Lucy
I’d cooled down significantly after leaving the house. After a run with Katie, a shower at her place, and a much-needed sugar fix from Greta, I was in a marginally better mood by the time I arrived at Goodie’s.
At the end of the day, I knew Hudson was nothing like my parents—nothing like Josh. The real challenge was getting him to let me into his thoughts. He clearly wasn’t used to doing it.
Still, the fact that I was the first woman in his life he genuinely wanted to try for mattered. He’d been a commodity to so many of the women he’d met—something I could relate to—and that realization helped me summon patience for his learning curve once I’d cooled down.
I arrived at Goodie’s early for interviews, wanting to keep myself busy.
Duffy, one of the bartenders, asked if I could pop behind the bar for a few minutes while she took a break, and I agreed easily.
By Goodie’s standards, it was relatively slow, between the lunch and dinner rush, with half the circular bar full—including Riley, who slid onto a stool while he awaited his to-go order.
“What’s up, Riles?” I set a soda in front of him with a smile.
“Ram.” He grinned, clearly amused by his shortened version of my Rambo nickname. “Didn’t realize you were on bar today.”
I’d noticed that one of the Carter boys tended to post up whenever I was on shift.
“I’m not.” I shook my head. “I’m interviewing some new potential staff in a few. Duffy just needed me to spot her for a break.”
He nodded, his gaze scanning the bar as if he was now on some sort of protect-Lucy shift.
I left him to it and got back to work. Leaning down to grab a stack of clean glasses, I heard an unwelcome but familiar voice.
“Does Lucy Kincaid work here?”
Josh’s polished tone hit me like a punch to the gut.
“Never heard of her,” one of our locals replied dutifully.
If it weren’t for the fact I wanted to vomit, I might have smiled.
“Who’s askin’?” Riley demanded.
“Her fiancé.” Josh offered the word with effortless confidence.
I couldn’t help the audible snort that escaped me as I stood to face him.
He looked the same. At one point, I’d convinced myself he was handsome, with his perfectly coifed dark hair, hazel eyes, and physique he’d spent hours honing in the gym. Now, he looked something akin to Voldemort—only with less personality.
“Lucy.” He said my name like a man starved for the sight of me.
“We were never engaged.” I rolled my eyes. “What do you want, Josh?”
“I want you to come home and stop this nonsense. It’s beneath you.” He waved a dismissive hand at the bar around us.
“What’s beneath me, exactly?” I cocked my head. “Being happy? Being treated with respect?”
“Getting to live in the best goddamned town the country has to offer?” Dale, one of the regulars, lifted his beer in support.
I shot him a small smile before turning back to glare at my ex, one hand planted on my hip.
Josh’s gaze swept the room. “Are you working here?” The question dripped with disdain.
Riley crooked a finger toward Josh, eyeing him the same way he would shit he’d scraped off his boot. “This guy? Seriously, Ram?”
“I know, I know.” I winced. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“At least you came to your senses and traded up.” Riley gave a thoughtful nod.
“Traded up?” Josh demanded. “Who the hell is Ram?” His look of utter confusion might have been amusing had I been in another frame of mind.
When Hudson’s large frame filled the doorway, I nearly wilted in relief.
His eyes cut straight to me as he crossed the room and planted himself beside my ex at the bar, his muscular arms elbowing into his space. “Told you, we hear from you again, we’ve got a problem.”
“That was you?” Josh demanded.
Hudson’s answering smile was slow and entirely gratified. “Oh yeah, that was me.”
“Who is this guy, Lucy?” Josh demanded.
“He’s my man.” The answer came easily.
“He’s also one of the most famous country singers in the world. You aren’t too bright, are you?” Lane, another regular, said with a snort.
Josh’s eyes narrowed as he turned to Hudson, truly assessing him for the first time.
“Not the point, Lane, but thanks all the same.” Hudson’s lips twitched with amusement.
“But… you’re working at a bar,” Josh sputtered, his dazed expression fixed on me.
“Honestly, even if I cared enough to explain it to you, I wouldn’t know where I’d begin.
” I shook my head. “So, let’s just go with this—I’ve moved on and I’m not coming back.
Ever. Not to you. Not to DC. Not to any part of that life.
Not that you ever cared, but just so we’re clear, I’m happy,” I declared.
At that, Hudson came around the bar and took me in his arms, delivering a heart-stopping kiss to my lips. “I want everything with you, baby. I have since the minute I met you.”
The rest of the world fell away, as it tended to do when I was in his arms.
“Your parents are going to hear about this,” Josh warned, reminding me he was still there.
