Here's to Tomorrow Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  For my B.

  You were the first person to ever read my words, so guess who gets the first dedication.

  Trusting you with Rae and Hudson was easy from the start. This one is for you.

  Rae

  “Shouldn’t you at least buy me dinner before you screw me?”

  “Um...what?”

  Yep. I, Rae Kamden, just said that. Out loud. Not on purpose, of course. That was just my luck and lack of filter. Foot, I’m sure you’re well acquainted with mouth by now, but just in case, say hello.

  “Nothing,” I spit out quickly and look down at my light-pink Converse shoes to avoid the most amazing pair of amused green eyes staring down at me.

  Mr. Hot Bod Mechanic standing in front of me is definitely not an unpleasant sight—at least from what I can tell. Not that I’ve actually been paying attention. The last five minutes have been spent pacing and rambling.

  I peek up between my bangs to get a better look.

  His lips are smashed together tightly like he’s trying to keep something in. Probably his laughter over my little outburst and crazy antics.

  He’s hot. Like, seriously hot.

  Unfortunately, he’s currently letting me know how much this latest round of repairs is going to cost since my car decided to break down just a mile up the road. This is definitely killing his hotness factor.

  I used the last of my cell phone battery to look up the nearest mechanic and then hiked here to beg someone to tow my car for as cheap as possible. I ended up in a little locally owned shop that has a pretty awesome setup, which I only know because I scoped the place out while I was waiting in the office earlier—just to make sure I wasn’t in some sort of car-stripping shop, because you never know these days.

  Now I’m kind of just standing here, pretending to stare at my feet while I check this guy out. I can totally justify this, though, because he’s staring right back, taking me in from my feet to my slightly bent head.

  He gives a crooked grin when he takes in my Transit shirt. He must be a fan. At least that’s what I’m hoping, because that means he has good taste in music, which kind of drives my life. Add another item to the “Reasons This Guy is a Total Stud” list.

  He cocks his head to the side, that crooked grin still in place, and just waits.

  Get your shit together, Rae, and stop making fake lists.

  “So, it’s the transmission?” I manage to ask once the red in my face subsides. I look back up, trying to keep my eyes darting around the shop because I’m still embarrassed over my little outburst, and he’s still hot.

  He clears his throat. “Yeah. It looks like whoever fixed your car last didn’t do a good job. You’re definitely gonna need a new one, and a tune-up all the way around. Like I said, you’re probably looking at eighteen hundred.”

  Despite his gravelly voice being the most beautiful thing I have ever heard, I’m pissed. This is the third time in three months that I’ve brought my car in for repairs. On top of that, eighteen hundred dollars is lot of damn money for a fresh college graduate. Hell, in this economy, it’s a lot of money period, and I’m definitely not about to ask my dad for more. Sure, he can afford it, but I’ve just spent the last two weeks convincing him that I can make it on my own and to let me do my own thing for once. If I were to ask for more money now, that entire conversation would be rendered pointless. And I would fail in my quest for independence. So not happening.

  “Dammit! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted that guy. I just spent two grand last month on a new one. Ugh! I really don’t have the time or money to deal with this. I could just use the rest of my savings, but then I won’t have backup just in case. I’d have to pick up extra shifts at work to replenish it and then I’m just going to be overworked and stressed out even more than I already am and that just leads to—,” I stop, realizing that I’m pacing and rambling like a lunatic in front of this poor guy. Again. He probably thinks I’m a complete freak now. Just wonderful.

  To my surprise, he starts laughing.

  “Whoa. Take a deep breath, sugar. Relax. It’s all good. We’ll get something worked out with payments if you need to pay that way. No big deal. We’re a small business wanting to help people and all that.”

  I call bullshit. No one is that awesome.

  However, if he’s being serious, then this guy is a godsend. I’m about to throw my arms around his neck and never let go.

  Somehow, I refrain and question him first.

  “Seriously? I mean, I don’t think I’ll need to do that, but just knowing the option is there would help me sleep a lot better tonight.”

  “Seriously. Don’t sweat it. We’ll get ya fixed up.”

  He starts walking to the front of the shop and I follow like a lost puppy. He stops at the door and turns toward me. “So, Miss…,” he trails off, wanting me to provide my name, which is odd because it should be on the clipboard he’s holding.

  “You can just call me Rae.” I hate when people call me Miss.

  “Alright, Rae. You got lucky because we just had a few cancellations, so we’ll get the work done and give you a call in about four days. Is that okay? Do you have anyone you can call to give you a ride or do you need me to take you somewhere?”

  “Four days is perfect. Thank you so much. If I could use your phone—since mine conveniently died just like my car—I can call someone to come get me.”

  “Sounds good, Rae. I’m Hudson, by the way. Just ask Tucker at the front desk. He’ll get you a phone to use and get you started on some more paperwork.” Hudson points toward a door and looks down at his clipboard, starting to fill some stuff in.

