her hands and throw it out the window, but I need to tamp down the caveman bursting out of me. Addison’s with me and Matt can crawl back inside the designer magazine he came from.
But then she laughs. And every muscle in my body stiffens as I watch her laugh at something he said.
“You got a Santa Barbara number to ease back into Southern California living? Matt, you’ve lost your mind. I’ve gotta go.”
I’m hoping she’s about to hang up so we can discuss how next time she needs to hang up on the douche the minute she hears his voice. What I’m not expecting are her next words.
“Yep, I’m officially unemployed, he really did fire me.”
What the fuck? When the fuck did she last talk to this guy? I can’t handle it. Taking the phone out of her hand, I hit end and look down into her confused eyes.
Those green eyes fill with panic and my stomach sinks.
“Addison, when’s the last time you saw Matt?”
Her phone rings in my hand, and I silence it.
She doesn’t answer, the fear in her eyes doing the talking for her. Throwing my door open I take the stairs two at a time and head to my front door. I’m going to go running—alone, and get a handle on what I’m feeling right now. I know if I say another word to Addison, I’ll regret every single syllable that comes out of my mouth.
“Damian wait. You have the wrong idea.” I can hear her panting behind me as she races up the stairs, but I don’t answer her.
“Damian stop. Listen to me. Yesterday, when I left my office building, he was outside waiting for me. I literally bumped into him as I exited through the doors.”
Fuck. I can’t hear this. I want to throw my hands over my ears. Fuck. I abruptly turn to confront her and she runs right into me. “Did you fuck him?”
She jolts back like I slapped her. “What? No! Of course not.”
Okay, she didn’t sleep with him, but she saw him, yesterday, and she hasn’t once attempted to tell me about it.
“Did you tell him about me? Did you tell him about Emily?”
Her eyes narrow in anger, and I know she’s about to lay into me. “Damian! He was there. I was upset and he took me to the Brewing Company. We had a few beers, put a few bad feelings behind us, and then I came home and confronted you. I was confused and angry and I needed a break before I came home . . . a distraction. But I would never cheat on you and if you think that of me, maybe we need to rethink us.”
Her lips are trembling, either from the wind that’s picked up or an emotion that’s running through her. Those wild eyes are beginning to get glassy and I suddenly feel bad that I apparently don’t trust her, or maybe it’s Matt that I don’t trust, but she clearly knows it too. It sounds as if she spent an afternoon with her ex who she should hate and yet, she didn’t tell me. She should have told me.
Reaching for her, I pull her up close to my body. “So we’re clear, Addison. I don’t ever want you talking to Matt Bryson again. I don’t want you seeing him, I don’t want you laughing at anything he says. I don’t want him near you.” I kiss her, my tongue slipping inside her mouth. Her trembling lips begin to stabilize and her body starts to tremble instead. “Can you do that for me Addison? Can you stay away from him?”
“Damian, I . . . I’m sorry. I would have told you. I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret. I’m sor—” I kiss her again, not wanting to hear the rest of what she was going to say.
“Promise me Addison that you won’t let him near you.” My lips are brushing against hers with each word I speak, our breaths mingling together.
She doesn’t answer, and I’m wondering what part of her still loves him, whether it’s her heart, her soul or just her mind playing tricks on her because there’s no reason she wouldn’t immediately tell me she never wants to see the asshole again.
I search her remorseful eyes for the answer I’m looking for but she’s giving me nothing.
“You still love him don’t you?” She blinks twice, tears filling her eyes, and I’m ruined, my heart completely stilling inside my body. “I