Page 28 of Protecting Addison
“All right. Thanks for today. It was awesome.”
“You’reawesome. Good night.”
“Night.”
Addison headed to their room, spending some time in the en suite before climbing under the covers and thinking about how fun their day had been, how wonderful everyone was…how she’d stressed so hard for nothing.
She was half asleep when Ricky came into the room a short time later and climbed under the covers on the other side of the bed. That was why she didn’t really think about what she was doing when she rolled closer to him and wrapped her arm across his chest.
“Addy?” he asked softly.
“Hmmmm?”
He was silent for a moment. Then… “Nothing. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“M’Kay.”
That night, she slept better than she had in months. Snuggled up next to the man she respected…and was beginning to think she couldn’t live without.
CHAPTERSIX
As MacGyver stood in front of a class full of seventh-grade boys and girls, he was still thinking about last weekend. Like he had been for days now. He hadn’t expected Addison to curl up against him when he’d come to bed after the get-together at Wolf and Caroline’s house. The day had gone so well, and he’d felt good about where he and Addy stood. But when she’d wrapped her arm around him and sighed in contentment, it was all he could do not to roll over until she was tucked beneath him.
He wanted her. In all the ways that a man wanted his wife. She was an amazing mother, a hard worker, kind, compassionate, and sexy as all get-out. He was half hard every time he was around her now, which was a lot. It was getting difficult to hide his constant erection, but the last thing he wanted to do was put her off or pressure her into doing something she wasn’t ready for.
Because if Addy was intimate with him out of a sense of obligation or duty, or because she felt as if she owed him in some way, it would destroy him.
“How many bad guys have you killed?”
The question came from one of the boys. MacGyver let Kevlar handle that one. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t been asked inappropriate questions in the past, but it was always a little uncomfortable.
“Did you really have to kneel in the ocean for hours and hours while you were freezing to death?” another boy asked. He’d obviously seen a movie or a documentary on BUD/S training.
“Yup. It wasn’t fun, but do you know why we were asked to do that in our training?” Safe asked. There were some brave kids who tried to answer the question, but eventually Safe explained, “It was to toughen us up. When we’re on a mission, if we get cold or hot, or if we get hurt, we can’t just stand up and call a time out. There’s usually no one around to help us but our teammates. We have to work through things that are uncomfortable in order to complete our tasks.”
The kids in the class were enthralled with the presentation, which made MacGyver feel really good. If they could inspire just one child today to want to serve their country when they grew up, it would be time well spent.
The presentation for the current group of kids ended, and they shuffled out of the classroom. Wolf’s team was in another room; there’d been so much interest in the SEAL teams that the school had told Addison they’d be thrilled if another group came to talk to the kids. Apparently, they were a larger draw than the accountants, doctors, and engineers. Although, the pair of veterinarians was giving the SEALs a run for their money. But MacGyver thought they’d cheated by bringing along not only a dog and cat, but a sloth they’d been caring for as well.
While they waited for the next group to enter, Smiley approached MacGyver. “I’m going to bug out early, if that’s okay,” he told him.
“Why would I care?” MacGyver asked.
“Well, this is your girl’s thing. I didn’t want you to be upset if I left early. It’s not because I don’t care. This has actually been fun and kind of interesting. It’s just that I want to get an early jump on the weekend. I’m going to go to Vegas one last time to see if I can find Bree.”
MacGyver knew how much finding the mysterious woman meant to Smiley. Bree Haynes had been sold by her boyfriend to a sex trafficker—the same man Josie’s deceased ex-boyfriend’s family had tried to sellherto. Blink and Smiley had freed Bree from the man’s car, but in the ensuing drama, the woman had disappeared. Smiley had been almost obsessed with finding her ever since…but he hadn’t had any luck.
“You’re giving up?” MacGyver asked.
Smiley shrugged. “I don’t know what else to do. Where else to look. Tex has been helping me a little, between more important jobs. But her apartment was cleaned out, she hasn’t used her cell or credit cards, and he can’t find any trace of her. She was either found by her ex or she left town. I’m hoping for the latter.”
MacGyver frowned. “You need help? I can go with you.”
His friend chuckled. “Right, because you don’t have anything going on here.”
He shrugged. “I admit my plate is kind of full, but if you need help, you know I’ll drop everything to do what I can.”
“I appreciate it, but I’m probably on a wild goose chase anyway. If Tex can’t find her, I don’t know what makes me thinkIcan. It feels pretty useless driving around the city, looking for a woman I met just once. Hell, I probably wouldn’t even recognize her if Ididsee her again.”
