Felix crossed his arms and seemed to think for a moment. “Well, I can’t blame you. You were right.” He sighed. “She’d called me over there and confessed everything that night about her involvement. She was so upset.”
Addison’s hand was still clasped tightly around the door handle, but mostly so she didn’t fall over with fatigue, or surprise. His face screwed up like he worried she was still going to walk out. He laid his hands on the door on either side of her, blocking her there. But she didn’t think she had the energy to move even if her brain could catch up.
“But I’ve never been interested in Charlotte,” he said. “Ever.”
Addison remembered the embrace she’d witnessed between Felix and Charlotte, the desperation and pleading in her voice as she greeted him at the door. Charlotte had been upset. She needed a friend, comfort. That’s all it was. And she’d probably been nervous at the gala. That would explain the clinginess.
“Why did you let me think you and Charlotte were at the gala together?” Addison asked. “Why didn’t you tell me it wasn’t a date?”
“Why should I have? You were on a date yourself. And, if I’m honest”—his voice softened—“maybe it was because I wanted you to be a little jealous. I know I was.” His Adam’s apple bobbed again.
“Jealous of Phillip? But it wasn’t a date, not really. I knew the night before that it wasn’t right. You were right. It was all just a made-up fairy tale in my head. It wasn’t real,” she said. “I left Phillip’s house that night, just after you did.”
He straightened at the news. “You did?”
Felix’s entryway grew quiet as Addison became silent for a moment, mulling everything over. As did Felix. All the looks she’d imagined between him and Charlotte, all the times she assumed they were flirting. All the misjudgments. Meanwhile, she’d been ignoring something real growing between the two of them this whole time.
“So,” she finally said, “I had it all wrong with you and Charlotte?”
His lip curled in amusement. “Yup.”
Her shoulders drooped, feeling the weight of all her misplaced emotions. “Just like I had you wrong right from the start.”
“Seems that way,” he said, his eyes narrowing with some emotion, maybe hesitation. “I suppose I had you and Phillip wrong too.”
“I think I had it more wrong than you did.” Addison frowned. “I guess I thought that being with someone like Phillip could make life so much easier. That if I lived a life like that, what possible reasons would we have to fight? But then what? We would have had money, but would we have had what it really took to make a relationship work?” As she thought about this—for the millionth time—her eyes drifted sightlessly over his entryway, as though searching for the answer.
Even with everything that had happened over the last couple of days, there wasn’t five minutes that had gone by that she didn’t reflect on her conversation with her dad, on his relationship with Dora, and what she could remember of her mother. “There’s more to life than money,” she said to Felix, truly understanding what that meant now that she’d faced the option of having it and chose to walk away for something else—even the remote possibility of it.
“Like what?” Felix asked. She didn’t think it was because he didn’t know. He wanted to hear her say it.
Her gaze didn’t waver as she held his. “Love.”
“And is that what you want?” His body seemed to move an inch closer, as though anticipating, hoping for the right answer.
“I think I might have already found it.”
That distant stranger who answered the door was gone for good. Her Felix was back, and it seemed there was nothing standing in their way. Not Charlotte, not Phillip, not even Addison’s brain. And when he took a hesitant step toward her, there wasn’t even space left between them.
Addison rubbed her temples and sighed. “Confusing much?”
“Jumping to conclusions much?” He reached up to her face, his hands hovering over her like he wanted to touch her, but was uncertain of how she felt.
She craved his usual touch: firm, sure, and greedy. She gave him an inviting look that made sure he knew how she felt. “Want me much?”
“Oh so very much.” He kissed her. “Much.” He kissed her again. “Much.” With a softer look than she’d ever seen in his eyes, he held her face. “And you’re right. Love is so much more. I believe it can get you through anything. Can get us through anything, because I’ll stick by you through whatever comes at us. For better or worse. You know that, right?”
Unable to resist, she brought a hand up to explore this sweeter expression with her fingers, this new, unguarded way that he looked at her. “I know. You’ve already proven that during the last couple of weeks.”
“And you’ve been there for me. And Naia.” His eyes creased, as though remembering when he thought he’d lost her.
While Addison had been worried about finding a guy who would stick around through thick and thin, she suddenly realized that he probably worried about the same thing. Hadn’t he experienced his own sense of loss, of abandonment by Naia’s mother? And like Addison needed him to be there for her, she wanted to be there for him.
“And I always will be,” she said.
When Felix kissed her once more, he remained locked there. He explored her mouth, her tongue, slowly, confidently. There was no rush; Addison wasn’t going anywhere. Because she knew why she was there this time. It wasn’t lust, or curiosity, or a temporary insanity, or because her heart was leading her astray. She was there because she chose to be. Her heart and her brain finally agreed that Felix was the one.
Felix swept Addison’s golden curls aside, forging a trial of kisses down her neck. “You must be exhausted after the last twenty-four hours,” he mumbled against her shoulder.
The vibration of his words against her skin made her lower half clench with anticipation, proving that apparently she wasn’t that tired.
“Well, I suppose it is way past my bedtime,” she teased.
“You do seem tired,” he said, with mock seriousness. “Maybe too tired to drive all the way home.”
