Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
Addison
T he first thing I saw when I opened my eyes wasn’t the sun that was just starting to peek through the bottom of the blinds. It was the light from my phone as it vibrated on my nightstand.
Sigh.
I’d fallen asleep last night with my laptop next to me, my mail beside it. A calculator. A printed spreadsheet that was helping me keep track of everything. I traced my finger over the trackpad to check the time on my home screen and saw it was a few minutes past six. My alarm would be going off in a few minutes anyway, so rather than try to force myself back to sleep, I rubbed my eyelids, stretched my arms over my head, and reached for my cell.
Morgan
Hi! I miss you!
I can’t even remember the last time I slept. Why did I decide to become a doctor again? I swear I’ve been at the hospital for the last 4 days straight. Or maybe it’s been 5. Actually, I think it’s been 6.
Good Lord.
I’d call you, but it’s way too early. I think. Or are you up? I’m delirious … clearly, LOL.
Me
I’m up, but I need coffee before you call, or I’ll literally turn into a bear.
But hi! I miss you too! LOL!
Morgan
I wish we were going for coffee right now.
Me
You need sleep, LOL. The last thing you need right now is caffeine.
Morgan
Truth.
So, the second payment is due next week. Just wanted to give you a heads-up in case you forgot.
Me
I’ll have the money. I’ll be sending it over, don’t worry.
Morgan
Full-time teacher, bartending at nights. I don’t know how you’re making it all happen and not sleepwalking from being so tired all the time.
I’m so proud of you, Addy.
My stomach ached as I read her messages. It killed me that I couldn’t tell her the truth about my second job. But if I told her what I was really doing, she’d beg me to quit. She would never ever want me to take my clothes off for money. And that would result in her not accepting a single dollar from me.
So, I kept my mouth shut and continued to lie.
Even though it hurt.
And even though I hated liars and I was going against everything I believed in.
Me
Love you. Talk soon.
Morgan
XO
I sat up a little higher, puffing the pillow behind my back, picking up the spreadsheet that I’d been going over before I fell asleep.
The numbers just weren’t mathing.
All I’d wanted to do since I had been a kid was teach. I absolutely loved children. I wanted to be a part of molding their future.
But when I had been working toward that dream, I hadn’t anticipated how I was going to financially survive.
Because when I looked at the columns and rows of my expenses—the amount I needed to live on every month, plus how much it cost to put a roof over my head and have a car to drive and what I owed in bills and to my sister, I was in the negative.
Not just by a little, but by a lot.
The money I needed to send to Morgan was far more than I could afford. Without stripping, there was no way I’d be able to make the payments to her. And what I was looking at right now, how far behind I was, I would more than likely have to keep the job at the strip club for longer than I’d planned, or I’d never be able to get caught up.
Unless I hit the lottery—something I didn’t even play since I didn’t want to waste money on a ticket.
It was the most defeating feeling.
That even though I sacrificed, that I worked instead of partied, that I raided Leah’s closet instead of buying new clothes, that I saved instead of spent, it still wasn’t enough.
Ridge
My morning view. The only thing that would make it better is if you were looking at it with me.
I stared at the photo Ridge had sent. It showed the most breathtaking waves and the deepest, bluest water and the sandy shore that sparkled from the sun. If I closed my eyes, I’d be able to feel it. Smell it. Taste the salty sea on my tongue.
But I couldn’t.
I had a class of first graders who were silently completing a reading comprehension worksheet. If they looked up and saw my eyes closed, all hell would break loose.
Me
You’re so sweet. :)
BTW, I’m extremely jealous. Kiss the ocean for me. Tell it I miss it.
Ridge
You should go to the beach this weekend.
Me
I’m working at the club. I suppose I could go late morning, but I just have so much to do at home.
Ridge
You need to start making time for you, Addison.
Me
Are you Dad-ing me right now?
LOL.
Ridge
Yes—because you need it. The beach, I mean. ;)
Me
You’re right, I do.
Ridge
Good morning. Tell me … how’s my baby doing today?
Me
She came in full of smiles with the most adorable ponytail that I’m assuming you did, and that pink checkered skirt she has on is so freaking cute. She told me her daddy picked it out. I melted—in case you were wondering.
Ridge
I was asking about you.
A rush moved through me, bringing a tightening to my chest and a grin across my lips. I couldn’t even sit still in my chair, my skin tingling to the point where it felt like there was electricity zapping it.
How could a sentence that was really so simple make me feel this way?
Why was it repeating in my head, spoken in Ridge’s sexy voice?
Me
I would be a lot better if I were in that photo that you sent yesterday. My toes in the sand, my face looking up at the sun. Yes … that’s what I want.
Ridge
And that’s what I want.
Me
So, there was a little accident with the pink checkered skirt. Don’t murder the teacher when you see it, K?
Ridge
Just tell me she’s okay. That’s all I need to hear.
Me
She’s absolutely fine, I promise. We were doing an art project with some paint, and the entire container of yellow spilled on her lap. I scrubbed her skirt and her legs, but she’s kind of a mess.
Ridge
Sounds like she needs a spa night in Dad’s jetted tub.
