Kiss and Burn (4 page)

“Argh! I hate him!” Carmen growled dropping into the seat across
from Addison. It had been two days since her last encounter with Eli and that
goddamned kiss had kept her up at night. Not necessarily because she couldn’t
stop thinking about it but because she was constantly
throbbing.
Her overactive nether regions needed to be brought to a
heel! Eli was the blame for this bullshit! He was to blame for everything!

Carmen had known from the moment he’d touched her that he would be
a nuisance to her libido. This was why she’d stayed as far away from him as
possible. However,
that
was becoming
harder and harder to do now-a-days. Eli was gorgeous, he knew it. He also knew
he could have women falling at his feet so when he’d come after her, she
figured she was just another conquest.  

He was just entirely too effortless, infallible. He unsettled her,
made her squirm. Carmen had been through more than enough heartbreaks in her
time to know better than to allow herself to melt around him. She hadn’t the
slightest clue why he all of a sudden felt so possessive but, he could drag his
magnificently formed ass
out
of her
way. Carmen had no intentions of involving herself any deeper with him than
they were at the moment. It would affect more than just the both of them if things
went left. With the people they loved getting married and planning to
procreate, it could only end badly.

From the first time they’d danced together she’d been well aware
of Mr. Aaronson’s desire to have her under him, on top of him and bent over in
ungodly positions
for
him. The thing of it was, she’d avoid that
happening until she couldn’t anymore. In just two weeks, she’d be strolling the
beautiful shores of Mexico and finding relief to the never-ending ache she’d
developed. She needed to get laid; preferably to someone attractive,
intelligent and interested in just a few nights of consensual filth. There was
one thing standing in the way of that—her goddamn feelings for Eli.

Sleeping with him was just too risky. However, taking a chance
with someone who she had no attachments to could prove to be incredibly
fun.
Something she’d been sorely lacking
in the last few months, what with her plans to open another restaurant
location. Work was beginning to take up the space she’d reserved for personal
endeavors and something had to give. Why not enjoy herself in what was
virtually paradise?

Addison finally blinked up from her Cuban sandwich. “Who? Mak?”

Carmen frowned. “No, not Mak. Why would I hate Mak?”

Her best friend’s lip curled before she pointed downwards at the
multitude of bridal magazines before her. “Maybe because all of this is
his
fault.”

“
This,
being your
upcoming nuptials?” Selena McClain questioned, slipping into another seat with
a menu, her lips curved into a smile. Being that it was clear Addison’s mother
was more than elated about her daughter’s engagement, she obviously saw the
amusement in her child’s frustration.

The news of Addison and Maikao’s pending nuptials had been
exciting for both older women for more than just the obvious reasons. It also
gave them a chance to share their own revelation. The pair had been approached
by a luxury resort chain to make their dual business of a spa and boutique into
a chain exclusive to their locations in Mexico, Europe and the states. Being
that the owner of said luxury resorts wanted them to sign on the dotted line,
he’d thrown in hefty discount packages for the women as an incentive which
included family and friends if they so chose to vacation at one of the many
venues. Because of this, Angeline and Selena were able to give Addison the
wedding she’d always dreamed of while taking the pressure of a groom who wanted
to please his bride off of Maikao’s shoulders. This meant that the normally
extravagant pricing would be brought down for all attending. It was a win for everyone
involved and no one could understand why Addison was so worried.

“But…you
wanted
to get
married,” Carmen pointed out.

“I wanted to get
married.
I
didn’t want to be driven
mental,”
Addison
growled. “I’m losing my shit. How is this okay?!”

Selena and Carmen shared a look.

Reaching across the table, Carmen patted her friend’s hand. “The
day will be here soon enough.”

Addison’s lip curled. “Maikao tells me that too and do you know
what my response is?”

Carmen leaned backwards. “No and please don’t feel the need to
inform me.”

Snorting, Selena said, “I now understand why he lives in constant
fear.”

Gaze lasering into her mother, Addison proclaimed, “He
should
be fearful. He should tremble
every time he hears my voice. Do you know what I caught him doing last night?”

Both Carmen and Selena stared.

“
Sleeping,”
Addison
announced.

They continued to stare before Carmen innocently asked, “And
that’s…
wrong?”

“
Yes.
And do you know
why
it’s wrong?”

“Can’t say that we do,” Selena answered.

“Because my anxiety won’t let
me
sleep. So you know what? If
I
don’t get to sleep,
he
doesn’t
get to sleep. And if I should so catch him in the act again I am going to take
one of the beautifully designed throw pillows I love so much off of the ottoman
I love so much and
smother the man I love
so much!”

Carmen didn’t look at Selena. She
wouldn’t
look at Selena. She
refused
to look at Selena. Why? Because if she looked at Selena, all the pinching
she was currently doing to her own arm to keep from falling over out of her
chair while tears of laughter rolled down her face would be
completely
obsolete.

So she sat there. She sat there and she bit her lip and she said
nothing.
Apparently years of mothering, Addison had taught Selena some fine survival
skills because she didn’t even twitch. She just calmly picked up her menu and
continued looking through her options as if
nothing
had just happened. Carmen had to say, it was one of the qualities she
admired most about her.

***

“Hey, hey, hey!
Pocket bride!” Eli yelled from his lounging position on the station’s couch as
Addison strolled past the doorway. He wasn’t surprised to see her roaming the
halls being that she frequently brought Maikao lunch.

She walked backwards then raised a brow in his direction. Eli
raised one also and Addison sighed before coming inside the hideaway, situating
herself into a comfortable chair. “Yes?”

