Trashy (Take It Off #10)(21)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“No.” His response was swift and final.

“It’s so boring,” I whined. “How do you do this all day long?”

He grinned. “I like it.”

“I’m going to be a terrible manager.” I predicted.

“You couldn’t be terrible if you tried,” he rebutted. The affection in his rich tone made me smile a little. I loved the way he made me feel, as if I could sink right into him and curl up.

“I think that’s enough for today,” he said, walking over to where I was sitting.

“How much more is there to learn?” I groaned.

“Not too much.”

Not too much = it was going to take forever.

“We can just finish, then,” I said, wanting to get it over with.

“Or we could go grab something to eat.”

I glanced up. “Eat?”

He nodded. “You look worn out, Rox. Have you eaten today?”

I planned on eating, until Craig decided to follow me around some more. “I had some coffee earlier.”

“Let’s go,” he said, tossing the pen in his grasp down on the desk.

I hesitated, wondering if Craig was still sitting outside across the street from the club. Here I had been relieved when he kept driving, but he must’ve turned around and come back. It seemed odd he didn’t sit in the parking lot instead of across the street.

“What’s the matter,” Adam said when I didn’t get up. “Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” I knew he was joking. The ornery grin on his face proved it.

But it wasn’t funny.

His words struck a chord with me, reminding me of a time when someone (someone = Craig) was embarrassed to be seen with me.

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t embarrassed so much as he didn’t want all his flings to know he was involved with someone else. It took me a long time to figure that out. I was humiliated when I finally did.

One night I wanted to go see a movie, and I finally talked him into it. When we walked outside to leave, he wanted to take separate cars. To go to the same place.

I stood there dumfounded, asking him why on Earth we couldn’t just drive together. He didn’t answer. But he didn’t have to.

The look on his face said it all.

It was the night I realized all the “rumors” about him cheating were true. Every whisper I heard when we went to the bar he liked or when his friends were over at our place was true. He’d always said people were just jealous, that his friends didn’t like he wasn’t always available to them because of me.

I should have known then it was a lie.

He was never available to me. Never.

Because he was out with other women. He had so many he didn’t want to be seen driving around town with me.

We never made it to the movies that night. We got in a huge fight instead, and he left. Alone.

I didn’t see him for two days.

“Roxie.” Adam’s soft voice broke me out of the memory, and I shook my head slightly to clear away the humiliation I still felt. Adam was kneeling right in front of my chair. His broad body filled the space in front of me and his thighs were spread so my knees were between them.

Because he was crouching low, he had to tilt up his head just slightly to meet my eyes. The deep-brown hue seemed to melt into me, the concern in his gaze flowing into me like hot lava, blanketing everything it touched.

“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?” he asked, soft, reaching into my lap to entwine our fingers.

I glanced down at our joined hands, then back up at him.

“Kiss me.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. In seconds, he was standing to his full impressive height and towed me up along with him. Adam released my hand and cupped my face. His hands engulfed my jaw, but he was so gentle. His eyes swept over me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and around us, sparks flew like snowflakes in a blizzard.

Instead of crushing his mouth to mine like I expected, like I wanted, he took his time. His heated gaze dropped to my lips, then back to my eyes. His fingers spasmed against my head and tightened ever so slightly.

Slowly, slowly, he lowered his head, cupping my jaw so I could do nothing but hold still and wait for him to arrive.

The anticipation of his lips on mine was almost my undoing. Everything going on inside my head floated away. I became aware of the moment, of the quietness in the room, of the way my body swayed to get closer.

Adam’s lips brushed over mine, a gentle caress, once, twice, and then a third time. He lifted his head just slightly and stared down at me. His thumb climbed up and caressed my lower lip.

He smiled softly and then joined our lips once more. This time he didn’t lift his head. The kiss was soft and tender. It was a heavy kiss, the kind that settled within me like a weight, but it was the kind of weight that wasn’t a burden.

When his tongue licked over my lips, I gladly parted for him, letting him inside my body, welcoming him.

No other parts of our bodies touched but our lips and his hands on my face. But I felt him everywhere.

This wasn’t the kiss I had been expecting. I wanted hard and fast. Furious and passionate. I wanted something to chase away the terrible memories that crept up on me at unexpected moments and haunted me like unforgiving ghosts.

But Adam knew.

He knew exactly what it was I didn’t know I needed.

A fast and furious kiss might have pushed the memories back into the shadows of my body, where they would lie and wait for the next opportunity to strike.

But this soft, tender… almost loving meeting of flesh made me unafraid of the memories. It took away their power. Yes, they might always be inside me, but shadows weren’t so scary when one was filled with light.

“Adam,” I whispered when he leaned his forehead against mine.

“Anything,” was his whispered reply.

My stomach grumbled loudly, interrupting our perfect moment. His chest vibrated with laughter, and he stepped back. “C’mon.”

He took my hand and led me through the club and outside. My eyes swept the area across the street as he locked up the door. I didn’t see Craig, and the tension between my shoulder blades seemed to melt away.

“Wanna take the bike?” Adam asked, motioning toward his motorcycle.

“I’ve never been on a bike before,” I admitted.

“So I’m your first?” I swear his ego and his head inflated about three sizes.

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, you’re my first.”

He grabbed a black helmet off the back and slid it down over my head. I thought my ponytail might get in the way, but instead, it made the helmet fit snugger so it didn’t rattle around on my shoulders.