To Hate Adam Connor

“Did you miss me? If you miss me you can come see me now.”

“Aiden, don’t push her,” I reminded him quietly, giving him my attention. He didn’t even spare me a glance.

“Okay. Can you bring Olive, too? She must have missed me too. Uh-huh. When will she come then? Okay. I’m waiting for you, so you can’t be late.”

Whatever she said on the other end of the line, Aiden smiled and nodded to himself. “Five minutes, Lucy. Don’t be late, okay?”

Quickly, he handed the phone back to me and ran to his room.

“Aiden, be careful,” I yelled after him, but I was still being ignored.

After making sure Lucy wasn’t still on the line, I put away my phone and made my way back to Adeline. Halfway over there, I remembered Lucy’s fondness for that wall and instead decided to stay close to the glass doors so I could unlock the door for her when she came over with murder on her mind. I leaned against the glass and met Adeline’s eyes.

For a beat we both watched each other in silence and just took each other in.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Up until yesterday, I was doing fine, Adeline.”

“You can’t possibly be blaming me, Adam.”

“And who am I supposed to blame, Adeline? Should I blame Aiden for wandering out of the car on his own?”

Adeline sighed and pushed her long blond hair behind her ear. “He shouldn’t have gotten out of the car until someone came to take him, but you’re right, he is not the one to blame.”

“How nice of you to agree with me on something.”

Hurt flashed across her eyes, but she covered it up pretty quickly.

She got up from the couch. Her white jeans were hugging her long legs while the gray shirt she was wearing was relatively loose on her breasts. Still, I could see that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Whether it was a tactic or not, I had no idea, but I wasn’t falling for anything—especially not into bed with her.

As she started to make her way toward me, her phone started ringing in her purse, and she looked back at it. Then she moved back to the couch to take the call.

“I’m waiting on a call from the director in New York, Adam. Do you mind if I take it?”

She didn’t wait for my answer.

At that exact moment, someone banged on the glass doors, and I jolted out of my thoughts about how much I should tell Adeline of my plans. I turned my head and was met with Lucy’s angry eyes. I smiled. I was starting to acknowledge the fact that I loved seeing her all worked up and ready to spit fire at me.

My little warrior.

She lifted her hand, and before she could break the glass with her pounding, I unlocked the door so she could get in.

“Asshole,” she muttered as she was passing behind me.

“Excuse me?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Ass-hole,” she repeated, louder this time. “When was the last time you kissed someone anyway?” she asked, looking up at me. “That was awful. Such a big disappointment.”

I leaned in and held back a smile when I saw her body do a little sway toward me. My lips grazed her ear, and I whispered, “Are you trying to make me kiss you again, Lucy? Is this your way of asking me without having to ask me? You think I’ll fall for it?”

She made a low growl in her throat and this time I did nothing to hide my smile. “Because if it is, it’s working. I’d love nothing more than to kiss you senseless again and watch you cling to me for dear life.”

I caught the shiver that ran through her body, the slight bend of her neck that brought my lips closer to her skin. It was sexy as hell and just as tempting. Catching the reflection of Adeline on her phone with her back to us, I made sure my nose gently bumped her skin and took a deep breath. “But this time…this time I’d like to finish what you started. I’d like to peel off your clothes. Touch you.” I pressed a quick, small kiss on her neck. “Kiss you…and kiss you…and kiss you…I’ll kiss you as long as you want, sweetheart. And I’ll still be kissing you while you’re coming on my fingers.” I leaned in a little farther, making sure my lips were right next to her ear. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her tongue darting out of her mouth as she secretly tried to lick her lower lip. “And on my cock,” I added, my voice coming out raspier than I wanted. “I’ll look into your eyes and kiss you until your lips are all red and swollen. I bet you’d love that.”

When I leaned back, her body had gone completely still, but her eyes…ah, those gray eyes were melting. They were melting for me in a way I would’ve loved to watch were she under me, over me, or wrapped up around me.

“I…I…”

“Yes, Lucy?” I prompted.

Her eyes slowly narrowed into slits. When she crooked her finger for me to get closer and opened her mouth to speak again, she was trying her best to cover her reaction to me with her sharp words.

“I wouldn’t touch your lips with a ten-foot pole, Adam Connor,” she whispered as her chest rose and fell rapidly. “And I seriously doubt you can fuck me like I like to be fucked with a four-inch dick.”

I leaned back and smiled down at her. “You think I’m four inches?”

“Adam?” Adeline called; I saw Lucy’s body tense further.

I took a step back from her and turned my body toward Adeline.

“This is our famous Lucy.” I let her know.

Her eyes found Lucy and a smile spread across her lips as she came forward to greet my firecracker.

She was our Lucy, Aiden’s and mine.

I caught Lucy’s eyes as she glanced between me and Adeline, but she didn’t say anything. When Adeline reached her, I backed up and watched her kiss Lucy on the cheek.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Adeline said genuinely.

“Ah.” Lucy glanced at me, her eyes probing, but when she couldn’t get a read on me, she focused on Adeline instead. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you too.”

“You should see how Aiden’s eyes light up whenever he talks about you.”

“He mentioned me?” Lucy asked as a sweet smile formed on those lips I was starting to become very interested in.

Adeline shook her head and touched her arm. “He talks about you nonstop. You’re his new favorite thing. I’m so glad I caught you today. I’ve been meaning to tell Adam to bring you around one day so we could meet.”

His new favorite thing…Adeline and her words. And why in the world would she want me to bring Lucy around?

“Oh?” Lucy asked, just as confused as me.

Adeline glanced at me over her shoulder. “Adam mentioned that he had to let go of Anne, the nanny before you.” She faced Lucy before I could interrupt. “He didn’t explain why, of course, but Anne was a little too interested in what was going on around here if you ask me, so I’m happy he found a new nanny instead.”

“Huh? That’s weird,” Lucy said, eyeing me over Adeline’s shoulder. I shook my head and kept silent.

“Lucy is not a nanny,” I corrected her.

Adeline turned back to me again. “But Aiden said she is looking after him.”

“She is, but she isn’t his nanny. She was kind enough to spend time with him last week because I couldn’t find anyone.”

Adeline kept glancing between Lucy and me.