Going Down Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #1)(47)

She lifted a hand to his mouth and wiped away the lipstick from his bottom lip with her thumb. Then she looped her arms around his neck. “I got new shoes, too.”

“I love you in heels.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. I was also hoping you’d let me keep them on later.”

“Later?” But his eyes darkened, and she knew that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

She’d hoped to swing by the apartment over the tavern before she came back to pick up Stella.

“Well, they match my thong perfectly. I was hoping you’d let me keep both on while you—”

“Yes. Fuck yes,” he growled, kissing her again, hot and hard.

“Then let’s go to the party . . . so we can leave,” she said. She was excited about a masquerade ball at a real southern plantation, she wasn’t going to lie. But she was much more excited about some one-on-one time with Gabe. They’d seen each other, and had finally exchanged phone numbers so they could call and text in between seeing each other, but twice had been with the kids and once had been at the support-group meeting. She needed him. Alone. To herself.

He pushed himself back, bracing his hands on the wall on either side of her head. “We could skip the party.”

She’d known he’d say that. “Let’s go. For a little while. I have a surprise for you.”

He lifted a brow. “You got my name tattooed on your ass? Because, darlin’, that would be fucking awesome.”

She rolled her eyes but smiled. “Well, maybe not that big of a surprise.”

“But you’d consider it down the road?”

She would love to think that there was a “down the road” for them. And that was a pretty damned big surprise. But she went for flippant rather than “I’m falling in love with you” as a response. “I’ve already been stunned by the things you can talk me into,” she said. “I guess I can’t really rule anything out.”

He smiled down at her, and they stood, just like that, for several long seconds.

“We’re going to have an amazing time tonight,” he finally said.

She nodded. “I know.”

“We can totally relax. Mom is here with the kids, Logan will have the bar covered. We can just . . . be us.”

Us. The kids. Mom. It all sounded so comfortable and natural and . . . tempting.

With that falling-in-love thing still hovering on the edges of her mind, Addison forced a smile and her concentration in a new direction. “So let’s get going. I want to show you the surprise.”

“Okay. But you might want to check your lipstick first,” he said, looking smug.

She ducked into the powder room just outside the kitchen. Yeah, there was no more lipstick to check. She reapplied, checked her hair, smoothed her dress, and took a deep breath.

They made their way back to the living room. Caroline was on the couch with a book. She looked up. “Ready to go?”

“Ready,” Gabe said. “We’ll check in later.”

“No problem. The kids are already in their spy gear and have a mission planned,” Caroline said with an affectionate smile.

“I appreciate you watching Stella, too,” Addison said. “She shouldn’t be any trouble.”

Caroline waved that off. “Don’t be silly. Watching two is easier than one. They entertain each other. We’ll eat in a little bit and do the craft project later, and then I’ll settle them on the couch with a movie. We’ll have a great time.”

Addison felt Gabe’s hand settle on the back of her neck and relished how comfortable they both were with the gesture.

Gabe escorted her to the door and pulled it open for her. “This is going to be—” He stopped talking, and walking, as he stared at the car at the curb.

“Surprise,” Addison said, throwing her arms wide.

“You got us a limo?” he asked.

“Well, I couldn’t find a pumpkin that would change into a carriage, and you can’t go to a ball in a regular car,” she said, taking his hand and starting down the steps.

“You can,” he said. “I’ve done it.”

She smiled at him over her shoulder. “Okay, let’s put it this way. You can’t have sex in the back seat while also traveling to the ball in a regular car.”

“We’re going to have sex in the back seat on the way to the party?” he asked, picking up his pace.

“I figured this was a great way to sneak in a quickie with no kids around,” she told him. She stopped by the car door that the driver had opened for her. “We’re going to have to figure out ways to do stuff like that going forward, right?”

He focused on her fully, seemingly studying her face for something. Then he nodded. “Yes. Because we’re going forward.”

She went up on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. “Yes, we are,” she said softly.

She turned and climbed into the car. Gabe was right behind her. The chauffeur slammed the door once Gabe was inside, and Addison immediately climbed into Gabe’s lap, straddling his thighs.

“Just like that?” he asked, but his expression—and the big hands that settled on her hips—said he didn’t mind at all.

She kissed him as his hands slid up under her skirt along her bare thighs. Addison shivered with pleasure even from that much. He touched her with an amazing combination of tenderness and assuredness. He was a confident but incredibly caring lover, and every time she had his hands on her, she felt treasured and beautiful, even as she felt needy and nearly desperate. She needed him to touch her. Her body craved him. And he never failed to deliver.