Justin
**Mind if I use your huge vehicle to run some errands? I can pick you up when you’re ready to go home, if you want.**
I smiled at the text message, thinking about Hadley roving around Portland in that monstrosity of an SUV. She provided me with a perfect reason to get her to come back to my house with me later, though.
**No problem at all. I’ll be ready at six. Will that be okay?**
**I’ll see you then.**
It felt fucking fantastic when she sought me out to help her solve a problem. She had a few other options she could have explored before borrowing my SUV. Riley’s car was parked in her garage, for crying out loud. One call to her best friend and Hadley would have had a set of wheels instantly, so the fact that she called me first and asked me for help made me feel like we were heading in the right direction.
Were we the picture-perfect representation of wedded bliss? No. But I’d take a slightly dysfunctional relationship with Hadley over a boring, cookie-cutter marriage with someone else. Or anyone else, for that matter. Whatever Hadley wanted to give me, that was what I would take. Gratefully.
Thoughts of her and the anticipation of seeing her again took me through the rest of my day pouring over contracts and sitting through endless meetings. I texted Camden and told him how lucky he was to be missing it all and he smartly replied with his resignation.
When six o’clock arrived, I was more than ready to go.
**Downstairs.**
I smiled at her text as I rode the elevator down and smiled even wider when I saw her waiting for me in front of the building, engine running. I made my way to the driver side, but she rolled down the window and said, “I’m driving, babe. Hop in.”
Now, not ever in the history of ever have I let a woman drive my car. I didn’t have a problem being driven by a woman, but she could drive her own car, ya know? But she added that last bit, that babe, and I was basically putty in her hands. I might have ridden on the roof if she’d asked with a babe at the end. She had some fucking cute fingers and apparently I was wrapped around the littlest one.
I made it into the passenger seat, but the door wasn’t even closed before she started rambling.
“You’re never going to believe what happened to me today. It’s absolutely crazy. And I want to tell you the whole thing, but I need alcohol in me stat. Where should we go for dinner?”
First of all, I was loving the idea that she was excited to tell me about her day, but I was also excited that she had come to the same conclusion I had: that we were spending the evening together.
“Wherever you want. I’m game for anything.”
“Sushi?”
My face instinctively pulled and she started laughing as she pulled into traffic.
“Not a fan?” she asked while still giggling.
“I like my food cooked.”
“I know a great little place and they have other Japanese food aside from sushi.”
“That sounds good.”
“Oh, good. I usually go there once a week with Riley and her work friends, but since she’s gone I don’t think they thought to invite me and I’ve really been craving sushi.”
She said the words without emotion, but it still felt as though she was hurt by the idea of being left out. Not angry, but a little sad she hadn’t been invited. I’d met Riley’s co-workers a few times before the wedding, and then after the wedding we spent quite a bit of time together, and neither Jasper nor Rachel seemed like the type to hurt anyone’s feelings intentionally.
“They probably didn’t even go,” I offered. “Riley seems like the glue that holds everybody together.”
“She definitely holds me together,” Hadley replied, her voice soft but solid.
I watched her take the first sip of sake, her lips delicate against the glass, coaxing the cold liquid in. Without taking my eyes off her I brought my bottle of Hef to my mouth, taking a long pull. She sipped a few times before placing the glass back on the table. Then her eyes turned to me, flashing with excitement.
“So,” she began, smiling a wild and happy grin.
“Tell me the crazy thing that happened today.”
“I got that call to meet that developer out in BFE, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, this guy turns out to be the architect and builder for these insanely huge and beautiful homes. Enormous and gorgeous homes,” she said, leaning in closer to emphasize her words. “Houses so big and so grand, they are almost too much.” She leaned back in her chair again, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Big blank canvases,” I added and her eyes went soft, as though my understanding her excitement—getting why big, empty, beautiful houses would be exciting to her—affected her.
“Yes. Big blank canvases.” She paused for a moment, smiling radiantly at me, but then she continued. “He wants to hire me to stage all of them. All of them. Like, a contract. And he wants to pay me one percent of the closing price.”
“Is that typical?” I asked. Something about the situation sounded off.
“Not for me. I usually charge a fee based on size of the property. But also, I usually only work with a client once. Maybe twice if they end up moving soon after buying. But this guy is building tons of houses this year and next, and he wants to work with me.” She paused for a moment and then, practically bouncing in her seat, leaned forward. Her next words were whispered excitedly. “The contract would bring in six figures over the next year, Justin.”
It was obvious to myself and probably anyone else who knew Hadley that she wasn’t hurting financially. She was making it on her own in an expensive city, running her own company, living on her own. She didn’t have a car, but I got the impression that was more for convenience and environmental reasons, not because she couldn’t afford one. But, I was also fairly certain a six-figure contract was significantly more money than she was used to making.
“Holy shit, Hadley. That’s amazing.”
“Isn’t it?”
Again with the bouncing. I could hardly watch it without imagining her naked and bouncing in other places.
“When do you start? When is the first house ready?”
“Two weeks.” She smiled and took another sip of her sake. “Oh, and you should see this house, Justin. It’s right on some river up in Washington. Absolutely stunning. Totally in the middle of nowhere and there’s no cell service, but it’s beautiful.”
“You think you could ever live somewhere with no cell service?”
She tilted her head to the side and seemed to contemplate my question. “I think I could take a vacation somewhere without cell service. Like, a few days, maybe. But I don’t think I want to be out of touch that much every day, ya know?”
“Indeed.”
“Like, I’d buy a cabin in the woods as an escape, but not a residence.”
“Vacation home.”
“Hashtag life goals.”
“Beach or mountain cabin?”
“Duh, beach.”
“Same.”
Our waiter came and dropped off our food and I watched as Hadley expertly used chopsticks to eat her sushi. I didn’t even try to use them as I never developed that skill. Instead, I cut into my chicken with a fork and knife.
“I was thinking, since things seem to be progressing with us,” I said as nonchalantly as I could manage, “perhaps we could make some plans to have dinner with my parents. You know, do the whole meet the parents thing.” I held my breath, waiting for her answer. I didn’t realize how much her reaction would mean to me until I spoke the words. If she refused to meet my parents now—even as just my girlfriend—it could mean I had read things between us wrong.
Instead, however, she answered without hesitation.
“Sounds good. When were you thinking?” She popped another rolled up bite in her mouth and chewed, staring at me expectantly.
It took me a few moments, but I finally moved and leaned over the table, having to stand slightly to reach her, and kissed her right on the mouth. I caught her off guard and a surprised noise left her mouth, but she relaxed into me almost immediately and kissed me back.
When I fell back into my chair she was smiling at me.
“What was that for?”
I shrugged before I could stop myself. “Just because.”
“Hmm,” she hummed. “Maybe later we could do that naked. Just because.”
“That could be arranged.”
She winked at me and I knew in that moment—sitting in a Japanese restaurant after a long day at work—I was completely in love with Hadley Hart. And for the first time since our crazy Vegas wedding, I wasn’t immediately overwhelmed with feelings of, What if this doesn’t work? No. Instead, I was thinking, This could work.
God, I wanted it to work.