Adam's Thorn (5 page)

Her smile was supremely
satisfied.  “Mum came with me when I had it done, so no lecture necessary.” 
She lifted her shirt up.

Adam eyed the little gold bar with
the fake jewel at the bottom that pierced her skin.   Okay, it looked cute, he
really didn’t mind belly button rings, but on his little cousin?  Man, it made
her look sexy to boys.   Boys with raging hormones.  Teenage boys with raging
hormones and no sense between their ears.  Damn.  “When did you get that done?”

 She dropped the shirt back into
place.  “A year ago.”

“That long?”

“Adam, you’ve seen me in midriff
tops and bikinis, and you’ve seriously never noticed?”

“No.”

“Dude, come on.”

“Hallie, you’re my little cousin. 
Why would I notice?”

She stared at him for several
seconds before a huge smile curved her lips, and leaning into the window, she
kissed his cheek, no doubt leaving a smear of dark red lipstick on his skin. 
“Aw, you’re so cute, Adam.”

“Get out of here.”  Placing his hand
atop her head, he pushed her gently back.  “I have a job to do.  And you…”  He
wagged a finger at her, “Behave yourself.”

“Yes, sir.”  She saluted him smartly
and stepped back.

Shaking his head, Adam pulled out
onto the road.  Pulling a tissue from the holder, he rubbed his cheek to clear
it of the lipstick smear.  He loved his little cousin, but man, she was growing
too fast.  Kissing boys, heavy, dark make-up, belly button and tongue piercings…where
had the years gone?

Speaking of piercings, how dare Barbie
mention getting a
clitoris
piercing?  No wonder Mrs Hubble had gotten
herself into such a knot if that’s what she’d overheard.  It wasn’t a crime,
true, but to mention it to his cousin?

It was past time he had a word to Barbie.

Unfortunately, a trip out to her
house proved a waste of time.  Her car was gone, the house locked up.  It would
have to wait for another time.

“And believe me, Barbie,” he
muttered as he turned back onto the highway, “there will be another time. 
Very,
very
bloody soon.”

No way on this earth was he
allowing Barbie to lead his cousin, or any of the town’s teenagers, into
darker, wilder pastures.

Chapter 2

Sitting at the bar, Barbie sipped from
the glass of orange juice.  “Thanks for inviting me, Ali.”

“No worries.”  Sitting beside her,
Ali smiled.  “Can’t have the new girl in town all by herself on a Saturday
night.”

“So you’re kind of saving me?”

“From a lonesome, pity-filled
evening?  Bet your arse.”  Ali poked through the bowl of nuts.  “Oh man, where
are the cashews?”  She turned her head to look at her fiancée who sat on her
other side with his hand on her ample thigh.  “Ghost, did you pinch them all?”

“What?”  Ghost looked up from
where he was scribbling in a notepad.

“Did you eat all my favourite
nuts?”

His eyes crinkled at the corners,
mischief lurking in the depths of his eyes.  “Honey, I’m sitting on your
favourite nuts.”

“We’re in company, remember?”

“Hey, if Barbie is going to hang
with us, then she needs to get used to your rude quips.”  He grinned.  “Hang.  Nuts. 
Get it?”

Ali shook her head.

“Hang, as in-”

“I get that, I just-”

“You get it every night.”  He
leered.  “And day.  Both if you’re lucky.”

“Go back to your notes,” Ali told
him.

“If you’re mad at me, we could go
home and you could punish me.”

“Sure.  I’ll lock the bedroom door
with you on the opposite side to me.”

“Well, then, back to my notes.” 
Ghost winked at Barbie and returned to his notepad.

Ali turned back to Barbie.  “I’d apologise
for him, but what’s the use?”

“Don’t do it on my account,” Barbie
replied.  “I find it quite entertaining.”

“So, before I lost my commonsense
and actually thought to include Ghost in polite conversation, I was going to
ask, are you settling in okay?”

“It’s a nice place.”  Barbie
looked in the mirror behind the bar at the reflection of the room behind them. 
“I like it.”

“So you’re staying?”

“I hadn’t planned on it.”

“Oh.”  Picking up a salted peanut,
Ali nibbled on it.  “Why not?  If you like it?”

“I have my job back in the city.” 
Barbie watched several couples whirling around the small dance floor.  One of
the couples was Lori MacKay, Ali’s sister, and her fiancée Matt, the local
paramedic.

