Before That Night: Unfinished Love Series: Caine & Addison, Book 1 (10 page)

“I told you, I didn’t have sex last night.” Or ever. “And why would you assume it’s Caine?”

“Please. You two can’t keep your eyes off each other when you’re in here. And even when you’re not together, seriously, I don’t think the two of you even realize other people of the opposite sex exist.”

That was certainly the case for Addison; it was nice hearing from a bystander that it looked like Caine felt the same way. “We just…kissed.”

Shirley whistled. “Must have been a hell of a kiss.”

Lordy yes, it was. Even the mere
memory
of last night’s kiss was having more of an effect on her than every kiss she’d ever had before it, combined.

Shirley smiled, all teasing in her expression now gone. “I’m happy for you, honey. You don’t talk about it much, but Joe and I know that you haven’t had an easy life.” She leaned in to give Addison a quick hug. “I like seeing good things happen to good people. That goes for both you and Caine.”

It occurred to Addison then that this was the first hug she’d had from a motherly figure since she was a little girl. Tears flooded her eyes before she could stop it.

“Oh listen to me sounding like a Hallmark card.” Shirley fanned her hand over her face. “My mascara is going to run at this rate. You go on and start your shift. I need to go call my daughter and hug the living daylights out of her over the phone.”

Addison gave her a watery laugh. Shirley was always talking about how alike Addison and her daughter at NYU were.

After quickly tying on her apron, Addison went out front to check on the tables, finding herself looking over at the door every so often, even though she knew she wouldn’t be seeing Caine tonight. He was starting another stretch on the eight to four shift tomorrow so he’d stayed up all day today, after spending nearly twenty four hours awake, to get on a sleep cycle that would allow his body to be functional during the night and day flip.

Last night, after their marathon make-out session, he’d made a few quiet,
descriptive
suggestions of how she could potentially assist him in adjusting his sleep schedule.

The man was quite the word wizard when it came to dirty talk.

And by the end of the night, judging by his heartfelt groans every so often…so was she.

“Well, that’s a pretty smile.”

Addison snapped her gaze over to the source of the low, teasing voice.

“David. Hi. How are you?” She flashed her regular the same bright smile she kept on reserve for all her customers. “It’s been a few weeks. How’ve you been?”

His smile went up a few thousand watts. “You noticed. I was wondering if you would.”

She didn’t really know how to respond. He was always saying slightly off-centered things like that. Smile shifted to idle, she nodded over at an empty booth. “You staying or did you want to order something to go?”

“Of course I’ll stay.”

Again. Just a teeny bit off-center. “Okay, well, I’ll grab you a coffee.”

“You read my mind; you’re so good at that.” He gave her a kind of…strange smile. “Can’t wait to have you surprise me with the perfect dinner again.”

Was it just her, or was he more than a little off-center tonight? Her smile dimmed in confusion.

“Remember? The other week? You picked out something off the menu for me?”

Ohhh,
right
. Yeah, that had been weird; she’d blocked that memory out a little bit. Immediately, she feigned nodding at an invisible bid for her attention from a distant table. “Be right with you,” she called out, to the couple talking to each other behind him, and not looking her way at all. “David, I’ll give you some time with the menu and be back for your order.”

“But—”

She got the heck out of there, zipping right back to the kitchen.

Where she almost ran right over Shirley.

“Hey, where’s the fire?” Shirley jumped back, and frowned with concern. “What’s going on?”

Addison did a whole body joint-jiggle to shake the willies out. “Nothing. It’s nothing. Just, that regular is here. David. He just…seems a little weirder than usual.”

Shirley gave her a sympathetic nod. “He still asking you out?”

“Not today.” Which was a nice reprieve. He’d asked her out a dozen times already since he’d started coming regularly to the diner a few months back. And she’d politely declined each time, using the oldie, but goodie that she was on perpetual babysitter duties until…oh, Kylie’s high school graduation in ten years. “But then again, the guy just got here so who knows, he might be getting ready to do it later tonight.” Addison frowned. Turning a guy down was always awkward, but with David, it was more than awkward. It was weird and uncomfortable, too.

“Sorry, hon. I’d offer to take him off your plate, but I’m about to start my break, and I really need to get to the pharmacist to get Steve’s refill on his blood pressure meds.”

“Don’t be silly. You go on. It’s so slow tonight, even for a Sunday. Take your time.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Since it’s Ryan on the grill tonight, you know he’s going to be doing his big show in the order window all night long.” Yet another reason to love their fabulous singing and dancing diner cook; he always kept the customers well-entertained. “With him going at it, I can stay behind the counter as much as possible. It’ll be fine.”

After waiting as long as she could, Addison eventually went back out to pour a mug of coffee for David, all the while mentally calculating how much longer she could put off bringing the check to the two other nearby booths.

“Here’s your coffee, David. Are you ready to order?”

He pouted a little. “I thought you were ordering for me again.”

She
really
didn’t want to. “Hmm, well, the specials today are pretty great,” she said finally, meeting him partway.

He brightened up. “Yeah? Which one do you think I’ll love?”

What was it about his words that made her feel like a cat getting rubbed in the wrong direction? “The Shepherd’s Pie and Chicken a la King have been real popular tonight.” She was doing her absolute best not to bend the conversation the way he wanted.

Not that he seemed to notice. That odd smile was back on his face. “You did it again. Shepherd’s Pie sounds perfect.”

