Connecting Strangers (Discovering Emily) (6 page)

“Well, I shouldn’t be. I can’t help it if my body responds without my permission.” I look down at my hands then back up at his face. I wish he would stop smiling. It’s unnerving me.

“Yeah, I can see how that might be a problem.” A few more steps bring him into my personal zone. “So why don’t you tell me why you shouldn’t be interested.”

“Because it’s none of your business.” I do my best to sharpen my voice, but it has little impact on Adam. He’s so close I can see my reflection in the shiny badge pinned to his chest. A badge that reminds me all too well he’s the law. And I don’t need to get any closer to him if I want to keep my freedom.

“Okay, so I’ll take a guess. You think you can’t have dinner with me because your body might betray you?” His eyebrows arch, and he shoves his hands into the front pockets of his tan slacks, rocking forward on his toes. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I can see how being close to me might present a problem.” One more step and he strips away the remaining space between us. “Because it’s a problem for me, too.”

The back of my neck starts tingling, and now my brain is screaming that the last place we need to be is anywhere near a bedroom. Even though it
is
really convenient. “It doesn’t matter what our bodies want. We are in control.” Is that my own conscience laughing at the notion? I slide past the bookcase and make my way around to the sofa, desperately needing the distance. “Now, will you please just go and tell Francine I’m okay? I’ll come to the diner in a few minutes.”

“I’ll wait for you. It’s dark out there, and you’re not used to the walk.” Adam sits on the opposite arm of the sofa and crosses his legs at the ankles.

It’s a short walk from where I stand to the guest bedroom. I make it two feet before I stop and turn around to face Adam. “You want to know why I can’t have dinner with you? Why nothing can happen between us? Because I left my boyfriend about twenty-four hours ago, but he hasn’t left me.”

Adam stands, and his expression is as darkly serious as his voice. “You think he’s going to come after you.” He doesn’t make it a question.

“I
know
he’s going to come after me, and the longer I stay here, the easier I’ll make it for him.”

“If he comes here, it
won’t
be easy for him, Emily.” Adam is standing in front of me, and I didn’t even hear him move. His hands take hold of my shoulders, and he gives them a gentle squeeze. “You’re safe here.”

No, I’m not. I’m not safe anywhere, but no one here seems to want to listen to that. I tilt my head back to see his face. “I can take care of myself, Adam, but…” I stop talking. For a second, I almost told him what had happened. What I did.

He doesn’t push me for more information. “You shouldn’t be with a man who doesn’t worship you.”

My breath halts halfway between my lungs and my throat. Those words touch my soul. All my life I’ve waited for this. For a man who sees who I am not what he wants me to be. And I have to find him while I’m on the run from my boyfriend.

Adam rubs his hands up and down my arms, offering comfort that soon turns to more. One arm hooks around my waist and pulls me in close. “You’d better stop me now if you’re really not interested, Emily.”

Though my mind registers the warning, my body is helpless. I shouldn’t want him to touch me. It’s too soon. I’ve just ended one relationship. Moving onto another one…no, this can’t be a relationship.

My focus shifts to his lips as they move closer to mine. Though common sense demands I play it smart, I don’t think for a moment about stopping him.

When he kisses me, I lean into him, absorbing his warmth, his strength. Him. I slide my arms up and around his neck, allowing my fingertips to play in his hair that’s just above his collar.

Now he has me fully in his embrace, his hands resting at the small of my back. And he deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue over mine as though licking a smooth, cold ice cream cone.

My insides ignite. This kind of heat is foreign to me. I thought I’d tasted passion before, but nothing had prepared me for the explosion of lust I feel now.

He dances me toward the wall, his fingertips burning my skin. With my back pressed against the plaster, I wrap my right leg around him and draw him in.
Tell him to stop!
I ignore the voice and listen to the silence afforded by my heart.

It wants this. It needs this connection
. I
need it. For whatever I might have had with Mark pales in comparison to this craving, this all-consuming desire to touch Adam. I explore his body recklessly, pulling his shirt out of his pants and running my hands underneath the fabric. I’m disappointed to feel his cotton t-shirt rather than skin and give the material a frantic tug until my palms can slide across his back. When my fingers glide around to his ribcage, his breath hisses out from between his clenched teeth.

