Addy And The Smart Guy (Big Girl Panties #3)

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Other Works by Carter Ashby

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Carter Ashby is a hardworking housewife and homeschool

  Addy And The Smart Guy

  Carter Ashby

  Copyright © 2015 Carter Ashby

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Digital Edition. Personal use rights only. No part of this publication may be sold, copied, distributed, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means mechanical or digital, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Cover Design by Quirky Bird

  http://quirky-bird.com

  Connect with the author

  www.carterashby.com

  ISBN: 1508547874

  ISBN-13: 978-1508547877

  Other Works by Carter Ashby:

  Without You Here

  Not A Chance

  Big Girl Panties Trilogy

  Zoey And The Nice Guy (#1)

  Maya And The Tough Guy (#2)

  To my husband and children.

  CHAPTER ONE

  2 years ago

  For the first time since meeting Dr. Greyson McDaniel, Addy found her body responding to a different man. She'd begun to despair that she'd die alone because she couldn't stop loving a man she couldn't have. She'd feared that her taste in men was so specific she could only be satisfied by tall, intellectual men with piercing blue eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses, and long, dishwater blond hair falling into their faces all the time.

  But then Joel swooped in, dressed in workout clothes, a soccer ball under one arm, fresh off a friendly game on one of the nearby fields. He'd been walking toward the dorms, and Addy had been walking away from them. Addy, dressed in her usual pencil skirt, blouse, and tight ponytail, wouldn't even have looked at him if he hadn't stopped dead in front of her and said, "Wow."

  Addy had looked up then.

  Joel had smiled the most charming, toothy smile she'd ever seen. "You look like Marian the Librarian. Except, you know, not blond."

  At which point Addy returned his smile in full force. Anyone who could reference old movies had an immediate shot at her heart. "And you look like trouble with a capital T," she'd replied.

  That night, the two of them had ended up in a bar, drinking and singing show-tunes badly. It was the most fun she'd had in years.

  Now, as she sat in her last class for the day, she couldn't help thinking about the next date.

  She already knew Joel's intellect was somewhat wanting. Sometimes she had to repeat things using smaller words. But he was a film major and a soccer player, was very sweet, and had an incredibly gorgeous body. As Professor McDaniel finished his lecture, Addy found her thoughts wandering to Joel, wondering if he'd be shirtless when they went out with his friends on a boat ride tonight.

  At the sound of the bell, Addy packed up her bag and stood, then stopped. Joel was walking in the door, searching for her. As soon as he saw her, he beamed, brought her a red rose—cheesy but sweet—and kissed her on the cheek. Addy avoided looking at Dr. McDaniel. She didn't know why, but it didn't seem right doing this in front of him. She took Joel's hand and led him to the door.

  "Ms. Hart."

  Addy stopped and turned. Dr. McDaniel came toward her, giving Joel a polite nod, clearly dismissing him as he turned his eyes down to Addy. "I'd like to have lunch tomorrow," he said. "We need to talk about your paper."

  "Yes, definitely," Addy said. They always needed to talk about her papers. In fact, she sometimes made lunch dates with him to talk about other people's papers, or papers she'd written for other classes, or ideas for papers that were yet to be assigned. In all, she had lunch with Dr. McDaniel once a week.

  Dr. McDaniel took a step back. He was so tall, Addy had to crane her neck to look up at him, which was saying a lot, because she was tall, too. "I hope you'll study hard tonight and tomorrow," he said, his eyes darting quickly toward Joel. "The test on Friday won't be easy."

  "I will, for sure. Thank you, Dr. McDaniel." She hated how breathless she sounded.

  He gave her a nod and turned to go back to his desk. Addy hurried Joel out of the room. The rest of the afternoon would have been so much more fun if she didn't have Dr. McDaniel's words haunting her. Study hard tonight…she told herself that he was just concerned over the grades of one of his favorite students. But somewhere deep inside, she knew that the words really meant: 'Don't sleep with him.'

  She didn't. She did make out with Joel in his dorm room for a while, but as soon as his hand reached her breast, Addy jumped back, thanked him for the date, and fled.

  The next day, she joined Dr. McDaniel for lunch at their usual table. He had his grilled chicken salad, and she had her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and potato chips…as usual. Addy didn't dwell on the oddity that she had a regular lunch routine with this man who was so far beyond her reach.

  "I made some notes in the margins of your paper," he said. "I emailed it to you."

  "Thank you. I'll look them over and make changes."

  "You know, it was so well done, I gave you an A. No changes necessary. Just some things for you to think about. Maybe we can get together and discuss them. I really think you'd benefit from some kind of field work. Have you given consideration to the Peace Corps?"

  "I have," Addy said. "I'm just not sure I'm ready to go, yet. I mean, so far from home and all. So far from the people I care about. What do you think, Dr. McDaniel?" she asked, and then waited for his eyes to meet hers. When at last they did, she saw that he understood exactly what she was asking. Not his permission, so much as his blessing. Somehow, he'd managed to tie himself to her, and Addy wasn't sure she was strong enough to cut that tie herself.

