Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
Ridge
“ W hat are you thinking about?” I asked Addison as she sat in the chair next to mine.
The room was dark, except for two spotlights—one in the front, close to the door, and another in the back. The glow from both was just enough to light up her face and bare skin.
This wasn’t the same private room as last time. This one was even smaller. And there was a salty odor lingering throughout the small space, like the poor bastard who had been in here before me had sweat himself to death.
“I can’t say it’s just one thing,” she replied. “It’s … all the things.”
“Start with something.”
Her chest rose even though most of it was covered by her arms. “The reason you’re here.”
“You know that answer.”
“No, I don’t. I mean, I have theories. And each one is a lot to take in.”
This woman got more interesting by the second.
“Why don’t you tell me what they are?” I leaned back in my seat and rested my foot over the opposite thigh.
Where I was getting relaxed, she was more upright, her back fully erect. “Theory one: you like the challenge of trying to get someone you can’t have since I made it extremely clear the last time we were alone that we could never do this again.”
I laughed.
She was so fucking cute when she was trying to prove a point.
“What exactly is this , Addison?”
“Huh?”
“You just said we can’t do this. What is this?” I waited. “Because all we’re doing is talking. So, is that what you meant? Or were you referring to something else?”
“I’m half naked, Ridge. I wouldn’t call this a normal conversation.”
I waved my hand across the air. “I didn’t notice.”
There was just enough light to see her brows lift. “You’re telling me you don’t see the bra I have on right now?”
“If I looked down, sure, I’d see it. But your arms are covering most of your chest, and it’s dark in here, and if I’m being honest, I’m not interested in looking at your bra. I’m far more interested in hearing your next theory.”
“ Hmm .” She stalled. “Before we get to that, are you really going to tell me you didn’t see me braless onstage?”
I smiled. “You were on a stage?”
“Ridge …”
“Yes, I saw you. Yes, I watched you. Yes, it turned me on. But not in the way you’re thinking. You could have been fully dressed—it wouldn’t have mattered to me.” I leaned forward to get closer to her. “Remember this, Addison: I’ve already seen what’s under that bra and those panties. I got to see because you came back to my house and I got to peel the lace off your body. If I’m going to see your tits and pussy again, I prefer it to happen under my control and not because you’re on a stage, stripping off your undergarments for eyes that aren’t mine.”
I could almost hear her breathing.
“You and my real name—it’s becoming a thing, isn’t it?”
“Any motherfucker in this building can call you Addy. I’m the only one who can call you Addison—I assume. I like that.”
She went quiet for a moment. “You haven’t answered my question.”
“Which is?”
“You want me because you can’t have me.”
I leaned back, giving her the space she needed while she stewed in the silence.
I had quite a few years on her, and what that gave me was experience with people. What I’d learned was that an environment that wasn’t filled with words made most people uncomfortable. So, they did things or they said things to fill the quiet gap.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” she voiced.
Point proven.
This was too fun.
“Do I want you? Hell yes. Do I want you because I can’t have you? Fuck no.” I traced my fingers down the side of the chair. “You’re the one saying I can’t have you. What I’m saying is that it’s just a matter of time before it happens.”
She sucked in a breath. “You think I’m going to give in?”
“Yes.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Instinct.”
“ Instinct ?”
The range in which her voice changed was as cute as the way she was staring at me.
“Your biggest hang-up is that you’re Daisy’s teacher. I appreciate that it’s a concern. I want my daughter to be your top priority. But I don’t want her to be the only one who has you. I want an equal share.” I rubbed my hands together. “You can spend the days with her and your nights with me—while Daisy is asleep or with her mother, of course.”
“She’s not my biggest hang-up, Ridge. She’s one of my many hang-ups.”
“Same thing.”
She laughed. “Not even close.”
“Minor details that can easily be worked out.”
“Why?” Her voice was now a whisper. “Why do you want me?”
“Why?” I repeated, a word that had haunted me since we’d met. “A very wise man told me—in a way that wasn’t quite as raw as this—that I needed to open my fucking eyes and see what was right in front of me. And when I did that, when I really looked, my stare landed on you.”
She twirled a piece of hair around her finger. “And I just happened to be practically naked at the time.”
