I glanced in the rearview mirror, then over at Addie.
She’d passed out in my truck last night and I’d taken the opportunity that had been handed to me. I’d covered her with a blanket, swung by her place, grabbed some clothes and some shit from her bathroom, and left town, and she hadn’t woken once.
We’d been driving for close to six hours.
I’d also called Riff and told him Addie was with me when we left so her friends didn’t freak out, and I’d asked him what he knew about her. Because all the times we’d talked, Addison usually avoided talking about herself. I did know her parents were both dead, but that’s all I knew about her family.
Riff didn’t know anything more, but Lila had shared with him, without going into details, that her friend had been through some serious shit.
I glanced at her again, her thick lashes resting against beautiful, smooth mahogany skin. What happened to you, baby?
“You gave up on me.” Those words she’d fired at me had been bouncing around my fucking head for hours.
She’d said she was scared. I wasn’t sure why, and I fucking hated that.
Well, I had the next few nights to find out.
I’d had a choice to make last night. I could’ve taken her home and dropped her off and worked at slowly chipping away her walls to get us where I wanted us to be—or I could take a more direct route and lie through my fucking teeth to get what I wanted now.
The former would take time, and usually, I was Mr. Patient, but I’d had her, I’d heard her come, and I’d held her in my arms afterward—and then I’d been without her for over a fucking month. I wasn’t willing to wait to get close to her again.
Then an idea had popped into my head that was utterly fucked, but again, I was willing to do whatever was necessary to make this thing happen between us.
Addie sighed and wriggled, finally starting to wake.
Perfect timing. There was a diner up ahead. She’d be hungry, and Addie got grumpy as fuck when she hadn’t eaten in a while.
She blinked a few times, then looked around, eyes dazed, mouth all soft and puffy. The urge to kiss her hit me in the gut. Then she jolted, straightening her seat, and spun to me, blinked, then blinked again.
“Morning, cupcake,” I said and grinned.
Confusion covered her face. “Morning? What are you…Where? Manic?”
“You been asleep for hours.”
She blinked at me several more times, looked out the window, then her gaze sliced back to me. “What the hell is going on? Where are we?”
“Halfway to Colorado,” I said and made the turn into the diner’s parking lot.
“What?” she said again, well, shrieked this time, then looked around wildly. “What the hell do you mean halfway to Colorado?”
“We’re going to the mountains, remember? My family thing.”
She stared at me like I’d lost every last one of my brain cells, and she was probably right, but I didn’t give a fuck. This was happening. “Why the hell am I here, Manic?”
“Levi,” I corrected as I parked and turned off the truck. “Because you said you’d come.”
“No, I didn’t. I did not say that.”
I shifted in my seat. “Yeah, babe, you did. Last night, right here in my truck.” I wasn’t playing fair, but again, I didn’t fucking care. I wanted her, and I’d do whatever it took to have her.
Her brow scrunched, looking utterly confused. “What did I say?”
She didn’t remember any of it? “We talked. You don’t remember that?”
“No.” She crossed her arms, and her eyes were fucking huge.
I took her in, and I knew this girl. I’d wanted her a fuck of a long time before I finally had her, and trying to get close to her, I got to know her, and the more I knew, the more I liked. Which meant I also knew she wasn’t lying. She didn’t remember one bit of our conversation. And I was a bastard because that made this a lot easier for me. “I asked you if you wanted to come with me and you were all for it.”
“No…hang on a minute. Why would I ever agree to this? This doesn’t make any sense.”
I rested my hand on the steering wheel instead of hooking her around the back of the neck, taking those full lips, and tasting her. “I explained and you agreed.”
She grabbed the door handle. “Explained what?”
“I don’t have a woman, but I needed one this weekend, and seeing as we’re friends and all, you took pity on me and agreed to play my old lady,” I said, the idea solidifying now that I was saying it out loud.
“I what?” she squawked. “No way.” She stared at me, looking shocked and confused. “I can’t go away with you, Manic. I have the café. I can’t just take off. Why would I agree to that?”
“Because I shared what this trip meant to me, and you wanted to help me out.”
She stilled, her gaze searching mine. “What does it mean to you?”
