Addison froze. Her nostrils flared and little sparks of anger ignited in her eyes. “Are you asking me ifI’m whoring myself out for my friend’s case?” she asked.
He held his hands in the air. “You’re the one who said you’d do whatever you had to do.”
“And you thought that meant...” She snapped her mouth shut and lowered her head. Tears filled her eyes. Uh-oh, she was taking this too far in her head and Jake was going to get the brunt of her drama.
“Blowfish, Addie,” Asher said.
In an attemptto minimize the collateral damage, I said, “I think you need to go, Jake,”
“Yeah, I think that’s a really good idea,” Addison said quietly. Lethally.
He reached out to her. “Addison, I—”
She turned her back to him and gave me a bolstering smile while smoke drifted out of her ears. “How are you feeling, honey? Can I get you anything?”
“No, Addie, I’m okay,” I said. Jake needed to get the hellout before she blew and rained fiery death down on the room.
“Addison,” Jake started again.
She opened her mouth and lava spewed forth. “I think it would be a good idea for you to leave now. I’d rather not say anything I might regret... plus, you apparently can’t pay my exorbitant rates, so I’ll find another schmuck.” She faced him again. “Besides, I get the impression you wouldn’t be that greatin bed. If I’m going to whore myself out to get information from you about my friend’s case, I’d like to at least enjoy it.”
It might have been the drugs, or maybe the shocked look on Jake’s face, but I couldn’t stop a surprised giggle. “Addie!” I admonished. So much for her not wanting to say something she’d regret.
Asher released my hand and stepped to the foot of the bed. “I think we’re donehere, Jake.” He gestured toward the door. “Come on. I’ll walk you out.”
The two of them left, and as soon as the door shut, Addison broke down. I scooted over to make room for her on my bed, and she sat beside me. Ignoring the stars dancing behind my eyes when I sat up, I wrapped her in a hug and let her cry on my shoulder.
“What a dick,” she said.
I just hummed my agreement in order to calmher. What could I say? Addison was like the sun. You come into her orbit and you’re warmed and loaded up with vitamin D... but sometimes, if you get too close, you’re burnt to ash. She’s easy to look at, likable, funny, and men flock to her, but she doesn’t suffer fools. She just doesn’t have the time.
In my opinion, Jake was her match. He was strong enough to handle her and didn’t let her pushhim around, so she respected him. But I couldn’t imagine it was easy for him... a working-class man on a cop’s salary getting noticed by one of the richest women in the world. Of course he’d be questioning her motives. What the hell could he possibly offer her?
I got it, because I’d asked myself the same question years ago when she’d befriended me. My dad only made it worse when he took one lookat Addison and called me her “project.” He never could believe that Addison didn’t play games. She liked people for who they were, regardless of their tax bracket or whatever image they could give her.
When she was done raging, she pulled away to wipe mascara from her cheeks and wash her hands.
“I’m sure Jake didn’t mean it,” I said.
She frowned. “He said it.”
“Yeah, but we’re all a little...emotional. On edge. Juiced on adrenaline. It’s been a rough day.”
Addison tossed a paper towel in the trash and turned on me, fresh tears welling in her eyes. “You could have been killed today.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t. And on the bright side, now we know why those guys are after me. Jake is going to track down whatever money they’re after and clear my name. And that’s awesome.”
She sighed. “You’renot allowed to go anywhere alone, ever again.”
“Ever again” was stretching it, but I’d been shaken up by today’s events enough to agree to buddy shopping for the foreseeable future.
“Deal,” I said. But my friend needed some serious cheering up, so I added, “But only if you promise to stop whoring yourself out for me.”
She looked sideways at me before shaking her head and cracking a smile.“That man. Can you believe he asked me that? I’m probably going to have to kill him.”
I nodded. The pain medicine they were feeding me through my IV was making me a little loopy, so I gave her what felt like a goofy grin, and sang, “Do you wanna hide a body?”
She giggled. “If you ever scare me like that again, I’ll be hiding your body.”
I gave her a mock salute. “Ten four, boss.”