  “Thanks, Hudson,” I say, unable to stop myself from using his name out loud. He looks up at me and our eyes collide for more than half a second for the first time. And holy hell was this worth the wait.

  They’re beautiful. Swirls of dark and light green with just a smidge of blue. The colors blend perfectly together, like the ocean on a stormy day. Which sucks, because I’m terrified of the ocean. And, odd as this sounds, I have a feeling that this man standing in front of me can somehow make that fear a little less...prominent. I’m honestly willing to look past it though, because his eyes have already become my favorite part of him. Because they speak. They’re talking right now, telling me he’s feeling something too. Something weird and almost tangible between us. And that’s not right since we just met.

  At least I think we did. He seems familiar, like I’ve met him before, sometime in my past. I can’t seem to place him though.

  We’re both just standing here looking at each other. I know only seconds have passed but it feels like a lifetime.


  He’s the first to shake it off, giving me a somewhat strained smile. I try to smile back and move around him toward the office.

  I walk through the door and spot a man who I assume is Tucker. He’s almost as attractive as the mechanic, and he’s sitting at the front desk, playing on his cell phone. He has beautiful, dark blond hair that’s been carefully arranged to look messy. I can’t tell what they are, but he has two full sleeves of all-black tattoos. You can tell, just from the sheer beauty of them, they clearly mean something important to him.

  “Hey, um, Hudson told me I could use the phone. Apparently you can help me out with that.” I wait as he looks up and stares at me for a second. I raise my eyebrows at him.

  “Sorry.” He shakes his head slightly. “I didn’t catch that. I’m on this super hard level of Mad Maxwell and I wasn’t paying any attention. What can I help you with?” He looks a little embarrassed that he’s making me repeat myself. I want to roll my eyes, but it’s actually kind of cute that he is so distracted by his game.

  “I need to use the phone so I can get someone to come pick me up. Mine died. Do you have one I can use?”

  “Oh, sure.” He hands me a cordless phone from below the counter. “Just press 9 to dial out, wait for the tone, and enter the number.”

  “Thanks,” I mumble as he focuses back in on his game. I dial my sister-slash-roommate, since hers is the only number I can ever remember, and pray that she picks up.

  “Hello?” Haley asks cautiously.

  “Hey, Hales, it’s Rae. My car broke down. Again. Think you can come give me a lift?”

  “Dude, again? You’ve got crap luck, Rae. Of course I can come get you. Where are you? The caller ID just said ‘Jacked Up.’ Is that the name of the shop? Because, girl, that doesn’t sound too promising to me.”

  I laugh. “Yes, that’s the name of the shop. Before you get your panties in a wad, they are pretty cool so far. Some guy just told me he would even work with me on payments if I needed it. I’ve never even heard of a place doing that before, so I guess I got lucky breaking down where I did.”

  “Hmm…seems kind of odd. I’ve definitely never heard of it before and I’ve been around a lot longer than you.”

  “Two years, dude. Two freakin’ years. Hurry up. I’ve got to be at work by six.” I hang up.

  Being the younger sister in our relationship, I’m used to her weird thinking. Haley is an outspoken, protective, and demanding person. She drives me crazy with her incessant questioning and assumptions, but she’s actually the best sister ever. She lets me live with her for practically nothing and never complains about being my personal taxi or my lack of ever doing the dishes, so I got pretty lucky in the sister department.

  I return the phone to Tucker, thanking him again, and plop down in a chair in the waiting room to start filling out the paperwork for the repairs.

  I can feel eyes on me.

  Looking up, I see Tucker staring at me. I look away then glance back, watching as he gets up and walks out of the room.

  What the hell was that about? He looked at me like I had a second head or something. Odd.

  Suddenly, I see Hudson in the window of the door leading to the shop, talking with Tucker. Both of them look a little uncomfortable, and with that look that Tucker just gave me, I can’t help but think that it has something to do with me.

  I hope they aren’t arguing over my repairs or the cost because that would seriously suck. I don’t think I would be able to cover much more than I already am. I’m still trying to catch up from missing work two weeks ago when I got sick with the flu.

  I don’t want to risk having this mess everything up.

  If things go accordingly, I’ll be on my way to moving in with my best friend, Maura, in the next few months. All part of my “growing up and doing things on my own” plan.

  Besides, my father would probably strangle me if I came to him for money right now. We’ve been having this ongoing “conversation” for the past two weeks about me moving to Boston. I want to actually live in the city, not thirty minutes out where I currently am.

  I’m not saying where I live is bad, because it’s actually a super cute town. It’s not too big and not too small. I’m just in need of a scenery change. Something more fast-paced. At least I think I am. I’m not really sure. I feel like I’m supposed to move on, but I don’t actually know if I need to.

  Either way, I finally got him to agree last week on one condition: I have to have a job before I move.