Me
With extra bubbles—do it right, Dad. ;)
Which is only fitting, considering you have the best bathroom I’ve ever seen in my life.
Ridge
You haven’t tried out my tub yet …
Me
Oh, but I eyed up that big, beautiful beast, LOL.
Ridge
I built it for two.
Me
Is that so?
Ridge
Are you looking for an invite?
Me
Don’t send one … I won’t be able to say no.
Car line would be the bane of my existence.
The teachers were on a rotation, so every couple of weeks throughout the school year, I would ensure the kids got into the right vehicle. It was the most exhausting part of my day. Everyone was a little more on edge at this hour—the parents rushing through the line; the kids hungry and tired, unafraid to get into any car even if it was the wrong one.
Fortunately, I only had a handful of students left. Daisy ended up being the last one, her tiny fingers tugging on my pant leg, her arm pointing at the black Range Rover that was a few cars back in line.
“That’s my daddy.”
Of course, I knew Ridge was approaching before Daisy even said a word. Not because of the SUV, but because of the way my body reacted when I sensed his stare on me.
A man whose eyes could make me wet.
Whose breath could make me break out in goose bumps.
Whose fingers I could feel even though they hadn’t touched me in days.
Daisy’s fingers clasped mine, startling me out of my thoughts, and she walked me to the edge of the sidewalk where Ridge was pulling up. The passenger window rolled down, and he looked at us through the open space from the driver’s seat.
I instantly got a whiff of his cologne, my heart pounding as the scent swished inside me. But that wasn’t the only thing that made me throb. He was dressed in a charcoal-colored suit with a silver tie, the knot loosened at his throat, and the first button of his starched white shirt was undone, showing a hint of his chest. An outfit that was straight-up scorching. And then there was his hair, a tad messy, like my fingers had run through it and tugged the strands, a look that was far sexier than freshly gelled hair.
My God, he was handsome.
A heat was moving across my cheeks. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t even attempt to calm it. I was suddenly sweating even though it wasn’t hot outside.
There was just something so vulnerable about standing here with his daughter. It didn’t feel like I was swinging naked around a pole; this felt like I was walking across a stage to get a diploma.
A side of me I was most proud of, and he was seeing it—really seeing it. Unlike when he’d come to my classroom on the first day of school and I was too shocked to appreciate he was there.
But here, with his daughter’s hand clasped in mine, it was completely different.
“Daisy, are you going to properly introduce me to your teacher?” he asked.
His voice had just the right amount of grittiness to it, his smile charming and seductive, his eyes slowly dipping down my body before they met mine again, holding my stare steady.
“Miss Lark, this is Daddy. Daddy, this is Miss Lark.” She giggled.
I squeezed her fingers. “Thank you for the wonderful introduction, Daisy.”
He chuckled. “Miss Lark, I don’t think you want to call me Daddy …” He winked. “My real name is Ridge Cole.”
If my skin was flushed before, it was burning red now. “Addison Lark.” My voice wasn’t much more than a whisper. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“And you,” he said. He glanced at his daughter. “Daze, climb in. We’ve got work to do, kiddo. We need to get your homework done before we meet Uncle ’Ett and Aunt Rowan and Uncle Cooper and Rayner for dinner.”
“Yay!” She released my hand and rushed toward the backseat, pulling at the handle to open the door, which I helped her with. “I wanna feed Rayner like Auntie Row let me do last time. The little noises she makes when she swallows is so cute, Daddy!”
I waited until Daisy was in her seat and shut the door. “You guys have fun tonight.”
“Hey, Miss Lark,” I heard as I began to walk away.
I glanced over my shoulder, and Ridge’s gaze was not only hitting my face, but reaching beneath it and lowering to my chest. It felt as though he were wrapping his long, talented fingers around my heart, making the little breath I was holding stay frozen in my lungs.
“I loved getting the chance to see you.”
Ridge
And I fucking loved how red your cheeks just got.
By the way, Addison, you look gorgeous today.
Me
You knew exactly what you were doing with that Daddy comment.
Ridge
Didn’t seem like you hated it.
Me
You’re playing with fire, Mr. Cole.
Ridge
Are you telling me to stop?
Me
No.
Ridge
I didn’t think so.
Ridge
Good morning, beautiful. I’d thought I’d share my view—and, yes, I kissed the ocean for you.
Me
Here’s my view … and, yes, that’s peanut butter on Daisy’s shirt. She missed her mouth when she was eating her snack, LOL.
That beach, Ridge. I would kill to be there right now.
Ridge
Come to Malibu with me.
Me
Now? I’m working, as you know. Sigh.
Ridge
Not now. I’m working too. You’re at the club this weekend?
Me
Yes.
Ridge
One night this week then.
Me
What about Daisy?
Ridge
If Daisy’s your only concern, don’t let her be. That’s an easy solution.
Me
You know I have other concerns.
Ridge
And you know none of them bother me.
We’re just going to the beach, nothing more. Don’t get inside your head about it.
Me
Because you know I am. LOL.
Ridge
Say yes, Addison.
You need this. We need this.
Me
Okay …
Yes.