His hardness pushes against my thigh, and if I pull him down the hallway, he’ll come with me. We’ll fall atop the bed and continue this journey both of us desperately want. He’ll feed the hunger burning inside of me, and we won’t think about tomorrow or what regrets might lay ahead.

Adam’s lips are now on my neck, and his tiny kisses are fueling my desire for more. I shouldn’t want a stranger like this, but each moment feels right. Now, I’m determined to drag him the few steps to the bedroom, but I slowly realize he’s pulling away, gulping air while tucking his shirt back into his pants.

Still panting and confused, I start straightening my clothes while fighting disappointment and embarrassment. He starts helping me pull my blouse down, but I brush his hands away. I want to ask him why he stopped, but humiliation won’t allow it. Then I hear the front door opening.

“I thought you might have decided to spend the night, Adam.” Francine switches on the overhead light, quickly illuminating our disarray. She whistles and turns her back. “Oh, do you two need more time?”

“No, we don’t.” I slip out from between the wall and Adam and practically trip over my own two feet down the hallway. I can hear the low murmur of voices, but I’m not eager to listen to the conversation.

One look in the bathroom mirror has my cheeks turning crimson. My lips are puffy, my light brown hair a tangled mess, and my neck is scratched from the scruff of Adam’s jaw. Francine didn’t need me to confirm her suspicions. I look like I’d been thoroughly kissed, and had she stayed at the diner longer, she might have found me looking a lot more relaxed.

I burn at the thought, and my gaze drifts to the bed occupying the center of the room. Now that the dream has been interrupted, I can only imagine what it would have been like to lie there, my limbs entangled with Adam’s.

The sex would have been hard and fast because we wouldn’t have wanted to waste any time. I picture my nails sinking into his shoulders as he rises up above me, his eyes boring into mine.

Damn. I slink out of the bathroom and flop down on the bed, my face buried in the frilly pillow. I have to get out of here. If I stay much longer in Juniper Springs…

The slamming of a door is quickly followed the sound of an engine. Then tires rolling over gravel. Adam is leaving, and my body is still protesting the interruption.

“Honey, are you okay?” Francine’s concerned question interrupts the steamy memories my mind is conjuring. She stands at the doorway, and I roll to my back to see her.

“I’m fine. Just confused.” One arm across my eyes, I groan. “I didn’t come here for this.” I don’t need to tell her what “this” is.

“Well,” she sits down on the foot of the bed, “sometimes, when a woman’s been missing real lovin’, it’s hard to turn it down when it stares her in the face.” She grins and sniffs. “Now, I don’t have any personal experience, mind you, but I’ll just bet you dollars to donuts Adam Madison could throw down a real lovin’.”

“Francine!” I sit up and brush the hair from my eyes but only to give my hands something to do so they won’t continue to shake. “If Mark were to find out…” I trail off and shake my head. I don’t even want to imagine the calamity.

Francine touches my hand. “Does he own you?”

“Of course not.”

“And by leaving, weren’t you effectively telling him you didn’t want to be with him any longer?”

“That’s not how Mark’s mind works.” I nibble on my fingernail while my mind is doing its damnedest to take me back to the moments before Francine had gotten home.

“Mark isn’t the issue here, Emily. There ain’t nothing wrong with feeling something for a guy, and the way I see it, Adam’s more than interested. You couldn’t find a better man to help you return to the land of the living. Just think about what you’ll be missing if you walk away from this.”

Though my confidence in choosing a good man had taken a beating, I don’t doubt Francine’s words. Only a few minutes in Adam’s company had given me the same impression.

“So why don’t you just hang around here for a while? I’m sure that apron will fit, and Art is more than happy to put you to work.”

“He doesn’t know the whole story, Francine.” My fingers scoop and release the bedspread. “Starting any kind of relationship with lies between you never ends well.”

Her hand rubs my knee. “So tell him.”

I sit up straighter, looking at her like she’s taken two steps into the Twilight Zone. “He’s the town sheriff. If I tell him I shot a man, he’s duty bound to arrest me.”

