“Thanks.”
Silence settled over us for a moment, and then the bed creaked and Addison sat up. “Speaking of dreams, I should be getting to bed.”
“All right, yeah.”
I couldn’t ignore the faint disappointment I felt, but I stood, following her to the door and waiting as she collected her clothes. If we crossed into the realm of sleepovers and sharing a room, there was no going back. We had agreed to take things slow and keep it casual for now, and I wasn’t about to back out on the deal already.
“This was fun,” she said.
“You could do better than me.”
She winked. “I could. But I like you and I love Dylan, and nobody is going to pry me away from her.” Then, on her tiptoes, she kissed me, short and sweet. “Good night.”
“Good night,” I said, and when she was gone, I closed the door after her.
I should have felt like a million bucks. Tonight had gone great.
But there was something else, something that gnawed at my stomach. It might have been that I’d gone out on a limb—I’d never dated, after all. It could have been the risk I’d taken. More than that, though, it might have been what Addison had said. She loved Dylan, and Dylan loved her. It could be the start of something great for us all. And I . . .
Well, I was going to have to hope that I didn’t fuck everything up like I always did.
Chapter Seventeen
Addison
Max: How’s your day been, pretty lady?
I stared down at the text glowing back at me and couldn’t stop the grin spreading across my face.
Addison: We’ve had an amazing day. The baby just successfully put all the shapes in their proper holes, entirely unassisted. I don’t want to call it too early, but I’m predicting a prodigy.
I shifted Dylan from one hip to the other and set the phone down to pour myself a second cup of coffee.
It had been a long night. Despite having gotten to bed before midnight, I had tossed and turned until the wee hours, replaying every moment with Max in my head.
It had been perfect. Magical, even, as corny as that sounded.
My face literally hurt from smiling so much, and it was getting to the point that I knew I had to cool it before we went for our afternoon walk. If strangers saw me looking this crazy happy, they might think I’d escaped a padded room and stolen someone’s baby.
I took a long sip from my cup, expertly navigating it away from Dylan’s busy little hands. “No, no, sweet pea. Hot, remember?”
She gave me a three-toothed jack-o’-lantern smile and nodded once. My heart melted, and I smooshed a kiss to her smooth, plump cheek.
I couldn’t remember ever feeling this happy and satisfied with my life. Of course, the second I had that thought, a dull sense of worry burrowed in behind it, but I shoved it away.
Nope. I refused to be the worrywart who shat on everything good for fear of the other shoe dropping. Seriously, Max and I weren’t even an item yet. We’d decided to take things slow and see where we ended up. Even if it didn’t work out, we agreed.
Dylan came first.
I thought back to my interview with Max, and a sense of unrest swept over me.
That one dark cloud had been hanging over me this whole time, and I wished like hell I’d handled it differently. When he’d asked about my training and education, that had been the time to come clean. Let him know that, yes, even though I had enough credits to graduate, I still had one more class requirement to get my teaching certificate, and life had gotten in the way.
Probably, it wouldn’t have changed anything. I’d still have gotten the job and it would have been fine. Hindsight was as clear as day. But I’d been desperate and terrified to lose the opportunity, and now?
I shot a glance at Dylan and sighed. Now I just couldn’t take the risk.
My phone buzzed, and I set my coffee mug down to grab it.
Max: Speaking of fitting the right piece into the proper hole, you busy later?
It was followed by a hilarious-looking eyebrow-waggling emoji that had me belly laughing.
I tapped out a quick reply.
Addison: Very smooth, Mr. Alexander. As romantic as that was, I’m still pretty sore from yesterday, so I might need some more convincing.
I was still chuckling at our playful banter when the doorbell rang a couple of minutes later.
“I wonder if that’s the new changing-table pad I ordered for your room,” I said to Dylan as I sat her in her high chair and touched a finger to her nose. “Be right back, lovey.”
The skip was back in my step as I peered out the peephole. The woman standing there didn’t look like a UPS delivery person to me, and I frowned.
She was gorgeous. Dark blond hair fell in soft curls over her shoulders. Full, high breasts strained from a too-tight T-shirt, a pair of second-skin jeans clung to her curves, and her makeup was flawless.