by Ravenna Tate
He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, not the suit and tie she was used to seeing him in. This outfit made him seem human, as opposed to an otherworldly creature. It also helped prevent her from picturing him as merely one more insanely wealthy business owner.
Then again, every picture she’d seen of him on the Internet, usually with his latest girlfriend, featured him dressed up. Perhaps that was the real reason she found it so unnerving to see him like this.
He’d asked her out only once, but she’d barely been out of high school, and her father had put his foot down. Addison was fourteen years older than she was. At the time, the age difference had been too vast. Now, it didn’t seem large at all, but Nadine hadn’t been able to think about dating for four years. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to again, even with Addison.
“I read the email from Merrill early this morning, and decided I’d rather talk to you in person about my plans to find Dixon. I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t call first before coming over.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s all right. Did you say your plans to find him?”
“Yes. I’m going up to the surface.”
Nadine blinked a few times, certain she’d heard him incorrectly. “Excuse me?”
The corners of his mouth turned up. “I don’t think you completely understand the effect your father had on me when I met him. I was only fourteen.”
She nodded. She already knew they’d met when Addison was in middle school, but the tone of his voice told her he needed to talk, and affection for her dad was the one thing they shared. “Please come inside and sit down. Do you want something to eat or drink? There’s fresh coffee.”
He smiled, and the gesture made his face even more handsome. “No, thank you. Nothing to eat or drink.”
Addison followed her into the living room, where Nadine sat on the sofa and he sat right next to her. She caught a whiff of woodsy shampoo that conjured up pictures of showering with him. Stop that!
“He came to speak to our science class when I was in eighth grade and we were studying weather. He’d just made history with his project on the evolution of tropical storms.”
This time, the tears Nadine had to blink away were from nostalgia. That project had been started in graduate school, and it was one of her favorite stories from her father’s early days with NSSL. “I’ve never asked you if meeting him that way was the reason you ended up in the business you’re in.”
“In an indirect way, it is.” Addison leaned back against the cushions, crossing one ankle over the opposite knee. The gesture was familiar and comfortable, as if he spent lots of time in her apartment. In all the time she’d known him, he hadn’t been here more than half a dozen times.
“I’ve been fascinated by storms for as long as I can remember, and of course growing up in the Pac Northwest we never saw tropical storms or hurricanes this far north, so they held an air of mystery for me.”
She nodded, reaching over to lift her coffee cup from the table where she’d left it before answering the buzzer.
“Afterward, I asked him if I could talk to him sometime about the storms, and he actually gave me his cell phone number and email address.”
She took a sip of coffee and then smiled. “That sounds like something he’d do.”
“There I was, a fourteen year old kid, and this man was only ten years older than me, but in my eyes he was a god. Pure genius, as far as I was concerned. You of all people know how much we’ve kept in touch all these years, so when Merrill emailed me that Dixon was missing, I knew I had to help. There was no question about it.”
“I didn’t realize you went to the surface that often.” She always pictured him sitting in his high rise office downtown counting his money, not joining his procurement teams.
“I go several times a year with a team, or to check up on them, but this time will be different. I’ve never gone on a rescue mission.”
She had obviously underestimated this man for years. “Who will go with you?”
“A few members from among my procurement teams whom I’d trust with my life, and several Storm Troopers.”
She placed her cup back on the table. “Thank you. I know that sounds inadequate, but I don’t know what else to say.”
He uncrossed his legs and leaned closer to her, then took her hands. His skin was warm, and his touch sent shivers up and down her spine. Get a grip, girl!
“Nadine, I can’t even imagine how frightened you are right now. I won’t make you any promises. That would be cruel and irresponsible of me, but I will give you my word that we will not stop until we find him.”
“Dead or alive, right?” she whispered. Nadine had no idea why those words popped out, but now that they had, her breath hitched in her throat and she wasn’t able to hold back the tears this time. They trickled down both cheeks as she gazed into Addison’s eyes.
“Yes. Either way, we will find him.” He gave her hands a squeeze and she started to pull her right one away so she could wipe her face, but his fingers reached her cheek before hers could. “I’m sorry this happened.”
He brushed her tears away, and his touch burned her skin, but not with pain. Nadine couldn’t stop looking at him. Every erotic thought she’d kept buried for four years tried to surface, along with the terror and pain she’d pushed down with those thoughts.
That man’s face rose in her head. She couldn’t stop it from happening this time. That man had taken her sense of safety, and her ability to do this. Her ability to feel anything but fear and mistrust for another man, even a man as familiar and charming as Addison.
Nadine jerked her face away from Addison’s hand, pulled her other hand out of his grasp, and shifted away from him so she could stand. “Thank you for coming over.”
He looked confused and hurt as he stood to face her. “You’re welcome.”
Nadine couldn’t look him in the eyes. Too many conflicting emotions competed for attention right now, and she needed to get him out of here before she spilled her guts. That would make no sense. She might have known him all her life, but he’d never been a confidant. She’d never even told her father what that man had done to her.
So why, then, did she have an overwhelming urge to tell Addison everything? It must be the strain of knowing her father was missing. That was a logical explanation, so she clung to it. “When do you plan on leaving for the surface?”
“As soon as possible. I’m trying to get everything in order today.”
“I’m not saying I doubt your abilities, but what makes you think you can find him when there are already Storm Troopers looking for him? They worked with him. It’s just as personal for them, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.” He moved his hand, and the gesture caught her gaze. She watched his hand move toward her, but this time it never touched her. He pulled it back, and then she finally lifted her gaze to find him watching her with concern and uncertainty on his face. “It is personal, and you’re all he has left. I’m doing this for him and for you. I’ve known you all my life, after all.”
She let out a small sigh that was halting, uncertain. She had no idea what to say. She was both overwhelmed by his statement, and frightened of the memories that now assaulted her. She had to be alone and think through this. “Stay safe up there.”
“I will.”
His expression left no doubt he wished she’d say something else, but the air in her apartment was suddenly too thick. She needed to be alone right now.
“Nadine, have I done or said something to upset you?”
Shit. “No. No, not at all. I’m just … I’m worried about my dad.” Her voice didn’t sound convincing even to her own ears. He’d never buy it.
“Of course. I understand. I am, too. I’ll let you know when we leave, and I will email you as often as possible from the surface.”
She let out the breath she’d been holding. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that.”
“My pleasure. You have
my Internet phone number and my personal email. The phone obviously won’t work once I’m topside, but email me anytime. Even if all you want to do is talk. If I’m in a shelter we can even set up a video chat if you want to.”
“Thank you, Addison.”
He stared at her for a long time, and Nadine was certain he would say something else, but then he turned and left her apartment. She stood with her back to the door for what felt like hours while tears ran down her cheeks.
Everything she’d gone through four years ago came crashing down, along with the realization that she might never see her father again. All mixed up with those emotions was Addison’s handsome face, that stubble on his chin, and her overwhelming longing to be held in a man’s arms, and be kissed, and for those experiences to erase her memories from that horrible afternoon four years earlier.
A pipe dream. That’s all it was. It would never happen, and certainly not with Addison Carlyle.
End of sample chapter
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