4. Sadie
CHAPTER FOUR
Sadie
I should have known.
Medford was a small town.
Too small.
The kind of place where running into ghosts from your past wasn’t a possibility—it was a guarantee.
But this?
This was a goddamn nightmare.
I walked in prepared. Ready. Professional.
The kind of woman who aced interviews, who didn’t get rattled, who knew how to keep her head high even when life tried to drag her under.
And then I saw them .
Samuel.
Kai.
Both of them, right here.
Sitting at that table like they hadn’t just detonated my entire world in the span of a single breath.
My brain short-circuited. My heart slammed against my ribs, my lungs locking up like they’d forgotten how to function.
Samuel Thompson .
The man who had kissed every inch of my skin just last night, who had held me like he was trying to memorize me, like he wanted to keep me. The man whose name I had moaned while I unraveled beneath him.
Now?
He was sitting there, back straight, face neutral, like he hadn’t just wrecked me. Like we hadn’t been tangled up in each other hours ago.
And Kai Byrne… in the same place…
My first love. My childhood sweetheart. The boy I once thought I’d spend forever with.
The one I’d run from.
He was watching me now, dark eyes sharp, his expression unreadable. But I could feel it… the tension radiating from him, all the unspoken things between us pressing down on my chest.
The ground beneath me wasn’t just unsteady. It was gone.
Somehow, I made it to the chair across from them.
I sat. Folded my hands neatly in my lap. Kept my spine straight and my face carefully composed because I had to.
Because I couldn’t let them see that my world was shattering, that my pulse was an erratic mess, that my mind was screaming at me to run.
I locked onto the only safe thing in the room.
Adam Reid.
Easygoing. Handsome. Blissfully unaware.
He smiled at me, all golden hair and effortless charm, the only one at this godforsaken table who didn’t seem to sense that this was anything other than normal.
And thank God for that.
“So, Sadie,” Adam said, glancing at my résumé. “You’ve got a solid background. You worked at some great bakeries in the city.”
“I did,” I said smoothly. That part was easy.
The part where I pretended the city hadn’t chewed me up and spit me back out.
“I started as a pastry assistant at Margot’s on Fifth, worked my way up to lead baker before moving on to Flour & Co.
I specialized in laminated doughs, viennoiseries, and artisanal breads. ”
Kai let out a slow exhale.
I knew that sound. It was the same noise he used to make when he was about to pick apart something I’d glossed over.
Fuck .
I forced myself to stay relaxed.
Calm .
Be calm… please.
Adam, bless him, seemed impressed.
He let out a low whistle, tapping the corner of my résumé against the table. “Damn. That’s a hell of a résumé for Medford.”
A dry chuckle nearly escaped, but I bit it back.
Instead, I offered a polite, professional smile.
Samuel hadn’t said a word since I walked in. I caught his stare for half a second before pretending I hadn’t felt the heat of it crawl up my spine.
Which was impressive, considering last night his face had been buried between my thighs.
I forced my attention back to Adam, the only person at this table who wasn’t making my lungs feel like they were caving in.
“Well,” he continued, flipping the résumé back around, “I won’t lie, we could use the help, but we need someone who can keep up with the pace.”
“I can.” My voice was steady, my posture unbothered.
Kai shifted beside Samuel, arms crossed, his fingers tapping against his bicep—thoughtful, restless. His knee bounced once beneath the table.
Then, he spoke. “You gonna stay this time, S?”
Oh, for the love of…
The nickname . His voice. Low and even, but loaded.
My fingers curled around my knee. I turned, met his storm-gray gaze, and gave him my best neutral expression.
“I plan to,” I said lightly.
Kai’s brows lifted, just a bit.
Samuel exhaled sharply, almost like a laugh. A short, cynical, oh really? kind of sound. My pulse skipped.
I didn’t look at him. Couldn’t.
Kai leaned forward, forearms braced against the table, and I could feel him gearing up to press harder. But…
“Well,” Adam cut in, flashing his easygoing smile, “I think we’ve got what we need here. What do you think, Samuel?”
Finally, I had to look at him.
Samuel’s jaw was tight. His blue eyes met mine, unreadable, but burning.
For a second, I thought he might speak. Might say something that would completely shatter this very professional interview and leave me to die a slow, painful death of public humiliation.
Instead, he nodded once. “I think you covered it all, Adam.”
I released a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding hostage.
Adam clapped his hands together. “Great! We’ll call you when we’ve made a decision, Sadie.”
I nodded, gripping the strap of my bag like a lifeline. “Of course. Thanks for your time.”
My voice was steady. My hands weren’t shaking.
Outwardly, I was fine.
I pushed back from the chair, painfully aware of three sets of eyes glued to me.
Adam’s polite interest. Samuel’s brooding intensity.
And Kai, who hadn’t stopped staring at me since I walked in.
I turned on my heel, forcing myself to walk at a normal, human pace toward the door.
No rushing. No fleeing. That would be too obvious.
Except my foot caught on the chair leg.
Of course.
I stumbled, catching myself just in time.
Kai made a low sound that sounded suspiciously like a choked-back laugh. Samuel exhaled through his nose.
Adam, still blissfully unaware of the personal apocalypse happening in front of him, grinned.
“Careful there, Collins. You good?”
I flashed a bright, totally normal, absolutely not panicked smile.
“Totally fine,” I said. “All good. Not a problem at all.”
I pulled open the door, the little bell jingling way too cheerfully for the actual crisis I had just endured.
The crisp morning air hit my flushed skin, and I exhaled sharply, dragging in a deep breath of freedom.
I wasn’t that girl anymore.
I wasn’t the girl who’d let Medford crush her.
But as I walked down Main Street, my pulse still pounding, I could feel it.
The weight of the past pressing down on me, waiting.
And behind me, through that glass door, were two ghosts I wasn’t ready to face.