Glancing at her watch again, Addison was about to fly up the stairs and drag Joanna from her room when she heard a faint swishing sound from the second floor. Looking up, Addison lost the ability to breathe. Evelyn was right. Blending into the background would not be an option for Joanna tonight.

Chapter Twenty-Three

For nearly a half hour no words were spoken as Addison and Joanna were driven to their destination. Addison kept telling herself there was no need to be nervous, but then again, everyone has their own comfort zone, and hers didn’t include parties, paparazzi, or a wife. Addison re-crossed her legs again, but when she saw Joanna do the same, Addison reached over and opened the liquor compartment.

“I’m going to have a scotch. Do you want one?” she said, removing one of the decanters from its holder.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Joanna said, shaking her head.

“Why not?”

“I...I don’t have any food in my stomach.”

“We just had lunch a few hours ago.”

Joanna gave Addison a weak grin. “It didn’t stay down.”

“Oh,” Addison said, turning her attention back to the liquor. Pouring some scotch into a glass, she handed it to Joanna. “Just take a few sips. It’ll help.”

Watching as Addison filled another glass, Joanna smiled when she saw her take a large gulp of the malt. “It seems I’m not the only one who’s nervous,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “Either that or you really like scotch.”

Addison suppressed a laugh, but just barely. “I just want tonight to go well. I have a lot riding on it.”

“Yeah, Fran told me you’ve been working on this deal for a long time, but she also said you don’t like these types of things. Parties, I mean.”

“I don’t,” Addison said, taking another swig of scotch. “I don’t like being on display, but then again—” Addison stopped and looked at Joanna. “Tonight, I don’t think I’ll be the one they’re watching.”

Joanna swallowed hard and quickly took several sips of her drink. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or...or an expectation of disaster.”

“It’s a compliment,” Addison said softly. A lot of adjectives came to mind as she admired the woman sitting next to her, but when push came to shove, there was only one Addison dared to use. “You look...you look nice.”

Joanna lifted her chin just a tad. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”