Addie Gets Her Man (A Chair At The Hawkins Table Book 6)

by Angel Smits

  “Mmm.” He didn’t speak, but that moan told her way more than she’d expected.

  His hand settled in the center of her back, gently, insistently pulling her closer, her breasts pressing hard into his chest. She threw her head back, wanting, needing, begging him to touch her, to take more.

  He wasn’t turning down the invitation. When his long, hard fingers closed around her breast, she gasped. Even through the fabric, he found her nipple, the pad of his thumb circling the sensitive skin, setting her on fire. Her breath came in quick pants as the sparks of desire moved from where he touched her to scatter throughout her entire body.

  It felt wonderful. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. So, so much more.

  “Addie, you’re driving me crazy,” he whispered, then pulled back just an inch to gaze at her face. “I want you.”

  Her smile grew. “I want you, too.” He returned her smile, then took her lips with his again. Gentle and sweet at first, it didn’t take long for the fire to return.

  * * *

  ADDIE SET HIM on fire, and in about two seconds he was going to sweep her up in his arms and carry her to the nearest horizontal surface.

  Then a sound filtered in. A door somewhere opening. The same instant it registered with him, Addie must have heard it. She pulled back and looked around, startled.

  “Who’s that?” A familiar, gruff voice cut through every last drop of passion in the room.

  “That’s my principal,” Ryan supplied.

  “Oh, my.” His mother’s voice joined the others.

  Marcus whispered a curse, but he didn’t let go of her. “Sorry,” he whispered, giving her and himself a moment to recover.

  Finally, certain she was ready to face them, and there wasn’t any piece of clothing out of place, Marcus stepped back. He looked at her, noting the bright blush in her cheeks, waiting for her to give him a sign that she was okay. She simply nodded.

  His parents, and his son, stood in the doorway. Ryan’s eyes were wide. His grin even wider.

  “Addie.” Marcus cleared his throat. “These are my parents. James and Donna.”

  “H-hello.” She stepped forward, offering her hand like they were at a school function instead of his kitchen after a hot-and-heavy make-out session.

  “Nice to meet you,” his father said.

  “Yes,” was all his mother managed to say. She looked at Addie, then at Marcus. He couldn’t tell what was stronger in her eyes—shock or concern.

  “Well, I was just—uh—leaving.” Awkwardly, Addie grabbed the wooden box she’d set on the counter earlier.

  “You don’t have to.” Marcus reached out for her hand. She froze, then briefly leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. Soft as a butterfly kiss, it had him hot all over again.

  Rather than pass their audience to get to the front door, Addie opened the back door, hurrying across the yard and around the house. The only thing left was the echo of her heels against the sidewalk as she headed home.

  * * *

  MEMORIES HAD ASSAULTED her all day. She was exhausted. Grief had threatened to creep in so many times. Recalling Cal as she’d made the cookies. Seeing her father’s things again. Talking to Marcus about his past. The wand.

  She’d shed a few tears each time. And laughed all through dinner. Her emotions had bounced about like a tennis ball at Wimbledon.

  She refused to think about that kiss, or Marcus—or his parents.

  So why wouldn’t her mind turn off now? Why couldn’t she just close her eyes and go to sleep? Her body was exhausted, and her brain was glitchy—hopping from thought to thought.

  With a groan of frustration, Addie turned on the light. She still hadn’t finished the book she’d started over a month ago, the one she’d been reading the night she’d met Marcus at the coffee shop.

  As she opened to where she’d left off, she wondered again about the book he hadn’t read yet. Somehow, she didn’t think he really wanted to read it. He’d given her the impression it was not a happy book.

  She remembered seeing that book on the table in the kitchen. The kitchen where he’d kissed her. What would have happened if his parents hadn’t arrived, if Ryan had spent the evening at Dex’s house?

  “Enough,” she told herself. She needed to get the man out of her head! Rolling over, she propped herself up on her elbow and focused on the book. The heroine was running through the woods, hiding behind a fallen log, when a loud shrill sound broke through the gloom and doom.

