by Violet Duke
They both watched her finish quickly taking orders, before heading to the counselors and social workers sitting with the missing boy’s mother and other family members and taking food and drink orders from them as well. “You are one lucky son of a bitch.”
Jesus Christ, was he ever.
CHAPTER EIGHT
ADDISON AND EVERYONE in the diner breathed a collective sigh of relief when the local news anchor led the ten o’clock news with the a confirmed report that little Billy Baker had been found, crediting the Amber Alert that had been issued right after his disappearance this morning.
While the only thing that they could report was that Billy was unhurt and with authorities north of Flagstaff, and that his father, who had kidnapped him out of his mother’s home had been arrested. The reporter on scene noted that police from both jurisdictions had been crucial in tracking Billy’s father’s movements, but ultimately, it was an eye witness that helped track down their exact whereabouts.
Normally, they didn’t turn on the TV audio in the diner, but with so many regulars knowing the Baker family, and half the off-duty cops on the force stopping in to grab a quick bite, they’d kept tuned in for every update throughout the day.
Earlier, when a breaking news update had reported the start of a police standoff with Billy’s father, Addison had felt her stomach drop. She had no clue whether Caine was up there or not. Or if he’d been called out to an even more dangerous case.
Worrying about him was pretty much a nightly habit for Addison, but tonight, more so than usual.
The rest of the night seemed to move like molasses.
At one a.m. sharp, Addison turned the open sign on the door to closed, and spent the next half hour closing up, while the kids slept curled up on the small loveseat sofa in Joe’s office instead of out in the van.
Silly though it probably was, she’d felt compelled to keep Kylie and Tanner with her inside the diner the entire night. She just smiled and told everyone the kids had asked to stay at the diner since it was a Saturday night and that their aunt was having a boring old dinner party. Thankfully, Bernadette’s kids were still going strong with the delivered meals for Bernadette so even nearly two years later, Addison had yet to run into even a single scare over her cover story being blown.
For the kids, Joe’s office sofa was a nice change every once in a while. And last summer when the heat had insulated the van to the point of it being uncomfortably warm well past ten p.m., that very sofa had been a godsend. The swamp cooler that Addison ran off a generator she kept in the van usually did the trick in keeping the kids cool, but for about two weeks straight, the heat index had been so high, she hadn’t trusted leaving them out there.
Since it’d been a hectic night for the officers, conversely, it was a pretty slow night for them at the diner, so Addison had told Shirley to go on home a little early. Same with Ryan when she saw him smiling over a text from whatever lucky girl the Casanova was dating this week.
She was just about through tallying receipts and checking on supplies for tomorrow’s vendor deliveries when she heard a knock on the glass door. “Addison?”
She ran across the diner. “Caine?”
Addison quickly peeked through the closed blinds before unlocking the door to let him in. “Caine. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” She quickly scanned him head to toe to see if she could spot any hint of an injury.
He looked perfect, as always.
“Billy’s safe,” he said straight away.
She nodded. “We heard. It was on the news.”
“Oh good. Yeah, I forget how efficient those reporters are. I wanted to make sure you knew.”
Touched, she squeezed his hand. “Thank you. We were all relieved that everything ended peacefully.” She frowned. “We heard Billy’s father might have been high. No officers got hurt, right?”
YOU didn’t get hurt right?
She covertly scanned him from head to toe one more time.
“No. Thankfully, everyone walked away without a scratch. A bunch of us were called out on cases closer to home so I wasn’t actually on the scene, but I know several of the officers who were there from sports leagues and things so I had a chance to check in with some of them afterward.” He exhaled heavily. “They said it was pretty hard to watch. Seeing parents on drugs with kids involved always is.”
“I can imagine.” Actually, she didn’t have to imagine—not that she would ever tell him that. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to take seeing those enigmatic eyes of Caine’s ever gazing at her in pity.
Noticing finally that her hand was still on his, she quickly dropped it and turned to pull out the nearest chair. “Are you hungry? I know Joe keeps some beer in his fridge in the back. I could grab you one and make you a sandwich or something.”
Caine shook his head, bypassed the chair, and kept on walking.
Toward her.
She backed up a few steps until she bumped into a counter stool. “Caine?”
“I don’t need a sandwich. And I don’t want a beer.” He slid a hand into her hair and dropped a kiss onto her forehead as he exhaled slowly. “The only thing I need or want right now is you.”
Good thing for the stool behind her because Addison felt her legs give out a bit, around the same time Caine picked her up and deposited her on the tall seat.
To bring her lips level with his.
“You kissed me today,” he murmured against her lips.
Words weren’t anywhere near the realm of possibilities right now, so she simply nodded mutely in response.
His arms came to rest on the counter on either side of her, effectively creating a hot as hell Caine cocoon that her body was responding rather dramatically. Partly due to the fact that Caine before his shift, and Caine after his shift were like two different people.
Caine before his shift was sweet, charming, and guy-next-door irresistible.
Caine after his shift was unbridled, magnetic, and bad-boy-on-the-hunt unescapable.
