Change of Hart (21 page)

Addison looked up at me, seemingly a little shocked. But she recovered quickly. “Um . . . sure,” she said with that beautiful shy look on her face.

“Jason has been known as a self-proclaimed bachelor for a while,” she started. “But what is he like as a boyfriend?”

Addison looked up at me and smiled. “He’s a really great boyfriend. He’s so generous and caring. So easy to talk to. And he loves my . . . my family so much. I feel so blessed that even with all the gorgeous women he comes into contact with every day, he chose me.”

“Well, who wouldn’t?” Yvette questioned. “Girl, you are
stunning
. Can I see the back of your dress?”

Addison beamed as Yvette chatted with her a little longer about her dress and shoes. Things I knew nothing about.

We answered a few more questions from other reporters we passed on our way in, everyone wanting to know more about Addison. They weren’t the only ones. I knew I had to pay attention to the event. But in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but remember that I was going to get to know her
really
well tonight.

We wandered around the gala for about an hour, looking at the silent auction items and introducing Addison to people I knew. Everyone looked surprised when I introduced her as my girlfriend. I had never brought one of those before, but she seemed to get along with just about everyone. Except for one, of course.

“Well hello, neighbor,” a voice said behind us. Addison and I turned around to see Danielle with her husband, Luke. I should have known they would be coming to an event like this. It was one of the most sought after events in Dallas for women like Danielle to attend.

“Danielle, Luke,” I said, nodding their direction. I glanced at Addison and noticed her eyebrows were slightly raised. Probably in recognition of the name.

“Nice to see you again, Jason,” Luke said kindly, reaching his hand out to shake mine. Then he reached for Addison. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Luke Green.”

“Oh, um,” she said nervously, returning his shake, “I’m Addison Bryant. Nice to meet you.”

“I didn’t realize you’d have a date with you this year, Jason,” Danielle said with just a bit of snark in her voice.

“Oh, I’m not just his date,” Addison said, her confidence returning quickly as I snaked my arm around her waist and pulled her close to me. “I’m his girlfriend.”

Danielle’s eyebrows shot to the sky. “Good for you, Jason,” Luke stated strongly. “It’s about time you found yourself a good woman. Life is so much better with a strong partner by your side. Take it from me. I have the best woman in my life.” He leaned over and nuzzled into Danielle’s neck. She didn’t seem to even notice. She was too busy keeping her narrowed eyes on Addison.

I didn’t like that look at all. It made me wonder what she was up to. I was really hoping she didn’t turn the flirting up a notch now that I was in a serious relationship. I liked Luke. And I didn’t want to have conflict with him if I had to call the cops on his wife.

Fortunately, we got the signal to head to the ballroom for dinner before the conversation started to get any more uncomfortable.

“Well, it was nice to see you,” I said. “I’m sure I’ll run into you in the lobby.”

We said our goodbyes and turned away.

“So that’s her, huh?” Addison said quietly in my direction.

“Yeah,” I replied. “See what I mean?”

“Ohmygod, yes! Did you see the daggers she was throwing in my direction? How does her husband not pick up on that?”

“You know, I honestly thought he knew and just ignored it,” I said as we walked through the ballroom door. “But after seeing that, I’m starting to wonder if he’s just another clueless bastard she’s snowed.”

“Poor guy,” she agreed. We found our table and place cards. We were sitting with the president of a local bank and the general manager of a local TV station. Both appeared to be in their fifties and both of them had their wives with them. Deuce and Vanessa were also at our table, which made both Addison and me happy. It was really nice that my best friend’s wife got along so well with my girlfriend.

We had a great meal of Caesar salad, smoked salmon, asparagus covered with hollandaise sauce, and sautéed zucchini and squash. For dessert, we had chocolate cake. It was good, but it wasn’t even close to being enough food for me. Fortunately, Addison was stuffed by the time she took two bites of her cake. It’s not hard to guess who ate the rest.

Two hours after we sat down, we had finally finished our meal and enjoyed the results of the silent auction. I had won a four-day trip to an exclusive ski resort in Colorado, including lift tickets, ski rentals, and a private condo on the mountain. And by “won” I mean I had just bought myself a really expensive trip. I figured I could talk to Addison about taking Jaxon this ski season since he seemed to like the idea of snow so much.

