“He’s traveled all over Europe. Greece, Rome…” Addison’s voice washed over me, but I blocked it out when cool fingers touched my own where they were holding the pizza box. Addison’s mother.
“Have you, really? Where else have you been, Mr. McKendrick?” she asked conversationally, but her regard and touch were beginning to make it more than obvious where Addison’s confidence came from.
Usually, I could list the cities in order of each visit, but with Mrs. Lancaster still touching me, I was rendered speechless. I stepped back, more than ready to escape this awkward little run-in, and knocked against the bar as I searched for a way out.
As I did, I caught Addison in my line of sight, and the way she was looking at me had my palms sweating and my cock hardening in a way her mother’s touch hadn’t.
I needed to leave, right fucking now.
“Well, it was nice to meet you both,” I lied and pushed my way past the family. “I hope you have a good night, and I’ll see you on Monday, Addison.”
I made my way through the restaurant and out the door, knowing my behavior was probably coming off as odd.
Fuck.
Angrily, I kicked a rock that was on the pavement and this time, cursed out loud. “Fuck!”
A couple dashed past me and exchanged nervous looks before rushing inside.
Just great, that’s fucking fantastic. Now they think I’m crazy too.
I walked to my truck, pissed off with myself and the entire situation I had gotten into. Tonight needed to be over with.
The sooner the fucking better.
“Well, he seems very nice.”
Yes, I’d noticed how nice my mom thought Grayson was. It’d been obvious as she’d fondled his hand in front of my father.
“How would you know, Sandra? You said all of three things to the man.”
They argued their way back to the table, and I made an impromptu decision. “I’ll be right back. I need to use the restroom.”
My mom looked at me, and for an irrational moment, I thought she could read my mind, until she said, “I’ll order chicken for you.”
Not caring in the slightest, I made a beeline for the restrooms. At the last minute, I ducked out the side door and saw Grayson climbing into his truck.
Running across the dark parking lot, I called out to him just as he was pulling his door shut. “Mr. McKendrick!”
Will he talk to me? Or just leave?
One, two, three.
When the truck didn’t rumble to life, I scanned the area I was in and moved closer. He pushed the door back open and I had to crane my neck to see him.
“What are you doing out here?”
He was furious, but at the same time, his eyes betrayed him. They were blazing hot, and it had nothing to do with anger.
Licking my lips, which suddenly felt dry, I placed a hand on the side of the door. “Meet me later.”
“Are you fucking insane?”
Good question. Am I? I didn’t think so.
“That’s not a no.”
Gripping the steering wheel tightly, he looked away and said, “Well it’s not a fucking yes.”
One, two, three. One, two, three.
I waited for him to turn back, but when it was clear he wouldn’t, I whispered the one thing I knew would get his attention. His name.
“Grayson?”
Just as I suspected, he responded, speaking so softly I had to strain to hear him.
“Go back inside, sit down with your parents, and eat your dinner. You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
As that last condescending sentence met my ears, the fact that we might get caught disappeared from my mind. I put a foot on the step bar of his truck and held the door, pushing myself up within inches of his face. He moved away so abruptly it was as if I was poison, but that didn’t deter me.
“Don’t kid yourself. I know exactly what I’m asking for, and you know it. Look at me.”
“Go inside,” he demanded with a tense jaw.
“I will. After you look at me.”
Reluctantly, he turned his head, and when our eyes met, I dared him to do something I knew he wanted, but hadn’t given in to.
“Look at all of me.”
Nothing had prepared me for this. Nothing could. This was a moment that wasn’t supposed to happen. It wasn’t allowed to happen.
With my hands wrapped in a death grip, I finally gave myself permission to really admire her.
I started with the chestnut hair that brushed up against the creamy complexion of her skin. It seemed to go on forever as my eyes trailed down her long, elegant neck and took in all that her dress displayed—and it displayed plenty.
The way the material gathered under her breasts framed her chest almost as well as my hands would. I brought my gaze back up to find her watching me, and the fire I could see burning there convinced me that she was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted.
“Meet me later.”
“No.” My response was simple and to the point. If I said too much, I’d end up doing something stupid.
“Two-thirty-two Maplewood Drive.”
I waited as she stepped down from my truck.
“That’s my address.”
Shaking my head in disbelief, I asked, “And what? I’m just going to knock on the door and ask if you’re home?”
The smile that tipped her lips up at the corners was impish, almost cute. It was the glint in her eye that was pure sex.
“No. But you might want to drive by later tonight and imagine me upstairs in my bedroom, the window to the far left. I’ll be thinking about you.”
“I’m leaving,” I stated, finally saying something fucking sensible. I started up the truck and reached for the door handle.
“Grayson?”
Mentally exhausted, I demanded, “What?”
Stepping away from the truck, she smiled. “Enjoy your pizza.”
Good thing she’d reminded me. Within the space of five minutes, I’d forgotten all about the damn to-go box sitting on the back seat of my truck.
Four hours later, I was making my way down Maplewood Drive like the fucking idiot I was.
I hadn’t meant to drive over there. I’d gone home, eaten my pizza and downed two bottles of beer. My mind then wandered back to my father—You want her heart? Go and take it—and I started to convince myself he was right.
That was before I turned down her street and drove past her parent’s large, two-story house. It was close to midnight when I glanced up to the far window on the left side and watched in disbelief as a light illuminated the room.
Shit. I turned off the headlights and then realized how stupid that was since Addison already knew my truck.
While trying to decide what to do next, I felt my heart almost stop when the light shut off. A muted glow then lit up the center arch of the house, and a figure made their way down the interior staircase.
Put your foot on the gas and go, I told myself, but as my car idled just off the side of 232 Maplewood Drive, I saw a side door open. Under the porch light stepped Addison—still wearing her pink dress.
I could hear my breathing as it came quicker in the thick silence of my truck, and just when I thought I knew what to expect, she slipped into a long, white coat and looked at me over her shoulder.
Follow me, she mouthed.
I darted down the side of my house then looked back to the road where his truck remained. He hadn’t sat idle. The headlights were back on.