“You’re right. It might not be safe.” She tried to act cool, but her voice shook, giving her excitement away.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I sent you on your way and something happened to you.” All trace of teasing humor was gone. His eyes flickered and his breath hitched like he’d never meant anything more in his life.
“I couldn’t live with it if you sent me on my way either,” she said softly.
“Maybe you should stay here. I could tuck you in.” He reached around her, grabbing her butt with a mischievous grin.
She arched against him in surprise. “Tuck away.”
Bending down, Felix swept her up into his arms, wincing a little because of his shoulder. He winked at her. “Milady.”
She laid a swooning princess hand against her forehead as he carried her up the stairs. “Oh, my knight in shining armor.” Maybe there was room for a little fantasy between them, after all.
However, as he carried her down the hall toward the room at the end, her mind didn’t wander. It didn’t transport her to fantasies of their future, all the possible adventures they could have, imagining them as different characters in new settings. She remained in the moment, because she could think of no better place to be. Besides, who wanted to settle for PG-rated fairy tales when she could have R-rated?
And that was clearly what Felix had in mind as he booted his door open impatiently. A lamp glowed from his bedside table, so she could see the lust in his expression. With a boyish grin, he suddenly let her go and dropped her on his bed. She squealed before she hit the comforter.
Locking his bedroom door, he pulled off his shirt. The light caught his tanned skin, highlighting every hard dip and swell of his muscles. Holding her gaze, he unfastened his worn jeans, and they crumpled to the floor. He didn’t hesitate before reaching for the waistband of his boxers and tugging them down too.
>
She gasped as Felix was released, and obviously ready for her. A shudder of anticipation coursed through her at the sight of him exposed so unceremoniously, so confidently.
He pounced on her, diving playfully onto the bed. Addison’s hands came up automatically, impatient to begin exploring. But as hasty as he’d been preparing himself for her, he slowed down to remove her clothes.
He slid each piece of clothing off her body reverently, like he was opening that Tiffany’s box. Her anticipation built with each button he slipped free, each sock he tugged off like it was sexy lingerie.
When he dragged her pants down over her hips, kissing her legs as he went, she suddenly gasped.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She felt heat crawl up her face. “I, umm, forgot to shave my legs. I didn’t exactly anticipate this.”
Felix laughed, his breath tickling her thighs. “Addy, I don’t care. I don’t care about the shaving, and the makeup, and the hair, and the clothes. I prefer you without all of it.” He nibbled on her inner thigh, making her squeak. “Especially without the clothes.”
As though to prove his point, he tugged off her pants the rest of the way and rubbed his face up her bare legs, his own stubble scratching her skin deliciously.
Ticklish, she giggled and pulled her legs away. Grasping her ankles, he held them apart. His hands were firm and unyielding as his stubble rubbed higher and higher up her inner thigh.
She shivered and squirmed until his stubble tickled between her legs, adding to the soothing sensation of his kiss, his wet tongue, his probing fingers. Forget R-rated, she thought, this is XXX.
As her body warmed with each kiss, each lick, she struggled to keep quiet. She grunted and gripped the sheets beneath her, twisting them in her hands. When her body began to shake and twitch with pleasure, she turned her face toward a pillow and cried into it to muffle her scream.
Addison was still vibrating with pleasure, coming down from her high, so she hadn’t even noticed he’d already put on a condom until he lowered his body on top of hers. She felt his weight, his presence, secure her, ground her. It was as though without him she’d float away like a hot air balloon, drifting aimlessly without direction or purpose for the rest of her life. She would be doomed to look down at the people below, never attached or truly connected to anything.
Felix and Naia could be that connection, she thought. Not tie her down like she’d convinced herself a family would. They could keep her grounded. Anchor her to reality.
Addison laid her palms against Felix’s chest, enjoying the sensation as she dragged them down his torso, his abs, his hips, enjoying the security that came with how real he felt, how solid, how firm. Very, very firm.
Felix moaned as her fingers curled around that firmness and guided him inside of her, filling her up, like he filled that last remaining part in her life. He filled her again, and again, and again, until she was stifling her cries of pleasure against his shoulder and he was groaning into her hair.
Addison knew in her heart that Felix was the one. He may not have been Prince Charming, and it may not have been fairy tale perfect. It was better. It wasn’t someone else’s story, but her own. It was real. Felix was real. What they had was real.
33
Everybody and Their Dog
The tutus had been fluffed, the fur combed, the jewelry polished, and the lapels pressed. Addison was ready to start the fashion show. Only, was it still a show if there was no one there to show?
Twenty minutes remained before curtain call, and the only people on the other side of the closed stage curtain were her father and Dora, sitting front row, center. They’d driven all the way from Linda Mar for the day. Too bad it was just to see Addison flop. So much for her dad being proud of her.
Of course, Holly Hart and her cameraman, Hey, You, were there too. At least the reporter had followed through on her promise to host it. Addison just hoped Hey, You could angle the camera shots so all the empty seats lining the sides of the catwalk wouldn’t be caught in the frame.
