Page 9 of Protecting Addison
He was so astute it was almost scary. “I’m a little nervous, but these are your friends. I want to meet them. And it’ll be good for Ellory and the others to hang out with new people.”
“Great. I’ll let Wolf and Caroline know. And the girls too.”
“The girls?”
“Wren, Josie, Remi, and Maggie. They’ve been driving me crazy, texting and wanting your number. Is it okay if I give it to them?”
“I guess. But I don’t have a lot of time to be on the phone,” Addison warned him.
Ricky didn’t look concerned. “They’re text people. It’s their preferred mode of communication. You can respond whenever you have time.”
Addison relaxed a little. She hated talking on the phone. Many times she didn’t know what to say and those awkward silences made her cringe. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
They stared at each other for a beat, and Addison could’ve sworn that he was leaning toward her before Artem and Borysko burst into the room, arguing with each other in Ukrainian.
“English,” Ricky called out gently.
Mid-argument, the boys switched to English. It was still a bit broken and stilted, but they were getting better by the day. It was astonishing how fast they were picking up the language.
Any intimate moment she and Ricky might’ve had was lost as Ellory and Yana joined the others. Addison quickly grabbed her purse and headed for the door with Ricky and the kids. She would drop off Ellory and Yana, as their schools were close together. Ricky took Artem and Borysko. They were currently going to a private school for kids who were learning English as a second language. They were the only ones there from the Ukraine. Most of the kids spoke Spanish, but there were a few who spoke Farsi, Korean, Tagalog, and even one little girl who was from France.
The kids ran to the vehicles to get themselves strapped in. After Addison locked the front door behind her, Ricky touched her arm. As she turned to look at him, he was already leaning in to kiss her. His lips brushed against hers in a short, chaste kiss. It took everything in Addison not to reach up and trace her lips reverently.
“I’ll touch base at lunch. See how everything’s going. If you need anything in the meantime, don’t hesitate to text me. I’m in meetings most of the day, but nothing so important I can’t get away to talk if you need me.”
He always made it clear that if there was any kind of emergency, he’d be there for her. It was comforting. Addison had gone through too many health scares with Ellory by herself not to realize what a gift Ricky gave her with his reassurances. “All right.”
“Want me to bring anything home for dinner?”
“No. I’m going to make chicken for Ellory, since she’s having a flare. I thought I’d make lasagna for everyone else. That all right?”
“I can’t remember the last time I had homemade lasagna. That sounds perfect. But I hate that Ellory has to have bland food while the rest of us eat pasta.”
“I know, but she’s used to it. And more importantly, she doesn’t miss the rich food that we can eat. She knows it’ll just make her feel horrible later.”
“Still. That sucks,” Ricky insisted.
“It does.”
He sighed, then nodded. “Have a good day, Addy.”
“You too.”
He smiled at her, then stepped away and headed for his Explorer. The boys were already in the backseat with their seat belts on.
Four. That’s how many times Ricky had kissed her today. Three more times than he ever had before. The one and only other time had been their wedding day. She had no idea why he was suddenly so affectionate…but she liked it. A lot.
He waved at her once more before he pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street. Addison backed out and headed in the opposite direction.
All in all, her life was going really well. Which worried her, because in her experience, just when things were going well, life seemed to throw her a curveball.
Hoping she was past that, she concentrated on the traffic. She had two girls to get to school and three cakes to bake. She had no time for curveballs.
CHAPTERTHREE
“I still can’t believe you’re married, man,” Safe said with a shake of his head.
