Look After Me (24 page)

“The best?” I raise my eyebrow with pride, a mischievous smile pulling at the sides of my face.

“Don’t get big headed,” she warns, causing me to chuckle. “I only said you were quite
possibly
the best. Not that you were.”

“Don’t get all technical with me. The best is still the best.”

She rolls her eyes, and once my laughter dies down, her demeanor suddenly changes from playful to serious. “So how is friends with benefits supposed to work? Because from what I’ve heard they always end badly.”

“We won’t let things get complicated.”

“How?”

“By not complicating things,” I say with a smile.

“That’s easier said than done. Sex complicates everything.”

I pull her onto my lap, causing a gasp to fall from her lips. “Are you trying to talk yourself out of it?”

“What, no! I’m just stating the obvious. I’m just trying to figure out a way for it to stay uncomplicated.”

“Well, that’s easy. We just continue the way we are, except now we’re going to be screwing each other’s brains out. It isn’t that different from before.”

“How so?”

“Since the moment you stood in the middle of my apartment with only a towel wrapped around you, I’ve been a horny mess. So horny that not even cold showers were enough to cool me down.”

Her cheeks heat up and I watch her eyes intently as her pupils dilate with recognition as if she’s replaying the very moment in her head. “What’s that got to do with it not being any different from before though?”

“That the sexual awareness that’s been sparking between us is still there but instead of fighting it, we’re actually going to do something about it. We’re going to follow our sexual urges.”

Her forehead wrinkles with confusion. “That makes absolutely no sense, but I can see where you’re going with this,” she finishes with an intrigued smile.

“But before we get ahead of ourselves, I need you to know that this can never go any further than sex. Friends with benefits is all there’ll ever be. Relationships are an absolute no-go for me. My heart is beyond repair. I just want to make sure you understand where my head is at. If you think it’ll be too hard, then we’ll just remain friends. Just tell me and I’ll understand.” I might understand, but it doesn’t mean I’ll have to like it. Just the thought of not being able to have a repeat of earlier stirs something crazy within me.

“Are you finished?” she asks with an amused smirk, her fingers massaging my shoulders gently.

“Yes,” I say, reciprocating her smile.

“First of all, you talk way too much for such a broody guy.” That makes my smile spread even more. “Second, have you forgotten my solemn vow to steer clear of all men? The last thing I want is yet another fucked up relationship to add to my long list of disasters. I’m totally with you when it comes to relationships. They suck, and that date where I got royally beaten up was the last straw for me. Men can go fuck themselves. No offense.”

“None taken.” I smirk as I brace my hands along her sides, enjoying the way she feels between my fingers.

“What you’re offering is perfect. We get to have a relationship without actually having one. We get to enjoy our friendship and our sexual relationship without all of the bullshit getting in the way. If you’re worried that I might not be able to handle it, don’t be. I’m a grown woman, I can handle more than you think.” She looks down at my chest and places her fingers over my heart caressing slightly and causing shivers to erupt along my spine. “And as for your broken heart, I see it, I feel it, and as much as I would love to fix it, I can’t. You have to let it heal on your own if it will ever heal. I hope for your sake it does because as your friend it really does kill me to see the pain etched in those handsome eyes of yours.”

“Wow, that was pretty poetic.”

“What can I say?” She shrugs. “It’s the counselor in me.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with just being friends and nothing more? The last thing I would want to do is hurt you. You’re kind of important to me.”

“Yes, I’m sure and you’re kind of important to me too. I don’t go out of my way to help just anybody. In fact, you’re the first person I’ve broken the rules for. I could seriously get into a lot of trouble, even fired, for seeing you out of office times. I shouldn’t have given you my cell phone number during your last week in rehab, but I just had this feeling that you would need it. I’m so glad I broke the rules because I would hate to think where you might be right now if it weren’t for my help.”

Her words leave me speechless, and when I finally find the words through my speechless haze, I say, “But your job . . . You worked so hard to get where you are today. I wouldn’t want you risking it just for me. That’s crazy.”

She places both hands against the side of my face and gives me a fierce stare, one that leaves me frozen in place. “There are other jobs. However, there is only one you and I’d prefer to save a life from a downward spiral than to save my own job. That’s me. I’m a caregiver. It’s in my blood. If I lose my job just for helping you, so be it.” She shrugs as if it really isn’t a big deal that she’s risking her job for me.

I’m unable to put into words how thankful I am, so instead, I press my lips gently to hers and show my gratitude with a kiss. It’s only a short kiss, but when she pulls away she’s breathless and flushed, which leaves me with an immense feeling of satisfaction.

“What was that for?”

“Because I didn’t know how to say thank you. So that was my way of saying it without actual words.”

“Well, you kind of actually did.”

I laugh when I realize I did, in fact, say the very words that I couldn’t seem to find before I kissed her. “I guess I did.” I pause for a beat. “I think we’re getting off point entirely with the whole friends with benefits thing.” I pause for another beat. “So if we’re really going to do this, can you promise me one thing?”

She nods, threading her fingers through the hair that sits just above my neckline. The sensation that rockets through me is almost enough to make me forget my train of thought. “Promise me that the moment things ever get too hard for you, you’ll tell me so we can end things. I don’t want to hurt you, and I need to know that you will be honest with me.”

She smiles sweetly. “I promise.”

“Really?” I want to make sure everything is laid out in the open so we can avoid any miscommunications along the way.

“Have I ever given you any reason to doubt me before?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Then yes, I promise.”

