Page 72 of Protecting Addison
“I’ve got her,” Dude said, immediately jogging toward her.
“He has a soft spot for girls,” Remi said. Then she whispered, “And I heard through the grapevine that he’s a dominant.”
“A what?” Addison asked.
“A Dom. As in, dominant and submissive? I bet that man is lethal in bed.”
“Remi!” Addison scolded. “You’re with Kevlar.”
“I am. But that doesn’t mean I can’t look. And I can’t help where my mind goes. When Vincent gets all bossy with me in bed, it’s hot.Thatman being bossy in bed? I think I’d pee myself with fright…or pass out from lust.”
Addison couldn’t help but chuckle at that. And Remi wasn’t wrong. Dude had a certain dangerous air about him. Even Ellory had picked up on it. It wasn’t a stretch to believe that he was into the dominant aspects of BDSM. His wife, Cheyenne, was clearly a lucky woman.
They watched as Dude picked up Yana, then sat right there in the dirt and cuddled her. He kissed her little hand and brushed dirt off her knees. Addison glanced over at Brady, whose lip was curled in derision as he watched the same scene.
Both men were fathers, but one was obviously head and shoulders above the other.
She thought about what Dude had said and wondered why Brady was here. What his end goal could be. She wasn’t sure he wanted to be a father, not a real one. So why was he going through the motions with Ellory?
She suddenly realized her daughter looked uncomfortable as she sat next to Brady. She wouldn’t look at him and her body was twisted slightly away. Addison wondered what she’d missed. What had her ex said to their daughter while Addison and Remi were talking?
“Everything all right?” she asked, stepping closer to the duo on the bench.
“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” Brady asked gruffly.
“Ellory?” Addison asked, not caring what Brady said, needing reassurance from her daughter that she was okay.
“We’re good,” she said softly.
“We were just talking about her thing. You know, her disease. I did some research. Wanted to know what she could and couldn’t eat, and what happened if she ate something like a fast-food burger.”
Addison winced. First, fast food was horrible for Ellory. All the fat and grease didn’t do her insides any favors. But secondly, the last thing her daughter would want to talk about was her Crohn’s. It was hard enough that she had to deal with diarrhea, gas, enemas, and everything else that came with the disease. Talking about all of it with someone else she didn’t know well? No, not high on Ellory’s list of what she wanted to do.
“Ellory, why don’t you tell your dad about the play you’re involved in.”
“You’re acting? That’s awesome!”
“No, I’m the lighting director. I’m responsible for managing all the lights for the play.”
“Oh,” Brady said, his disappointment easy to hear.
Addison’s hands fisted. Ellory had worked hard all semester to learn how to run the lighting board, and she’d been so proud of herself. As she watched her daughter’s shoulders slump, Addison’s anger at her ex grew.
“Got any dances coming up?” Brady asked. “They were the highlight of my school years. You’re too young for prom, but maybe some other formal thing where you can dress up? You could wear heels. That would give you a few more inches.”
“She’s only in seventh grade,” Addison reminded him.
“So? I remember going to a few dances in middle school.”
“I’m not interested in those,” Ellory said.
“Right. Well, I need to get going,” Brady said as he fake-looked at his wristwatch. “It was nice seeing you, Ellory. Maybe we can do this again soon without the watchdogs.” Then he stood and headed for his car without a backward glance.
“Nice,” Remi muttered.
But Addison’s attention was on her daughter. Ellory hadn’t even looked up when her father walked away.
“I’ll just go see how Yana is,” Remi offered, backing up and letting mother and daughter have a few moments alone.
