Going Down Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #1)(6)

“Which time?” Elena asked.

“Which time what?”

“Which time that you were in town did you have drinks?”

Addison sighed. “Each time.”

“You’ve seen him every time you’ve been in town since you met him?” Elena asked, clearly shocked.

“Yes. But,” Addison added before Elena could go on, “it’s nothing serious. It’s been . . . a fling. Just a little fun. No big deal. And”—she took a deep breath—“this weekend was the last time. Now that I’ve moved here, I won’t be seeing him anymore.”

Saying it out loud made her heart clench even harder than it had when she’d driven away from him that morning.

Elena was frowning. “Really? You broke it off?”

Well, no. She hadn’t said the words I’m not going to see you again after this. But it wasn’t like she was ending a relationship. She was simply going to stop sleeping with the guy she was only sleeping with. She ignored the voice in her head that said, It doesn’t feel like you were only sleeping with him.

“I ended it this weekend,” she hedged. She’d ended it by saying goodbye to him. And meaning it this time.

Technically, she had only been sleeping with him. So she might have gotten a little addicted to the sex and the fun. So her heart might have gotten a little involved. Gabe Trahan was the kind of guy that hearts just went a little nuts over. He was funny and sexy and sweet and dirty and confident and charming and gorgeous. She wasn’t dead or stupid. Of course she had a little thing for him that went beyond lust.

But—and this was a very important but—she didn’t want anything more than sex from him. Well, okay, sex and beignets. And jazz. But just those things. Just those fun, harmless, no-big-deal things.

“I just . . .” Elena looked at the flowers again. “I had no idea.”

Addison frowned. “Is it a problem?”

“Well, no. Not exactly. Probably,” Elena said, still frowning at the flowers as if trying to figure something out.

“What do you mean ‘not exactly’ and ‘probably’?” Addison asked, trepidation suddenly creeping up her spine. Dammit. She hadn’t mentioned this to Elena because, honestly, it didn’t matter.

Gabe was . . . okay, Gabe was amazing. He was the best time she’d ever had, and she knew that she was in danger of falling for him. Which was incredibly stupid. She didn’t even really know him. She knew things about him just from being around him. He was funny and intelligent, he loved his bar and its patrons, he loved his city and was so patient about letting her go all touristy on him when they went out. He was kind to the homeless people who approached him for money, instead giving them his business card and telling them to go to his tavern and show the card for a meal. He joked with business owners throughout the French Quarter when he ran into them, and it was obvious he was well liked and respected. And damn, the things that guy could do with his mouth and hands and . . . other parts.

“Gabe and Logan Trahan are coming in for a meeting today,” Elena said. “You knew that first night we went in for drinks that we were trying to convince them to hire us.”

Addison nodded and crossed her arms over her middle. Okay, Gabe and Logan were coming into Monroe & LeBlanc. No big deal. Addison would just hide out while they were here. And every other time they were scheduled for a meeting..

“Well, they finally came around,” Elena said. “They called for a meeting about two weeks ago.”

“That’s . . . great.” It was. Trahan’s Tavern was a gorgeous old French Quarter building that definitely needed the best restoration architects in the city. Monroe & LeBlanc were those architects.

Which Addison just might have mentioned to Gabe a time or two. Or five.

Before she’d known she’d be working here, of course.

“You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?” Elena asked point-blank.

“I did mention to Gabe that you are the best,” Addison said. “And I absolutely love his building. It would be an amazing project.”

Elena sighed. “Well, shit.”

Addison chewed her bottom lip.

“So he might have hired us because he’s sleeping with you?” Elena asked.

“What?” Addison shook her head quickly. “No, he doesn’t even know I’m working here. I never told him. I mean, he knew I was consulting, but he doesn’t know I’ve taken the job and moved here. Like I said, it was a fling. I kept it going longer than I’d intended and longer than I should have, but it’s nothing serious, and it’s over now.” Again, her heart clenched in her chest. Dammit.

“You don’t have any interest in the project, then?” Elena asked. “You didn’t encourage him to hire us thinking you could work on the tavern?”

Addison stared at her. The building was amazing. It was exactly the kind of project that Addison would love to tackle. It was the quintessential French Quarter building in the Creole style, built in the early 1800s. Those buildings were one of the things she loved best about New Orleans, and the chance to work on them was one of the reasons she’d taken the job offer from Monroe & LeBlanc. But she would never sleep with someone to get a project.

“I don’t know how to respond to that,” she told Elena. “I would never do that.”