21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

~ Addi ~

I twisted my lip as I paced back and forth, watching the cars pull up to the pier. It was a quiet night, so there wasn't a lot of traffic out this way. I couldn't help but wonder if he wasn't going to show. I mean, maybe he didn't feel the way I did.

If he didn't, well, lesson learned, and I'll move on. All I could do, right? Wasn't going to force a man to be with me, no matter what. Even if my heart was begging for him to come back.

Yes, my heart. I was finally listening to it.

It wasn't like I wanted to believe I got that whole thing wrong.

Ugh, where the fuck was he?

I turned around as I heard a squeal of tires and turned to look at the car, then saw him rush out, and ran onto the boat. He came right over to me, his hands cupping my cheeks, and he pulled me to him, kissing me deeply.

This was heaven.

This was perfect.

This was right.

After several moments, he pulled back and rested his forehead against mine, a smile on his lips. One I easily returned.

"What happened?"

"Let's sit down," I said. I stepped out of his embrace and took a seat on the bench, taking his hand within mine as we stared out at the water for a moment. "I couldn't represent her anymore."

"But she's just giving up. She's not fighting me. With anybody. So, what did you say?"

"I guess that means she listened. When we got back home and I went back to work, I looked over the files. Spent six days just staring at them, not computing anything. I knew then that I couldn't go through with it. I couldn't listen to her lies when I had already seen the truth for weeks.

"I called her in, and I told her I ran into you while on vacation. She went on to berate you for a good few minutes. I let her vent before I straight-faced told her I was done being her lawyer. That if she was going to move forward with this case that she needed a new lawyer. She asked what spell you had cast, and I frowned.

"I told her that you were an asshole of epic proportions, that you could piss me off to the extreme, but you weren't a user, or a womanizer. That you weren't a lot of things she claimed. I also told her that if she went public with all of this, that it would be slander and I would easily take her to court on your behalf for defamation of character.

"Which, I followed it up with the last bit of lawyer advice I could give her. I told her that I went over the prenup, that I looked at the years of marriage, and found that she stood to get absolutely nothing. You did nothing wrong, and because of the grounds of the divorce, it was on her. The prenup was tight and solid and she was only going to hurt herself moving forward."

"That's it?"

"Well, I might have told her one final thing. That this witch really was done fighting for her because she had turned into a princess. Maybe that was the spell that was cast after all."

~ James ~

I couldn't help it. I threw my head back and laughed.

There was no spell, and I had no special powers. But I rather liked the thought of being able to turn this tough witch into a princess. At least, my princess. Have to admit that on top of liking it, it's one thought that kind of makes me hot and bothered.

"Basically, you decided I wasn't a bad guy and had the change of heart in bringing me way down, is what you're saying?"

"Well, not put like that. I just went over everything and decided not to lose, geez. Give a man a statement and he gets a huge ego or something!"

I chuckled once more over the change of tune. Things with her would never be boring.

"What does this mean for us, Addison?"

She took a deep breath, and I felt my heart start beating in time with hers.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you, James. When I walked off that boat, my heart stayed with you. I wasn't sure what I was going to do or what I was able to do, but I knew that I was going to be lost without you."

I pushed a strand of hair that had fallen away from her ponytail behind her ear and nodded.

"I fell in love with you a while ago. Your picture is on my wall, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do if you decided to actually take me to court. I think because it was you, and you being the only counsel, I would have given anything she wanted to make you happy and win the case."

"That sounds really bad, Mr. McKenzie. Kind of sounds like we were sneaking around or something."

"We weren't sneaking, but the idea does have some merit and a kink to it."

She smacked my chest before placing her lips against mine once more.

"I don't ever want to walk away again."

"Then don't, you stubborn woman. Good grief, Addi, no one told you to. You didn't know that I was yours? I mean, I know you're hardheaded, but this was taken it just a bit far, don't you think?"

I watched with fascination as her eyes narrowed and her nose flared. God, this woman was so fucking stunning when she was pissed off. And I get to poke her for now until the end of time. Because I let her go once, stupidest move ever, and I sure wasn't going to make it again.

"James, I swear-"

"What?" I asked, cutting her off. "You'll toss me overboard or something?"

"Or something."

I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against my chest, kissing the top of her head. She snuggled right in, and everything felt right in my world once more.

"So, this dinner cruise."

"Yeah, what about it?" she asked.

"Are you going to be feeding me?"

"Oh my gosh, you dirty womanizer!" She rolled her eyes and shook her head, but I could hear the grin in her voice. "At least this time, I'm making the choice to go Cruising With The Enemy."