This Caine standing before her now also had an almost palpable aura of undiluted alpha energy rolling off of him in waves.
Oh, sweet lord, his eyes alone were conjuring some wicked, dirty thoughts in her mind.
“You kissed me twice,” he repeated. “So I was hoping it’d be okay with you if I kissed you back. Twice.”
Being that he was after-shift Caine, he didn’t wait for an answer.
He kissed her.
And what a kiss it was. His lips moved from her ear, to her jawline, down to the racing pulse at her neck. And back up again.
“That’s one,” he rasped against her skin.
Jesus Christ, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to survive number two.
It was a near thing.
His arms clamped around her and drew her flush against him mere seconds before his lips came crashing down onto hers. He wasn’t kissing her, he was having burning hot sex with her mouth.
And good God, for the first time in her life, she wanted, needed, craved more.
CHAPTER NINE
THE NEXT EVENING, Addison was still walking around with a fool grin on her mouth that just wouldn’t quit.
“You got lucky last night,” gasped Shirley, not even a minute into the start of Addison’s shift.
Her cheeks burst into flames. “No I didn’t,” she hissed back, peering over Shirley’s shoulder to make sure the kids were out of earshot.
“Bull. I know a five star satisfaction rating when I see one. And honey, you look like you even went back for seconds. Is it Caine? Is he as intense in bed as he is out of it?”
“I told you, I didn’t have sex last night.” Or ever. “And why would you assume it’s Caine?”
“Please. You two can’t keep your eyes off each other when you’re in here. And even when you’re not together, seriously, I don’t think the two of you even realize other people of the opposite sex exist.”
That was certainly the case for Addison; it was nice hearing from a bystander that it looked lik
e Caine felt the same way. “We just…kissed.”
Shirley whistled. “Must have been a hell of a kiss.”
Lordy yes, it was. Even the mere memory of last night’s kiss was having more of an effect on her than every kiss she’d ever had before it, combined.
Shirley smiled, all teasing in her expression now gone. “I’m happy for you, honey. You don’t talk about it much, but Joe and I know that you haven’t had an easy life.” She leaned in to give Addison a quick hug. “I like seeing good things happen to good people. That goes for both you and Caine.”
It occurred to Addison then that this was the first hug she’d had from a motherly figure since she was a little girl. Tears flooded her eyes before she could stop it.
“Oh listen to me sounding like a Hallmark card.” Shirley fanned her hand over her face. “My mascara is going to run at this rate. You go on and start your shift. I need to go call my daughter and hug the living daylights out of her over the phone.”
Addison gave her a watery laugh. Shirley was always talking about how alike Addison and her daughter at NYU were.
After quickly tying on her apron, Addison went out front to check on the tables, finding herself looking over at the door every so often, even though she knew she wouldn’t be seeing Caine tonight. He was starting another stretch on the eight to four shift tomorrow so he’d stayed up all day today, after spending nearly twenty four hours awake, to get on a sleep cycle that would allow his body to be functional during the night and day flip.
Last night, after their marathon make-out session, he’d made a few quiet, descriptive suggestions of how she could potentially assist him in adjusting his sleep schedule.
The man was quite the word wizard when it came to dirty talk.
And by the end of the night, judging by his heartfelt groans every so often…so was she.
“Well, that’s a pretty smile.”
Addison snapped her gaze over to the source of the low, teasing voice.
“David. Hi. How are you?” She flashed her regular the same bright smile she kept on reserve for all her customers. “It’s been a few weeks. How’ve you been?”
His smile went up a few thousand watts. “You noticed. I was wondering if you would.”
She didn’t really know how to respond. He was always saying slightly off-centered things like that. Smile shifted to idle, she nodded over at an empty booth. “You staying or did you want to order something to go?”
“Of course I’ll stay.”
Again. Just a teeny bit off-center. “Okay, well, I’ll grab you a coffee.”
“You read my mind; you’re so good at that.” He gave her a kind of…strange smile. “Can’t wait to have you surprise me with the perfect dinner again.”
Was it just her, or was he more than a little off-center tonight? Her smile dimmed in confusion.
“Remember? The other week? You picked out something off the menu for me?”
Ohhh, right. Yeah, that had been weird; she’d blocked that memory out a little bit. Immediately, she feigned nodding at an invisible bid for her attention from a distant table. “Be right with you,” she called out, to the couple talking to each other behind him, and not looking her way at all. “David, I’ll give you some time with the menu and be back for your order.”
“But—”
She got the heck out of there, zipping right back to the kitchen.
Where she almost ran right over Shirley.
“Hey, where’s the fire?” Shirley jumped back, and frowned with concern. “What’s going on?”
Addison did a whole body joint-jiggle to shake the willies out. “Nothing. It’s nothing. Just, that regular is here. David. He just…seems a little weirder than usual.”
Shirley gave her a sympathetic nod. “He still asking you out?”
