Addison couldn’t resist a chuckle at Collette’s bawdiness. “You’re a ham.”
“Of course, but that’s why you love me.”
“Always will,” Addison said.
“So, what’s the scoop? What’s got your panties in a twist?”
“One word: Caleb.”
“What’d he do now? Did he not put it on you right?”
Addison laughed again. “No, he’s more than adept in that department. What he’s lacking is in the love department.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you seen the way that man looks at you?” Collette asked. “I mean, I haven’t been around you two a lot in recent months, but the man’s in love with you. He was the moment he saw you at that club in Vegas.”
“What?” Addison wasn’t sure she was buying it. “Collette, you’re mistaken.”
“Like hell I am. I know when a man’s in love, and I know when he isn’t, and Caleb, my friend, is most definitely the former.”
Addison wondered if Collette could be right. She’d hoped that was the case, but he seemed afraid to share his true feelings with her. Or had she not allowed him to? Had he been about to tell her he loved her at the cottage, but she’d been too stubborn to listen because she was afraid of getting hurt?
“Excuse me, Collette.” Addison rose from the stool. “I have to go.”
“But I just got here.”
“I know, and I’m so sorry. Truly I am.” She squeezed Collette’s arm. “But I have to leave.”
“To find Caleb?”
Addison smiled and nodded.
“Do me a favor then? Listen and be open, okay? Love is staring you right in the face, if you let it in.”
“I will.” Addison rushed out of the room.
“Caleb, I need you to focus,” Duke Hart said that afternoon in the executive offices of Hart Enterprises. “Your head isn’t here, and we need all hands on deck if we’re going to deal with this issue.”
“I know that, Duke,” Caleb said tartly. He was aware that he was a little off, had been the last twenty-four hours since he’d arrived back from Galveston. He’d immediately had to jump into action over the accident and help his uncle while figuring out what could have gone wrong on the rig. Consequently, he hadn’t been able to speak with Addison and make things right between them, and he was pissed.
How could she think he didn’t love her? He’d done everything she’d asked. When she’d told him she’d wanted to go slow and given them a sex moratorium, he’d complied even though he ached every time he ended one of their dates. His body knew what it was like to be buried deep inside Addison’s tight heat, and he’d taken many a cold shower until Galveston, when she’d finally lifted the ban. His patience and taking things slow hadn’t gotten him anywhere. Instead, he felt like after the trip, they’d taken two steps backward.
And where was she anyway? She was his publicist after all, and shit was about to hit them the likes of which Hart Enterprises had never seen. And he needed her.
“Well, get it together,” Duke replied. “I need you at 100 percent, especially once we get on that rig. The men will be looking to both of us for answers, and we need to be on the same page.”
“I agree, and we will be.”
They continued to strategize for another hour before taking a helicopter over to the rig. From the air, they’d been able to see the damage, but it wasn’t clear just how bad it was until they’d landed. That’s when Caleb realized the extent of the repairs needed. It could have been much worse—people could have lost their lives, and while, thank God, that hadn’t happened, still a half-a-dozen men had been injured when a platform had collapsed.
After they’d assessed the damage, they announced a meeting so that he and Duke could address the workers. There were a lot of rumblings in the crowd. A lot of the men were upset that something like this could happen, and they wanted answers.
“I can assure you,” Caleb said from the podium, “we’ll get to the bottom of this accident and make any necessary repairs.”
“How does that help us in the short term?” one of the men yelled. “I have a wife and kids back home that depend on my income, and I can’t afford to get hurt.”
“Yes, Mr. Hart, can Hart Enterprises assure its workers of their safety?” a feminine voice boomed from the crowd.
“Who said that?” Caleb scanned the room for whoever it was that had asked such a damning question. The crowd must have sensed his distress because it parted ... and there stood Addison.
