Chapter 8

The next morning, she met her friend Phoebe for brunch. The tall and leggy raven-haired beauty towered over as she reached down to give her a hug. “I was starving, so I went ahead and ordered. You’ve lost weight. Tell me everything,” she demanded.

Addilyn laughed and sat down at the expensive cafe. They had a table overlooking the river, and the early afternoon sun glittered on the surface. Phoebe was the type of woman who always tested the boundaries, and today she wore a classy pink dress that fit her slim body with cute little cap sleeves, but it had a slit in the skirt that dared to go just a little too high. Addilyn was envious of her friend’s freedom. She’d never let someone tell her who she could and couldn’t see.

“I’ve just been a little stressed over the new album, and I feel like I’ve been working non-stop on it. I may have forgotten to eat a few meals.”

“You’re lying to me,” Phoebe demanded with narrow eyes. “You never lie to me. What is going on?”

Glancing around to make sure that there were no reporters or photographers hiding at any of the nearby tables. “I’ve been working with Kade Hardy,” she admitted.

“Hmm,” Phoebe mused. “I think I heard a rumor about that. It doesn’t explain your weight loss unless you’ve been spending meal time snacking on him.”

Addilyn sighed. “Gia says he has a reputation for sleeping with female artists, and the chemistry between us is so hot that I’m pretty sure one of us is going to combust, but other than one mind-blowing kiss, he’s kept me at arm’s length.”

The waiter returned with a couple of mimosas. Phoebe sipped hers and stared at Addilyn over the top. “Do you want to have a dirty affair with Kade?”

“Did you have to call it dirty?”

“I’ve seen pictures of that man. I doubt he does anything that isn’t dirty. He’s also not the kind of man that you have a relationship with. You do understand that, right?”

Addilyn wrinkled her nose. “I’m not secretly hoping that he’ll fall in love with me if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Really?” her friend raised an eyebrow. “Addilyn, you don’t have affairs. You barely date. In fact, I don’t think we’ve ever had a conversation about you and a man before unless it’s me telling you to get laid. Forgive me I’m concerned about this new interest of yours. I mean, I think you need a little action. It would do you good. I’m just not so sure you should have it with Kade Hardy. That man could be a little too hot to handle.”

“Well, hopefully, you’re going to get your wish. Peter hit the roof when he found out. He thinks I’m already sleeping with him. He practically forbid it.”

Phoebe sat the champagne glass down and frowned. “Is this just about a little rebellion? I’d be happy to set you up with someone who isn’t going to cause some much public attention.”

Addilyn wrinkled her nose. “It’s not that. Phoebe, I need to do something for me, and this is it. I don’t follow through on impulses. My life is disciplined and bland, and that’s insane because I travel the world. I don’t want to sleep with Kade to rebel. I want to do it because I’ve never wanted a man the way that I want him.”

“Are you prepared for the fallout?”

“There isn’t going to be one because this isn’t about a relationship. This is just about a few months of nothing but fun and pleasure. Plus I’m dying to see him lose a little bit of control.”

“And if he’s not as honorable?”

“Honorable?” Addilyn laughed. “Are you listening? I’m not looking for a wedding ring.”

“But you clearly want to keep this quiet. What if he doesn’t? What if he wants to use the publicity and scandal of an affair to get more attention?”

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. The thought had occurred to her, but it wasn’t something that she wanted to entertain. “If he wanted to use me like that, he would have seduced me. Instead, I feel like I’m seducing him, and I rather like it. Besides, he’s a family man. Did your tabloids tell you that?”

“Family man? I hardly think so.” She laughed like it was the most unbelievable thing she’d ever heard.

“Well, apparently he managed to keep many things discreet despite the press. It’s true. He has an eleven-year-old daughter.”

“Lord, I had no idea. ” Phoebe fanned herself. “ Just promise me that you’ll be careful and that you’ll bail the minute it looks like things might get complicated. Especially where there’s a kid involved. I bet he keeps her on the down low, so she doesn’t ruin his chances. Now I know why it never works out. What if he’s looking for a mommy? Maybe we’re all wrong about him.” She sipped her drink and gave a wink over the rim of her glass.

“I doubt that.” She tried to push aside those thoughts and focused on her seducing him. It was a much more appealing thought. She couldn’t imagine herself as a mother to an eleven-year-old.

