“I love your effortless friendship with Hollis. He speaks so highly of you. And I’d love to meet Peter.”
“We’ll have to go out for drinks, just the four of us one night.”
“That would be so much fun.”
At that moment, my phone rang.
I looked down at the screen. “It’s Hollis.”
She waved her hand. “Take it.”
I answered, “Hey.”
His deep voice vibrated in my ear. “Is she being good?”
I glanced at Addison, who was beaming. “Yes. We’re having a very nice time. She just told me the story of how she met Peter.”
“We all met in vehicles. They met in a cab. And we met when you crashed into me.”
“Very funny. I think we both know what really happened there.”
He laughed. “Okay, I’ll stop crashing your party. Just wanted to hear your voice and annoy Addison at the same time. Make sure she knows I’m watching her.”
“You’re crazy.”
“I know.”
After I hung up, our food arrived, and we dug in.
Addison’s mouth was full when she pointed her fork at me and said, “Anyway, getting back to my original point. Peter and I had a destination wedding in Greece. He’s Greek, actually, but born here. We only invited close family and friends. During our dance on the beach in Mykonos, I spotted Hollis watching us. And I could have sworn I saw a look of longing on his face. I came to the conclusion that he knew he was missing his life by building so many walls. He just didn’t know how to change. And that made my heart ache. So, I prayed for you that night. And it took a little while, but you came along.”
Wow. “Addison, that’s really poignant. I hope I can live up to your expectations.”
“Are you kidding? Hollis is already ten times less wound up. You’ve already done your job, as far as I’m concerned. And I got to keep my Bentley on top of it all.”
“Your Bentley?”
She winked. “Just a little bet we had going.”
It took us over two hours to eat lunch, because neither of us seemed to be able to shut up long enough to get more than a few bites in every now and then. While I’d started out a little nervous, things were ending better than I could have expected. Addison was warm and accepting, and it was evident she loved Hollis very much. We fought over who paid for lunch and walked out of the restaurant arm in arm.
“So are you heading back to Connecticut or staying here in the city?”
“I told Hollis I’d come back to his place for the night.”
She smiled. “He can be a little on the possessive side, can’t he?”
“It’s okay. I’m a little on the possessive side, too. We’ve both been burned before, so we might hold on a little tighter this time.”
Addison shook her head. “His ex is lucky I never got my hands on her after what she did to him.”
I smiled. “I’m sorry he’s been hurt. But if I ever ran into her, I’d have to thank her. Her loss is totally my gain.”
Addison hugged me. “For the record, Hollis was wrong after all. He told me I was going to think you were great. But you’re freaking awesome.”***“Honey, I’m home,” I teased as I let myself into Hollis’s apartment. He was on the couch with his bare feet propped up on the coffee table and a book in his hands. He set it down on his lap and waited for me to come to him. Of course, Huey greeted me with his usual Baaa! “Anna’s home”.
“Hi, Huey. Elodie’s home.” I walked over to Hollis and leaned down to kiss his lips. “Did you miss me?”
When I went to stand up, he grabbed the back of my knees and pulled me onto his lap.
“I did. Let me show you how much.” He nuzzled my neck and palmed one of my breasts through my shirt.
I giggled. “Where’s Hailey?”
“She went downstairs to Kelsie’s so they could pack a bag for Kelsie to sleep over. So give me that mouth and let me cop a cheap feel. We don’t have very long.”
Hollis slipped a hand behind my neck and pulled my lips to meet his again. Our kiss heated up as fast as always. I wound my hands into his hair, and his tongue swept away thoughts of anything but my desire for him.
We hadn’t done very well at keeping things private. Hailey had caught him grabbing my ass in the kitchen the other day, and also caught us making out in the elevator one night when the doors slid open on their floor. It was just so easy to get lost in each other. Which, of course, was why neither of us heard the front door open this time either.
“Ugh. Get a room, you perverts,” Hailey groaned on her way to her room with Kelsie.