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No. She wouldn’t go down that road. Like Mason’s therapist told him, there wasn’t any point in torturing herself over something that could never happen. She needed to focus on the future, not dwell on missed opportunities in her past.
“Now,” Steve said, leaning back in his chair and making a show of getting comfortable. “You tell your story and stop worrying about me. You deserve to have someone who’ll listen, and I promise you I’ll be that person for you. Tell me all of it.”
“All of it?” She made a be-careful-what-you-wish-for face. “I’m gonna need a lot more whiskey for that. And you might want to swap that out for a plastic cup, because it gets worse before it gets better.”
“If I end up breaking a few pints, so be it,” he said catching the eye of a server as he walked nearby, motioning toward her nearly empty glass. “Luckily for me, I own the bar.”
CHAPTER 18
Mason
Returning to the Manor was bittersweet for Addison. It obviously broke her heart a little to leave her dad so soon after she found him.
The pride in Steve’s eyes when she told him about the life she built as a baker, first in NYC and now at the Manor, had made her practically glow with happiness. When the man didn’t even bat an eyelash upon learning what kind of establishment the Manor was, that endeared him to Mason even more. Not a lot of parents would be so openminded about their kid dating a professional Dom.
When the time came to head home, Mason worried she might stay behind. That he’d be making the trek back across the country on his own, and would never learn what might have happened between them with just a little more time.
Though staying in New Mexico, at least for a while, would’ve been an understandable decision, he selfishly rejoiced when she climbed into his car yesterday morning.
“Where are we going?” Addison asked as he pulled off the highway a little past Tulsa.
“I want to grab a bite to eat,” he said, doing his best to sound like he wasn’t up to something. Navigating the car through a green light, he scanned the signs in the short strip of businesses and restaurants for the one he wanted.
She gave the clock on the dash a pointed look. It read only a few minutes past four. “Bit early for dinner, isn’t it?”
With a shrug, he turned into a small plaza with a pizza place, a karate studio, a twenty-four-hour diner, and a couple of other stores. “I’ve been driving for almost nine hours already. I need a break.”
That seemed to satisfy her, and she climbed out of the car as soon as he parked in front of Aunt Bea’s Diner—a place with a shabby sign and dirty windows. She glanced at the much nicer looking pizza joint a few storefronts away, but didn’t argue when he pulled open the diner’s glass door and stepped inside.
Jesus fucking Christ, he hoped this wasn’t a mistake.
Once they got inside, Addison stepped up to the hostess stand, but he walked right past it, scanning the patched brown booths for a familiar face.
A short, stocky man with shaggy black hair and a crooked nose slid out of the corner booth, gaze locked on them.
“Table for two,” Addison told the hostess as she approached, but Mason took her upper arm, pulling her into the aisle.
“The rest of our party’s already here,” he said softly to the hostess, though he didn’t look at the woman. He kept his eyes on Addison, not wanting to miss even a millisecond of her reaction. Needing as much data as possible so he knew what to do next.
“The rest of our party?” she repeated, a deep line forming between her brows. “What do you?—”
Looking into the dining room at last, her gaze locked on the man by the corner booth. She froze, her mouth still shaping her last word, her eyes as wide as he’d ever seen them.
“Hey, Addy,” the man said with an awkward little wave.
“Ricky?” Her whisper came out so low, like she thought this was an illusion her voice would shatter.
Ricky grinned at her, his smile as crooked as his nose. “Yeah, it’s me.”
Addison flew down the aisle, hair streaming behind her, and launched herself into Ricky’s arms. “How?” She said it over and over, holding onto him so tight he actually winced.
Didn’t stop him from wrapping her up in a massive bear hug. “Hey, I got you,” he said, grinning at Mason over her shoulder. “It’s all good. I got you.”
When she finally let go, she looked up into the man’s dark eyes, an expression of utter bewilderment on her face. “How in the actual fuck are you here right now?”
“Well,” Ricky said, watching Mason as he walked slowly between the booths to join them. “I got an unexpected phone call yesterday. I assume you’re Mason?”
Addison whipped around, staring at Mason with tears in her eyes. “Y-you? You did this? How? When?”