“Jesus, dude, where the hell are your balls?” Riley chortled.
“Let’s take it outside, and I’ll show you.” Josh stood, puffing out his chest, trying to make himself look bigger than he was.
“Oh, honey, you do not want to do that,” Trina tittered from my left.
“Don’t deter him, honey. I’d pay money to see that,” her husband argued. “All two seconds of it.”
Goodie appeared behind Riley at the bar. “Okay, I think that just about wraps it up.”
“Josh, wish I could say it was a pleasure….” She shook her head. “Now, if you would take your seedy behind out of my restaurant and out of Green River and never come back, we’d be set.” She said it so matter-of-factly, you’d think she was placing a food order.
“I never liked you,” Josh sneered.
She laughed, seeming genuinely delighted. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Anyone you consider good company wouldn’t be someone I’d break bread with in this lifetime. Now, boy, get gone.”
“This isn’t over, Lucy.” He pointed a finger at me. “You’ve lost your mind. This isn’t you.”
Hudson physically bristled at the threat, his arms tightening around me.
“You’re wrong.” I shook my head. “This is who I was all along.”
“Time to go,” Riley announced, rising and taking Josh by the elbow.
“You can’t force me out of here. I’ll press charges!” Josh bellowed as Riley began to bodily remove him from the bar.
“I’d be happy to take you direct to the sheriff’s office. He’s our brother.” Riley grinned maniacally as he manhandled Josh through the doors and out of sight.
“That was fun,” Goodie crowed, watching their departure with glee.
“You’re certifiable,” I muttered as Hudson continued to hold me close.
“Okay.” Goodie clapped her hands. “Everyone back to drinkin’, eatin’, or workin’.”
As she redirected the room—despite the fact that this would undoubtedly be fodder for gossip for the foreseeable future—I realized I was… fine.
Though I would never have volunteered to see Josh again, facing him and telling him off had given me the closure I hadn’t known I needed.
None of the past anxiety and dread that had been a frequent companion during my time with him made my heart race or my hands shake.
I simply felt, relief—and maybe a little proud of myself, too.
“I have to get to the interviews,” I murmured to Hudson, trying to extricate myself from his arms.
“Not yet.” He shook his head and lifted me into his arms, to a chorus of catcalls from around the bar. Lane raised the bar top so he could step through.
“What are you doing?” I protested as he carried me toward the back.
“What I want to do is take you home”—he stepped into the stockroom and kicked the door shut behind us—“and keep you there for about a week, but I know that’s not what you want.
” He sat me on the counter and stepped in close.
“So, I’ll settle for the few minutes I can get.
Then I’m going to wait out there for you, and we can go home together. ”
“Have it all planned out, huh?” I raised a brow at him.
He pressed his forehead to my chest, shuddering as he pulled me close.
“Baby, I’m realizing I don’t have it planned out at all—and I don’t want to.
Not without you. What I do know is that I love you.
” His eyes lifted to mine, so bright with intensity they seemed almost a new color of blue.
“I want to make a life with you. Hopefully, one day, make a family too—if that’s what you want.
Beyond that, I’m learning that the plans in between, and everything after, are things we need to make together. ”
“You love me?” I rasped, the emotions of the day catching up to me.
“More than anything,” he replied, his voice thick with feeling.
“I love you, too,” I said softly.
“Christ, but I love you,” he breathed, as though he couldn’t help but say it again.
Then he kissed me deeply. “I never want to hold you back or shut you out. I think you’re the most amazing human I’ve ever met.
I guess I’ve just been living in my head, and I didn’t realize I wasn’t sharing things with you. I promise I’ll work on it.”
“Okay.” I rested my forehead against his, our bodies fitting together perfectly.
“Christ, I wish I could take you right here,” he growled, the need clear in his voice.
“Well, you can’t.” I grinned. “But later.”
“Later,” he rumbled, straightening to his full height. “I’ll let you do your thing. I’ll be the lovesick fool at the bar when you’re ready to head home.” He winked.
Rolling my eyes, I smothered a grin as I stepped out of the storage room into what, in many ways, felt like a new chapter.
“One more. Give me one more,” he growled hours later as he pounded into me. He’d taken me home and promptly carried me to bed, where we’d been ever since.
His lips found my neck, and his gorgeous muscles bunched as he gave me everything he had.
I cried out, giving him exactly what he wanted as he growled in approval, following me into bliss.
“Christ, sometimes I think you might just kill me, but then I realize that’s exactly how I want to go.” Panting, he collapsed beside me, his skin slick with sweat.