Hurting To Feel (Carpool Dolls)
Page 22
"Son…" Professor Frank turned from the window. "Is Addison okay?"
He nodded. "She will be."
"Good." Professor exhaled heavily and returned to looking out the window. "What about us?"
Addison wasn't the only one who struggled with the truth. He'd gone through hating Professor for hurting Addy more once the whole story came out. There were times over the last several days, jealousy reared inside of him. He'd always had two people in his life. Donny and Professor Frank were his family. Donny had chosen to put his own needs first years ago. Nathan's role of being the oldest separated them once they hit adulthood.
"Nathan?" Professor said.
He looked up and nodded. "Addison comes first in my life now."
"As she should." Profession walked over and sat in the other chair, facing Nathan. "Don't let her go. I don't ask as your friend or mentor, but her father. She needs stability and assurance. That's something I never gave her, and I should've been there. I'm afraid it's too late. But, she has you, and she'll need you even more now."
"I know." There was no hesitation. He'd come to realize that Addison wasn't only in his life to create a safe environment for him to unleash and act as a vessel for his darkness.
While watching Addison battle her feelings over her family, he'd stood on the sidelines. Family dynamics were new to him. When him and Donny fought, they stayed away from each other until the air cooled. Then the subject of their disagreement was never brought up again.
Addison and Professor were suffering, and he hated the useless feeling of not being able to fix the situation. They were important to him. For the first time, he'd recognized an emotion he'd never experienced before when he fought the last two days to get Addison focused on him again after having her world crumble at her feet.
Love.
Something he never dreamed or thought about as a possibility in his life. It was the only thing he could think of to describe the amount of pain that came from inside and not from his hand.
He turned to the one man he respected, and spoke in a language Professor Frank would understand. Man to man. Father to son.
"Addison is my life," he said.
Professor inhaled swiftly and muttered, "Thank God."
Addison walked slowly into the room. "Well, that's wonderful to hear."
She headed straight to Nathan, never looking at her father. He stopped her from sitting at his feet on the floor and guided her to his lap. His chest swelled for the courage it took for her to come downstairs.
He pulled her back against him. "I believe I showed you an hour ago how I feel," he whispered.
"You did," she whispered back.
She relaxed against him. On her own time and no one else's, she finally lifted her chin and gazed across the room.
The air between father and daughter intensified. He wrapped his hands around Addison's middle. When the silence grew awkward, Addison laid her hand on Nathan's hand and squeezed.
"Hello, Professor," she said softly.
Nathan closed his eyes briefly in relief, but not before he caught the surprise on Professor Frank face. Nathan kissed the side of Addison's head. He was wrong. Addison was more than his life. She was the air that he needed to breathe.
Biography
Top Selling Erotic Romance Author, Abby Wood, pens stories of love that take you into the bedroom and straight to the heart. Whether it's the brooding cowboy who convinces the reluctant waitress to go home with him, or the older man who shows a young woman how much she can enjoy his protection, Abby's books will keep you reading right to the happily ever after.
Writing under a pseudonym—because she blushes easily despite her wild imagination—Abby owns the small town, farm girl attitude that keeps her real.
Check out more books by Abby Wood at www.authorabbywood.com
Consent to the Cowboy
Consent to Love
To Play or Obey?
Alpha Agents series
Within the Circle series
Throwing a Kink in the Kidnapping
Twice Her Age
Didja Know?
To Right a Wrong
Playing with a Woodnymph
Everything Is Better Wrapped In Brown Paper
Sacred, Scared—Coming 2013
That Kind of Special — Coming 2013