Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
KISSING IN A TREE
Addison
Standing in the doorway of my chaotically organized closet, I stared out the window. I gripped my phone tightly in one hand and had nearly gnawed off my thumbnail on the other.
The insurance company didn’t bite. Soon, the nurse would drop to two days a week, and not long after, they would only be there once every other week.
If I wanted them to continue coming, I would have to find the money to make it happen.
Beckett’s offer from days ago was heavy on my mind. I didn’t want to accept his money or anyone else’s for that matter. I didn’t think he’d expect anything in return, but things could change. If we didn’t work out, would all the money come due immediately?
The right thing to do would be to talk to him, to my grandmothers. Not accepting help when it was offered was stupid, but accepting help felt like an admission that I didn’t have it all as under control as I liked to make it seem.
Because I was nowhere near having anything under control.
Two jobs, a new relationship, my grandmothers…I felt like I was failing at all of it.
I just needed one thing to go right. Just one. And my grandmothers deserved to live their later years as comfortably and peacefully as they could. They’d taken care of me so well, that was the least they deserved.
“Addie?” a voice called from the other side of the office, drawing me from my humbling daydreaming.
Gloria, our property manager, smiled over at me and glanced down at her watch. “You said you needed to leave by three, right?”
“Yeah, around then,” I said, straightening and plastering on a smile in return.
“Well, you better get going, then. It’s three-oh-four.”
“Crap,” I muttered. I rushed over to my desk and shut down my computer, gathering my bag and throwing my notebook and laptop inside. “Oh, I’m almost done with the holiday party planning, but a couple of the residents were asking about alcohol options?”
Gloria shook her head and slumped down in her chair. She was hesitant to allow alcohol at events when many of our residents were already a little unsteady on their feet, and we didn’t want to cause any injuries. But I understood their desire to have a glass of wine while celebrating.
“Fine, fine,” she sighed. “But we’re sticking with beer and wine. And only as much as we absolutely need.”
“Got it,” I said as I slung my bag over my shoulder. “You are going to have some very, very happy people.”
I rushed out the door, waving to Mr. Peterson and Mr. Rogers as I unlocked my car. I had to meet Caroline and Natalie across town at one of the hotels they wanted to tour for the anniversary party.
At least one thing wound up going right that day, and I ended up pulling in five minutes early.
It was a beautiful, historical hotel with detailed architecture. There were arches over the windows and carved columns just beyond the valet area. Which I drove past, gambling instead on street parking.
I found a spot a block down and paid the parking meter from the app on my phone as I jogged up the street. The cold, December wind made me pull my coat tighter. I couldn’t get inside quick enough, and I smiled at the hotel employee who held the door open for me.
The inside was just as ornate and intricate as the outside but so much warmer. Caroline and Natalie were standing next to double doors down a hallway to the left, which I guessed was the ballroom.
Caroline waved as I strode toward them. “Hi, Addie. Thanks so much for coming.”
“Nice to see you again,” Natalie added.
“Nice to see you, too. Have they started yet?”
They both shook their heads and glanced at the closed doors. “We’re waiting on their event planner. Shouldn’t be more than a minute or two.”
“Were you coming from Lake Hills?” Caroline asked, and I nodded.
“Oh, yeah, Care was telling me that you have two jobs?” Natalie asked, and I cringed in response. “That’s so much. How do you manage that?”
“With lots of caffeine,” I offered, and they both laughed as an older man approached us from the other end of the hallway. “I think this is our guy.” I pointed to the man, and they both turned.
He introduced himself to us as Tom, the head of event planning at the hotel, and ushered us through the double doors to our right to begin the tour.
Fifteen minutes later, Natalie and Caroline were discussing a few details with Tom while I was organizing the paperwork he’d provided us and jotting down a few other pieces of information I knew would come in handy.
They were on the opposite side of the moderately sized ballroom—a room just big enough for the two-hundred-person party—so when I felt someone walk up behind me, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“It’s just me, baby girl,” Beckett’s warm voice drawled as he sat down next to me.
“What are you doing here? I thought you had a meeting?”
He leaned his elbows on the table and peered around the room. “Not happy to see me?”
I waved him off and shut the folder in front of me. He looked so put together—as always—in a dark blue suit, white shirt, and light blue tie. In the warm ballroom light, I could see a little more gray in his dark stubble and along his hairline. And it only made him more attractive.
Glancing down, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye just before Beckett’s ankle wrapped out the leg of my chair and tugged me closer to him. I let out a small gasp of surprise, and every ounce of air I breathed in was filled with him.
“I’m always happy to see you,” I said with a coy smile.
Beckett glanced at where Caroline, Natalie, and Tom stood, then back at me.
“My meeting finished early, and this is only a quick walk from my office, so I wanted to come by, see the space for myself…and I couldn’t pass up a chance to spend at least a few minutes with my girl.”
There was no point in trying to keep my cheeks from flushing. It was a foregone conclusion when I was around Beckett, and he said things like that. Before I could think of a witty response, he was standing as he grabbed my hand.
“What—”
“Just come on, Bubbles.”
I threw a quick look over my shoulder at Caroline and Natalie, whose backs were to us and hadn’t even noticed Beckett walk in. Or noticed him leading me quickly out a side door nearby and through to the hallway around the corner from where we’d entered.