Since Addison couldn’t find anyone willing to volunteer—or even be paid—to help with the modeling, her friends had stepped up to help out. Thankfully they’d all been too busy helping her prep the dogs backstage, so no one knew what was on the other side of that curtain: absolutely no one.
She still hadn’t confessed to Aiden just how daunting things were, how much the dognapping scandal had hurt her business. Since her name had been cleared publicly on the news, she’d hoped with every ounce of positive mojo she had left in her that she’d arrive to an audience that afternoon.
But as the minutes ticked down, and the seats remained empty each time she obsessively peeked out, she knew the moment was coming to warn her models and their walkers of what awaited them. It was a huge blow to her ego, but it wasn’t from lack of trying her best.
Addison peeked out the curtain for the hundredth time, hoping a ton of people had packed into the room since she last looked thirty seconds before. But all she saw was Holly snapping her fingers at Hey, You.
Her dad held up the pink program for the show while he read it to Dora like it was War and Peace. They were holding hands. Addison smiled. It occurred to her that she had no memory of her parents ever showing affection like that, far less in public.
She felt the air shift behind her before two strong arms wrapped around her waist.
“Don’t worry,” Felix whispered in her ear. “There’s still time for people to show up.”
Addison couldn’t imagine ever being able to worry while in his arms. She spun to face him. “Thanks for helping out today.”
He’d unloaded her Mini piled so high with supplies that she’d had to drive with the top down to the venue, even though it had been threatening rain. Then there was the sorting and the organizing—he’d even helped dress Oliver.
“I don’t mind,” Felix said. “Naia’s having fun playing dress up with all the dogs. And I’ve never seen Oliver look so dashing.”
Addison followed his gaze to find Naia arranging a bow tie above Oliver’s knitted sweater vest for the casual dress portion of the show.
Addison sighed, trying to look on the bright side of things. “If nothing else, at least Holly Hart’s segment will get the show some coverage.”
“And no matter what happens,” he said, “at the end of the day, you should feel very proud of yourself. You’ve worked hard to get here.” His arms squeezed around her.
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. He was right. Things certainly turned out better than they could have. The dogs were safe and sound, back with their owners, her spa was not only still in business, but if all the appointment requests she’d found in her email inbox that morning were any indication, things were picking back up. And out of all the drama, she’d gotten Felix and Naia.
Piper finished zipping up a camouflage jacket on Colin. “What do you think? He looks pretty cool, right?”
Addison squatted down next to him and popped the collar like the Fonz. “Very cool.”
“Yeah, and I love this leather getup,” Zoe said, escorting a chocolate dachshund named Peanut. “Do you have it in my size?”
Addison laughed when she saw the spicy leather number on the dog. The vest and studded hat bordered on male stripper or S&M.
“You probably already have something just like it,” Addison told her.
Zoe grinned devilishly. “You can never have too much leather.”
It was at times like this that Addison could see Zoe missed her old doxie, Buddy. Of course she put on a brave face, but they’d known each other too long for Addison not to notice the sad crinkle next to her eyes, and the way she looked sort of wistful when she stared at all of her friends with their own dogs.
Zoe had only lost him six months before to old age, however, she continued to volunteer at the rescue center religiously because she loved the dogs. Maybe it made her miss Buddy a little less. She’d move on when she was ready, but Addison was just glad Zoe c
ould be involved that day.
Marilyn crossed the stage, calling Picasso to come. He rolled over in his blinged-out ride, sparkling beneath the spotlights. Addison had bedazzled the wheels and spokes of his wheelchair so they glistened as they rolled to a stop in front of her.
He wore a casual jean jacket, with the sleeves pushed up above his little dog elbows. Melody came over and set a pair of tiny sunglasses on top of his head to finish the look.
“I was always a sucker for the bad boy,” she said.
Addison assessed the results of all their efforts and took a deep breath. “Well, it’s almost time!” she called out. Everyone gathered around. Aiden carried Sophie who was wearing her off-the-shoulder sweater over a flared jean skirt, and Bob brought Princess over in her tutu. Since Addison and Melody would be scrambling behind the stage with wardrobe changes, he’d volunteered to walk Princess down the catwalk.
Naia dragged a reluctant Oliver over to the group. He waddled a little funny, not used to wearing clothes, or being groomed for that matter.
Felix glanced around at the other dogs, which all happened to be doxies. “Looks like you’re the odd dog out, Oliver. Gives a whole new meaning to the term sausage party.”
Both Aiden and Bob chuckled at that. But Addison took in the models with a frown. She’d hoped for a wider variety. She had planned an array of outfits, different sizes and shapes for various breeds to show off the versatility of her line. Her “every dog” message wasn’t all that effective when the only dogs she had were dachshunds and Oliver—whatever he was.
But it could have been worse, she reminded herself. The show must go on. At least her friends were all there to share the occasion with her.
“I just want to thank you for all being here today,” Addison began. “And for all you’ve done to help me this weekend. I couldn’t have groomed so many dogs in a single night without all of you slaving away alongside me. Aiden, thanks for believing in my dream and supporting me. I wouldn’t be here without your generosity. And Felix.” She turned to her boyfriend, unable to keep the giddy smile off her face. “If not for you, I may not have been here at all.”
Beauty and the Wiener Page 34