Page 29 of Driven to Love

Addison trusted her friends with her life, but could she trust them to pick her dates? Good question. She’d find out soon. Time to change the subject. “Where’s Cade today?”

“He and Nash were going to the park, something about a ball game tonight.”

Ugh! She’d had enough baseball for a while.

But the mention of Nash had her cringing. Typical of his type. Always hanging with the bros or working out. It was all about them.

No. Don’t think about him tonight. The last thing she needed when trying to find the right man was having Nash Steele on her mind.

“It’s okay, Cade knows nothing about flowers. But have no fear, he’s been involved in other parts of the planning. We’re going cake tasting in a couple of weeks.”

Laney must have misinterpreted Addison’s scowl. “I didn’t mean—”

“Hey, at least he’s doing something.” Marti laughed. “My brother didn’t even do that for his wedding. My sister-in-law, my mother, and I planned the whole thing.”

“Cut him some slack. He was stationed overseas at the time, wasn’t he?” Laney asked.

“True. I’ll give him that.” Marti and her brother had a competitive relationship, but she loved him more than anything. “But when I get married someday, I’ll elope. No way I could sit through flower and cake appointments with my mom. You guys would need to lend me bail money.”

Addison laughed. Marti’s mother was an army wife for years and a country girl through and through. Marti may have been on a farm since middle school, but she was anything but a farm girl. Addison dreamed of the day she and her mother could plan her wedding. They were the best of friends. With a little luck, it would happen before her mom needed a walker to get around.

A loud chime rang in her ears. Anxiety coiled around her ribs, tighter with each tick of her internal clock. She downed the last of her wine. Time to go for broke. “Okay. Tell me about Frank.”

The next week at work, Addison played a game of dodge and duck every time Nash was in view. She’d done a fairly good job of avoiding him until Friday.

“We will see you next Tuesday at ten,” she said into the phone.

The door between the shop and the office opened. Attention on her monitor, she didn’t need to look up to know it was him. Her thighs quivered. They didn’t do that for anyone else.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nash glance into Eric’s empty office before shifting his focus back to her. He waited until she had ended the call. “Hey, do you know when Eric will be back?”

“He’s out for the rest of the day. Something about a ‘53 Buick.”

“Okay. I’ll check with Cade.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

“Yes? Can I help you with something?” Cade had slipped into the manager role whenever Eric was out of the office. So why was Nash staring at her?

“How was your date?”

“Fine.” Liar. It was anything but fine, but she wouldn’t tell him that.

“Really. You should tell your face.” He circled a finger in her direction.

Shit. His sexy smirk appeared. No man should look that good when he was being an ass.

“Are you going out with him again this weekend?”

“I have a date tonight.”

“With him?”

“No.” She spoke through gritted teeth.

That damn smile spread. Now his dimples were on full display.

“What about you? Taking some sultry redhead out tonight? Maybe a cool blonde?” Casually, she picked up her water bottle and took a sip, hoping it covered her heated cheeks.

“Nope. Staying in with a brunette. And it’s a he, not a she.”