She looked sexy as hell in a white pantsuit and quite out of place amongst all the hard-working blue-collar guys. He hadn’t been prepared to see her, and as a result, was at a loss for words. It was Duke who answered. “We are completing numerous safety checks on the remaining platforms and will be temporarily ceasing operations until such time as we can verify there is no further damage and your safety is assured.”
“What about our pay?” several men yelled.
“Every man on this rig will be paid their normal salary,” Duke continued, “until such time as the engineers deem it safe for your return. In the interim, several choppers will be coming to escort you back to the mainland.”
There were cheers amongst the crowd as most men looked at it like a paid vacation. Caleb could hear Duke speaking a few more words to them, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Addison. What was she doing here? Was she here just as HE’s publicist? Or was she here for him, to salvage their relationship?
After Duke ended his speech, most of the men dispersed. “Are we done?” Caleb whispered in his ear.
Duke glanced down at Addison standing on the platform and then back at Caleb. “Yeah, we’re done. Go talk to your woman.”
Caleb nodded and then jumped down off the podium and headed straight for Addison.
Addison’s stomach flip-flopped as Caleb approached her. He looked handsome and sexy. He had that effect on her. Even when she was angry with him, she still wanted to make love to him. It was like their bodies were in tune with each other.
She gave him a half-hearted smile. “Hey.”
He returned it with an easy smile of his own and slid his hands in his pockets. “Hey.”
“You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here?”
He nodded, but didn’t speak.
“Is there someplace we can talk?” she asked.
He began walking toward the end of the platform, away from a few workers still mingling around.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she began. He remained silent, so she forced herself to continue even though her throat felt dry. Collette’s words reverberated in her head. She was going to have to make the first move. “I may have overreacted.”
He stared back at her, but again said nothing.
“I didn’t give you the chance to explain or for us to talk. I just cut you off, and that was unfair. All I can say is that it was a defense mechanism. I didn’t want to get hurt and—”
“And I hurt you,” he finished for her.
She nodded and wiped an errant tear that slid down her cheek. “Tell me now,” she said. “Tell me what you would have said if I’d given you the chance.”
Caleb closed the distance between them and grasped the sides of her face. She closed her eyes at his touch, but he said, “Look at me.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she could see something in his, but she wasn’t sure she could name it. Or could she?
“I would have told you that I love you too,” Caleb replied softly.
Addison’s heart began thumping. He loved her?
He sensed her disbelief because he repeated it again. “That’s right, Addison Walker. I love you. I don’t know if it was love or lust at first sight that night in Vegas all those years ago. I just knew I had to have you. And once I di
d, I became addicted to you. I wanted you whenever and wherever, and bless your heart, you were so young and naïve that you didn’t resist me even when I was being possessive.”
“I was falling for you.”
“And I for you,” Caleb responded. His hands left her face, and he grasped her hands. “I didn’t know it at first, not until I spent those weeks without you. And then when I saw you at the rodeo that night, I planned on telling you that I wanted you back.”
“You did?” She’d always wondered, but he’d never said it until now.
He nodded. “That’s why I asked you to wait for me at the rodeo. Of course, neither of us had any idea that I would be severely injured.”
“But even then, I was at your side, Caleb, because there was no other place I wanted to be.”
He smiled. “I know, and I wish I could have appreciated it, but I didn’t.” He shook his head. “I was a fool, and I’ve regretted it ever since. And then three months ago, fate brought you back into my life. When I saw you at the country club, my heart truly stopped. I didn’t think I could be that lucky again. I mean, I was already lucky once to walk again, but could I truly be lucky enough to have the greatest love of my life walk back into it? But I was. The only problem was you were with someone else, but I still wanted you back.”
“Do you think it was easy for me?” Addison asked. “I never expected to see you again. I thought we’d had our chance, and if we couldn’t get it right the first time, we were destined to be apart, so I tried to move on. But knowing you were here and free and that you wanted me back, there was no other choice I could make.”
“I would have done anything to win you back,” said Caleb. “I would have waited however long you wanted until you let me back into your bed, but more importantly into your heart again because that’s just how much I love you, Addison.”
