SWNOVELS In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes: Chapter 56
“SADIE.”
My head snapped up as the beer I was pouring overflowed.
Olivia watched with amusement as I washed beer off my hands. “What are you daydreaming about?”
Holden. I was thinking about the mind-bending sex with Holden last night.
I had never felt like this with anyone. I never even realized it could be like this. It wasn’t just the sex. It was everything.
I belonged with Holden, and I belonged here in Queen’s Cove.
I thought about his pained expression as he came last night and a lick of heat hit me between the legs. My mouth curled into a smile.
“Sadie!”
“Yes?” My head snapped up again to see Olivia laughing at me while cutting lemons.
“Wow.”
“I’m sorry,” I told her. “What were you saying?”
“I was asking where you’re at with the inn. Are you almost done?”
Above her, multi-colored holiday lights hung over the bar, my single allotted decoration.
“We still need to put new cupboards into the kitchen and furnish the bedrooms.” My chest fizzed with pride and excitement. “And we’re waiting on a few finishing decor items to arrive and then we’re done.”
“What’s that look?” Olivia asked while she mixed a drink.
“I don’t want it to be over,” I admitted with an embarrassed laugh. “Holden would kill me if he heard me say that. He’s put so much work into the place and spent so much time there.” My brain flitted through memories with him in the inn, talking and laughing or bickering over wallpaper. Us picking out tiles in the hardware store. When I knocked a wall down and saw the look of pride on his face. Him in the secret library, watching the snow fall.
Katherine would have loved the way we were making her inn shine.
The inn was where I fell in love with Holden. My heart squeezed at the thought.
“I’ve enjoyed the process,” I told her. “It reminded me what I love about being a designer.”
Olivia’s tentative gaze rose to mine. “I’m happy you’re staying,” she added quietly before she wrapped me in a big hug.
“Aw.” I squeezed her back. “I love you, too. Does this mean I can add more decorations?”
“No. Hug’s over.”
She pulled away and hustled off while I laughed.
My mind wandered back to the inn, and then the job with Claire. A little voice in my head told me after everything I’d learned, I was stupid for choosing a man over a job, but I ignored it.
I wasn’t just choosing a man. I was choosing a town, a group of people, and I was choosing to be happy.
I’d figure the rest out.
I still wasn’t sure what to do about my crushing debt, or the fate of the inn. It felt weird asking Holden to buy me out after everything we’d been through. I was living in his home. We had tossed the word yours and forever around. I wasn’t sure how to navigate this part.
This was probably the time for me to find a higher paying designer job so I could tackle the debt. I’d keep my bar job on weekends.
We could make extra income off the inn. We could hire a staff. Katherine wouldn’t want it to sit empty. She’d want it to be loved. She’d want people to visit and see the beauty of Queen’s Cove.
I chewed my lip. I had a lot of decisions to make.
Olivia let out a sharp laugh and I shook myself back to the present. Holden had arrived, his gaze flicking between me and the TV. Olivia stood behind him, face turned up to the screen. A few people gathered around them. Olivia shook with laughter before she reached over the counter for the remote and turned the volume up.
“The viral video was filmed by the Queen’s Cove wildlife conservation society,” the reporter explained, “who host a live feed of the bear den during the hibernation months.”
My stomach dropped through the floor. “Oh my god.”
I hurried over to behind Holden to watch. On screen, a clip played of the bear slapping the other bear with the dildo. My hands covered my mouth and my eyes widened.
“Local conservation officers say the bears played for hours with the toy, hitting each other with it and tossing it around. Miri Yang, a local teacher and philanthropist, says the toy belongs to local bartender and interior designer Sadie Waters.”
An image of me outside the inn that first morning, when the dildo was on the ground, appeared on screen. One of my eyes was closed, my hair was an unbrushed mess, and I wore sweatpants and no bra.
“No!” I screeched, as laughter rose around me. Olivia doubled over laughing and Holden’s arm came around me, beaming. “I’m going to kill Miri.”
The video cut to an interview with Miri.
“Yes, the dildo belongs to Sadie Waters,” she told the reporter, standing in front of the Queen’s Cove marina. “It’s part of the My Ferocious Alien line.” She peered into the camera with a serious expression. “Women’s sexuality is very important, and the town of Queen’s Cove supports Sadie Waters in all her sexual exploration. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
My face burned so hot, I thought my skin would melt. I couldn’t move.
The screen changed to a view of both reporters, struggling to hold back laughter.
“That thing is huge!” one of them said to the other. “No wonder the video has millions of views.”
I buried my face in Holden’s shoulder and he rubbed my back, still laughing.
The front door of the bar opened and a woman walked in, who I recognized as one of the conservation officers.
“No,” I whined when I spotted the bag in her hands.
She shot me a big smile. “Sadie Waters?”
My eyes closed for a brief moment. Everyone around me fell silent, holding their breaths.
“Yes?” I said, even though I knew I’d regret it.
She reached into the bag and pulled out the alien dildo, gnawed and pocked in teeth marks.
The bar erupted in cheers and I dissolved into laughter despite my total humiliation.
“I believe this belongs to you,” she said, handing it over.
“It’s not—” I began.
The bar patrons cut me off. “It’s not mine!” they chanted before cheering and clapping as I accepted the toy.
I sighed at Olivia, shaking my head. My face burned but I couldn’t help but laugh along with everyone. “This place is so fucking weird.”
“You love it,” she shot back, returning behind the bar counter.
Holden’s gaze met mine and I nodded at him. “I really do.”