Page 54 of The Heartbreaker
“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 toppriority. 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 timingin 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—”
