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Matty looks at me, smiling when I nod before he heads inside. Following him, I assume Addison is right behind me. I pause as he pulls out a chair at the dining table, grabs his book from his bag, sits and starts to read. Addison didn’t come in behind me, she must be standing at the door. Fuck. Awkward.
I have so many things to thank her for from just today alone, but I can’t find the words as I walk back outside to say goodbye. Why didn’t she follow me inside?
Every time I try to form a coherent sentence, the words get stuck in the back of my throat. “Thank you.” It comes out a growl, and for once I don’t intend it to.
Her head snaps up, her gray-green eyes meeting mine before flickering to my lips. I feel it too. The powerful draw to kiss her, to hold her, the desire to repeat our night together. Everything’s changed except the sizzling chemistry hanging in the air between us.
My fingers skate over her high cheekbone of their own volition. Her eyes flutter closed, breath hitching. The thudding in my chest drums hard, pushing me closer to her. I want to kiss her, and she tips her head as though she wants to kiss me too.
For a moment, the need to kiss her is everything. It’s my past, my present, my future. The one thing I need to breathe oxygen into my body. It’s safety, security, it’s confidence in my ability to take care of her. It’s trust.
Everything.
Her eyes threaten to open, clearly I’m taking too long to make the decision as to whether it’s smart or not to kiss her. But just as I’m about to pull away, instinct kicks in. I spin her so her back hits the shingles as I back her up, cup her jaw with my palm, and capture her mouth with such need, such demand that kissing her leaves me dizzy.
Her whimpers against my mouth have me hard in seconds. If I thought she was open to it, I’d fuck her where she stands. God knows I could do with a release.
But I’m not going to fuck her just because I have a deep and painful need to be in control of someone, something...anythingright now. It’s not fair. Not to her, not to either of us. I don’t like using women to get what I need from them. That’s not what my brand of dominance is about.
When our kiss ends, we just stare at each other for a long moment, braced against the side of my house, standing right there on the street.
That kiss felt like the start of something, and yet it also felt like goodbye. The sadness reflected in her eyes tells me she felt it too.
“I’ll see you around.” She throws me a wave before turning and walking down the path. Her ass was made for jeans. Her hips sway as she sashays down the street and away from where I live.
As I watch her leave, a crazy idea comes to me. “Adi?”
She stops, but doesn’t look back at me.
“Addison?”
She turns. I close the distance so I’m not shouting across the yard at her. “I have an idea.”
Her brows twitch, and I know she’s jumped straight to dirty thoughts. Old Thor would have been right there with her. New Thor can’t give up his job at the bar and can’t leave his son alone at night while he works. New Thor is responsible, and a problem solver.
“You were on LinkedIn at the cafe. Were you looking for a job?”
Her face turns scarlet in seconds. “I’m keeping my options open.” She pauses, her shoulders slumping. “Between jobs right now.”
I don’t want to pry, but I do need help. “Come and work for me.”
She crosses her arms, eyes narrowing. “Doing what? I have no bartending experience.”
“I don’t mean at the bar.” I shift my weight from one foot to the other. Why am I suddenly so uncomfortable? “I need help with Matty so I can work at the bar. Mom is coming in from Seattle in ten days. But until then, well, I might need help picking him up from school, and getting him ready for bed, and on the nights I’m at the club I’ll uh...” Starting to think this wasn’t my smartest idea ever. “I’ll need you to stay over to make sure he’s okay.”
She arches a brow. “You want to pay me to... babysit?”
Before I can answer, she doubles over laughing. Cackling, even.
“He likes you, Addison. Anyone can see that. You’re good with him.”
When she stands upright, tears trickle down her cheeks. She’s still laughing like it’s the funniest joke she’s ever heard. “I used my one pony trick at the restaurant. Beyond the headphones, I got nothing. I don’t do kids.” She holds her hands up, her face sobering. “You don’t want me to watch your kid, Thor. Trust me.”
With that, she’s gone. I’m standing on my front lawn with a painful hard on and a headache. And wondering what the fuck I’m going to do now that my one bright idea was shot down by the fiery-haired vixen I want to fuck all over again.
CHAPTER9
Addison