Beckett made a cursory glance down the empty hallway and tugged me across to an alcove with a window to the view outside and a small table and chair.
But I didn’t get to examine the rest of our surroundings before Beckett backed me up against the wall and slammed his mouth to mine. His hands cupped my cheeks and guided me in a fierce, hungry kiss. No longer concerned about where we were or what was happening, I was consumed by him.
My hands snaked under his suit jacket and slipped against his crisp, white shirt. Moaning against his lips, he devoured every little sound I tried and failed to rein in.
“When’s your next free night?” He asked, placing one final kiss against my lips.
My eyes slowly opened, and I licked the remnants of him from my mouth. My attention bouncing between his hazel eyes, I actually wasn’t sure when my next free night was. With the insurance news, my schedule was only more chaotic.
“I’m not…I’m not sure,” I muttered, and Beckett smoothed his thumb over my cheek.
For the millionth time in my life, I wished I could better conceal my facial expressions and that all my thoughts didn’t have to play out across my features, because he immediately sensed my mood shift.
“What happened?” His question was simple, but I felt tears welling behind my eyes.
Oh, heck no, I thought. I was not freaking crying. No tears. No tears.
But there was also no point in lying. I’d hoped to have a little more time to wrap my head around the news and come up with a viable plan, but here we were.
“Umm…I heard back from the insurance company.” I swallowed as his eyes bounced between mine, and I saw understanding dawn.
“They’re still dropping the number of days, aren’t they?”
One solemn nod, and Beckett sighed.
“And I’m out of insurance options, so I’ll have to figure something else out.” I tried to instill at least an ounce of confidence in my voice as I shifted on my feet.
“Have you thought more about my offer?” he asked in a low voice.
I shook my head immediately but shrugged.
“I mean, yes, I’ve thought about it, and I just don’t think it’s a good idea.
We’ve only just started dating, and I don’t know about you, but I think it’s going really well.
And all we need is money to get in the middle of what’s otherwise a good thing.
I don’t want to chance it. And besides, I’ve figured it out up until now. ”
Beckett nodded and dropped his hands to clasp mine. “I understand, and I respect your decision. But let me talk to a friend of mine. She’s an insurance lawyer and may have something we haven’t considered.”
Now, that was the kind of help I had no problem accepting. “That would be amazing,” I said with a glimmer of hope.
“Perfect, I’ll call her when I get back to my office. But I have a follow-up question.”
“Yes?”
“We’re dating?”
I laughed and dropped my head back against the wall. “Well, you said there’s no one else for you, and there’s definitely no one else for me. And after our conversation on Thanksgiving, I thought that maybe—”
He shut me up with a kiss, which was a very effective method and probably my favorite one I’d experienced. My nervous babbling wasn’t just annoying to me.
When he pulled back, he smiled down at me. “Works for me, baby girl.”
“So, you’re my boyfriend?”
He chuckled, and I caught a flash of his dimple. “I feel like I’m way too damn old to be a boyfriend again, but yeah, I want to be.”
Excitement welled inside me, and I couldn’t contain my smile. “I thought this day was a total loss, but it’s really turned around.”
“Happy to help,” he said against my lips. I pressed up on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck as he wrapped his around my waist. It always felt so good to be in his arms.
“Oh, okay, this makes sense,” a voice from somewhere down the hallway said.
Beckett and I separated, but there wasn’t really any place for me to go with a wall behind me and Beckett in front of me. I closed my eyes as someone laughed.
“Nice to see you, Caroline,” he said.
“Didn’t think you were coming, Beckett.” I could hear the amusement in her voice, and I dropped my forehead to his chest. “But now I see why you made a special trip.”
Opening my eyes, I rolled my lips and took a deep breath, bracing myself to face my boss.
“Hi,” I said sheepishly, waving at Caroline and Natalie who both appeared very entertained by the situation they’d caught us in. “I’m really—”
Caroline raised her hand and waved off the apology that was on the tip of my tongue. “Don’t apologize. Natalie and I both know a little about secret relationships. However, both of us were a little better at the ‘sneaking’ part.”
Natalie nudged her friend, throwing her an incredulous look. “Umm…I did it well. You, on the other hand, spoiled it almost immediately. I’m just good at keeping a secret.”
Caroline rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Anyway,” she said, looking back at us. “Beckett, what do you think of the space? Or did you even get a chance to look before you began making out with my employee?”
I dropped my head into my hands as Beckett gripped the back of my neck with his large hand. “I was a little preoccupied,” he said. “But we can look now.”
“Perfect,” Caroline quipped and turned on her heels.
Natalie followed behind her, and Beckett took a few steps in their direction. I, on the other hand, stayed exactly where I was, hoping the embarrassment would burn off soon.
With my arms crossed, I was going to wait for all three of them to disappear so I could flop down in the chair behind me. But Beckett stopped only a few feet away.
He buttoned his jacket and tucked one hand in his pocket as he offered me the other.
“Let’s go, baby girl,” he said, and as I always did, I melted. Dropping my hands to my sides, I sulked over to him and let him intertwine our fingers. He kissed the back of my hand and led us back into the grand room.