Matt held Lori close to him, his
expression one of contented happiness as he turned his head and whispered something
in her ear. In turn, she laughed and burrowed closer.

Catching the direction of her gaze
in the mirror, Ali said, “Hopeless.”

Barbie looked at her.  “Me?”

“No, Matt and Lori.  Honestly,
they do everything but drool over each other.  Always touching.”

Barbie looked pointedly to where
Ghost’s big hand rested on Ali’s thigh.  “Because you wouldn’t?”

“Why would I?”

“Yeah,” Ghost said without looking
up.  “Why would she?  No need when I’m always touching her.”  He slid his hand
up higher.

Ali slapped it back down without a
hint of embarrassment.  “So where do you work?”

Amused to see that Ali had her
hand firmly atop Ghost’s to stop any further wandering of his hand, Barbie
replied, “I’m a masseuse.”

“I noticed that poster you put up
in the café window.”  Ali paused.  “The one Adam snatched out of your hand when
you went to put it up.”

Barbie regarded her steadily in
the mirror.  There was no doubting the curiosity in Ali’s eyes, but it was a
frank curiosity, not a barely constrained one.  Normally it would have made her
wary, but she liked Ali, had done since she and her sister had had the guts to
put themselves directly between two hotly arguing couples and sent everyone on
their way after a sound telling off.  One of those couples had been she and
Adam, and Adam in a temper was intimidating.  Yeah, she admired the sisters’
courage.

It didn’t mean, however, that she
spilled her secrets or business.  “I’m doing massage from the house at the
moment.”

“Huh.”

Ghost grinned widely but kept
scribbling.

“I’ll have to book a session,” Ali
stated.

Barbie looked at her reflection in
the mirror.  “That depends on if you’re coming for a massage or an information
session.”

Ali blinked.  Ghost paused in his
writing to glance up at his fiancée first, then Barbie.  She had no doubt he’d
come leaping to Ali’s defence if needed.

To be truthful, Barbie wasn’t sure
what Ali would say in return to her bluntness, but no way was she going to
start a friendship with half-veiled hints.

“I don’t want to sound rude,” Barbie
said quietly, “but I don’t like gossip, and I’d rather know what people really
want.”

“Okay.”  Ali nodded.  “I want a
massage, so I’ll book that time.  I’m also curious, so what if I ask you
questions?”

Appreciating her honesty, Barbie
grinned.  “Yes to the first, some to the second.”

Ghost returned his attention to
his notepad, but Barbie noticed that he turned his hand and entwined his
fingers with Ali’s, pulling her hand overt o rest on his jean-clad thigh.  A
silent show of support and love.

She felt a small pang, wondering
if she’d ever have that kind of relationship with a man.

“You know Adam,” Ali said.

No sense denying that.  Barbie nodded.

“But not from here, because we’d
have noticed if you’d been here before.”

Again, Barbie nodded.

“So in the city?”

“Yes.”

“What happened between you?”

Picking up the glass, Barbie took
several mouthfuls of orange juice before setting the glass back down on the bar. 
“Pass.”

“Bummer.”  Ali wrinkled up her
nose.  “Seriously?”

“Yep.”

Ali sighed.  “Okay.  How about
family?”

“Mum, Dad, sister who is now
married with twins, one boy and one girl.”

“Pets?”

“Two cats, Fred and Barney.”

“Acceptable.”

Amused, Barbie took another sip of
orange juice.  “Do I get to ask questions?”

“In a minute.  Boyfriend? 
Fiancée?  Husband?”

“No to all three.”

“What do you like to read?”

“Horror, romance, thrillers.”  Barbie
held up one finger.  “And a serious addiction to Wonder Woman comics.”

“Really?”  Ali raised both
eyebrows.  “I was a Supergirl fan myself.”

Barbie grinned.  “I always envied
Wonder Woman.  I wanted to dress in those shorts and bodice and run around like
an Amazon.  Unfortunately, I never really had the build for the figure-hugging
shorts.  Big arse kind of put a halt to that.”

Ali laughed.  “Ditto for the short
Supergirl skirt.”

Ghost straightened up and turned
to her, squeezing her hand.  “Honey, your figure is perfect.  Makes me drool,
always has done.”

“Only since the river episode.”

