stare over his shoulder at the blonde standing next to my sister.

Didn’t I?

“Why don’t you go change?” Hazel took the black roll of crepe paper from my hands. I’d been hanging streamers in all the doorways for decoration. Charley and Hazel had been busy decorating the tables and walls. I’d been trying to focus on the plan in my head and not watching them. “Unless you’re wearing that.”

“What’s wrong with this?” I asked, looking down at the black, long-sleeved shirt with a glow in the dark skull I’d thrown on this afternoon before heading to the bar. It was what I’d worn every Halloween for the last few years.

“It’s a costume party. You did get a costume, right?”

There was a backpack sitting on my desk with the costume I’d planned on throwing on before the party started. While part of me thought it’d be a good idea to dress up as the comic book villain Viv had wanted me to be, I’d changed my mind when I’d stopped by the costume shop close to campus. Thankfully, they had what I needed to pull off my plan for tonight.

Knowing Hazel wouldn’t approve of my plans to win my ex back, I just shrugged. “I was thinking maybe I’d cover the bar if we get busy later. I don’t need a costume to pour drinks.”

“Don’t even fucking think about it. You’ve been pulling extra shifts to have tonight off. Enjoy yourself. Charley and I are on for the initial rush, and then we’ll change into our costumes later. You’ve gotta step out from behind that bar sometimes.”

“I can pitch in on both expo and the bar if you guys just want to change now and take the night off. We’ve handled busy nights with less staff before.”

My sister forcibly grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me toward the back office, growling. “I love you but get a fucking life.”

I wanted to scold my sister for cursing, like I had been for a decade, but maybe she was right.

Reid had gone back to his shop for a bit before he needed to be back for the party, so I snuck into the office, pulling out the payroll paperwork I needed to have done for next week. If tonight went how I hoped it would, I’d be busy for the next few days.

“Hey, Hud,” a voice sang from the doorway, and I looked up, fighting the urge to stare at the outfit Charley was supposedly wearing. Her tiny skintight denim shorts showed off her toned thighs, and the tank top she wore barely contained the push-up bra visible above the neckline.

“Stop calling me Hud,” I grunted, returning my attention to the files on my computer. Reid’s comments had to be getting to me, because I couldn’t be getting turned on by my sister’s best friend showing a bit of cleavage, but I was. I so was.

“Want me to call you son instead? Into a little mommy play there, big guy?“ she teased, leaning over the back of the chair across from my desk. My fingers twitched on the keys of my laptop as I got an even better view down her top. If she shifted forward slightly, I could just barely make out the outline of her nip—

No, idiot. Quit being a pervert.

“I hate you,” I growled, refusing to look at her.

“No, you don’t. You fucking adore me.” She was right, I did, but those once platonic feelings were getting blurred.

“Stop cursing, Char.”

“I just turned twenty-five, Hud. I can say the word fucking. Here, I’ll tell you a secret,” she said, stepping around the chair and bracing her hands flat on my desk as she leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I can do it too.”

Do not think about her fucking. Or naked. Or how I’d like to push the papers off my desk and lay her across it to peel those tiny shorts off and bury by face in.. .

“Don’t you have a job to do?” She really needed to leave me alone because I couldn’t afford to have any distractions. It had to be the nerves making me have these inappropriate thoughts about the wrong woman. Winning Viv back was my goal right now, not fantasizing about my sister’s friend.

“Yes.” She still hadn’t moved—her cleavage eye level—but I refused to look anywhere but at the screen.

“So go do it.” Please go away.

“Yes Sir, boss man.” Her teasing tone had me looking up, just in time to see her sassy salute, her breasts jiggling as she moved her arm.

“My name is Hudson.” And I was a dumbass.

“Yeah, I know. See you later, handsome.”

My body sighed in relief as she walked out my office door, her hips swaying as she left. Leaning forward to brace my elbows on the desk, I buried my face in my hands, going over the plan in my head again. Tonight had to work.