  Apparently he wasn't either. After a long moment of deliberation, he said, "You could do grad school first."

  "I could," she replied.

  "My teaching assistant graduates this year. You could apply for the job to help offset costs."

  Since she was paying for school herself, without her parent's money, this actually sounded quite helpful. With the added benefit of being closer to Dr. McDaniel, though she knew in her heart that that was the wrong motivation. "I could do that," she said. "Wouldn't it be best to get some real life experience, first?" She held her breath, wanting him to ask her to stay, but also wanting him to let her go.

  He hesitated before looking down at his food. "There's no right or wrong way. You can volunteer any time. If you don't feel ready
to leave, yet, grad school is a good option for you."

  Now it was on her, and she realized that she wouldn't leave. That as strong as she always believed herself to be, she wasn't strong enough to break free of whatever force was holding her near this man. "I have a date tonight," she blurted out. Why had she said it?

  He looked up in surprise. "That soccer player?" he asked, barely masking his disgust.

  Addy felt suddenly pleased. "Yes. Joel Wilson. He seems really nice."

  Dr. McDaniel's eyes darkened. "I'm surprised you have time to date. I hope it doesn't affect your grades."

  She bristled at this, unable to identify what about his words offended her. "It won't," she said defensively.

  When he didn't appear to have anything more to say, Addy gathered up the remains of her lunch, stuffed them in the paper bag she'd brought them in, and stood to go.

  A hand on her wrist arrested her. She turned to face Dr. McDaniel, who was now towering over her. For the first time, there was vulnerability in his eyes…inappropriate vulnerability. "Not him, Addison," he said. "Anyone but him."

  Addy gaped at him, her mouth open, her face warming. He'd never used her first name, before. The sound of it shocked her to her core. But there was anger, too. She jerked her wrist out of his grip. "I don't think you're in any position to be talking to me like this, Dr. McDaniel," she said, spitting out his name like a bad seed. She turned on her heel and left.

  That day, she broke off her date with Joel, telling him she didn't want to see him anymore. She threw away the information she'd been saving on the Peace Corps. Then she started the application process for grad school.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Present Day

  One of the major downsides of maintaining serious friendships—moving day. Addy thought perhaps that since she wasn't a man and didn't own a truck, she might skate by. But Zoey called her that cool, March day and demanded Addy be there on Friday to help her move.

  Zoey and her boyfriend Kellen had been arguing for three months over which one of them would move in with the other. Addy wasn't sure how Kellen had managed to win against possibly the most stubborn woman on the planet. It might have had something to do with Maya, Addy's other best friend. Maya and her two children had moved in with Zoey several months ago, escaping an abusive marriage. Now that Maya was back on her feet and able to pay rent, Zoey likely didn't feel as obligated to stay around and take care of everyone.

  Addy arrived in her hometown around four o'clock that Friday afternoon. Five minutes after crossing the city limits, she pulled onto Zoey's street. Kellen and his best friend Jayce both owned pickup trucks, which were parked side-by-side in the driveway. So Addy parked on the side of the road.

  She'd changed into jeans, t-shirt, and tennis shoes for this little chore. The clothing was more comfortable, but she always felt a little wild, a little free, when she was dressed in anything other than black. Black skirts, black slacks, white blouses, tight ponytails—just the way her mother had always dressed her. Jeans just felt so…human. So earthy. So bourgeois. She liked it.

  As Addy climbed out of her car, a tall, powerfully built young man strolled out, running a hand through his black hair, his expression blank behind dark sunglasses, tattoos covering one arm and peeking out of the sleeve of the other. He stopped when he saw her. His lips turned up in a smile. "Hey," he said, by way of greeting.

  "Hello, Jayce. I was hoping those trucks would already be loaded down."

  He shook his head and met her in the middle of the yard. Lowering his voice, he glanced over his shoulder as if the devil was at his heels. "Zoey won't let us just load everything. She's drawing a map to make sure everything is packed properly by room and weight and a whole bunch of other factors."

  Addy winced. "You know, she keeps her anal-retentive tendencies at bay most of the time. You only notice it if you look around her house and realize everything is at right angles and meticulously cleaned."

  "Well she's full-on bat-shit crazy at the moment. I'm thinking maybe you and Maya could take her to the bar for a drink, so Kellen and I can make this happen while you're gone."

  "Works for me."

  Kellen came out, nearly as tall as Jayce but with blond hair instead of black, blue eyes instead of brown. Blue eyes that were a little wider than they should be. Blond hair mussed by too many times running his hand through it. He gave her a wild smile when he saw her. "Addy, thank God. Take her away. Please?"

  Addy gave Kellen a hug and went into the house. Maya was on the couch with her arm thrown over her eyes, clearly having given up. "Where are the kids?" Addy asked.

