Page 13 of The Maid

"See you 'round, sugar." She said to Jack with a wink and then waved at Gun and Connor.

Gun stood, “Doesn’t the no-fraternization rule apply to you?” he asked Sonia.

“He’s not my client,” she said, coyly.

Gun chuckled. "Bye ladies."

Addie waved and began to walk away.

"See you Monday!" he hollered.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled. Yes, it was a small victory. He laughed before sitting back down with his friends. He had a date with Addie in just a few days.

5

It was Monday evening. All day he'd thought about Addie. He'd emailed, texted, and called, but all his efforts had remained unanswered. She had said Tuesday, but he never thought she was serious about that, especially after that flirty little smile she'd given him, Friday night.

Why would she stand him up?

He had spent a few hours at the gym in the morning, had several meetings, and then went for a long run along the beach. After a quick shower he walked downstairs to grab some dinner, irritated by the fact that he had, in fact, been stood up.

As he walked out of the pizza shop, the pie in his hand, a familiar voice caught his attention right by the entrance of his building. A voice he'd know anywhere.

Addie was walking into Steel, one of the most expensive restaurants in a city where most restaurants were expensive. And the woman, the infuriatingly beautiful spitfire of a woman, was walking in with George. Her laughter was infectious and the fact that she was dressed up in a short black dress with her red waves cascading down her shoulders with his friend, after ignoring him for three days, made Gun see red. "Adalyn? George?" He hollered just as they were about to walk in, causing both of them to stop abruptly.

"Gun?" George asked, his eyebrows furrowed. "Hey, buddy. What are you doing here?" He extended his hand, but Gun didn't take it. Instead he gripped the pizza box tighter.

"Uh...Adalyn Finney this is Gun McCall, Gun this is—"—"

"Yeah, I know who she is."

"Oh, okay," George said, confused.

"Hi Gun," Addie said.

"We were just going to eat. I'd ask you to join us but you're kind of under dressed." George added.

"I wouldn't want to intrude." Gun lied. He did want to intrude.

"Yes, good idea," Addie said, surprising him. Somewhere deep inside, he assumed she would make some sort of excuse. Why he thought that, he had no idea. He didn't have any real claim on her but damn it, they had a standing date, plus it was unprofessional to ...

Okay he was being unreasonable. There was nothing unprofessional or wrong with her dating. Shit, they hadn't even seen each other for over a decade. But something came over him at that moment. "Wait up," he said to a young kid walking toward the pizza shop. "Hey, you want this? I just picked it up, but I've had a change of plans."

"Gunther!" Addie gasped from behind him.

"Hey, you're Gun from the Miami Tornadoes!" the kid squealed.

"Yep. It's me," he said, and handed him the pizza.

"Can I have a picture, man?" The kid said, looking starstruck. "My name's Chris. I'm a huge fan. My friends aren't going to believe that Gun McCall gave me a pizza."

Gun laughed. "Yeah, sure."

Chris took out his phone and tried to hold it in front of the two of them for a selfie, but Gun took it out of his hand and handed it to George. "George can take it. You don't mind, do you buddy?" He emphasized the word buddy at his traitorous friend.

George seemed annoyed but took the phone anyway. Good, motherfucker, be annoyed. Dating my girl, what the fuck!

"George? George Jones? Holy shit!"

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