Her nose wrinkles as she considers my words. “Oh, well, leave that part out. Just tell him everything else.” With a wink, she stands. “Now you come on and grab something to eat. Afterwards, I’ll give you a quick lesson on what you’ll be doing…I mean inside the diner. I think you know what you’ll be doing with Adam eventually.” She chuckles at her own joke.

“You never give up, do you?” I get to my feet.

“Not when I know what I’m talking about.”

Francine doesn’t have to continue to try to convince me any longer. I’ll stay because I want to know more about Adam. Because walking away from this chance might be an ever bigger regret than giving the last nine years of my life to Mark.

Chapter Five

The diner is packed the next morning with people wanting to get a look at the new girl. Francine warned me to expect it. Once one customer told another customer, the word would be out, and I would be on display. I’m glad she prepared me.

With a smile on my face, I start pouring coffee. In general, the patrons are friendly if not a little nosier than I like. I spend the better half of the morning fielding questions about my personal life from Joe Lawton, who owns the biggest hardware store in two hundred miles. I know because he tells me several times.

On my fourth return to the kitchen because Joe’s eggs aren’t poached just the way he likes them, I see Francine standing by the grill with a grin on her face.

“What’s so funny?” I slap the plate on the pass and give Art the bad news.

“Aw, now Joe’s just screwin’ with me.” Art yanks the ties on the back of his apron and marches toward the double doors. “I’ll take care of this.”

“Is that what was so funny?” I jerk my thumb toward the swinging doors.

Francine snickers. “Part of it. Joe’s clever. The only reason he’s been sending those eggs back is so he can watch your ass.”

“You couldn’t have told me that after the second trip?”

She wraps her arm around my shoulders and pulls me in for a hug. “Oh, honey, half the fun of this job is learning how to deal with these yokels. They’re a horny, harmless bunch.”

Except Adam. Oh, he’s horny all right, but he definitely isn’t harmless.
I keep my thoughts to myself, though Francine chuckles as though she could read my mind.

“And look who just walked in. Funny. It’s Friday morning, and the sheriff usually doesn’t come in quite this early. I wonder if he’s here to see someone in particular or maybe he just has a hankering for Art’s eggs.” She grins at me and nudges me. “Why don’t you go on and get him some coffee?”

She’s throwing me into the lion’s den. Not that I’m scared of Adam as a man, but I
am
a little scared of how my body betrays me whenever I’m around him. All inhibitions go out the window, and right now, I need to keep a few inhibitions, at least, until I’m sure Mark is out of my life for good.

Several minutes after checking my hair in the bathroom mirror and straightening my apron, I come out of the kitchen and catch a good look at Adam who isn’t wearing his uniform. My breath starts coming a little faster. His jeans aren’t tight, but they can’t camouflage the muscles in his thighs as he walks. And the black leather jacket makes me miss a step. I’ve never seen leather look so good on a man.

Francine whispers “be careful” before breaking out into hearty laughter that’s only muffled by the loud conversation coming from the diners. I throw her a dirty look she can’t see and straighten my shoulders before turning back to face Adam.

Those piercing hazel eyes of his watch my every move. He takes a seat at the counter which doesn’t surprise me. He wants to be up close to the action. I have this ridiculous urge to run back to the bathroom to make sure my French twist is still in place even though I just saw it. Just one glance from him, and I’m a school girl again with her first crush.

Adam turns over one of the upside down coffee mugs and scoots it toward me.

“Would you like some coffee?” The second the stupid question leaves my mouth, I grimace, but he only smiles.

“I would. Black, please.” He doesn’t take his gaze off of me as I retrieve the carafe and pour the liquid. Our hands curl around the handle of the mug at the same time, and the electricity is tangible. It singes my fingertips and runs up my arm. I’m sure it’s the reason my heart does a quick two-step.

When I look at him, he’s looking at me. Then I lick my lips because they’re so dry, and his gaze drops, following the action of my tongue. His fingers tighten over mine. “Have dinner with me tonight.”

He might intend it as a suggestion, but it comes out as a command. And this time there’s no denying what I want. “Okay.” The agreement comes out on a whisper I’m not even sure he hears until he smiles. Slowly. Wickedly. And I shiver. In my mind, I’ve already crossed a line, and we haven’t even ordered an appetizer yet.