FULL NOVELXO In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes: Chapter 26
HER HAIR WAS RUMPLED when she opened the door at the inn twenty minutes later. She took a long sip of coffee. “You get fired or something?”
My chest warmed at the sight of her. “I felt like doing some demo with you today.”
She took the brown paper bag with grease and peered inside before she grinned at me. “Keep bringing me breakfast sandwiches and you can do whatever you like with me.”
Dirty images of us together in bed flooded my mind. My eyebrows shot up and her eyes went wide.
“That sounded different out loud.”
I snorted and she gestured for me to come in.
“So, I had an idea,” she said as we taped protective plastic sheeting to the floor around the wall we were going to knock down.
“Another singles event.” My lip curled with disgust at the idea of trying to get back out there to meet people.
She grinned as she ripped off another piece of blue painter’s tape. “No. Or, not exactly. When Avery and Hannah and Olivia were here, they helped me figure out your secret.”
My gut clenched. They knew from Emmett and Wyatt I had a crush on Sadie as a teenager, but Sadie didn’t, and I didn’t want her to know. We were finally getting along after all these years, and if she found out, it might ruin things.
The muscles in my chest pulled tight at the thought of not hanging out with Sadie anymore.
“Holden, I see it, now.” She sat back on her heels. “All you do is work and go to the gym and the bar. That’s why it’s so hard for you to make conversation on these dates. You have nothing to talk about.”
The bands around my chest relaxed, one by one. Everything was fine. She didn’t know.
“From here on out, I want every Sunday of your time. The whole day.”
I stared at her. The entire day, spent with Sadie while she smiled, teased me, flipped her hair around, and asked me about my favorite paintings.
“We’ll do a bunch of activities,” she continued. “We’ll use the excuse you’re showing me the island. I’ve already made a list.”
Every Sunday spent with a woman who had no intention of getting involved. A woman who snuck into every fantasy I’d had for the last month.
She widened her eyes at me, stood up, and put her hands on her hips. “Don’t give me that look. You want a partner? You need to get used to making time for people. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
This would be torture, and yet, I couldn’t wait.
“Fine.”
She blinked. “Really?”
I jerked a nod. “Yep.”
“And you’re not even going to fight me on it?”
I fought the urge to smile. I shouldn’t be spending so much time with her, but I wanted to. The annoying little voice in my head told me to stop this while I still could but I ignored it.
“You’re right. I need to start making time for people in my life.” I cleared my throat.
She gasped in mock-shock. “You’re agreeing with me?” She raced to the window to peer at the sky. “Is the world ending?”
A grin curled onto my mouth. “It must be.”
She laughed and walked over to me, beaming with bright eyes. “This is going to be so fun, Holden. I promise.”
My chest warmed. I knew it would be.
She looped her arms around my waist and hugged me.
She pressed her warm body against mine, her head leaned on my chest, and her hands squeezed around my waist.
I melted, and every problem I ever had floated away into the sky.
“Holden,” she murmured against my chest.
I grunted, fighting the urge to drop my mouth to the top of her head.
“A hug is where you wrap your arms around someone.” She patted one of my arms.
My arms wrapped around her back and my soul evaporated into the atmosphere.
This was nice. This was so fucking nice. I could smell her shampoo, light and fruity. She fit so well under my arms, and her head on my chest was the best thing I had ever experienced.
Sadie wasn’t leaving my fantasies any time, and now we’d be spending every Sunday together?
I was fucked, but I didn’t care.
I wanted to keep hugging Sadie. I wanted her to keep telling me she was proud of me.
She pulled back to smile up at me. “Has anyone ever told you that you give really good hugs?”
I shook my head, studying the mesmerizing greens and flecks of brown in her eyes as my hands rested on her back.
“You should put that on your dating profile,” she said with a grin, still leaning against me.
The thought of another date made my stomach twist.
I tried not to be hyperaware of her breasts pressing into my chest. “I don’t want to do the whole dating thing for the next few weeks.”
Concern washed over her features. “Why not?”
Because I just wanted to hang out with her, and the idea of dating anyone right now repulsed me.