“Not today.” Which was a nice reprieve. He’d asked her out a dozen times already since he’d started coming regularly to the diner a few months back. And she’d politely declined each time, using the oldie, but goodie that she was on perpetual babysitter duties until…oh, Kylie’s high school graduation in ten years. “But then again, the guy just got here so who knows, he might be getting ready to do it later tonight.” Addison frowned. Turning a guy down was always awkward, but with David, it was more than awkward. It was weird and uncomfortable, too.
“Sorry, hon. I’d offer to take him off your plate, but I’m about to start my break, and I really need to get to the pharmacist to get Steve’s refill on his blood pressure meds.”
“Don’t be silly. You go on. It’s so slow tonight, even for a Sunday. Take your time.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Since it’s Ryan on the grill tonight, you know he’s going to be doing his big show in the order window all night long.” Yet another reason to love their fabulous singing and dancing diner cook; he always kept the customers well-entertained. “With him going at it, I can stay behind the counter as much as possible. It’ll be fine.”
After waiting as long as she could, Addison eventually went back out to pour a mug of coffee for David, all the while mentally calculating how much longer she could put off bringing the check to the two other nearby booths.
“Here’s your coffee, David. Are you ready to order?”
He pouted a little. “I thought you were ordering for me again.”
She really didn’t want to. “Hmm, well, the specials today are pretty great,” she said finally, meeting him partway.
He brightened up. “Yeah? Which one do you think I’ll love?”
What was it about his words that made her feel like a cat getting rubbed in the wrong direction? “The Shepherd’s Pie and Chicken a la King have been real popular tonight.” She was doing her absolute best not to bend the conversation the way he wanted.
Not that he seemed to notice. That odd smile was back on his face. “You did it again. Shepherd’s Pie sounds perfect.”
Great. “Alrighty. I’ll go put your order in right now.” She pivoted and went right back to the order menu, trying not to shudder as she felt his eyes on her as she walked away.
Her gut had never failed her in the past. And right now, it was screaming at her to steer clear of the guy.
“Hey, could we get our check?”
Damn. That was one.
One more table to go before the right half of the diner cleared out, leaving her and David alone. Hopefully the college kids over by the window and the sweet elderly couple that came in every week to sit at the counter decided to stay for dessert.
Hell, she’d give them free dessert.
A half hour later, Shirley was back—thank God—and there were a few more customers. But no one who wanted a booth. Damn.
“Come sit with me for a bit, Addison.” David flashed her a would’ve-been-charming-if-not-for-the-half-cocked-glaze-in-his-eyes grin. “You look like you could take a load off. Want me to order you your favorite slice of cake? It’s on me.”
Okay, the guy was definitely laying it on thicker than usual. Why oh why had she told him that the Chantilly Dobash Cake was her favorite. “Aw, thanks, David. But I really need to go finish up some paperwork for Joe. Shirley will bring you your check when you’re ready.”
David was back to pouting.
She didn’t give a flying fig right now.
Addison retreated to Joe’s office and released a relieved sigh when she was able to shut the door behind her. Something about David tonight had made her feel like a layer of smoke was clinging to her out there. Though it totally wasn’t in her nature, she made a mental note not to smile as much around him anymore.
Maybe if she looked ornery all the time, he would start thinking she was too bitchy to be weird around.
Shirley returned from her break a short while later, and Addison retreated to the office for the next hour or so to do the paperwork she hadn’t been lying about. Shirley checked in once to tell her that David had eventually left in a bit of a snit.
The main thing was that he was gone.
<
br /> As the clock ticked down to closing, Addison finished wiping up the counters and watched the clock. The last of the customers had cleared out a good fifteen minutes ago, and since they’d been running so slow even before that, Ryan and Shirley had been able to get everything shut down quicker than usual so Addison had sent them on home a little while ago. No sense they all watch the clock together.
While it wasnt as if this were the first time she’d ever been in the diner alone, for some reason, tonight felt eerier than usual. It didn’t help that the janitors had shifted their Sunday schedule forward an hour, leaving her really alone.
Screw it. There’s only a few minutes left.
She went over to the front door to lock up.
Only to have it clang open when she got there.
Crap.
“David. You’re back.”
Addison gripped her phone tighter in one hand, and repositioned her hold on the pen she was carrying so she could jab it in his eye if she needed to. “We’re actually all closed up already.”
“I know. I came to talk to you in private.” David smiled, and gave her a slow-roaming once-over from head to toe.
Gross.
“I know your secret,” he said cryptically then. His expression changed from smiling to…sympathetic.
Weirder and weirder.
He reached behind him to flip the door sign to closed. “I know, Addison.”
“Look, David. You really ought to get going. I need to close up. And frankly, I’m not feeling too comfortable with you being here right now.” Honesty was pretty much her only defense at the moment.
He held up his hands in the air innocently. “I don’t blame you for being cautious. I finally understand. When you’re homeless, you just don’t know who you can trust.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Of all the people to find out. “David, I need you to leave. Right now.” She edged away from him and moved to push open the door.
He cut her off and blocked her path. “Don’t be afraid. I understand everything now. I want to help.” He reached into his pocket for his wallet. “Let me help you get back on your feet. Get you out of that van.”