This was the only part that wasn’t a lie. “You already know my relationship with my old man’s complicated, yeah?” She nodded. I’d shared that much with her during our talks over the last year or so. “Well, one of the reasons is a piece of land my grandfather owned. He left it to me when he died. I was still a kid, so the old man was supposed to sign it over to me when I was old enough. I’ve been wanting to build a cabin on it so I can spend time there in the summer. After I joined the Ramblers, the old man decided I shouldn’t have it, that my pops wouldn’t want a man like me to have it. Really, he’s only hurt and pissed off I left.”
“Oh…I’m sorry.” She was softening. Addie looked out for the people in her life, and I’d become one of those people, whether she wanted to admit it or not.
I kept on, pushing my advantage. “I’m ready to build my cabin. But the only way that can happen without getting lawyers involved and fucking up what’s left of our relationship is by showing him I’m not a piece of shit. Taking you with me, making him see me as the kind of man capable of finding a good woman, who’s ready to settle down, the prospect of grand-babies, could change his mind.”
Addie just stared at me, trying to process all I’d laid on her.
“And the café’s covered. You texted Gerald last night, remember?” I added. “He was more than happy to put in some extra hours.”
“I texted Gerald?”
“Christ, cupcake, you really were wasted, huh?” I’d used her phone to let Gerald, her assistant, know she’d be gone for a few days. I knew for a fact the guy was more than capable because Addie had told me so when we were talking one night.
She watched me closely. “I don’t know about this.”
I almost had her. “We’re halfway there, cupcake. Six hours from here back to Rocktown and the same to the mountains. I’ll miss the party if I turn back now.”
She chewed her lip as her gaze slid to my mouth, then darted back. “I wouldn’t want you to miss it.”
Fuck, I wanted her under me. “So we’re good?”
Her throat worked. “You really want me to pretend to be your…girlfriend?”
“Old lady, yeah, if you’re up for it?”
Her dark eyes hit mine then slid away. “You already have an old lady, Manic. Why isn’t she here with you?”
“Levi,” I corrected again and swallowed my growl. “Don’t have a girlfriend, and I sure as fuck don’t have an old lady. I explained that last night as well. Mercedes hangs at the club. We’ve hooked up a couple times. Pretty sure she went home with Spanner last night.” I shrugged. “We’re not in a relationship.”
“You’re not together.”
“No.”
She swallowed several times. “And what happens when your dad learns the truth?”
I had her. “He won’t. I’ll tell him we ended it in a few months, and by then he’ll hopefully have realized that his son isn’t a dirtbag and the building will be underway.”
She chewed her lip again. “Manic, things are…They’re complicated between us. What happened between us that night, I’m not sure this is a good idea—”
“You said yourself, we’re friends, Addie. You telling me you were bullshitting? We were friends before we fucked, and I’d like to get that back. It’s only as complicated as we make it.”
The color in her cheeks had darkened again, and she unconsciously licked her lips. Yeah, my good girl wanted me to fuck her again, badly, which was exactly why I said it the way I had, to see that reaction.
“I don’t know.”
“It’d mean a lot to me.” I held her stare and saw the moment she caved.
“God, this is nuts.” She released a breath and shook her head. “Okay, fine. I’ll do it.”
Yes. “Appreciate it, baby, more than you know.”
She was mine, and by the end of this trip, she’d realize it as well.
“Shit.” Her gaze shot to me. “I need clothes.”
I lifted the bag by her feet. “Got that covered. Stopped by your place on the way out of town.”
“How do I not remember any of this?” she muttered, grabbing the bag and checking out what was inside, then glanced at me. “You realize this is kidnapping, right?”
“Are you planning on trying to escape?” I asked, teasing but also kind of worried that she’d get out of the truck and hop on a fucking bus back to Rocktown.
“I should,” she said, then grabbed her jacket and shoved the door open.
I watched as she got out and headed for the diner. No, she wouldn’t try to get away because she wanted me as much as I did her. I just had to convince her to take a chance on us.
I climbed out as well and followed her across the lot. Addie was greeted by an older woman behind the counter when we walked in. I watched as they talked. My girl was still in her clothes from last night, a short dress under the jacket, those long legs—the ones I wanted wrapped around my waist again so fucking badly—on display, and her curly, dark hair all wild like I’d been fucking her in my truck. I grinned to myself, more than happy for anyone who looked at her to assume that’s exactly what we’d been doing.
You are mine, Addison Belle.
And I was going to spend the next few days proving it to her.