“Complicated love.”
She placed the magazine in Dean’s door, before closing it. Turning toward Shaun, she gave him a little twirl. “Do I look good enough for this?” she asked.
“To me you’ll always be, Addie.”
“Our parents are going to hate me.”
“You’re a bestseller. I know Paula has had a lot of offers for you to host your own television series.”
“Everything is crazy right now, and our parents could ruin everything.”
“I won’t let them.” He cupped her cheek, tilting her head back.
“How can you stop them?”
“They can cause problems for us, Addie, but we can cut them out.”
Addison laughed.
“What’s the matter, baby?”
“It’s just so simple, and I can’t believe I’ve never thought about it before.”
“Cutting them off?”
“They’re our parents.”
“We don’t need them anymore. We’re meeting them tonight because they’re our parents. We can walk away at any time.”
Licking her lips, Addison stared at his chest and noticed his tie was a little crooked. “What about us?”
“What about us?”
“We walk away from them, then we can walk away from each other.”
“No. I’m not walking away, nor am I giving up. We’re in this for life. You can’t tell me you want to walk away from what we have?”
“I don’t want to walk away.”
“Then don’t even think about walking away. We can do this together, as a team, Addie. They’re just our parents.”
“Just our parents? You make it sound so easy.”
Shaun sighed. “I got you a gift.”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“I’m not. Yes, I am, but you’ll see the point I’m making.” He released her long enough to pull out of his jacket a long, slender rectangular box.
“What is this?”
“It’s a present for getting on the bestsellers list with an amazing cookbook, being an amazing wife, and for giving us a chance.”
She opened the box to see a charm bracelet lying in the velvet. “I still don’t understand.”
“I bought you this bracelet, Addie. I’m not controlled by my parents, and we can make the decisions ourselves. If I was controlled, I wouldn’t be able to celebrate your success. We’re two independent people. We can make our own path without them.”
“I feel such a fool,” she said.