Great. “Alrighty. I’ll go put your order in right now.” She pivoted and went right back to the order menu, trying not to shudder as she
felt
his eyes on her as she walked away.

Her gut had never failed her in the past. And right now, it was screaming at her to steer clear of the guy.

“Hey, could we get our check?”

Damn. That was one.

One more table to go before the right half of the diner cleared out, leaving her and David alone. Hopefully the college kids over by the window and the sweet elderly couple that came in every week to sit at the counter decided to stay for dessert.

Hell, she’d
give
them free dessert.

A half hour later, Shirley was back—thank God—and there were a few more customers. But no one who wanted a booth. Damn.

“Come sit with me for a bit, Addison.” David flashed her a would’ve-been-charming-if-not-for-the-half-cocked-glaze-in-his-eyes grin. “You look like you could take a load off. Want me to order you your favorite slice of cake? It’s on me.”

Okay, the guy was definitely laying it on thicker than usual. Why oh why had she told him that the Chantilly Dobash Cake was her favorite. “Aw, thanks, David. But I really need to go finish up some paperwork for Joe. Shirley will bring you your check when you’re ready.”

David was back to pouting.

She didn’t give a flying fig right now.

Addison retreated to Joe’s office and released a relieved sigh when she was able to shut the door behind her. Something about David tonight had made her feel like a layer of smoke was clinging to her out there. Though it totally wasn’t in her nature, she made a mental note not to smile as much around him anymore.

Maybe if she looked ornery all the time, he would start thinking she was too bitchy to be weird around.

Shirley returned from her break a short while later, and Addison retreated to the office for the next hour or so to do the paperwork she hadn’t been lying about. Shirley checked in once to tell her that David had eventually left in a bit of a snit.

The main thing was that he was gone.

As the clock ticked down to closing, Addison finished wiping up the counters and watched the clock. The last of the customers had cleared out a good fifteen minutes ago, and since they’d been running so slow even before that, Ryan and Shirley had been able to get everything shut down quicker than usual so Addison had sent them on home a little while ago. No sense they all watch the clock together.

While it wasnt as if this were the first time she’d ever been in the diner alone, for some reason, tonight felt eerier than usual. It didn’t help that the janitors had shifted their Sunday schedule forward an hour, leaving her
really
alone.

Screw it. There’s only a few minutes left.

She went over to the front door to lock up.

Only to have it clang open when she got there.

Crap.

“David. You’re back.”

Addison gripped her phone tighter in one hand, and repositioned her hold on the pen she was carrying so she could jab it in his eye if she needed to. “We’re actually all closed up already.”

“I know. I came to talk to you in private.” David smiled, and gave her a slow-roaming once-over from head to toe.

Gross.

“I know your secret,” he said cryptically then. His expression changed from smiling to…sympathetic.

Weirder and weirder.

He reached behind him to flip the door sign to closed. “I
know
, Addison.”

“Look, David. You really ought to get going. I need to close up. And frankly, I’m not feeling too comfortable with you being here right now.” Honesty was pretty much her only defense at the moment.

He held up his hands in the air innocently. “I don’t blame you for being cautious. I finally understand. When you’re homeless, you just don’t know who you can trust.”

Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Of all the people to find out. “David, I need you to leave. Right now.” She edged away from him and moved to push open the door.

He cut her off and blocked her path. “Don’t be afraid. I understand everything now. I want to help.” He reached into his pocket for his wallet. “Let me help you get back on your feet. Get you out of that van.”

“David. Stop it. If you don’t leave, I’m going to call the police.” She held up her phone between them.

A look of utter confusion blanketed his expression. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m just trying to help. You and I both know that a van is no place for
kids
to be sleeping every night.”

That was a threat.
Shit.
She snapped her mouth shut and waited to see what cards he would show next.

“Actually,” his eyes widened as if he just had a brilliant idea, “why don’t you and the kids come live with me? My house isn’t that far from here. The kids can stay in the spare room. They’ll be right down the hall from our room.”

For the first time in her life, Addison was starting to feel truly terrified. Like she’d swum out into a riptide she couldn’t escape. “David,” she tried to keep the fear out of her voice as she mollified him, “that’s a real generous offer, but the kids and I are just fine. This is temporary. We’ll be back in our apartment in no time.”

His eyes hardened. “I don’t like when you lie to me, Addison. I know you’ve had to lie to everyone to keep this little secret of yours going for so long, but you and I both know that I’m not just anyone. You can
trust
me.”

He was crazy. He really was crazy, she could see it clear as day now. She went back to remaining silent, all the while looking for an opening where she could
run.

“All this time,” he said softly, sympathetically again. “I know now why you could never go out with me. It’s those kids. A girl your age shouldn’t have to be saddled down with two kids to support.” He shook his head sadly. “You’ve had such a big burden on your shoulders for so long. You’re such a good person to take on a responsibility like that. Sacrifice your whole life, and your happiness for those kids.”

At that point, Addison stopped caring about her own safety. The way he kept emphasizing
kids
wasn’t sitting right with her. Her eyes flashed over to door to the kitchen, and the door out to the back just beyond that. If she ran for the kitchen first, she could grab a bunch of knives as weapons. If she didn’t wound him considerably first, he’d be able to catch her and the kids before they even got a chance to run.

David took a step closer to her and put a heavy, unrelenting hand on her elbow. “Like I said, sweetie, I just want to help. Help take that burden off of you. So you can just relax a bit and enjoy life again.”