––––––––

“Put some shoes on,” Hudson says the minute he walks through the front door.

“I just took my shoes off,” I whine from my spot on the couch, having just gotten home from work less than fifteen minutes ago.

“Well put them back on.” He chuckles. “I have somewhere I want to take you.”

“Does it have anything to do with your phone call yesterday?” I cock a brow at him, referring to the private phone call he took shortly after we got home from my parents’ house. He was so hush hush about the whole thing.

“Maybe...” he draws out on a grin.

“Ugh.” I sigh, peeling myself off the couch. Monday’s always suck but today took the cake. I feel absolutely dead on my feet. “This better be good,” I tell him, sliding my flats back on.

“Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” He shrugs.

“You’re really not gonna tell me where we’re going?” I question.

“Nope.” He rocks back on his heels, unable to hide the excitement written all over his face.

—-

“What are we doing here?” I look up at the beach house I spent months renovating before looking back at Hudson, standing on the deck.

“Thought we could do a repeat of the last time we came here.” He smirks, walking toward the front door.

“Um, we can’t be here. The house sold. The new owners should be closing any day now.”

“Today,” he says, reaching his hand into his pocket.

“What?” I question, not hiding my confusion.

“The new owner closed today,” he states, looking at me like I should be catching on to something I’m clearly not.

“How do you know that?” I ask.

“Because I’m the new owner,” he says, laughing when he sees the realization on my face. He inserts a key into the knob and turns the handle, the door popping open before us. Holding his arm out, He pulls me over the threshold.

“You bought this house?” I gape at him, convinced he must be joking.

“I did.” He nods, looking around the beautiful open space.

“But when? How? The offer was accepted almost a month ago.”

“I’m aware. Considering I’m the one who made the offer.”

“You’re messing with me, right?”

“I’m not messing with you, Lennon. As of today this home is officially ours.”

“Ours?” I choke, clouded in a fog of disbelief.

“Ours,” he repeats. “I saw how much you loved this house and honestly I did too. When you said it was being listed, I contacted Mr. Barrett and put in a direct offer.”

“You’ve known this whole time and you never said a word.” I’m finding it difficult to catch my breath, feeling all sorts of overwhelmed.

“I wanted to surprise you after it was official.” He meets my gaze. “Surprise.”

“I don’t...” I stutter. “I don’t understand.”

“What don’t you understand? You love this house. You designed this house. On several occasions you said this was your dream home. So, I bought it for you.”

“Hudson, this is too much.”

“There is no such thing as too much when it comes to you, Lennon. I want you to have everything I can give you. There are perks to doing what I do. I think it’s only fair that we enjoy those together.” He steps up in front of me, pulling me close. “Besides, I like the thought of you here, in our home, while I’m away. When I think of you I want to picture you sitting out there.” He points to the deck. “I want to imagine you staring out at the waves, happy and content.”

“You didn’t have to buy a house to do that,” I point out.

“I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to. I want this, Lennon. This house, this life with you. I want it all.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I croak, verging on tears.

“Say you’ll move in here with me and we will make this our home together.”

“Hudson, I...”

“Before you say anything, I’ve already spoken to Jeff and he’s agreed to give you the rest of the week off to move.”

“You spoke to Jeff?” I look at him like he’s grown five heads. “You’re on a first name basis with my boss and best friend’s father?”

“Of course I am. I just paid the man over a million dollars.” He laughs when my eyes widen. “Besides, with you moving out he can rent your condo at full price and make a lot more money on it then he’s currently making. In a way we all win.”

“I can’t just take the week off work.”

“You can and you will. It’s already been arranged. Let’s spend this week together getting settled. That way when I leave next week I’ll do so knowing you’re comfortable and safe in our home.”

“Hudson.”

“I love you, Lennon. This is what I want.”

“I can’t believe you did this,” I say, burying my face in his chest.

“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make you happy.”

“You make me happy,” I tell him, my voice muffled against his shirt.

“And doing this for you, for us, makes me happy. Now tell me you’re in.” He grabs my shoulders and shifts me so that he can look down at my face.

“I’m in.”

I swear the smile that breaks across his face is the largest I’ve seen it. He wraps his arms around me and lifts me off my feet.

“Welcome to your new home, Lennon Claire,” he says right before his mouth closes down over mine.