“But once I tasted your charms, I
was lost.”  Eyes softening, his expression completely serious, he leaned
forward to place a gentle kiss on her lips.  “Just perfect, honey.”

Leaning into his kiss, her little
sigh of happiness was clearly audible to Barbie.

Smiling, she turned back to face
the bar, giving her new friends their privacy, though that was saying a lot in
a bar even if the lights had been turned low to create a warmth and intimacy
for the couples at the tables and the dancers.

Looking up into the mirror, she froze,
all warmth vanishing as she found herself looking directly into dark eyes.  Unbidden,
her gaze slid over his face, taking in the straight nose, the full yet unmistakably
firm, male lips, strong cheekbones and a jaw that looked like it was made of
rock, it was so set.

Her gaze fell lower, taking in the
pale blue polo shirt stretched across broad shoulders, the muscles in his chest
unseen but evident as swells that traced beneath the material.  The biceps and
triceps in his upper arms were big.  The shirt hugged his body, falling over
the tops of his jeans which clung to his muscular thighs.

So much muscle, so much height, so
much quiet, steely resolve.

God, Adam had only gotten better
with time.  Always muscular, combined with his calmness, his hard handsomeness,
and the experience stamped on his face, he was so much better, stronger, more
attractive.

The protector, the law enforcer.

The punisher
.

A shiver stole through her,
rippling down her spine.

Already close behind her, he
shifted just a foot nearer, enough for his aura to invade her space, his
nearness to register, the heat of his body seeping into her.  Like a moth to a
flame, she was drawn to him.

Oh God.  Oh God.  No
.  How
could she be?  It must be the atmosphere, the low lights, the obvious love from
the couple beside her so lost in each other that they weren’t aware of anyone
else.

Lifting her gaze, she met his in
the mirror.  His eyes were trained on her, cop eyes, hard, assessing, glinting
a little in the low light.  To anyone else he appeared calm, but she recognized
the anger behind the calmness.

Anger aimed right at her.

“Barbie.” The deepness of his
voice caressed across her skin.

If she hadn’t seen the orange
juice poured into the glass, she’d have suspected it of being spiked.  Maybe it
was the almost sleepless night she’d spent at the house that made her feel
weird.

Swallowing, she reminded herself
where she was, who he was...what had happened
that
night so long ago. 
His obvious disapproval of her was enough to have her lifting her chin, her
senses clearing.

“Adam.”  Silently she
congratulated herself on her even tone, how calm she sounded, not shaking like
her insides, that was for sure.

“I want a word with you.”

“Oh?”  Lifting the glass, she took
a nonchalant sip, forcing it down.  Luckily she didn’t choke on it, especially
with the knot of nerves in her throat.

Forget that night.  Forget it
.

“Step outside with me.”

Coolly she eyed his reflection. 
“That sounds a little threatening.”

His gaze never wavered, his
expression unreadable.  “Why would that be?”

“I don’t know.  Why don’t you tell
me?” 
Why am I pushing? Why can he still get to me regardless of time?

“I will, if you do as I say.”

“Is this official business?”

Cop eyes, stoic, hard.  “I can
make it so if you want.”

Aware now of Ali and Ghost
watching them, Barbie took a deep breath, placing the glass on the bar and
linking her fingers together.  “What’s this about?”

He moved deliberately, his actions
calculated to intimidate.  Bending forward, his arm coming over her shoulder,
his big hand settled on the table beside her linked hands.  In fascination she
stared at his hand, the long fingers, the clean, short nails, the strength she
knew it possessed.

Oh yes, she knew how capable
Adam’s hands were, knew their comfort, their gentleness.

The firmness of his grip.

She barely repressed the shiver
that went through her, the curl of both anticipation and shame in the depths of
her belly.  Shame for the anticipation, it had to be.  Shame for what had
happened, the memory, definitely.  Shame for the cause and the result.

Leave it.  Forget it.

Like it was just an hour ago, it
came flooding back.  Shame.  Such deep shame.  Only now it came with a thrill
of something -

“Barbie.”

Taking a gulping breath, she
dragged her thoughts back to the present.

“Barbie.”  His breath was hot
against her ear, his voice not only deep but undeniably holding a hint of
steel.  “Don’t make this hard.”

“Or you’ll give up?”  She cringed
inwardly at how breathless she sounded.  Immediately irritated with herself,
she turned her head to glare at him.