I’ve got her attention on me again—and it’s a kick in the ribs, because I’ve surprised her. “Both.” She rubs her palms on her thighs. Not that I’m noticing her thighs. “Before I left for New York, I enjoyed this, too. We enjoyed it together. Year-round Christmas. Somehow I forgot.” Her laugh is more high pitched than usual. “Even if it’s based on dick jokes.”
That kick in my ribs grows more intense. “You should do it. Look how fast you picked up an entire business without letting it skip a beat.” My hand lifts to reach out, to touch her in some way, but I force it back down. “It’s a great idea, Addison.”
She opens her mouth to say something, but snaps it closed. “You have some glitter on your nose,” she mumbles, throwing a plastic pouch of baby wipes at me. “Doofus.”
I make a show of wiping everywhere but my nose. “Did I get it?”
“Yep,” she answers breezily. “You got it.”
We laugh and go back to work.
*
I walk out of the bedroom to find Addison stretching. In leggings and a bra.
A danger siren blares in my head and I turn on a heel, returning to my room like the hounds of hell are after me. Fine, it takes me a few ungentlemanly seconds to get moving—and when I do, I can’t see anything but pink, but I manage.
“Elijah?” Her husky voice stops me in my tracks. “You’re up early.”
I glance down at the front of my pants. No kidding.
Morning wood. That’s all it is. I’m not turning harder than steel for Addison.
“Yeah.” Clearing the rust from my voice, I make sure my shirt is providing coverage and move in a slow, funeral shuffle back toward the hallway. And yup. I didn’t imagine it. Addison has one leg pulled up to her butt, causing her back to arch. There’s no way to avoid looking at her breasts. They’re lifted up and swelling over the neck of her bra, a tiny mole winking back from the right one. “Where are you going?”
“My run. I’m usually back before you get up.” She switches to the other leg. “You want to come with me?”
“You go out running like that?”
Her eyebrows draw together. “Like what?”
I sidestep the landmine. “Early.”
Suspicious. The lady is suspicious. “So? Do you want to come?”
“Actually, we’ve got a gym at City Hall. I usually hit it after work or on my lunch break, but you conked out early on me last night, so…”
“You’re the one who made me watch Meet the Press.” With a saucy wink, she bends forward at the waist and hoists her ass in the air, tight and separated into two perfect buns. A groan climbs my throat, but I swallow it down. Not good. I usually handle my business quickly and quietly in the shower. Or at night while Addison is safely in her own bedroom. I’m not a man who needs to stroke off ten times a day. It’s more of a stress reliever and I’ve managed to keep the object of my fantasies faceless. Hell, I always have. Using a woman’s image without her say so makes me feel too guilty afterward. Right now, though, with my cock straining under the waistband of my gray sweatpants, I know I’m doomed to picture Addison winking and bending over for me the next time. There’s no help for it.
“You’re the one who taped it for me,” I rasp.
She straightens, bouncing her tits around in the pink bra. “What?
“Meet the Press. You’re the one who tapes it.” Addison is looking at me funny, so I soldier on. “Anyway, I woke up before my alarm. Figured I’d head to the gym this morning, instead of this afternoon.”
“Or you could come running with me.”
I could. I want to. I don’t relish the idea of her out running in that bra alone, looking like she does. I don’t like it at all. But I can’t very well ask her to wait ten minutes while I jack off, can I? And there isn’t a hope in hell of me running with this thing throbbing between my legs.
None of that matters, though, because Addison ducks her head. “Never mind. I…wasn’t thinking. Of course you can’t come running with me.” She laughs under her breath. “I haven’t had my coffee yet.”
She’s right. Being seen together would only start the gossip mill churning. It would put her in the line of fire with the press when they’ve only begun to lose interest in a possible relationship between us. Right now, it’s early in the morning. They would know for certain we’d spent the night in the same place. That being said, I really don’t like being responsible for her disappointed half smile as she ties her shoes. “I try not to run in public anyway.”