When the gala finally started wrapping up, we booked it to the limo. We’d had fun, but we both were anxious to start the rest of our evening.

“Did you have a good time?” I asked as we settled into the back of the car.

“I did,” she said with a smile on her face. “I was worried that I wouldn’t fit in, but everyone was so nice.”

“It helps that they were all so taken with you,” I said, leaning over to kiss her. “You looked absolutely radiant tonight.”

“You looked pretty good yourself, Hart,” she answered, putting her hand on my cheek and drawing me to her mouth.

Now that I didn’t have to worry about wrinkling her dress or smearing her makeup, all bets were off in the kissing department. We made out the entire ride back to my place. By the time we pulled up in front of my complex, I knew my hair must have been sticking up all over the place and my clothes were all disheveled. But I didn’t care. I was about to have Addison in my apartment.

I carried her bag in one hand and held her hand in my other. As we walked in, the concierge greeted us with a smile.

“George,” I said to the concierge, “this is Ms. Addison Bryant, my girlfriend.”

“Oh, how wonderful!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together once. “It’s lovely to meet you, Ms. Bryant. Would you like me to add her to your list of approved guests?” he asked, turning to me.

“Yes, please,” I answered. “Day or night, she is authorized to have access to my apartment. Even if I’m not here and she needs a key.”

“Of course, sir,” he replied. “It was lovely to meet you, Ms. Bryant,” he said as we turned toward the elevators.

“You, too,” Addison said, looking back over her shoulder.

She giggled as we stood on the elevator, riding it to the top floor.

“What?” I asked, looking down at her.

She shook her head. “I’ve just never seen you so impatient before.”

I smiled. “I am this close to having you in my apartment, Addison. I wasn’t trying to be rude to George. But I swear I’m about to lose all my self-control.”

The doors of the elevator opened and we made our way to my front door. When I opened it up, I ushered her in first. The lights under the cabinets in the kitchen were still on, so there was enough light for us to not trip over anything. And it kept with the ambiance.

“Whoa,” she said, making her way to the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. “It’s so beautiful.”

The view of the city skyline in the distance, especially at night, was my favorite part of my apartment. Several of the buildings used different colored lights to outline the architecture. The effect from this unobstructed angle was stunning.

“And I see why Jaxon had so much fun swimming,” she said, looking down. The pool lights were on so we could see the outline of it as well as all the extras Jax enjoyed so much.

I chuckled. “See why you need to come with us next time?”

“Maybe I will,” she said, still looking out the window. The fact that she was considering spending more time with Jax and me together made my heart feel like it was expanding.

“Would you like a tour of the place?” I asked her.

She nodded and tore her gaze away from the skyline, looking at me and smiling shyly.

There wasn’t much to show. It was a bachelor pad. We walked through the living room to the open kitchen. It wasn’t huge, but it was all top-of-the-line appliances and cabinetry. You know, for when I didn’t cook. Thank goodness my mom liked to come make casseroles and freeze them for me sometimes or else it would never get any use.

We walked down the hall to the two extra bedrooms. One was used as a guest room. The other I had turned into a media room, complete with giant leather recliners, a one-hundred-inch screen and a real popcorn maker. Addison got a kick out of that.

We made our way to the other side of the apartment and into the master suite. That’s when the air in the room changed. It got tenser. Like the anticipation of what was about to happen was physically tangible.

Addison walked over to my king-sized bed. It was just a standard bed. Nothing fancy. No four-poster frame or anything like that. Just a plain headboard. I didn’t even have a footboard. I was too tall. She put her hands on the bed and stroked the blue and brown blocked comforter.

I waited for her to say something, but she didn’t say a word.

“Addison,” I said, walking up behind her and wrapping my arms around her. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” I said, trying to reassure her. “I’m ok if all we do is snuggle or sleep or watch a movie. Just having you here is enough.”

She sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I’m just . . . nervous.”

“How come?” I asked, turning her around and wiping some hair off her forehead to look into her eyes.