He put out his arms. “What is this stringent attitude?” Eli
pointed to himself. “Soon-to-be-pseudo brother-in-law remember? You and I, we
talk, we converse, we share, we—”

“Bullshit?” she queried eyeing him with that stare that said she
could see straight through him.

Placing a hand against his chest, he affected a sincere look. “Addie,
I’m just trying to talk to you here. When’s the last time we sat and had a chat
and—”

“Bullshitted?” Addison interrupted again.

“I just want to—”

“Bullshit?”

“Would you stop?! I’m trying to keep—”

“The bullshit going?”

He bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to laugh. “Sometimes,”
Eli solemnly stated. “I hate you.”

She winked, a smirk in place. “Sure you do. Now what do you wanna
know about Carmen?”

“That obvious, eh?”

“As obvious as a man’s favor when he’s wearing tights.”

Eli snorted. “
That
is imagery
I could’ve done without.”

Her head cocked. “Go ahead and ask whatever it is you wanna ask.”

He ran a hand through his hair then grabbed the back of his neck
and squeezed. “She didn’t happen to uh...um...mention her plans, did she?”

“No, she didn’t happen to uh...um...do that,” Addison mocked.

His eyes narrowed.

She chuckled. “No, Eli. She didn’t say shit to me and I know it’s
because
she
knows Mak will get me to
reveal said information before he gives it to
you.
”

He pouted. “Why doesn’t she like me?”

“Because, and I say this with love, you’re an ass.”

“I didn’t hear the love in that statement. Not at
all.”

“Aww, did I hurt your feels?”

“Yes,” he answered, blinking owlishly. “Yes you did.”

She shrugged, hands folding primly in her lap. “Can’t say that I
particularly care. I’m two pounds away from my goal weight for my dress and
I’ve got to somehow figure out how to shove the extra ass meat off. Your feels
are not my concern.”

“I am both curious and perturbed
.”

Who would’ve thought that just a few short weeks ago, the woman
sitting before him originally had her
sights set on locking Eli down as opposed to Maikao? Of course she’d been in
denial about the clear adoration she had for Maikao but it was comical
none-the-less to consider the fact that Addison thought
he
was the right tree to bark up. Nah.

The night he’d met
her at a football game, Eli had briefly thought of pursuing her, at least until
he saw the look on Maikao’s face. It was a look that said, “I’ll kill you. I’ll
kill you and I’ll feel nothing after I kill you.” So he’d put his cupid skills
to the test and dicked around his best friend’s last nerve until
boom,
things
got done. Important things.

That family man act, fantasies of a white picket fence and corgi
puppies? That wasn’t him. It never had been and it never would be. What Maikao
and Addison had was real
,
but he’d seen
what heartbreak and disappointment could do to two people after a failed
relationship that had gone off like a land mine, obliterating everything in its
wake.

Eli didn’t believe he had it in him to be consistently responsible
for the emotional well-being of another individual. Physically, he could
conquer just about anything. He’d had the desire to become a firefighter from
the moment he truly grasped what it meant to save a life, keep someone safe. He
just wasn’t in a place emotionally that allowed for commitments. Eli didn’t
really have a clue
what
he wanted at
this point. Why tether himself to someone and make them suffer through that?
 

Addison had enough faith in Maikao to know that he’d give his all
to return to her safely each and every day. That faith was the pulse to their
relationship. Eli wouldn’t find that and he wasn’t looking for it. He couldn’t
afford to seat himself in that chair, to worry someone unnecessarily on his
behalf. He found his mother’s anxiety to be more than enough. Lynne Aaronson
spent her days mulling over all the harmful possibilities of his profession.

He’d discovered
with time that the majority of women he’d had any type of relationship with
enjoyed his humor, his ability to show them a good time and his career title.
He never got too deep, never went too fast and never found himself or them
hurt. It was the perfect arrangement. He had no intentions of breaking a
routine that had kept him unscathed.

Addison suddenly
grunted and rubbed her temples.

Eli was across the
floor in seconds, kneeling at her side. “You’re not about to have another
anxiety attack are you?”

He only asked
because she’d had one after finding out that Maikao had no intentions of
drawing out their engagement and no intentions allowing her to weasel away.

“No,” Addison
snapped. “But I want this shit to be over already. I’m exhausted and the sooner
it’s done, the sooner I can enjoy married life without the dog and pony show.”

His lips twitched. “For someone who’s repeatedly said she’s
marrying the man of her dreams you seem awfully cranky,” he sung.

“Unless you want to
intricately
lose all of the parts that keep you functioning on a basic human level,
you’ll stop speaking to me as though I’m
two.”

Eli nodded obediently. “Yes ma’am.”

She sighed. “I’m
sorry, Eli. I dunno what’s happening to me. I’m terrified of what happens after
I walk down the aisle. I’m constantly questioning if we’re rushing things. I’m
wide because I’m bloated. I
feel
wide.
I
hate
feeling wide. My fiancé is
afraid to come home because I may kill him in his sleep—which if I catch him
sleeping again while I’m obsessing about hotel reservations and our honeymoon—I
just might.” She blew out a breath.

“Addie,” Eli said
softly. “Sweetheart, all wedding days are different. I’m not an expert on what
takes place after marriages or how magical things get with the exchanging of
vows but, I think you’re doing just fine. You’re not wide. Even
I
would attempt inappropriately touching
you if I were a stranger on the street. Maikao is attempting to keep you stress
free and my guess is that he’s just as terrified as you are. You’re not rushing
anything.
This, what you have, was
meant to be. You’ll feel it the moment you walk down the aisle.”