Chapter 4
FOUR
RIDGE
A conflicted Addison was not what I’d hoped for when I walked back into the same room she’d bolted from last week. I’d hoped time and another taste of us together would change her mind. Now I wasn’t so sure she still felt the same intensity as I had, still did.
Over the past six days, I’d chopped more wood than we’d likely need for the next three winters. I’d cleared the area around the lodge and each of our cabins to create a fire line should it ever be needed, plus I’d worked with the county surveyor to map out three more home sites further up the mountain. We planned on building additional cabins for short-term rentals in order to supplement the cost of running the lodge.
None of the work had kept my thoughts from Addison for very long. There was something keeping her from acknowledging our connection, and the need to figure it out had been keeping me awake. Was she running from something or someone? Had she’d been so hurt in a past relationship that she refused to open herself up again beyond one night?
Whatever it was, I was determined to find out, to protect her if I needed to, and most importantly, show her that not every man was a complete ass when it came to caring for someone’s heart.
“Okay, I can see you’re not ready to go there. How about we have dinner? I’d like to know you better. In spite of how we met, the things we did, that’s not my typical mo. But you’re different, and I want a chance.” Reluctantly, and against my urge to take her beautiful face in my hands and kiss her until she agreed, I moved back in the chair, so she’d feel more at ease.
“What if I say no? That the only relationship between us needs to be a professional one? No more kissing…no more anything.” Her gaze had landed on my lips, and her eyes widened ever so slightly. Did she realize she’d licked her plump bottom lip as she stressed the word “anything?” Because her words and her body’s response were definitely at war. Good thing I had some experience with conflict. That I could handle. Her running away again—not so much. I’d handle it, but I wouldn’t like it.
Time to be real, and more vulnerable than I’ve ever been with a woman. “I wouldn’t like it, and to be honest, it would be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. To not to keep going after you until you were back in my bed. I wouldn’t push you for more than you wanted from me. That’s not the kind of guy I am, Addy.”
“How come I hear a ‘but’ in there?” She licked her lips again, and I just about jumped across the table.
“See, you already know something about me other than I’m a world class kisser. But, you can’t deny this thing between us. And I hear what you’re saying, but your body is telling me something else entirely. And I’m here for it. In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot about what you want.”
“You-you have?” Addy wiggled in her seat and a flare of hope, and need, thrummed through me, settling in my dick as it pressed against my zipper.
“There’s no one else I want to be with, and you don’t want a relationship, but we obviously want each other, right?” I didn’t wait for an answer, just barreled on. “So, I’m asking again for whatever you’re willing to give me. Call it friends with benefits. And then if someone else comes along…then, we let the other know. No harm, no drama.”
But God help any other man who got in my way.