Page 63 of Keeping His Babygirl

That has Aiden outright laughing. “Go, enjoy your evening.”

Enjoy my evening? As if that will happen. I wipe my hands on a bar rag and toss it aside. It sucks that I’m basically being kicked out. Not that I can blame Aiden. I really am a grumpy asshole tonight.

I’m heading towards the office area to clock off when I catch sight of her.

Addy.

My Addy.

She’s here.

I stop dead in my tracks and take her in for the first time in more days than I want to count. She’s wearing a white dress with yellow flowers printed on it. It looks abnormally cheerful in comparison to the look on her face.

She’s wringing her hands in that anxious way of hers and has a wary look in her eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I would say she looks like someone who is about to bolt. My every instinct has me wanting to calm her nerves and reassure her, but I don’t know why she’s here yet.

She could be here to tell me off for not leaving her alone. The thought makes me sick. I don’t care how desperate I seem by keeping up with the texts. It’s my only way to ensure she knows I haven’t given up on her—on us.

“Addy.” Her name on my lips is like a prayer.

“Hi,” she says shyly, barely looking at me.

That’s new. Even at her shyest moments in the past, she never avoided looking at me. Dread builds in the pit of my stomach. It can’t be a good sign.

“What are you doing here?”

She wrings her hands and bites her bottom lip as she studies the toes of her shoes. “I hoped we could maybe talk?”

Hope springs to life inside me. Surely if she was going to tell me off, she wouldn’t look so anxious. Daringly I reach for her and tip her chin up, so she’s looking at me. “Of course we can talk. I’ve been waiting for days to talk to you.”

Guilt and shame flash through her eyes, and I hate it. I don’t want her to feel guilty for doing what she felt was necessary to protect herself. I might hate that her decision split us apart, but I can understand. She’s lost so much in her life already… I want her to know I’m a steady rock in the storm. That’s why I haven’t stopped messaging. I want her to know I’m here no matter what.

“I know,” she whispers.

I want to erase the doubt she’s obviously feeling, but I need to know why she’s here first. I don’t want to put myself out there only to be crushed again.

“There’s an empty table over there,” I say, nodding toward a quiet corner of the bar.

She chews on her bottom lip, abusing the poor thing. “Umm… I actually booked us a private room… but we can talk here if you’d rather not be alone with me.”

I’m shocked and elated that she booked a private room. She wouldn’t have done that if she had come to tell me off.

“A private room is good,” I say, trying to sound neutral and not excited about the prospect of being alone with her.

Some of the tension leaks out of her at my agreement. I follow her to the reserved room. The red-blooded man in me has me appreciating the flirty way her dress sways around her thighs as she walks. She’s a knockout, and I can’t help admiring her beauty.

Addy shuts the door, locking us inside a cocoon of silence. She crosses to the little seating area and indicates that I should sit too. I follow her lead. This is her show, after all. When she doesn’t start talking immediately, I decide to fill the silence. Maybe a little idle chatter will help her relax.

“How are you?” I ask.

She shifts in her chair. “Oh… I’m okay, I guess. You?”

“I’ve been better,” I admit.

“That’s probably my fault. Isn’t it?”

“I’ve missed you,” I say instead of blaming her for my shitty mood.

“I’ve missed you too,” she says shyly.

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