  Jayce, who had followed her inside, said, "At their grandparents." He made his way to the couch, sat on the edge, and then leaned down to kiss his woman. It was all so wonderful, Kellen and Zoey moving in together; Maya finding a patient and kind man who would love her on her own terms. The jealousy that Addy kept shoving to the back of her mind seemed so petty and twisted. To resent her two best friends, both of whom had overcome so many obstacles to be with these amazing men, seemed the most despicable thing in the world. Addy forced herself to focus on the part of her that was truly, sincerely happy for them.

  "See, the problem is, the dimensions of the boxes make it impossible to efficiently load the beds of the pickups because there'll be an extra six inches along the edge, and that's a waste of space," Zoey rambled from where she sat at the kitchen table with paper and rulers and pencils neatly lined up in front of her. "Kellen!" she shrieked.

  "Right here," Kellen said, from where he stood behind Addy. "No need to yell."

  Zoey looked up, her expression harried and a little bit frightening. "Sorry, baby. Listen, I think I just need different boxes, because these won't work. We might have to get a U-haul and then get U-haul boxes because they're designed to fit all the way across and all the way to the top with no extra space, and—"

  "Hey, I've got an idea," Addy said. "Let's go over to Jayce's bar, get a drink, calm down, and discuss our options. Sound good?"

  "What?" Zoey asked, as though Addy had spoken in an alien language.

  "That's a great idea!" Maya said, after extricating herself from Jayce's arms.

  Addy couldn't help noticing how Jayce gazed at Maya. His expression remained blank, but just the fact that his eyes never left her spoke to how deeply he cared for her. Addy often wondered how difficult it was for him to move at Maya's pace; newly divorced and struggling to find her own way in the world, Maya wasn't anywhere close to making a formal commitment.

  "I can't get a drink!" Zoey said in a crazy voice. "We have work to do. My God, it's four-oh-six…we're already six minutes past schedule." She turned to Addy. "Were you late? Did you arrive late when I specifically asked you to be here by four?"

  Addy shot a look over her shoulder at poor Kellen. "I'm taking her to a doctor when this is over," he said. "She needs medication."

  Zoey was breathing hard and almost in tears. Addy jerked her head toward Maya, and the two of them approached their friend. "Come on," Addy said, taking Zoey by the arm. "This is no longer your job."

  "No, I have to figure this out," Zoey said, even as she allowed herself to be pulled to her feet and led toward the door. "I have to do it just right or it will be wrong, and we won't be able to do this all in one trip, and things could get broken and…" She continued rambling as Addy tucked her into the passenger seat of her car. Maya climbed in back, and they drove over to Jayce's bar.

  By the time they arrived, Zoey had quit talking and was quietly crying, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue and letting out the occasional sniffle.

  Maya and Addy guided Zoey under the green awning and into the bar. The jukebox played at a low volume, and, since there were hardly any customers, the atmosphere was peaceful and perfect. They took seats at a table near a window. The clop of heels on bare boards announced the arrival of a waitress who took their order with a perky smile. "Hey, Maya," the waitress greeted.

  "Hi, Tasha." Maya worked for Jayce part-
time, so she knew all the other employees as friends. "Can you bring us wine? Something sweet and red?"

  "Sure thing."

  Zoey was already calming. Addy stroked the back of her red head. "This got pretty out of hand, sweetie," Addy said.

  Zoey just nodded. The wine arrived, and Zoey downed hers in one gulp. "I don't know what happened."

  "Are you nervous about moving in with Kellen?" Maya asked.

  Addy nodded. It was a good insight.

  Zoey sighed. "I'm having another attack of he's-too-good-for-me syndrome. I don't know if I'll ever stop worrying about losing him. He's been so faithful and good to me, but I just don't understand why."

  Addy struggled with these sorts of internal conflicts. She'd been raised in a fairly stable environment, unlike her two friends, and had a good sense of self-worth. "He's faithful and good to you because he loves you, he's a good man, and you're a deserving woman. That's all there is to it."

  "Saying it's one thing. Believing it's another. I mean, I'm not so insecure that I'm pushing him away like I did in the beginning. But it's just this constant thing, nagging at me all the time. Except when he kisses me. When he kisses me, everything else goes away." Zoey leaned on her fist and sighed, dreamy-eyed.

  It was a behavior that never ceased to amaze Addy. Zoey had never been a sappy romantic until Kellen had managed to win her heart. Now she was downright—girly.

  "Jayce's kisses are the same way," Maya said. "I get so stressed sometimes, and Jayce will just sort of be in the background, helping me out, making sure everything is in order. And then the minute I'm free, he kisses me, and it's like this moment of pure…I don't know…perfection. Everything makes sense. I love it. I love him so much."

  Addy smiled. It was an easy smile, because she truly was happy for her friends. But the loneliness and envy hovered nearby, tainting this sweet moment with a twinge of bitterness.