I heard Katherine’s words in my head, and the promise I made her.
I couldn’t just give up.
“Let’s try your Sunday adventures for a bit, and then I can try again in a month or so.”
She nodded. “Okay.” She straightened up and pulled away from me and I itched to pull her back into another hug. “Let’s knock this wall down, shall we?”
We checked that it wasn’t a supporting wall, confirmed there was no plumbing or electrical running through it, and cut the power to the house, just in case. I ignored the annoyed look she shot me when I plunked a hardhat on her head and handed her the mask.
“There could be mold or asbestos in the walls,” I told her. “You don’t want to inhale that shit and sound like a seventy-year-old smoker.”
“I’d sound sexy,” she shot back, taking the mask.
“You don’t need any help with that,” I said without realizing it.
She shot me a curious smile but it dropped when I handed her the sledgehammer.
I widened my eyes at her. “Go on.”
She scoffed and pointed at me. “You’re the one with all the muscles. You look like a freaking hockey player, Holden. You do it.”
I hid a grin. Hockey player, huh? “You have muscles, too. Come on. It’ll be fun. You can get me back by taking me to get my tarot cards read.”
Her eyes sparkled with delight. “That would be so fun. Great idea.”
It did sound fun. With Sadie, everything was fun.
She gripped the wooden handle and the sledgehammer thunked to the floor. “It’s heavy.” She frowned.
“Yep.”
She sighed, lifted the sledgehammer, and swung it at the wall. It barely cracked the drywall.
She straightened up with a frown. “This is hard.”
“You aren’t angry enough.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “I’m plenty angry.”
“Then show me. Think of someone who pissed you off.”
Her expression changed, and I remembered our conversation the other day, about the fucking asshole who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from her.
“Him?” I asked in a low voice. “Are you thinking about him?”
She nodded, not meeting my eyes, and my shoulders tensed. “What was his name?”
“Grant,” she gritted out, fire in her eyes.
There it was. That’s what I wanted to see.
I pointed at the hole in the drywall. “Right there, honey. His face is right there. What are you going to do?”
She lifted the sledgehammer and swung it into the hole. More drywall crumbled. Her eyebrows knitted together with focus.
“Nice. Keep going.”
She hit it again.
“He lied to me,” she gritted out before she hit it again. She hit a plank of wood and it cracked. “I thought he was the perfect guy, and he was a fake person the whole time.” She hit the wall again.
More and more drywall fell away until I could see through the other side. My heart raced like I was the one swinging the hammer. Her face flushed and her eyes raged with fury and I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“I can’t believe I was going to marry that ass!” she spat before she hit the wall again.
“Bullet fucking dodged.” Crash. A big chunk of the wall fell onto the plastic sheeting. I took a step back.
She hit the wall again and again and I watched in silence as she knocked it down. Debris flew everywhere. It was noisy, dusty, and dirty, and I could see sweat soaking through the back of her t-shirt, but my heart squeezed as I watched her work.
I liked seeing her like this, strong and in control. He had taken from her but she would be okay. I hoped she knew that.
When she was done, she placed the sledgehammer on the floor with care, turned to me, and burst into tears.
“Honey.” I wrapped her in a hug without hesitation, pulling her into my chest and running a hand over her hair. My heart twisted. “It’s okay.”
“I don’t know why I’m crying.” She sniffled into my shirt. “I didn’t mean to.”
“Cry all you like.” My voice was soft and low and my heart ached for her. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine,” she sobbed. “I loved knocking that wall down. It was awesome. I can’t wait to do more demo.” Her shoulders shook and the tears soaked into my shirt.
I tucked Sadie further into my chest and inhaled her. He didn’t just lie to her. He broke her fucking heart.
No wonder she didn’t want any of those things ever again.
WHILE HAULING debris to the waste bin, something inside caught my eye.
Two little paintings, one of the sunset over the water in front of the inn and a recreation of Katherine, my mom, and my aunt.
I frowned. Why were these in the garbage? They were beautiful.
I glanced at the inn. She’d be out any second. I opened the door of my truck and tucked them beneath the seat.