Page 12 of Protecting Addison
Glancing at his friend, MacGyver frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve had a lot thrown at you in a very short period of time. Three traumatized kids—one of which is still recovering from being shot—an almost-teenage stepdaughter, a new wife, a full house…it’sa lot. How are you dealing with it all?”
MacGyver took a moment to really think about his friend’s question. To his surprise, he realized that while he felt as if he was busy every moment of the day now, and he didn’t have any of the free time he used to have to tinker with his electronics and junk at home, he wasn’t unhappy about any of it. “I’m good,” he said with a small shrug.
“Really?” Safe asked.
“Really,” he confirmed. “I work hard all day, then go home and Yana runs toward me yelling my name, as if it’s been years since she’s seen me instead of hours. Artem and Borysko talk over each other in their eagerness to tell me about their day, what new words they learned. The house smells like food that Addison’s been cooking for dinner, and the baked goods she makes for us are the icing on the cake, literally. And when I can make Ellory smile through her pain, my day is pretty much made. I go to bed every night exhausted but…fulfilled. Which is an amazing feeling.”
“Damn, I think I’m jealous,” Flash mumbled.
“Happy for you,” Kevlar said.
“Thanks.”
“Can’t wait to meet Addison,” Preacher said. “Is she ready for the girls?”
MacGyver snorted. “Is anyoneeverready for the girls?”
“They aren’t that bad,” Kevlar protested, defending his wife and the others.
MacGyver simply raised a brow at his friend.
“Okay, they can be a lot, but it’s just because they’re so eager to make friends. To make others in our circle feel welcome.”
“I warned Addy that I was going to give you guys her number to pass on. We’ll see tonight how she feels about the unofficial-official SEAL welcome to the team,” MacGyver said.
“It’ll be fine,” Safe said confidently.
“Maggie already told me that she’ll be so happy to have someone to talk to about her pregnancy, you know, since Addison’s had a baby of her own. She’s super nervous and she’s still only in her first trimester,” Preacher said.
“I’m sure Addy will be happy to talk to her about her experiences,” MacGyver reassured his friend.
The door opened and their commander strode into the room, a stack of papers in his hand and a small frown on his face. He looked serious. It was obviously time to get to work.
MacGyver usually had no problem switching gears in his head from his new family to work. But today, no matter how hard he tried to focus completely on the mission they’d likely be leaving for in a few weeks, Addison wasn’t far from his mind. He wondered what she was doing, if the girls had texted her yet, how the cake decorating was going, if she’d heard from Ellory. It was a buzz in the back of his mind. Notfullydistracting him from the work at hand, but sort of like being under a thick, fuzzy blanket on a cold winter’s day in front of a fire. Comforting. Soothing. Heart-warming.
He had no clue a family could be such a grounding force. And Addison was the person holding them all together. Of that he had no doubt. Yes, the kids enjoyed being around him and loved when he arrived home each evening. But Addy was the one who kept them on track. Feeding them, waking them up and getting them ready for bed…the glue that held them all together.
And MacGyver had no clue how to let her know that he wanted more than a marriage of convenience. The last thing he wanted was to mess up what they had. If he moved too fast, he could scare her. Or make her back out of their agreement. He needed to go slow.
He’d let down his guard this morning and hadn’t been able to stop himself from kissing her—four freaking times. It was less than he wanted and more than he should’ve done. But he consoled himself with the reminder that she hadn’t pushed him away. Hadn’t asked him not to take such liberties. Granted, the first kiss, she’d been asleep. Then he’d caught her by surprise the next two times. But that last one, when his lips had touched hers…It had taken all his control not to grab her around the waist, pull her against his body, and kiss her like he’d dreamed of doing. Long, hard, and deep.
His commander cleared his throat loudly, and when MacGyver looked at him, he realized he’d spaced out there for a moment. He nodded at his superior officer and pushed his carnal thoughts about his wife to the back of his mind. Okay, maybe shewasfully distracting him. He needed to concentrate. And he couldn’t do that if he was thinking about how good Addy would feel against him, under him.
Jesus. There he went again. He was like a teenage fucking kid again. Unable to think about anything but sex. When and if the time was right, he’d let Addy know how he felt about her. How hereallyfelt about her.
It was difficult not to simply say “yes” when Ellory had asked if he loved her mom. Maybe someday he’d be able to say the words to Addy’s face. To let the world know exactly how he felt about his wife. That he hadn’t married her simply to make it easier to adopt Artem, Borysko, and Yana. But for now, he’d bide his time.
First, they needed to get through the party at Wolf’s house, then Ellory’s medical procedure, then their first deployment together, meeting his parents and siblings, and whatever else might arise. If all that went okay, he’d slowly begin letting Addy know that he wanted a real marriage. That he wanted to hold her against him all night, instead of simply sleeping beside her. That she meant more to him than a means to an end.
No mission had ever been more important than winning Addy. Than making her his wife in all the ways that mattered.
* * *
Addison wiped her brow with the sleeve of her shirt and smiled at the cake she’d just finished decorating. Two down and one to go. Baking the cake was the easy part; making sure it looked perfect and was just what the client wanted was the more difficult job. The most rewarding part was the gasp of delight that her customers let out when they first saw their cakes. It made all the hard work worth it. And when they shared pictures of their cakes on social media? That was validation of the blood, sweat, and tears she put into making each one perfect. It also didn’t hurt that she usually got a few inquiries from each post from potential new clients.
And Ricky’s kitchen made her job so much easier. She’d made do with her kitchen in the apartment she’d shared with Ellory. But Ricky’s kitchen was a baker’s dream come true. She had double the counter space, so she could spread out and do more than one thing at a time. There was room for a blast chiller, which was vital to help cool cakes fast, so she could get them decorated in half the time it had taken her in the past. The first cake was already in its box on the counter, waiting for pickup, and the second would join it shortly.