“Okay,” I say softly. “But just so you know, Addison, you’re the only person I would do this with. You’re the only person I trust besides my sister and daughter. I might not be able to give you my heart, but you can most certainly have the rest of me.” Even though I mean that in the most sincere way, I can’t resist giving her a heated stare.

She gulps and shifts her body even closer, gripping the strands of my hair tighter. “Do you really mean that?”

“I do.”

Her eyes turn from serious to devilish in a split second. “Well, that’s enough of the serious talk for one day. What do you plan on doing to me now that you’ve got me in this very compromising position?” My cock suddenly springs to life at her suggestive words, and the way she sucks her bottom lip into her mouth tells me she felt it.

“Well, the things I have planned may cause your already broken vagina to break just a little bit more.” I wink, causing her to throw her head back with a chuckle.

“I think I can manage another session or
three.
”

My eyes burn with desire, my cock excited at the prospect. “Three?”

“You’re not the only one who hasn’t had sex in a long time. I have needs as well.”

“How long?”

“Nine months.”

“Well, then I better make these three count.”

She giggles but the sound is soon swallowed when I render her speechless with the magic of my tongue. In a matter of minutes, we’re naked and recapping our earlier antics except this time she’s riding my cock in the sexiest way possible.

Cowgirl style.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING for Thanksgiving?”

I turn my attention from the game in front of me to Addison, who has just finished painting her toenails in what can only be described as sex-devil red. Last year I spent Thanksgiving in Afghanistan mourning the death of a fellow soldier while eating Thanksgiving dinner on a plastic plate in a makeshift canteen in a tent.

When everybody gave thanks, I prayed for survival so I could spend the next Thanksgiving and many more after that with my family.

No.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, I was granted survival to watch another guy with my family while I stand on the sidelines.

I shrug. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“Really? It’s only a week away. Will you not be spending it with Lily?”

I would like nothing more than to spend the day with my daughter. “No,
Ava
probably has something planned as a
family.
” I think I’ll just skip Thanksgiving this year. I’m in a good place at the moment and I don’t want to ruin that by celebrating a holiday of thanks when I have nothing to be thankful for.

“How do you feel about spending Thanksgiving with me and my family?”

“Your family?” We’re not even dating, so the thought of meeting her parents freaks me out a little. I’m going to look like the asshole with commitment issues, who’s just fucking their daughter for the fun of it. Of course, I
am
the guy who is having a friends with benefits relationship with their daughter but how do I explain that I care for her but not enough to wrench out my heart for her? And to William Scott of all people? The man could probably call a guy and have me dead within the hour.

“Yes, every Thanksgiving I go up to my parents’ cabin up in Riverbend and spend the weekend with everyone. We stuff ourselves with Mom’s amazing cooking, play cheesy board games, and sing on the karaoke machine that Dad insists on bringing out when he’s a little wasted. He always gives us his own rendition of Living on a Prayer.” She smiles fondly. “Usually my aunt, uncle, and cousins come, but this year it’s just my folks and my sister’s family. I would love for you to come with me. What do you say?”

“I don’t know.”

I can’t get the disturbing image of her father pointing a shotgun at my head, threatening me within an inch of my life for fucking his daughter. It’s extreme but it’s probably what I’d do if my daughter were with some tool who only wanted her for one thing. God, I’d probably chop the little fucker’s hands off for even touching my daughter.

“Did I mention there’s a hot tub?” She crawls onto my lap, pressing her hands against my firm chest with a devilish smile.

“No, you didn’t.”

“Well, there is. And if you decide to come along, I might do some questionable things to you while in the hot tub.”

My cock stirs to life and the image of her father wanting to blow my head off fades away. Of course, the worry is still there but the thought of a very naked, very wet Addison in a hot tub takes the edge off a little. “What kind of questionable things?” I ask, wildly turned on.

She cocks her eyebrow, her devilish smile still in place. “You’ll have to come along and find out.”

Oh, she’s good.

She’s so good that I can’t keep the groan from escaping my lips. After a moment of imagining the dirty things she may have in store for me, I finally relent and give her an answer.

“Yes, I’ll come, but I’ll blame you if your dad comes at me with a shotgun.”

She laughs. “What? What the hell are you talking about?”

I shake my head dismissively. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Go on, tell me,” she goads. And, of course, I relent yet again, no doubt making an utter dick of myself.

“It’s just what I imagine your dad doing to me once he’s found out the nature of our relationship.”

Tears fall down her face from the intensity of her laughter. Once she calms herself, she threads her fingers through my hair before resting them firmly against the side of my head. “I have no idea what goes on in that head of yours, but I promise you he won’t shoot you or do anything to damage your handsome face. He’s a pretty mellow dad. He gave me the sex talk when I was thirteen, so I’m pretty sure now that I’m twenty-nine, he knows I’m sexually active. Hell, my baby sister got pregnant at eighteen and the angriest he got was slamming the door. Five minutes later he returned with open arms and promised her that everything would be okay. He’s really not a bad guy. Yes, he’s the CEO of a major record label and can be one stern son of a bitch when he wants to be, but he’s also my dad, one of the kindest and sweetest men I know.

“I will introduce you as my friend because that’s what you are, but I’ll skip the part about the toe-curling orgasms you give me three to four days a week. He may know I’m sexually active, but I’m sure he doesn’t want to know the ins and outs of our
benefits.
It’s my mom you should be worried about.”

“Your mom?” I panic.
I’m such a fucking chicken shit.

“Yeah, she’s trained in martial arts, and able to do these things with knives. Let’s just say, with one strike she could easily chop a limb off like
that.
” She snaps her fingers, causing me to flinch in my seat.