“I love you too.”
Caleb swept her up in his arms and kissed her mightily. He didn’t care that they were out in the open in front of his men. He kissed her like he never wanted to let her go.
When their lips parted, he embraced her hand, bent down on one knee and said, “Addison Walker, will you marry me? Will you be my wife, my lover, my partner, the mother of my children?”
“Yes, of course, yes!” Addison cried. “Yes, I’ll marry you, and let’s hope after yesterday that I’m the latter.”
Tears were brimming in his eyes as he rose. “I would be the happiest man alive if you were carrying my baby.”
“And I would be the luckiest woman in the world if I were,” Addison said. “I love you, Caleb.”
“And I love you.”
Epilogue
Nine Months Later ...
Caleb looked down at the beautiful seven-pound and three-ounce baby girl Addison had just delivered. Ivy Hart was going to be the light of his life; she was already wrapping herself around his heart.
He couldn’t believe all that had happened in the last year. After four long hard-fought years, he and Addison had found their way back together, and now they were married and had a beautiful daughter to show for it.
If anyone had told him five years ago that he’d be a married man and a father, he would have told them they were delusional. But the moment he’d seen Addison, the doe-eyed beauty had stolen his heart. Words spoken by the then groom-to-be Amar on their way to Amar’s bachelor party had come back to haunt Caleb—that when he found the right woman, he would fall down on his knees and beg her to marry him. And he had.
“You have to share,” Addison said from the bed, holding her arms out.
Caleb laughed. “Of course.” He slid their sleeping baby into her arms.
“You know that might be hard for him,” Rylee said from Addison’s bedside. “Caleb has always had a way with the ladies.”
“And I suspect his daughter will be no different,” Noah said from the other side of the bed. “She will definitely be a daddy’s girl.”
“That’s right,” Caleb responded. “And I’ll hurt the son of a bitch that ever hurts her.”
“Well, let’s hope they aren’t as much of a bad boy as you’ve been,” his mother replied from the foot of the bed.
“Mom!” Caleb laughed. He couldn’t believe she’d said that.
“Hey, I’m not stupid,” Madelyn Hart replied. “Your father and I,” she said, turning to her husband standing next to her, “know you’ve been quite the ladies’ man.”
“A reformed ladies’ man,” Addison countered as she held their daughter. “Isn’t that right, Caleb?”
“Of course he is,” Benjamin Walker chimed in. “Otherwise, he’ll have me to contend with.”
Caleb walked toward Mr. Walker and shook his hand. “As it should be. How about a cigar?” He lifted one from his breast pocket and handed it to the proud grandfather. It had taken some time, but Addison’s old man was finally starting to come around and give him a little slack. Caleb was happy he could make that happen, because Addison’s and Ivy’s happiness were all that mattered to him. They were his family.
“Love you, Addy,” he said, returning to his wife’s side and bending down to brush his lips across hers.
“Love you more.”
About the Author
Yahrah St. John is the author of eighteen books, fourteen of which were part of Kimani’s Romance line. St. John is the recipient of RT BookReviews 2013 Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Kimani Romance for A Chance With You. A graduate of Hyde Park Career Academy, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Northwestern University. St. John is a member of Romance Writers of America, but is an avid reader of all genres. She enjoys the arts, cooking, traveling, basketball and adventure sports, but her true passion remains writing. St. John lives in sunny Orlando, the City Beautiful. For more information, please visit:
www.yahrahstjohn.com
Other Books by Yahrah St. John
One Magic Moment
Dare to Love
Never Say Never
Risky Business of Love
Playing for Keeps
This Time for Real
If You So Desire
Two to Tango
Need You Now
Lost Without You
Formula for Passion
Dirty Laundry
Delicious Destiny
A Chance With You
Harts of Arizona Series
Entangled Hearts – Volume I
Entangled Hearts – Volume II
Untamed Hearts
Restless Hearts
Harts of Arizona Series Page 81