  She nearly jumped out of bed as her phone rang. She cursed. “I’m gonna kill whichever one of you scared me half to death,” she spoke to the nameless, faceless sibling who had to be on the other end. Those were the only people who would call this late.

  “Uh—” Marcus’s voice slipped in her ear, and she shivered. “Addie?”

  “Oh. Uh. Yeah. Hi!” She sat up, trying to still her heart. “I was reading. I lost track of things. Sorry.”

  “Okay.” He laughed softly. “I was wondering if there was a problem. There’s a ladder in your living room and the lights are on.”

  She climbed out of bed and ran to the window. She parted the curtains and peered out. His Jeep was parked at the curb, the headlights shooting down the street. Then she dragged her gaze back and saw the golden squares of light falling from the front window onto the front lawn. “Oh.” She waved. She couldn’t see him through the dark, but knew he could see her. She glanced down, then yanked the curtains back. Her nightgown wasn’t meant for public display.

  “You scramble my brain,” she said before she thought clearly. How much could he see? Her cheeks flamed. “I was fixing the light earlier and forgot.” She’d been too focused on getting ready for dinner, then that lovely dinner—and that kiss.

  “Want me to come in and help put the ladder away?”

  “I—” She’d grabbed her robe and was halfway to the door before she realized how late it was. “Why are you out so late?”

  He was silent for a minute, and she heard the silence grow as he turned off the Jeep’s engine. “I couldn’t sleep,” he whispered. “My parents are already driving me crazy, and I couldn’t sleep thinking about—” He cleared his throat as if to stop his words. “I thought maybe a drive would relax me.”

  “And you drove by here?” She headed down the stairs.

  He laughed. “I told you, driving by here is on my way to about everywhere.”

  “We probably need to find you some different routes.” He was new to the neighborhood, she rationalized. She’d reached the front door, and heard footsteps on the other side. She took a deep breath before pulling the door open. “Hi!” she said entirely too brightly. Dear God, she felt seventeen again. And seventeen was the age of stupid.

  “Hi, yourself.” He stood there, his hands in his pockets, a grin on his face. They stood looking at each other for a long minute. She finally remembered to hang up the phone, and shoved it into her robe pocket.

  “Would you like to come in?” She shook her head, trying to clear it and stepped back.

  “Might be the easiest way to take care of that ladder.”

  “Uh, yeah. There is that.” She pulled the door open wider. He stepped through, and somehow the sound of the door latching closed seemed loud. Her house might be full of light, but the only sound she heard was her heartbeat, loud in her ears.

  “Where does it go?” he asked, walking over to the ladder that sat exactly where she’d left it.

  “In the garage.” She headed toward the door in the kitchen as she heard the metal-on-metal clang as he folded the ladder. It rattled a bit as he walked through the kitchen behind her. He made short work of hanging it on the hooks on the long wall.

  “Thanks. I probably would have noticed it in the morning.” She closed the garage door after he’d come back in, and the kitchen settled quietly around them. Their gazes locked.r />
  No one would interrupt them if they finished what they’d started earlier. It was late enough that even her siblings wouldn’t call. Ryan wasn’t here. The neighbors were all asleep, as well.

  “Yeah, probably. This saves you the effort—and the cost of the lights on all night.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, leaning back against the counter as if he had no intention of going anywhere anytime soon. Relaxed. Comfortable. Gorgeous.

  She swallowed, unable to look away.

  “Where is everyone?” She made a show of looking around, mocking his promise to not be interrupted.

  “Ryan was asleep when I last checked. My parents are at my house, hopefully asleep, as well.”

  “So, you snuck out of your own house?”

  “Yeah. Pretty much.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  MARCUS COULDN’T HELP but laugh at the absurdity of the whole situation. When Addie’s sweet laughter joined his, it made him laugh even harder.