The waiter returned with their food and sat the plates down. Addilyn stared at the two heaping plates of pancakes. “You really are hungry, huh?”

“You need to gain some weight back, and I am just here to support you,” Phoebe winked and dug in. Feeling better than she had in days, Addilyn did just the same.

They spent some time shopping. Phoebe insisted that Addilyn needed some sexy flannel shirts and a pair of short jean shorts, but Addilyn ignored her. She did indulge in a few sexy shirts and a pair of tight jeans. Her friend teases her about whether she was shopping for herself or the man she wanted in her bed, and Addilyn had to admit that she did like the way Kade had looked at her yesterday.

That afternoon, as she was lugging the bags to her condo, her phone rang. Recognizing her mother’s ringtone, she groaned and dropped the bags as she dug in her purse for her phone.

“Hello?” she asked hastily as she bent down to gather her things. Her keys fell.

“Hi Addilyn, it’s your mother!”

“I know, Mom. We’ve talked about this before. You live in a world of caller ID.” She loved her mother, but the woman just couldn’t catch on to technology.

“What is all that racket?”

Groaning, she dug through the bags. “Nothing. I dropped my keys. Aha!” Triumphant, she snagged them out of the bag and opened her door. Nudging the bags in with her feet, she closed the door and sighed.

“Sweetheart, you should not be dropping your keys. You live in a dangerous city, and you could use your keys to defend yourself. You can hold them between your knuckles and use them to poke someone in the eye if they attack you.”

Addilyn decided not to mention that her mace and high-pitched panic alarm would probably work better. “I’ll try to remember that, Mom. How was bingo night? Did you win anything?”

“Your father won a gift certificate to Cheddars. I think he’s going to take me this weekend.”

Shaking, her head, Addilyn couldn’t help but smile. She’d paid off her parents loans and paid for a standing reservation at the nicest retirement center in the state of Illinois, but her parents didn’t want to move. She had no idea what they did with the money that she sent them every month, but she suspected that they simply put it into a saving’s account. No matter how successful she grew, her parents never changed, and that always helped ground her.

Part of the reason that she’d so fiercely protected her image after she’d reached stardom was that she hadn’t wanted to disappoint her family. They were middle-class, but they worked hard for their money. They paid for her singing classes, and they paid for her college. Addilyn would never be where she was today without her parents, and she wanted to honor them for that.

“That sounds great. You should totally have some cheese fries and think of me.”

“Lottie showed me some pictures today and said that you were seeing someone. Is that true?”

Lottie was her parent’s nosey next-door neighbor, and she loved to gossip. Normally, Addilyn would just brush it off, but Lottie’s gossip was always rooted in some kind of truth. “Pictures?’ Addilyn echoed as she put her mother on speakerphone. Googling her name, she groaned when she saw the most recent pictures. Someone had caught her outside of Kade’s home last week. The night of the kiss.

“Oh, that?” Addilyn tried to laugh it off. “Mom, that’s Kade. I’ve been working with him for the past several months on my new album. He’s a songwriter.”

“He’s very handsome, Addilyn. I get worried about you, sweetheart. I know that you love your music, but I also want you to enjoy your life.”

“I’m fine, Mom. Really. Kade and I are just friends, and I promise that when the right man comes along, it’ll all work out. Now, whenever Lottie starts talking about me, I want you to tune it out. I warned you before that the media can jump to conclusions and be judgmental.”

Her mom sighed loudly on the other end of the line. “I know, darling. You’ve told me before.”

“Mom, I’ve got to go. I have an event tonight that I need to get ready for. How about I call you tomorrow, and we can video chat?”

“Your father would love that! Have fun tonight, and be safe.”

“I will. I love you, Mom.” Laughing at her mother, she hung up and shook her head. If there were actual power in the warning that her mother gave her, she’d be the safest woman in all of New York.

She felt guilty lying to her mother, but some plans needed to stay a secret. She had no intentions of telling her mother that she’d planned on seducing her songwriter tonight. That just needlessly opened up a can of words.

Carrying the bags to her large closet, she bit her lower lip when she looked at the dress that she’d hung up yesterday afternoon. If she had her way, Kade would lose his mind when he saw her.

And hopefully just a little of that tightly wound control.