Falling Star (7 page)

He groaned, pressing his cheek against hers. His breath came through his mouth in a strangled rhythm. "I don't want to rush you. I'll scare you away."

"I told you I'm not afraid." The tips of her middle fingers found the head of his cock, still covered in cotton underwear, but a bead of moisture leaked through, moistening the fabric and somehow turning her on even more.

"Damn." He circled each of her wrists with a strong grip, brought both hands out of his pants, and threaded his fingers with hers. He held her hands against his thighs, but he continued the sensuous pressure of his body against hers. She loved the shiver that shook his body. This man, with the body and face of either an angel or the devil—wanted her.

Her.
Little Jade Graham from a one-stoplight town in New Mexico. The same girl who took her best girlfriend to the prom, because all of the boys in school were spoken for. This man wanted
her
.

"I don't want to rush anything with you." His words were filtered by her hair. "I want this to last." He kissed her gently on the top of her cheekbone, his breath stirring her eyelashes.

"That's very um," his kisses muddled her mind "Honorable of you."

"Told you I'm a gentleman."

"Not always, I hope."

The grin he gave her was anything but gentlemanly. It was roguish and playful, and the glint in his eye hinted at the carnal direction of his thoughts. "You're hell on a gentleman's control."

"I'm sorry." No she wasn't, and the way her lower body ground against his proved it.

"Don't be." He pulled back, then gave her a playful shove toward the back room. "I plan on taking full advantage soon."

Jade tried to think straight, really she did. The most important task was locking the cash till in the safe. Other than that, if she forgot another one of her closing tasks, it wouldn't be the end of the world. As long as she remembered to lock the front door behind them.

* * * *

Jade couldn't believe the amount of food that erupted from the wicker basket. She pulled out a bottle of wine, two glasses, and containers filled with cheese, crackers, cold cuts and cubed fruit and vegetables. "You packed all this?" She spread it out on the thick blanket. "Is someone joining us?"

"Oh no. This is a private party. Just you and me." Adam lay on his side, his ankles crossed, his torso propped up on an elbow. The spot they found was secluded enough to be private, shielded by lush green bushes and a cove of trees. Shadows from the leaves overhead flickered over them, offering a slight respite from the heat of a Southern California spring evening. He watched her unpack the picnic with an indulgent smile.

She raised an eyebrow. "Did you do this yourself?"

"Would it earn me points?"

"You don't need any more points." She opened the square plastic container that held plump red grapes, and popped one in her mouth, then stretched out to face him. "But this reeks of a woman's touch." She put a grape against his lips. He took the fruit into his mouth, and kissed her fingers at the same time.

"You're right. I had help." He painted her lips with the juice of a sliced strawberry before he fed it to her, and kissed the moisture from her lips.

Her heart kicked up a beat. Irrationally, she thought if that occurred with every kiss, she'd be dead from a heart attack before nightfall. She tried to steer her wandering thoughts away from where his kisses were leading. "Please don't tell me you live with your mother."

He laughed. "No, my parents still live in Utica, New York, where I grew up. My assistant Carley helped me with this. Don't be surprised if you find a condom or two in that basket. She has a sense of humor."

"And she likes lilies. I think I want to meet this woman." She fed him another grape, then poured them each a half glass of white wine and stretched out beside him. "It feels good to relax."

"Another busy day?"

"Not too busy, just a steady stream of customers. I did have time for lunch." She sipped her wine. "What about you? Busy day?"

"A meeting at three, otherwise I had the day to myself. Mm, pass the meat."

She put the container with the meat rolls between them near his chest, and took some roast beef for herself. "Meeting?" Out of work actors had meetings? And assistants?

"Maybe meeting is the wrong word. I got together with some guys I work with." He popped a roll into his mouth, but swallowed before continuing. Another point for him, she smirked. Jade couldn't stand a person speaking around food. "I think you need another employee."

Both statements made no sense when put together, which gave her the distinct feeling he steered the conversation away from his meeting. If he was going to be intentionally secretive, then she'd take it upon herself to make him crack. She always did love a mystery.

"I'd love to have more help, but we can't afford anyone just yet."

"How am I supposed to take you out of town for a weekend?" He brushed a curling strand of hair away from her eye, and tucked it behind her ear.

"I'd have to sweet-talk Dean into working alone with our part-timer on a Saturday, I suppose. We're closed Sundays."

"I'd like to take you out on my boat."

Jade tried to picture what kind of boat he might have. A fishing boat with an outboard motor? "You need my help rowing?"

He smiled. That crooked grin that spoke of an inside joke. "I think I can get the motor to work, but I'll bring some oars just in case. What do you think?"

"I'll talk to Dean."

"Mm, good. We'll leave tomorrow after you close the store."

Jade pulled back to look at him. "Tomorrow?"

He shrugged. "Tomorrow's Friday, right?"

"Yes, but…"

He arched his eyebrow; a silent dare.

Her mouth worked around words she couldn't voice. He didn't give her much notice, but did she really need any? She closed her mouth without a sound.

He grunted, that satisfied sound a man makes when he knows he's gotten his way. "That's what I thought."

She rolled her eyes, and smothered a grin before settling back beside him. He fed her a piece of cheese. There was something very intimate about eating from this man's hand. Her skin sizzled, but only partly due to the waning humid heat. "I want to learn all about you. Tell me everything."

"Not much to tell. I had a pretty standard childhood." She described growing up in rural America, the baby sister of four older brothers. Adam teased her about what it must have been like bringing boyfriends home, and she laughingly told him about the sad lack of available boys her age in her hometown. "What about you? Any brothers or sisters at home in New York?"

"I have one sister, Catherine. She's sixteen years older than me, so she's more like a favorite aunt."

"Sixteen years! So you must have been a…um…"

"Surprise."

