Going Down Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #1)(10)

But yeah, he needed to rein in this desire to shout to the world that he’d had Addison Sloan in his bed. Probably. At least with her boss, or whatever Travis was to her. Well, if she was insulted, he’d send her apology flowers later. Maybe hibiscus this time. And since he wanted to be at the flower-sending stage, maybe he’d just fucking send her flowers every damned day whether she liked it or not.

“I would love to have Addison sit in on the meeting,” Gabe said. “And after the meeting, I’d love to take her to lunch to celebrate her move and her new job and her being a part of this project.”

Addison was already shaking her head. “I can’t just jump into a project that someone else has been working on,” she said. “Just because you and I are friends doesn’t mean that I can just come in here and take over.”

Friends? They were friends? Anger tightened his chest, but he made himself breathe.

“But there’s nothing to take over,” Gabe said. “This is the first meeting. The first meeting that’s only happening because you told me it was a good idea,” he added. “I’m sure Elena and Travis would agree that having good chemistry between client and associate is an important aspect of any project. And I don’t think anyone can deny that you and I can really get stuff done.”

If by “get stuff done” he meant mind-blowing, I’ll-never-get-over-this orgasms in every position and room in the apartment. Which he did.

Even she couldn’t deny that. And yeah, he was over the line again. And no, he didn’t care. Again. He’d send her some sorry-I-outed-our-fling-to-your-boss pralines, too. He knew she liked those.

Gabe couldn’t believe how knotted up he felt. Damn. He knew that his feelings for Addison had been growing, but now, being face-to-face with the idea that maybe hers had not made him feel uncharacteristically possessive and desperate and pissed. And he so rarely felt any of those things, and never where a woman was concerned, that he wasn’t sure what to do.

“I really insist you sit in, Ad,” Travis said. “Elena won’t mind a bit.”

Because Travis was furthering Gabe’s own agenda, he didn’t pull back and punch him for calling her Ad again. But his palm itched a little with the urge anyway.

Addison was clearly gritting her teeth as she smiled and said, “Fine.”

“And lunch after,” Gabe said. Hey, he’d already pushed his luck, might as well go for it all. She was, apparently, going to be pissed, and maybe even yell when he got her alone, but that was fine. He wasn’t feeling particularly sunny and happy right now, either. And he’d never seen her pissed. That could be interesting.

And if she had moved to New Orleans and not bothered to mention it, she wasn’t the only one who might be yelling.

Because, what the hell?

“I have a lot to do today,” she told him, meeting his eyes directly, her chin lifting slightly. “It’s my first day at a new job and all.”

Okay, so now she was going to lay that out there. Nice. “You have to eat,” he said. “And I’m sure Travis would consider this work rather than play. I mean, we’ll go somewhere public so it can’t get too fun.”

Yep, there he was stomping right over that decency line again. He’d have to throw some beignets into the sorry-I-was-an-asshole gift basket he was going to owe her.

But frankly, seeing the sexy spark of fire in her eyes was worth it. Not to mention making his point that this was not only a friendship or a working relationship. This was . . . well, he wasn’t exactly sure now. But by the time lunch was over, he was going to know.



“What do you mean that you intended to just not see me again?”

Addison hated the look on Gabe’s face. This entire day had been a huge fucking mess. Despite the fact that she’d started it out with two orgasms at the hands—and mouth—of the man now sitting across from her. She was now sitting on the sidewalk of one of her favorite New Orleans restaurants over a lunch date she’d never intended to have, initiating the breakup conversation she’d never intended to have, which would end the relationship that she’d never intended to have.

Because, no matter how much she would love to tell herself, and Gabe, for that matter, that this thing between them had been nothing but sex, that simply wasn’t true.

It was a relationship.

And she’d fallen for him.

And when she’d lived three weeks of the month in New York City, that had been okay. Or relatively okay. She’d missed him. She’d thought about him. But she couldn’t go and see him, and while she could have called the bar, she didn’t have his personal number, and she’d been able to resist the urge to stalk him at Trahan’s. Most of all, she hadn’t needed to tell him about Stella. Or really anything about her life. She’d been able to escape for a couple of days, basking in the Big Easy and Gabe. Like indulging in a decadent dessert once a month. It was amazing and delicious and didn’t do any damage to her regular routine and diet.

But when she was living within two miles of him, it was never going to work. As crazy as it sounded, being closer to him geographically and able to see him more often would make a relationship harder. Or impossible. Considering she didn’t want an everyday, all-the-time, blend-our-lives-together relationship.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and tried not to look directly into Gabe’s eyes. His gorgeous blue eyes that reminded her of ice but could burn as hot as the blue of a candle flame and never failed to melt her resistance, and her panties, and her heart.