  I don’t need his permission, but I want to have it in case something ever happens and I need help. Plus, he’s the only parent I’ve ever had and I don’t want to mess up the fantastic relationship we’ve built by moving away— even if it’s only thirty minutes—without his blessing. Just doesn’t feel right to me.

  So, at his insistence, I’ve been putting in applications at a few different marketing firms over the last two days, since I graduated with my degree in marketing. I’m not sure if I’m completely cut out for an office setting, but I’ll have to make myself be just to get a headstart in the industry.

  Glancing up from my paperwork, I see Tucker opening the door with a slight smile on his face. Guess it didn’t end up so bad.

  “Rae, was it?” I nod. “Right, so we’re good to go on starting your repairs. Should only take about four days since we have an opening. We’ll give you a call when it’s done or if anything comes up. Were you able to find a ride today?”

  I think it’s kinda sweet that he acts like he wasn’t eavesdropping on my conversation a few minutes ago.

  “Yep, all set. They should be here shortly to get me. Here’s this.” I hand him the clipboard with my completed paperwork. “I’ll just go wait outside. Thank you again for doing this so quickly. I really appreciate it. If you all ever have a free night, come up to the bar where I work and I’ll get you some beers on the house.”

  “Yeah? What bar is that?” he asks.

  “Clyde’s over on 25th Street. You ever been?”

  He shakes his head. “Can’t say that I have. Might have to stop in some time.”

  “You should. We have some kick-ass wings. Plus, free beer on me.”

  Tucker chuckles lightly. “You drive a hard bargain. I’m in.”

  “Sounds good. Guess I’ll see you in a couple days to pick up my POS in there.”

  “Hey, cars have feelings too,” he jokes. At least I think he’s joking.

  “All that one has is anger. So pissy all the time, breaking down on me constantly.”

  “You got me there. I’ll give you a call when she’s done.”

  “She?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “Most people say cars are girls because they can be a big pain in the—,” he trails off, noticing my now glaring eyes, just daring him to finish that sentence. “Right. Bad idea to go there.”

  “I’ll see you around, Tucker,” I say on a small laugh.

  Shaking my head, I walk out the door and walk over to the edge of the parking lot. Knowing Haley, she’ll probably just pick me up on a drive-by, so it’s pointless to wait around inside.

  Even though Tucker just almost royally fucked up, I can’t help but still hope he extends my invite to Hudson and they stop in, because I’m already dying to get a glimpse of those gorgeous green eyes again.

  Hudson

  Hudson Tamell, you’re a straight up creeper.

  I’m standing inside the open garage, staring at this girl as she waits outside for her ride. Luckily, if she were to look over, she wouldn’t be able to see me. Not that it should matter, because I shouldn’t be watching her anyway.

  I can’t seem to look away, though. I’ve already tried a few times.

  She’s beautiful.

  Not the in-your-face, runway beautiful, but a subtle kind of beautiful. The best kind of beautiful.

  The real reason I can’t look away?

  Her mouth.

  Not only does it look kissable, it’s...weird. The best kind of weird.

&n
bsp; At first, I thought I misheard what she said—the whole dinner before screwing her thing. I didn’t think something so sassy could come out of something so...small. Then she blushed and I knew. She had actually said that.

  I was floored. And extremely glad that she stared at her feet for almost a full minute afterward, because the look on my face was one of total disbelief.

  And of course it gave me a chance to get a good look at her.

  If I wasn’t already sold based on her mouth, her outfit would have almost sealed the deal itself. A beautiful girl in a Transit tee and Chucks? I’m so fucking in.

  Another plus? Her voice. It’s…different. It’s like a mix between husky and lyrical. That’s so stupid-sounding but I don’t know how else to describe it. I do know that it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to hear it again.

  The final kicker, though? That stare. Holy shit, that stare. I’m positive we stood there for a good minute just looking at one another. She seemed so familiar. Something about her kind of…called to me.

  And I got lost. So lost in her forest-green eyes—and not just for the color, because damn did they stick out against her pale skin—but because they kept saying, I’m wandering. I’ll be damned if I don’t want to help her find her way.

  This odd urge to protect her washes over me. I have no idea where it comes from or what it means but I want to do something about it right away.

  But I can’t. I’ve got too much already on my plate—too many responsibilities, namely my kid, Joey—that I’m not about to flake on for a spitfire girl with a wicked mouth and beautiful eyes.

  “Are you shitting me, man? You’re just standing there staring at this chick. Fucking creeper.”

  Damn Tucker.

  “Would you keep it down, asshole? The doors are open,” I whisper angrily through gritted teeth.

  “If you would quit being weird I wouldn’t have to keep my voice down.” He comes to stand next to me, looking out over at Rae.

  He was just in here earlier asking me questions about her. I guess she said something to whomever is picking her up about the payments that I offered, and he was pretty worried about it because that’s not something that has ever happened before.