"Yes." She giggled, and fed him another bite of a rolled turkey slice. "And spoiled, I bet."

"What makes you say that?" He captured her hand, and took the last of the meat from her fingers.

"I'm not sure. Something about you gives me this strange feeling that you're used to getting whatever you want."

"There's one way to find out. Right now I want to kiss you."

She put both of their wineglasses on top of the picnic basket, moved the containers of food out of the way, and scooted up against him. He didn't move a muscle as she wrapped a hand around his neck and kissed him. He remained still until she slipped her tongue behind his teeth, when with a groan, he pushed her onto her back, and covered both of her legs with one of his. He turned his head to deepen the kiss. His mouth was warm. Firm and moist. She closed her lips around his tongue. So this is what they mean about being kissed breathless.

"Just as I thought. Spoiled rotten." She sighed, lying beneath him, feeling frail and feminine under his hard-muscled masculinity. Their eyes met and held. He slipped his fingers beneath the sleeve of her blue Earth Scents polo shirt and cupped her shoulder.

"I could spoil you too. If you let me."

"You'll give me whatever I want?" Her mind flew to the kiss in the hallway, and the hard ridge of flesh. What would he do if she asked for that? She gave him a naughty grin.

"Anything." He tunneled five fingers through her hair, and gripped her scalp. When the plastic claw that held her hair got in the way, he deftly opened it, and tossed it away. Her breath caught. She imagined him undressing her, beginning with that hair restraint.

The top two buttons on his shirt lay open, revealing an inch below his collarbone. She reached for that wedge of skin before she even knew she had moved. The heat from his body sank into her fingertips.

"You're so hot." She raised her head to press her lips against his heated skin.

"That's your fault," he growled, the sound humming through her mouth. "You're so damn beautiful. I get hot just looking at you."

She opened her mouth to speak, but the vibration against her thigh made her jump.

He dug into his front pocket for his phone. "Sorry." He looked at the readout. "Fuck." He opened his phone. "What is it?"

Jade could hear that it was a male voice on the other end, but she couldn't make out the words. Adam hadn't moved from his position half on top of her, and his eyes held hers, pinning her to the blanket.

"Where?" His body grew hard and tense along hers as he listened. "How many?"

Jade tried to scoot out from underneath him, but he held her firmly. Holding her gaze, he shook his head.

"Can you take care of it, or do we need to leave?"

Uh oh. Sounded like an emergency. She didn't like the way his mouth stiffened.

"Okay, we'll hold tight. Call me as soon as it's handled." He snapped his phone closed, but held it in his hand which he brought around to cage her beneath him, blocking everything from view except his looming face, and with the irritated look carved onto it, she suddenly felt a sliver of fear.

"Is everything okay?"

"Something came up," he said tightly. "And I need you to lie very still."

Her eyes widened.
What the hell?
"Why? What's going on?" Like some bad movie script, clouds obscured the sun at that moment, casting them in a dark shadow.

He took a long moment to scan the area, then looked back into her eyes, a gentle expression replaced the tense one that was there seconds before. Oh yeah, he had to be an actor. Who else could go from aggravated to teasing in less than two seconds?

"I just want to stare at you for a few minutes."

"Oh no you don't." She shook her head, adrenaline pumping through her veins. "Something is going on, and if it involves me, you'd better explain it to me right now." She put both hands on his chest, intent on pushing him away, but he wouldn't budge.

"Jade, I didn't mean to scare you." He hovered over her, silhouetted against the sky. He released a deep breath which she felt against her neck. "That was Tyrell. He works…with me." His voice was calm and reassuring. At his soothing tone, Jade relaxed muscles she hadn't known she'd tensed. "He's come across a small problem. If he can't handle it, I'll have to go. So, just in case," he settled closer, "I want you to lie very still, because I'm going to stare at you for a few minutes."

Whatever bothered him a moment ago was gone. Only tenderness remained in his eyes. Maybe he was just upset that the phone call interrupted them.

That makes sense. It wasn't any of her business anyway.

"All right. I suppose I can do that." She moved her hands from his chest down to slip underneath his shirt, then up against the smoothest hardest chest she'd ever touched. Lord how she wanted to see what her hands were caressing. "How still must I remain?"

"Just don't block my view."

"You
are
spoiled!" She grinned.

He rested his weight on two bent arms on either side of her head. "Feed me," he ordered, but softened the commandment with a wink.

She fumbled for the first container she could find. Silently, they put a big dent in the massive amount of food, one bite at a time, and around steamy stares and gentle kisses. She still was under the impression that he shielded her, rather than merely keeping her prisoner of his attentions, but she gave him the benefit of the doubt. She rather liked having his unwavering focus. When he said he was going to stare at her, he wasn't kidding. The only time his dark blue eyes didn't hold hers was when he lowered his body enough to cover her mouth in a warm kiss.

Even when his phone buzzed again he didn't look away, he just opened it and barked, "Yeah?"

Jade still couldn't hear what Tyrell said, though she tried, as wrong as it might be, but his face lost some of the tightness. The clouds grew thicker, and the unmistakable scent of looming rain whispered across the grass.

"Any, uh…documentation?" He kissed the tip of her nose.

He was good at distracting her, that was for sure.

"Good job, Ty. I owe you a beer." She heard a loud chuckle come through the earpiece, but couldn't make out the words that followed. Adam's answering smile gave her a little thrill. "Yeah you only have the guts to say that knowing I can't respond. There's a lady present." He closed his phone with a decisive snap, then kissed her again. His tongue probed through her mouth in a dance as old as time. She was vaguely aware of her questions about the phone call fluttering from her mind like leaves in the wind. "If you and I are eating the same meal, how is it you taste so damn good?" He stroked her cheek in a reverent caress.