Addison didn’t even have to worry about getting back before Clair’s bedtime. They were staying in a two-room suite so Clair could go to the room she shared with Addison whenever she was ready for bed.
Except for the time they were spending with his brothers and Kelli, this would be the most time all at once Addison and AJ would spend together yet. Addison was looking forward to it, so she decided to focus on that instead. The excitement was already whirling away inside her.
Kelli met her downstairs in her car. “Hello,” Kelli said, smiling as Addison got in her car. “Nice to see you again. Don’t worry; your secret is safe with me.”
Addison nodded, smiling pleasantly and feeling silly that at her age she was technically sneaking off with her boyfriend. “Thanks. It probably won’t be too much longer before I tell my parents. It’s my daughter I want to hold off telling for a bit longer.”
To Addison’s surprise, Kelli reached over and patted her leg. “You have no idea how much respect I have for you because of that.” She brought her hand back to the wheel as they came to a stop. “Most women would be dying to flaunt the fact that they’re dating AJ Romero. I’m glad you’re thinking of your daughter first. It’s how it should be. Sadly, most parents don’t. I know my dad didn’t. He brought every single bimbo he dated around my brothers and me when we were younger. I hated it.” She turned and smiled genuinely at Addison. “In your case, I can tell your daughter already loves AJ. But it’s good that you’re still being cautious. I commend you for that.”
“Thanks,” Addison said, not sure if that was the right response. “What about you and Nathan?” she asked, wanting to get off the subject of her and AJ’s relationship. “AJ said it’s been a couple of months. Are you two getting serious?”
“It hasn’t been that long,” Kelli said, staring straight ahead as she drove. “I’ve known him for a couple of months, but I didn’t actually start going out with him until just a few weeks ago. I wasn’t even gonna come out here this weekend because I didn’t want him to get the idea that things are that serious.” She shrugged, glancing at Addison. “I’ve been burned before, you know? I’m trying to play it safe and take things slow.” She stared ahead again. “I, uh . . . was coming out this way anyway for a little thing my brother’s having tomorrow, so when I was able to get the day off today at the last minute, I decided to meet Nathan today after all.”
Addison nodded, a bit curious. “You work on the weekends? What do you do?”
“Cosmetology.” She turned and smiled at Addison proudly. “I own and run my own salon. Two actually.”
“Oh, wow,” Addison said, completely impressed. “You look too young to own your own business much less two.”
Kelli explained about her dad pretty much buying her the first salon to make up to her for a lot of the “shitty” things she had to deal with growing up. It did so well she opened up another just a year later.
“So did you just close them for the weekend?” Addison asked, confused about her getting the day off at the last minute.
“Oh, no”—Kelli shook her head—“I have plenty of other stylists who run the place when I’m not around. We stay really busy.”
“You said it’s in La Jolla?”
“Yes,” Kelli said, smiling brightly. “Right in La Jolla Village. Pinks with the big pink P.”
Addison’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah, I’ve seen the place. Driven by it many times actually.”
“Yep, that’s it.” Kelli said as they drove slowly through traffic. “The first one anyway. The second one is a little further north in Carmel.”
Ringing interrupted the music that had been playing softly over the speakers. The words “Incoming call from Gilbert” popped up on the screen of Kelli’s dashboard. Kelli frowned, turning into a smaller street off to the side of the main one they were on. She hit the transfer to handset button as she pulled over and stopped the car.
“Sorry, I have to take this,” she said, bringing her phone to her ear. “Hey,” she said into her phone as Addison glanced out the window at the Korean restaurant they’d parked in front of.
“No, I can’t.”
Addison did her best to not eavesdrop or at least appear to not be following every word of Kelli’s conversation with Gilbert, but it was hard not to. She could even hear the voice of the guy on the phone; though she couldn’t make out what he was saying. Still, based on all of Kelli’s responses, it was easy enough to figure it out.
“Because I’m in Los Angeles. I’m out here for the Dodger-Padres series . . . with a friend . . . you don’t know her . . . because it’s none of your business, Gilbert.”
Kelli glanced at Addison and smiled nervously. Addison wondered if she should pretend she needed to make a phone call and step out of the car to give Kelli some privacy. Instead, she glanced down, pretending to busy herself on her phone.
“Addison.” Addison glanced up at Kelli in response to hearing her name, but Kelli shook her head, pointing to the phone then continued. “That’s because you’ve never met her. I went to school with her . . . no high school . . . uh huh . . . What? Well, what did he say?” Kelli paused for a moment then noticeably lowered her voice. “Tell him I’ll call him but I can’t now. Tell him to please give me an hour or so. Tell him he’ll also see me tomorrow. I’ll book the first flight I can get on. But it probably won’t be until first thing in the morning. Okay . . . okay, I will. I promise.”
Addison smiled just as timidly as Kelli did when she hung up. Halfway through the call she wondered why Kelli hadn’t just taken the call via her speakers and spoken as she drove.
Even if there was something Kelli was trying to avoid Addison hearing, it’s not like she hadn’t gotten the entire gist of the conversation. Though that wasn’t the only thing she was curious about now.
The first of her curiosities was satisfied as soon as Kelli hung up and started back on the road. “Overbearing brothers,” she’d said with a nervous chuckle. “I haven’t told my family about Nathan yet, so if I’d told him I was out here with a guy, he would’ve followed up with a million questions. But my lying skills are seriously lacking, so, of course, when he insisted on knowing the name of my friend, I couldn’t come up with a single one but yours. Sorry.”
“No worries,” Addison assured her.
She was still curious about a few other things such as what was that thing at her brother’s tomorrow she said made her decide to come out to Los Angeles last minute and where was she flying out to tomorrow, which she apparently decided to do just now? But it was none of her business, and Addison had made such an effort to appear to not be listening, if she asked, it’d all be for nothing.
“I think this is the place,” Kelli said as they drove into the valet area of a swanky-looking steakhouse. She glanced down at her phone before unlocking the door for the valet attendant. “Yeah, this is it,” she said, hitting the unlock button.
Both doors were opened by attendants, and the girls headed around the corner to the front entrance. The catcalling and whistles made them look up, and AJ and Nathan were looking down from the patio where they were leaning over the rail with big smiles.
Addison breathed in deeply, just seeing the huge smile on AJ’s face. “We got a table up here. It’s under Romero. They’ll escort you up.”
Kelli turned to Addison, her brows furrowing. “Wasn’t Isaiah supposed to be here too? I hope Nathan didn’t ditch him on account of me showing up.”
“AJ specifically said we were having an early dinner with his brothers,” Addison explained.
That seemed to soften the troubled expression on Kelli’s face. AJ’s lips were on Addison’s the moment she entered the private patio area where their table was located. As it turned out, Isaiah was there with them.