Page 38 of Honeymoon Phase
Am I dreaming or did Addison want that kiss as well? I thought it was going to be hard work to get her to admit her feelings for me but after one little kiss, I’m feeling a lot more optimistic about this plan Everly and I cooked up together. Roe’s pupils were dilated after that kiss. Her breasts were heaving under that tiny, cropped top. My head hurts from how hard she gripped my hair.
And I want her to do it again.
I want her to do it for the rest of our lives.
The craziest part is, that kiss was nothing. It was a brush of the lips. No tongue, no inappropriate hand movements. It was a sweet, tender brush of our lips under fluorescent lighting and a perfect stranger observing it.
And it lit our whole bodies on fire.
She felt it. She had to have felt it. No way am I in this alone.
And the way she can’t even look at me now? My best friend is bothered as hell and she has no idea just how much more I plan to bother her the moment she moves onto my mountain.
I smile smugly as we pull into her dad’s property. It’s a decent-sized lot with a large machine shed that shows a couple ATVsand a run-down truck. I’ve never been out here before, but Addison told me about her upbringing, and she painted a fairly accurate picture. The property is pretty basic and the house is nice but possibly in need of some updates. It looks like the type of place a single man who owns a successful lumberyard would live in if he didn’t have time to manage it all on his own.
“You might want to wipe that smile off of your face before we go inside because my dad is probably going to kill you,” Addison deadpans from the passenger seat. Her tan, sculpted legs on full display in that satin skirt are not making my life any easier.
I attempt to frown as I slide out of the truck and make my way over to her door to open it again. “I’m not scared of your dad, Roe.”
“Since when?” She huffs out a laugh as she grabs the handle to help herself down out of the truck.
“Since we got that piece of paper about twenty minutes ago that says you’re mine,” I reply honestly.
“I’m yours?” Addison stares up at me, her eyes lit with something I can’t quite decipher. Is she offended by my words, or intrigued?
I shrug. “In a sense. And really, what’s he going to do? Kill his daughter’s husband?”
“Husband.” Addison flinches and covers her mouth as she grins girlishly. “That’s so weird. You’re my husband, Luke.”
My brows lift, loving the sound of that. “You’re my wife, Roe.”
“Weird!” Addison covers her ears and shakes her head. “I don’t feel grown-up enough to be a wife.”
“Oh please, you make bread from scratch and run an entire fucking lumberyard of dudes like it’s nothing. You’re ultimate wifey material.”
Addison’s cheeks flush with my words as we make our wayup the front steps, but she pauses at the door and hits me with a serious look. “Just let me do the talking, okay? And whatever you do, don’t catch yourself alone with him.”
My head jerks back but I nod woodenly. “You’re the boss.”
The corner of her mouth quirks into a grin. “A boss and a wife. Maybe being married isn’t so bad after all.” She knocks on the door and lets herself inside before calling out, “Dad, it’s me. You in here?”
“In the kitchen,” his voice barks back.
Addison reaches behind to grab my hand and pull me closer to her. Her palms are sweaty, revealing that she’s perhaps not as brave as she thinks she is. I stare at our hands clasped together, loving the sight of them. Hers is tough from her work at the yard, but it’s still small and feminine. I like how it looks inside mine. Her hand would look really nice with a ring on it. I should get her a ring. Something that’s very her so she can’t be all weird and act like it’s unnecessary.
My fantasizing about Addison’s hands comes to a crashing halt when I look up and see her dad at the kitchen table with a slew of guns in disrepair all around him and various types of gun-cleaning products next to a silo of Miller Lite.
We came at a bad time.
“Hey, Addie May,” John says with a big smile until he sees me come in behind her. He frowns down at our hands clasped together and I try to yank mine free but Addison has a sweaty steel-trap grip on me.
“Dad... Luke and I have some news,” Addison says excitedly as she pulls me forward to stand beside her. She grips my arms and glances over at John’s girlfriend, Edith, who’s standing by the kitchen sink. “Luke and I just got married!”
Edith gasps and claps her hands instantly, jumping up and down. “Congratulations, Addison!”
“Thanks, Edith,” Addison exclaims and turns back to herdad. She slides the extra copy of the marriage license we purchased across the table...
... beside the guns.
