Page 104 of Somebody to Save
Dropping my voice so there was no chance anyone else could hear us, I looked back up at her. “Oh, the things I’m going to do to you, baby girl. They are indecent and so fucking dirty. And I’m going to do every single one with that ring on your finger and nothing else. Except maybe my initial around your neck.” I toyed with the little initial “B” she still wore every single day.
“I love the sound of that,” she whispered back, cutting her eyes toward the kitchen before they bounced back to me. The green clouded with desire, she took a deep breath and licked her lips. “And while we mingle and celebrate, I want you to think about how I’m going to look on my knees for you, with your ring on my finger while my hand is wrapped around your cock.”
“Good God,” I muttered with a groan, tossing my head back. My mind immediately flashed to the very pretty, alluring mental image she painted, and I willed my cock not to react. But it did anyway, as did the rest of my body. A shiver of desire whipped down my spine, and I held her hard, my fingersdigging into the little bit of exposed skin where her top rode up.
She let out a sweet giggle and grabbed my hand. “Come on, Daddy.”
With a deep breath, I could do the only thing I could—and the only thing I ever wanted to do—I followed her around the corner.
We were greeted by cheers and clapping and smiling faces from our closest family and friends. Everyone we invited made the trip out. I’d paid for many of their flights and gas and hotel stays nearby, and seeing the smile on Addison’s face, it was worth every single damn dime. Hell, it was worth triple the amount if it elicited that reaction.
Grams was the first to step out from the crowd, and Addison immediately began to cry. While they embraced, my parents and brother joined us, and then it was a free-for-all. Everyone took turns offering their congratulations.
Caroline, along with Natalie, had done an incredible job helping me plan the entire evening. They were both ecstatic that I planned to propose and that I’d enlisted their help. We’d spent quite a bit of time with both Caroline and Ryder as well as Natalie and Theo over the past few months and grown closer. Ryder and Theo were closer in age to Addison, but they were good guys, and it was nice to spend time with other couples.
Especially with Theo and Natalie planning a wedding for later in the year. Natalie and I practically grew up together at Crawford Law, and it was good to see her happy. Apparently, Caroline and Ryder had also moved in together and were living their own happily ever after as well.
But today was about us, about me and Addison. Especially about Addison.
People were eating and drinking, and the house was abuzz with conversation. After spending hours chatting with everyone and thanking them for making the trip, I needed a little bit of a break. Through the window, I spotted Grams on one of therocking chairs at the end of the long deck, right where the stairs led down to the beach and ocean beyond.
Addison was occupied with Bri, my brother, and Caroline in the living room, so I took the opportunity to slip out the back door. The air was still warm, but the breeze blowing over the water was slightly cooler.
Sipping my drink, I took a deep breath and filled my lungs with the salty ocean air. It was one of my favorite places in the world, so when Addison told me she’d never seen the ocean, I knew it was exactly where I would take her.
Grams heard the creak of the wood beneath my feet as I approached and looked back. Her gray hair was windblown, and she’d grabbed one of the blankets from the porch and wrapped it around her shoulders.
She cupped her glass of white wine in her hands and motioned to the chair next to her with it. I took the offered seat, and we sat in companionable silence for several minutes, letting the waves fill the quiet between us.
“I wish Helen could have been here to see this,” Grams finally said.
Taking a deep breath, I stared down at my tumbler of whiskey and smiled to myself. “I don’t know. I kind of think she is. In one way or another.”
“I tend to agree. I feel her sometimes,” she said with a sigh. “At first, it was a little unsettling, but now, it’s a comfort knowing she might still be looking out for me, forus.”
“So, you never read the letters she left?”
Grams shook her head vigorously and took a sip of her wine. “Of course not. That would’ve been an invasion of privacy, and although I like to snoop, that felt like a little too much.”
Laughing, I ran a hand through my hair and crossed my ankle over my opposite knee.
“She gave me her blessing,” I admitted. “There was a lot more than that in it, of course, but she made it clear that we had her blessing if we decided to take that step. I’m not sure why Ididn’t mention it when I came to talk to you, to get your blessing, but I wanted you to know now.”
She was silent for a moment, and I looked over to see her brushing a tear away from her cheek. Fuck, I hadn’t meant to make her cry.
“I’m so?—”
She waved off my apology and shook her head. “Oh no, it’s not you. I’m just an old, emotional woman, and I appreciate you telling me. I’m sure she explained it in her letter to you, but even though she was a hard sell at first, Helen really ended up liking you. And better yet, she ended up liking you and Addison together. She would hate this party, but she would’ve loved what it was celebrating.”
Grams inhaled a shaky breath and downed the rest of her wine, setting the glass on the table between us. “The ring you chose is perfect,” she said. “It’s exactly what I always imagined Addie would want.”
Deciding to be completely honest, I took her lead and finished my drink. I set my glass next to hers on the table and leaned back in my chair.
“God, I hoped it would be perfect because I bought it in November of last year, right after we were reintroduced at Lake Hills.”
“You what?”
Grams and I both sat forward and quickly glanced behind us. Addison was standing just behind our chairs with her own wine glass in her hand. The wind whipped her pink hair around her face, and her features were marred in surprise.