She quirked her mouth to the side and squeezed her eyes shut. “I . . . um . . . I sort of googled you.” My eyebrows furrowed, not quite understanding where she was going with this. “All those women you dated were so beautiful and so perfect.” I nodded in understanding, knowing where this was headed. “I’m just . . . I’m just a mom, Jason,” she said. “My boobs aren’t perky. My stomach isn’t flat. I’m just . . . just . . .”

“You’re just you, Addison,” I said, lifting her chin to look into my eyes. “I have been dying to get my hands on your
mom
body since the day I met you.” She didn’t look convinced.

“Let me show you something,” I said, pulling away from her and taking my shoes and socks off.

“What are you doing?” she asked as I yanked off my tie and cumber bun, throwing them to the side. The jacket had been lost somewhere in the living room during our tour.

“You’re worried about your body not being perfect, right?” I asked her, unbuttoning my shirt and cufflinks. She bit her bottom lip and nodded, blushing slightly. I lost the shirt and yanked my undershirt over my head.

“Look at me,” I said. She looked right in my eyes. I smiled. “Not my eyes, babe. Look at my body.”

She smirked as her gaze ran down my chest to my stomach and everything in between.

“What do you see?” I asked her.

“Um . . . I see a really sexy man,” she said, looking back in my eyes.

“Uh huh . . . but what about me is sexy?” I asked, trying to make a point.

“Your arms really turn me on,” she admitted. “And your shoulders. And probably your back even though I haven’t seen it yet.”

I smiled at that. “But do you see any washboard abs like those male models have?”

She looked at my stomach but didn’t say anything.

“Do you see that ‘V’ that women talk about? You know . . . the one on a guy’s hips that supposedly point to the goods?”

She cracked a smile but didn’t say anything.

“I don’t have any of that. My body isn’t made that way. I work out every single day and I’m probably stronger than most of the guys in those pictures. But my body isn’t built to look like that,” I said. “I’m more like . . . a square. Like Spongebob Squarepants.”

A smile crossed her lips. “You’re sexy to me,” she said shyly.

I nodded. “Exactly.” I walked toward her and cupped her face in my hands. “You are the sexiest, most beautiful woman I have ever met in my life. Just knowing you are standing here in my bedroom is the biggest turn-on.”

She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed me. I put one hand on the back of her neck to pull her mouth closer to mine and used the other to find the zipper on the back of her dress and pull it down. When my hands pulled the dress forward so it could fall off of her onto the floor, I finally broke away from the kiss to have my first look at this beautiful woman’s body.

It was not what I expected.

“What the hell is that?” I asked, looking down and around her.

She giggled. “It’s my Spanx. It uh . . . smoothed out all my bumps since the dress was so fitted.”

I groaned into her neck. “It is taking me way too long to get you naked.”

She laughed and put her arms around me. “Trust me, it is taking way too long to
get
naked. You thought yellow banana tights were bad. These suckers might be a necessity for fashion, but they are torture to wear.”

I pulled back, newly invigorated by her challenge. “So let’s get them off you.”

I tried to gently move the straps to the side of her shoulders and down her arms. But I found out the hard way, there is no gentle way to get someone out of these things.

“How did you get these things on?” I grunted as I helped her lay down on the bed so I could get some good leverage to yank them off.

“It took about twenty minutes. That’s why I was running late when you got there,” she said, lifting her hips to try and help me, but it was still slow going. “Once they’re on, they’re on, so hurry up. I haven’t been able to use the bathroom all night.”

I laughed as I tried for one last big tug. The Spanx finally slid down her thighs and I held them up. I swear, once they were off, they shrunk to the size of something only a baby could fit into.

“Why in the hell would women do this to themselves?” I asked myself out loud. Addison just laughed and jumped off the bed, heading toward the bathroom.

“It’s all in the name of fashion and attracting a man,” she said through the closed door.

“Honestly, babe,” I said as I chucked my pants to the side, leaving me only in my boxer briefs, and climbed on the bed to lay on my side, “they are a total mood killer when you are trying to peel your woman out of a dress.”