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Addison stared at herself in the mirror, bit her lower lip and sighed. She was on her third outfit and somehow this one
didn't feel right, either. She peeled the blouse and pants off, tossed them both onto the bed and marched to her closet.
"Okay, perfect outfit, I know you are in here. So can you please just magically appear?"
Not surprisingly, the clothes didn't move and the redhead let out a groan.
"Addison, seriously, you've been getting dressed on your own for nearly 40 years. Just pick something."
She did--a chocolate brown cashmere Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress that she had bought when she was pregnant as motivation
to get her figure back. Addison laughed at that thought now. Motivation had hardly been necessary. Her schedule as a single
mother and a surgeon had worked the baby weight off with a helping hand from the nutritious diet she had been eating in deference
to breastfeeding Lena.
Slipping the dress on, Addison tied it into place and nodded. It was the right choice. Fourth one was the charm. But
a quick glance at the clock told her she had all of five minute left before Preston showed up. She reached for her favorite
dark brown Manolo Blahnik leather sling backs and eased them on, then stopped once more in front of the mirror. The brown
was lovely and it made her feel warm and sexy, but she needed something else. After a moment's consideration, Addison opened
her jewelry box and pulled out the garnet necklace her father had given her on her eighteenth birthday.
The jewelry choice felt oddly appropriate since Addison Forbes Montgomery-Shepherd, 39-year-old, divorced mother of one
felt like she was going out on her first big date. Which was utterly ridiculous because she and Preston had gone out dozens
of times as both friends and as an officially dating couple.
But this date felt different. Because they felt different. Things were... changing... deepening. When Preston would
come over to spend time with her and Lena, Addison found herself reluctant to let him leave. After a long shift at the hospital
when she was headed home to play mommy and he still had hours left at Seattle Grace, he would walk her to her car and they'd
hold hands and their kisses good-bye were getting longer and the regret that they had to end was stronger.
Addison was falling in love. Or she'd fallen. She knew it. And it terrified her. Even if Preston Burke was about as
far away as you could get from Derek Shepherd, the idea of giving her heart away again made her breath come in short gasps
and sent her head swimming.
Every now and then, she even thought about pulling back, giving herself some more time to deal with how drawn she was
to him. That little insidious voice in her head kept asking her if she was really ready for this, if she was only letting
herself want or need Preston because she didn't want to be alone. Sometimes it was hard to make that little voice shut up.
But then Preston would call or he'd find her mulling over her troubling thoughts in her office and he'd ask what was wrong.
When she'd say, "nothing," and not embellish, he'd just smile and take her hand or kiss her cheek and say, "okay,
but if you need me, you know how to find me."
And she knew that was the main reason she couldn't stop her heart from falling even when her head was still filled with
arguments about why she should. Preston got her. He got that she needed him to see she was having a hard time, but that
she didn't want to be pushed to share. He didn't think her need to be independent or work things out on her own meant she
didn't need him. He was just willing to wait for her to come to him and say so when she did.
The doorbell rang and Addison took a deep breath and headed downstairs. Preston smiled at her as she opened the door
and let him inside.
"You keep proving me wrong."
She felt her brow scrunch up as she considered his words. "How so?"
"I keep thinking, there's no way she'll be more beautiful the next time I see her. Then I see you, and you are."
There was no doubt she was blushing, and the flush she was feeling only increased as Preston came closer and took her
hand, drawing it to him so he could kiss it.
"How many times have you called to check on Lena today?" he asked. That made her laugh.
"Only three. After all, Derek's mother is there, so I know my baby girl is being spoiled rotten by an expert."
"Indeed," he replied. "I'll miss getting to kiss her good night tonight."
"Me, too," Addison said. "It's still so hard to have her gone overnight, even though I should be used
to it by now. I keep feeling like I need to go check on her, but..."
Preston moved closer and Addison felt his arms come around her. She melted against him, her body feeling absolutely at
home.
"Though as much as I love sharing Lena with you, I have to admit... I do enjoy it when I get you all to myself."
Her heart jumped and Addison knew that she was right, tonight was different.
Later, as they stood in her bedroom, their breath short from kisses, Preston drew his hand through Addison's hair and
then let his hand rest against her cheek.
"It's okay to be scared. You get to be scared because love let you down. But I won't, Addison. I promise you,
I won't. But if you're not ready, all you have to do is ask me to leave, and I will."
The cashmere dress pooled around her expensive designer shoes, and she didn't ask him to leave.
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