  “Okay.” She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “It’s too late to offer you coffee. And I know better than to offer you a drink.” She met his gaze, and his heart hammered against his ribs.

  Even rumpled, without makeup, in a robe that covered too much, she was pretty.

  He wanted nothing more than to pick up where they had left off this afternoon. He’d gladly haul her into the bedroom and spend a couple of hours making sweet love to her.

  But Addie Hawkins wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl. She was the all-or-nothing type, and while he’d love every minute of having her, he’d have to leave. And sneak back into his own house.

  That scenario left a bitter taste in his mouth.

  It was what he’d had in mind when he’d driven here, though. And every inch of him ached to continue with the plan. Everything but that minuscule piece of his brain that held logic.

  “I don’t need anything, thanks.” What he needed was to leave before he changed his mind.

  He looked around, hoping to distract himself from the indecision. The footprint of her kitchen was nearly the same as his. Instead of the giant dining room table, though, she had a smaller one, with matching chairs. It looked polished and new.

  A solitary chair sat in the corner. It looked older and vaguely familiar, yet he knew he’d never seen it before. Maybe something similar? “That chair? It looks...familiar.”

  She noticed where he was looking. “It’s one that used to go with the table in your kitchen.” At his frown, she moved over and sat on it. “Mom and Dad got the original set when they first married. Over the years, we kids broke most, if not all, of the chairs. They replaced them one at a time. A bit mismatched, but when Mom died, we each took our chair as a reminder.” She lovingly ran a hand over the curved back, lightly caressing the spindles. “The table was too big, and since it worked for you...” She shrugged.

  “It—” He glanced around, frowning when he didn’t see the box from this afternoon. “Where’s your magic wand?”

  “Somehow that just sounded weird. I wish it really was magical.” She left the room, then returned carrying the box. She handed it to him.

  He pulled out the polished piece of wood and held it up. “Look.” He extended it to her.

  With a frown, Addie took it, then looked at the chair. “It matches.” She moved closer. “It used to be one of the spindles. This must have been one of the original chairs.” Her excitement and pleasure filled the room.

  Slowly, she knelt, holding the wand up against the chair. The handle perfectly matched the ridges of the spindle design. A few inches down, the wood had been straightened, the ridges from the other end trimmed away to create the narrow point. She smiled. “How clever.” She stood, turning the wand back and forth, examining and studying it.

  “The other box in your garage.” She spoke slowly, thoughtfully. “It had other pieces. Now I wonder what else was in it.”

  “It’s still there. You can come back and look through it again.”

  “I will. Thank you.” She turned and reached out to hug him.

  Instinctively, his arms went around her, aligning her sweet curves with his body. They both froze. He looked into her face. She was staring back, her eyes wide with awareness.

  “Addie,” he whispered, trying to remember the promise he’d made to himself earlier. “I can’t stay.” And she was someone you stayed with.

  “I know,” she whispered back. “I’m not asking for promises. I understand.”

  But did she? Did she really? He wanted to ask her what she thought she understood, but her parted lips and the warmth of her arms around him was too much. He stopped thinking and leaned down to kiss her.

  Her robe was little barrier between them. He’d caught a glimpse of the sheer nightgown underneath when she’d first looked out the window. Seeing it again in his thoughts did not help with his promise to himself to keep his distance.

  The robe fell open, and his hands found the silky-soft material. He knew there was nothing else beneath. That realization was too much.

  He growled and lifted her, settling her on the counter. She automatically wrapped her legs around his waist as he stepped between her thighs. She pulled him in tight.

  Slowly, Marcus broke the kiss, letting his gaze travel down to where her robe parted. He pushed it farther apart, then down off her shoulders.

  The nightgown’s tiny straps were barely attached to a row of lace. Through the sheer lace, he could see the outline of her breast and the darker shape of her nipple. His groan seemed loud in the silent kitchen.