I got up and walked to the darkest part of the room, leaning my back against the wall. “From over here, all I can see is a faint outline and shadow of your body. I can’t see your hair color. I can’t see your face. I can’t tell if you’re curvy or tiny. I’m telling you, if we’d met this way—just like this—I would feel the same way I do right now. You know why?”
“No.”
“Even in the dark, it’s the way you make me feel when you look at me. What I hear in your voice when you speak to me. There’s a kindness. A gentleness. A maturity. A loyalty that runs thick and deep.” I returned to my seat. “But there’s more—so much more. There’s everything Daisy has said about you, and that’s only confirmed what I already knew.” I put my hand on her armrest. “I don’t care that you’re my daughter’s teacher or that you have an issue with us meeting here or that the timing in your life is weird—or fucked up or however you put it—or any other hang-up that’s making you unsettled. I just want to spend more time with you, Addison. I want to see where things can go.” I lifted my hand from her armrest and rubbed my thumb across her lips. “I want to see how hard I can make you smile.”
“You’re wild—you know that?”
“What I am is determined. When I want something, I feel there’s no reason to hold back. And you, Addison Lark, are what I want. Damn it, I can still taste you on my fucking tongue.”
As soon as the last word left my mouth, she shifted in her seat. Crossing her legs and then recrossing them as though the feeling inside her body was too much to bear.
“So, if that takes me coming here to spend time with you, then I guess I’m going to become a regular.”
“What if I don’t want you to come here?” She sounded out of breath.
“You didn’t say that to me when you left my house.” I paused. “Is that what you’re saying to me now?”
Her hand was suddenly on my arm. “I need this job, Ridge.”
“I’m not telling you to quit.” Even though I wanted to— fuck . But I certainly wasn’t in a position to tell her to give up this job. “If anything, I’m supporting you. I’m willing to come back as many times as I can to see you. I’m paying an obscene amount of money to cover the remainder of your shift. What I’m not doing is giving you a hard time about working here.”
“But—”
“Are you going to tell me that I haven’t crossed your mind once today? Or when you were onstage, scanning the audience, there wasn’t a tiny inkling of hope that I was in one of the seats? Because the second we connected eyes, I didn’t see shock on your face. What I saw was satisfaction.”
“I—”
“Don’t lie to me, Addison. I’ll be able to hear it.”
“I thought about you,” she whispered.
I chuckled. “I know.”
I used her armrests to pull her chair closer, our knees now aligned. “Let me tell you what I’ve thought about today.” I stopped to breathe her in. “I woke up this morning, wishing the lips I was licking weren’t mine, but yours. That I could start with your mouth and slowly work my way down to your pussy. When I was in the shower—the hot water blasting against my skin, my hand stroking my dick—I wanted the wetness I was feeling to be from your cunt.” I let that hit her. “And when my phone rang as soon as I got out, I wanted your name to be on the screen. That was only the first twenty minutes of my day, but the thoughts didn’t stop there. They kept going.”
“Ridge …”
“Tell me what you’ve thought about.”
Her chest rose as she took a breath.
“The funny thing is, you don’t even have to tell me. I already know. Your eyes have been giving it away since they locked with mine tonight.” I held the side of her face. She didn’t pull away; she pushed against my palm instead. “You’re filling your head with reasons why we shouldn’t when the only thing you should be focused on is why we should.”
“Why we should …” she whispered.
“Yes. Why we should,” I repeated. “You know these fingers”—I gently tapped them against her cheek—“are going to feel incredible when they’re in your pussy. When my tongue is on your clit. When my cock is thrusting inside you, making you fucking scream.”
“Never …” Her voice trailed off, and she slowly shook her head. “Never have I ever met anyone like you.”
“And you won’t again. That’s why you shouldn’t let me go, Addison. That’s why you should get up from that chair and come over here.”
“And do what? Dance for you?”
I let out a huff of air.
It didn’t matter what I said; she would never accept that I wasn’t here for that.
“No dancing,” I told her. “What I want is for you to sit on my face.”
“Here? No.” I could hear the hesitation in her voice. “There are cameras. My manager could walk in on us. Plus, I don’t want to do anything like that in this room.” She swallowed, taking a second before she added, “There’s you, and there’s this club, and I want to keep those things separate.”
“Then, leave with me. Now. Because I don’t know how much longer I can wait to taste you again.”