Promise Me (Asher Family #1)

Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

SADIE

“I love the view you have out here,” I say as soon as I pour myself a cup of coffee and meet Hudson outside on the patio off the kitchen.

I haven’t seen him sit out here very often, so when I saw him this morning, I wanted to jump at the idea of joining him—even if all I’m wearing is his T-shirt from last night.

Just the two of us, up early and enjoying our morning coffee while the town wakes up below us. The remnants of the local Fourth of July festival still line the streets from last night. The actual holiday festival for tourists happened last week over the real holiday, but our town loves to put one together for the locals. Any excuse, really.

Hudson has a booth for the bar at every festival, but from what I’ve seen the last few weeks, he lets his employees do all the face-to-face work.

“Yeah, I should come out here more. But I usually work so late that I miss the sunrise or the sunset. Sitting out here in the dead heat of the middle of the day just doesn’t give me the same vibes. ”

“I don’t imagine it does.”

I sip my coffee and watch him.

His gaze drifts to where Bartley, Marty, and Phil are walking down the street toward us, most likely headed for the bakery. Brooke told me that each time they show up, they ask for me.

I’m ready to move on, but whenever someone tells me something like that, it makes me think I’m acting too quickly. I mean, I gave myself a month to remember and I still haven’t; now I just want to continue moving on. But what if I move on too fast and miss something? How do I know when the time is right?

“How did you know you wanted to open the bar?” I ask.

Hudson looks at me slowly, a lazy smile touching his lips. My question probably seems out of the blue to him.

He reaches down, grabs my chair leg, and pulls me until we are side by side.

“Your mind is hard at work already, huh?”

I nod.

“I just want to make sure I’m making the right choice and not rushing anything.”

“You think selling the bakery is rushing?”

I shrug. “Maybe. I know what I want to do, but what if I’m missing something on why I took over?”

He nods slowly. “I opened the bar because I needed a distraction.”

“Oh.”

“That’s not the glamorous answer you were looking for, but I knew if I was moving back home, I would need to stay busy. When I was looking for a place to live, the bar popped up, and it was pretty much a two-for-one for me. I could stay busy and not live with my dad again.”

“Is that what you think of it now?”

“Oh no, not even close. I like what I do. I like giving the locals and tourists a laid-back space to be in. I even like the things you’ve done to the place. It makes me think I need to remodel a little.”

“Really?”

He nods. “People like the seating area you made. I need more of them.”

“Oh, you could buy that space from Mrs. Whittaker and expand it. Make that entire side comfortable seating. Oh, and add bookshelves! It would be fun. You could have sections based on drink names. Like, the spicy section could be tequila something, and the … why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because that right there is why I don't think you’re rushing the sale of the bakery. You don’t talk about it the way you talk about your Sips and Stories idea.”

“I wasn’t talking about Sips and Stories. I was talking about your bar. Although, it would be a cute idea to combine the bar and my idea. It would mean I still get my dream and so do you.”

Like before, he just stares at me with a dazed look in his eyes.

I’m boring him and totally steamrolling his bar plans and just assuming I’ll be in his future. I’m probably overwhelming him.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“What?” he asks as I turn away.

“I was getting carried away and overstepped on your plans for the bar.”

He sets his mug down and then slinks out of his chair down to his knees. He kneels in front of me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he looks up at me.

“People can see up here,” I whisper as if they can hear us too.

“Who? The Three’s Company regulars who are probably sitting on the bench outside the bakery and can’t see us?”

I let out a laugh that makes him smile even more .

“I wasn’t thinking that you overstepped,” he goes on. “I was thinking about how much I love having you here.”

“Oh.”

“And I think you should move in with me.”

I kiss his forehead and then laugh.

“Um, what do you call the last month?”

“I mean permanently.”

I study him for a moment, his lazy smile, the way his bedhead is combed over from my hands running through it.

“You really want that?”

“I do.”

I don’t even take a moment to think it over. “Okay. yes.”

He pushes up and kisses me.

“I guess this means we finally need to tell your brother.”

My face scrunches up.

“I know.”

“He’s not going to be happy with me.”

“No, but he should be happy for you.”

He nods, but I see the doubt in his eyes.

I reach down and cup the side of his face.

“It’s going to be okay. We’ve got this.”

I press my lips to his softly. They brush against his once, twice, and then he rises to his feet, pulling me up with him. His hands come to my neck as he backs us up to the door, never letting our lips lose their connection. Once we’re back inside, he closes the door and the curtains.

“We don’t have time for this,” I remind him. “You’ll need to get to the bar soon.”

“I have hours, and there is always time for this.”

And then he spins me quickly and bends me over the arm of the couch.

“Looks like you picked a couch with the perfect height.”

I smile, looking back at him over my shoulder .

He smirks as I bite my lip.

“Sadie, baby, you know how it makes me feel when you bite that lip.”

I push back so that my ass grinds on his hard-on.

“Jealous?”

He growls, rears his hand back, and then spanks me.

My eyes widen with shock.

Jesus.

I was not expecting that.

My reaction causes him to smirk.

Instead of taking the time to shed our clothes, he drops his shorts to his feet and reaches between my legs to move my panties to the side.

I moan the moment he rubs his thumb over me, my wetness coating his fingers when they dip inside of me.

“Stop teasing me, Hudson. I want you inside me.”

“A needy Sadie might be my new favorite.” He leans forward so that his chest rests against my back. “Lucky for you, I'm a fan of giving you what you want.”

He positions himself just right and slams into me.

“Oh god,” I cry out. “Yes.”

He pulls back and repeats the motion. Over and over again he pounds into me from behind. My hips hit the couch, but luckily, it’s soft.

Outside of our breathing, my cries of pure bliss are the only sounds in the apartment.

“I’ll never get enough of this with you,” he says, slowing his movement. I peek over my shoulder to see why, only to find him watching himself.

The way he slides in and out, there is no doubt his cock is glistening with the evidence of how we make each other feel.

“What do you like best?” I ask, and his gaze snaps up to me.

His sapphire eyes turn dark as he grins .

“This part.”

He pushes in to the hilt and then steadily fucks me as one hand moves around to my front and presses to my clit.

I combust on cue and scream his name.

“The way you crumble under my touch and call out my name. It’s like a drug to me.”

He continues to pump inside me even after my orgasm is over.

“I’m so close, baby, don’t move,” he says, but I don’t listen. Instead, I back up, pushing him with me, and then I spin to face him, dropping to my knees.

“Holy shit,” he breathes as I wrap a hand around his large erection and guide him into my mouth.

I suck hard and pulse my hand fast over him.

“Shit. Shit, I’m about to come,” he says and pulls back.

I watch as he finishes himself off in his hand, his eyes still on mine as I sit on my knees.

This isn’t the moment for life-changing epiphanies, but I'll be damned if watching him fall apart under my control doesn't spark something inside me.

I have the power to make my life the way I want despite what I can’t remember.

Looks like I’m getting everything I wanted after all, and it starts with moving in with Hudson.