Going Down Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #1)(28)

Addison had absolutely no idea what to say to all of that. None. She couldn’t even make her mouth open. But her thoughts were spinning, and her heart was pounding, and she . . . wanted to hug him.

“Well, holy crap.” Dana finally broke the silence.

“Right?” Lindsey asked her. She looked at Gabe. “So you need to tell her that.”

“Definitely,” Ashley agreed before Gabe could say anything.

“And you need to send her a recording of you singing that song,” Roxanne told him.

“And some of that edible body lotion,” Bea added. “For sure.”

“Yeah, where do you get that?” Austin asked. “Asking for a friend.”

They all laughed.

“Not sure, but I’ll ask her,” Gabe said, again looking directly at Addison.

The group continued to pepper Gabe with ideas about how to set about getting the woman back.

Getting her back.

Addison sucked in a deep breath.

Holy crap, indeed.



One of the women standing by the coffeepot had a penchant for peach-flavored edible body lotion, looked amazing in purple thongs, and had a spot on her right ankle that, when sucked on, resulted in the most delicious moaning sound he’d ever heard.

And she was now avoiding eye contact with him, pretending they’d just met and that she really had nothing to say to him.

The group was taking their usual fifteen-minute break in the middle of the two-hour meeting, and Addison was chatting with Roxanne as if she hadn’t had his cock in her mouth just a week and four days ago.

After he finished a brief conversation with Corey, Gabe headed straight for her. He knew that she saw him coming in her peripheral vision, because her spine stiffened and the smile she was giving Roxanne wobbled. Just for a microsecond. But he saw it.

He hadn’t intended to talk about her to the group tonight. Certainly not with her sitting right there. He hadn’t even known she’d show up for sure.

But she had. And the second he’d seen her, his heart had slammed against his rib cage, and he’d lost his cool. Again. Not on the outside but definitely on the inside. No woman, no person, had ever shaken him like this one.

And there was no way she was going to stand there and drink coffee as if they were strangers and she didn’t care about the things he’d just spilled.

Roxanne moved off as Gabe approached. He had no idea if that was coincidental or if Roxanne sensed he wanted a moment with Addison, but he was grateful either way. He moved in behind her and reached around her for a cup, brushing his body against hers.

“Pink thong or pink panties?” he asked, for her ears only.

She spun quickly to face him. “What?”

“You always match your underwear with your skirts.”

She stared up at him.

“You wore a tiny cherry-red thong with your red skirt, and a black thong with your black skirt, and blue bikini panties with your blue skirt. Today your skirt is pink. I’m just wondering if it’s a thong or panties.”

She seemed to be searching his eyes. “You remember what skirts and underwear I’ve worn every time I’ve been here?”

“I remember a lot of things, Ad,” he said gruffly.

“Granny panties,” she finally said. “White. Cotton. That’s what I’m wearing today.”

He could tell she was lying. “Doesn’t matter. Still want to rip them off you.”

Her cheeks flushed. “We’re going to talk about this kind of stuff here?”

“Yep. Anywhere, anytime I get a chance to remind you about how things are between us.”

“So one more reason not to come back to another meeting,” she said, crossing her arms while holding her coffee cup in one hand. It was a defensive stance. One she’d never used with him prior to finding out about Cooper. Because she’d never felt defensive or like she had to protect herself.

Gabe’s gut tightened, but he worked on staying calm. He reached past her for a packet of sugar, just for an excuse to brush against her again. “You’re not going to quit coming,” he said as he dumped the sugar into his cup and stirred.

“Oh?”

He took a sip and shook his head, watching her the whole time. “You’ve been doing this all on your own for so long, but now you’ve gotten a glimpse at what it can be like to have people to share it with. You’ll come back.”

He really hoped that she would, anyway. Yes, he wanted to see her, and this seemed one of the few ways to make that happen right now. But he really did think she could use the group. The people here were an interesting mix of backgrounds and ages and situations, but they were bonded by the crazy parenting ride they were all on, and it was rare that anyone missed a meeting.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Seems like the group spends an awful lot of time talking about you and your personal issues.”

He felt his mouth curl. “Not always. But yeah, this woman has me really knotted up.”

“And I thought this was a parenting group. Do you often use this group to talk about your women?” she asked with a frown.

“It’s a single parenting group. Dating and meeting people and having relationships is a big part of being single, right? So yeah, we talk about all of that from time to time. Especially when it’s something directly impacting the kids. Like this woman not wanting to meet Cooper.”