  Addie’s soft, small hands went to the back of his shirt, giving it a tug until it came loose from his jeans. Slowly, torturously slowly, she slipped her hands beneath the fabric, her fingers hot against his back. She urged him closer.

  “Ah, Addie.” He leaned his forehead on hers. “I want to continue this. So bad.”

  “Then do.” She leaned her head back and smiled at him.

  He laughed. “It sounds so simple.” If only it were. Resisting her was far from simple. Slowly, reverently, he reached up and pushed her scattered curls behind her ear. The smooth outline of her jaw fit perfectly in his palm, and she nuzzled against him, placing a simple kiss in the center of his palm.

  “Addie.” He breathed, then pulled her close again, unable to resist her any longer.

  Slipping the robe off to pool around her waist, he carefully slid a finger beneath the narrow strap of her gown. Inch by sensual inch, he pushed it down, exposing the firm contour of her breast. Her nipple puckered as the cool air and, he hoped, desire hit.

  There was no turning back now. He cupped her breast. Dipping his head, he tasted her. His moan of pleasure elicited an answering one from her.

  * * *

  ADDIE COULDN’T REMEMBER how long it had been since she’d been touched so intimately, caressed so boldly and held—just plain held—against another body. This felt so wonderful. She didn’t want him to ever stop.

  She returned Marcus’s kiss and slowly moved her fingers over his body. Exploring. Discovering. Feeling. Hard muscles. Rough calluses. Soft kisses. Every inch of him was new to her.

  She finished pulling the gown off, then reached up and nudged him to take off his shirt. He fisted the collar at his back and pulled, giving her a full view of his bare chest an instant later. She couldn’t look away.

  At first, she wanted to touch. Feeling him, touching the taut skin and light hair. Just as he’d touched her. Impatient, he pulled her against him, and the friction of his skin against her nipples sent her desire through the roof.

  Even skin to skin, they weren’t close enough. She reached for the closure of his jeans, popping the button only an instant before his hand took hers.

  “Easy,” he whispered, his lips against her shoulder. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

  Her moan of frustration made him laugh. “Plent
y of time,” he repeated as his big, rough hand moved lower, finding the heat at the juncture of her thighs. He easily found her most sensitive spot.

  “Marcus!”

  “Hmm?” He slid a finger along the damp curls, pushing her closer and closer to the edge.

  “I need you,” she whispered, struggling to move off the counter. His frown as she pulled the robe back over her shoulders made her laugh. When they were both standing again, she took his hand and, with a gentle tug, headed toward the bedroom.

  They were halfway down the hall when he stopped and cursed. She turned back, not letting go of his hand. “What?”

  A scowl marred his beautiful, previously aroused features. “Tell me you’re on birth control.”

  “Uh...” A bucket of ice water couldn’t have been more effective. “No.” Why would she be? She hadn’t been with anyone in ages. Hadn’t needed to.

  Marcus cursed again. “I don’t have anything.” Regret—painful regret—was written all over his face.

  “I’m not used to—” As a responsible school principal she had to give them both points for using their heads. As Addie, standing in the hallway with a man she was taking to her bedroom, she wanted to kick herself.

  Marcus let go of her hand and stepped back. He shoved his fingers through his hair, making more of a mess of it than she’d done. Making him look even better. She bit back a groan of disappointment.

  “Being married, we never had to—” Another frustrated shove of his fingers. “Carolyn couldn’t—” He took a deep breath. “That’s why we adopted Ryan.”

  Addie pulled the robe tight around her, knotting the belt. Did she take a step backward? Had he? He seemed farther away.

  “I—I probably should go.” Marcus turned to the door.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, not even sure what she was sorry for. Not having any protection handy? Not following through with their desires?

  “Don’t apologize. This is on me.” He walked into the kitchen, then quickly returned, his discarded shirt in hand. He went straight to the front door, his big hand making the door handle look small. “Don’t take this wrong, Addie,” he whispered. “I still want you. Dear God, I want you. But I won’t put either of us at risk.”