If he was watching out the window while she stormed down the front walk and to her car, she didn’t want him to see weakness.
Who was she kidding? He’d probably already forgotten about her.
While she’d had the best sex of her life, and finally felt connected to another human being, he was probably brushing her off like a piece of lint. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t get hordes of women if he wanted to. Between his wealth and his looks, she was surprised he wasn’t constantly tripping over them.
At her car, she slid into the driver’s seat then let loose a flood of tears. It hurt that he didn’t want her help anymore, that he saw no value in her. Had he ever really intended to consider her for their group at all, or had he been stringing her along? He thought of her as a liability instead of an asset. But mostly, it hurt that he’d let her walk away.
God, the things she’d let him do to her. She felt a blush heat her neck and burn her cheeks. She’d submitted to him so much further than she’d ever meant to, thinking they shared some special connection. To him she was probably just a convenient piece of ass. It was humiliating, but he’d gotten even deeper into her head than he had into her body.
She squealed out of his driveway and headed to her parent’s house. Her roommate, Mariella, was at work at the fabric store and sitting alone in her apartment meant she’d eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s while hugging pillows embroidered with inspirational sayings.
At least her parents would be a distraction. Maybe Gran was there and Addison would get her priorities straight again.
Make money. Save Gran and Gramps.
Not fall for bossy men who tied her up and gave her the best orgasms of her life. Ugh. She should’ve known he’d try to control her, to take over her life. They always did. Maybe she was submissive—to some people—but she was also a free spirit. Nobody was going to control her. Nobody was allowed to dictate her life.
Hard limit!
More tears fell, blurring her view of the road. She wiped them with the back of her hand. She was still mad at herself for thinking he’d really let her into the group. God, and here she’d been thinking he respected her!
Idiot.
As she replayed things in her mind, she was more and more convinced their whole tenuous relationship had been a crush on her part and nothing to him. A few flirty comments and two fucking fantastic nights in bed and she’d been hooked. Even made them chicken salad sandwiches and homemade brownies!
She really needed to guard her heart better.
After fifteen minutes of arguing with herself, she finally pulled into her parents’ driveway. She checked her face in the mirror to make sure it wasn’t blotchy then stepped out of the car. Only then did she notice the sign on the front lawn.
South Vegas Real Estate.
What? Panic twisted in her chest. What the fuck? They had put their house on the market already?
“Shit.” She overrode the urge to yank the stupid sign up out of the lawn and throw it away, and ran up the path to the door. She pushed it open, calling for her parents at the same time.
“In here,” her mom answered from the dining room.
Addison followed her voice and found her at the dinner table, organizing her dozen arts and crafts boxes. Were they planning to move already? No way.
“You’re early,” her mom remarked, placing a stack of colored paper in a plastic bin. “Dinner isn’t for hours.”
“You put the house on the market?” she nearly shouted. “Why?”
Her mom canted her head to the side with a frown. “We had to. Gran’s health is making it hard for her to get back and forth to the nursing home, and she’s just not sleeping well.”
“I can help!” she lied. Not really. Not yet. But soon. She just needed a little more time.
Marilyn tsked. “It’s not your place, Addy.”
Great. She was using her childhood nickname. Did anyone respect her anymore?
“Your dad and I can handle it,” she continued. “You need to focus on your studies and not worry about us.”
Yeah right. She was worried as hell about them and Gran. How could she not be? These were the people who’d raised her, loved her unconditionally her whole life. Her parents didn’t deserve to lose their home, and her Grandma didn’t deserve to lose her husband. She had to find a way to fix this.
Her emotions were already spinning out of control—courtesy of a certain animal-named jerk—so when tears pricked her eyes again, she couldn’t hold them back. Her mom rushed to her and pulled her into a hug.
“Ohhh, sweetheart,” she crooned in Addison’s ear. “It’s okay. It’s just a house. We’ll be fine.”