Mister Match (The Match Series Book 1) (22 page)

Last night, finally, after what had felt like eons, he’d gotten to return the favor.

Her responsiveness had amazed and excited him beyond belief. Her admission that she hadn’t been with a man in a while had made him feel a funny kind of pride. He’d chosen her to break his long fast, and she’d chosen him for the same.

That had to mean something.

Chapter
25

____________________________________

“T
his place. Right here. Pull over, James, will you?”

“Here?” Lisa leaned over Adam to peer out the window at his motel of choice. It didn’t look like much to her. A long, low little building painted in peeling, faded pink, a courtyard with a lone willow tree drooping in the heat, a small turquoise pool, and a barbecue pit. An old, weathered sign proclaimed it to be The Emerald Queen Motel.

“It’s the Emerald Queen, but it’s pink.”

“It’s perfect.” Adam popped open his door and stepped out, then leaned back in and held out a hand for Lisa. “It’s just like places I used to go with my mom when I was little.”

That, Lisa thought, was beyond cute—that he wanted to relive childhood memories of his mother at the beach.

Or maybe it was a little weird. Or maybe both.

She frowned. “Are you sure about this? We could go back up the Strand, find a regular hotel. We passed a Comfort Inn on the way here. Or there’s the Hotel Galvez. It’s famous.”

“Would you rather do that?” There was concern in his eyes as he looked at her. “Would you be more comfortable in a place that isn’t quite so—” He gestured at the motel in front of them. “Funky?” he finished.

She gazed up at him and realized, with a small quake in her belly, that she would be comfortable anyplace with him. The truth was, she’d be so keyed up from being alone with Adam, she probably wouldn’t even notice the room. “No, this place is fine. Whatever you think is good.”

“You’re so agreeable,” he said with a grin.

“Yeah, well.” She winked. “Don’t get used to it.”

Adam arranged for James to return the following morning, and lifted their bags from the trunk. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Inside the office, they found a short woman who looked to be in her sixties with wizened skin and tightly curled gray hair sitting behind the counter, watching
Judge Judy
.

She stood. “You two looking for a room?”

“Yes, please, ma’am.” Adam stepped forward, pulled out his wallet and removed a credit card. “Just for tonight.”

She took the card, looked it over. “Steven Masters?”

“That’s me.” He smiled at her disarmingly, then put an arm around Lisa’s shoulders, drawing her up to the desk with him. “This is my wife, Lisa.”

The woman grunted. “I’m Sandra. Newlyweds, are you?” Something like a smile flickered over her thin mouth. “Saw you pull up in that fancy car. I’ll give y’all the honeymoon suite.”

The “honeymoon suite” turned out to be two adjoining bedrooms flanked by the world’s tiniest kitchen and bath.

“Two bedrooms.” Adam chuckled. “That’s a little weird for a honeymoon suite.”

“I’ll say.” Lisa stood in the middle of the front bedroom, staring at the flowered bedspread. “You think that’s been here since the sixties?”

“Probably.” Adam walked through to the kitchen, and she heard him opening and closing cupboards, the fridge. He came back to the bedroom where she still stood and turned on the window A/C unit, which came to life with a rattling
whoosh
. “I love places like this. The weird patterns on the linoleum floors, the wood-paneled walls, the little framed picture of flowers over the toilet.”

His excitement was catching. Lisa smiled. “It’s pretty kitschy, all right. It’s cute.”

“What do you want to do?” He came closer, ran his palms down her arms and then around her back, pulling her securely to him. “I can think of a few things.”

Her body responded instantly to him, pushing into him almost of its own accord. She snaked her arms around his neck. “So can I.”

“I’m really glad we’re here,” he murmured. “Together.” He bent his head and brushed his lips over hers.

Lisa kissed him back before pulling away. “By the way—Steven Masters?”

Adam grinned. “That’s my middle and last name. My credit cards and driver’s license are all under Steven Masters, to help preserve a little anonymity.”

“I guess that makes me Mrs. Steven Masters. For tonight, anyway.” Lisa grinned up at him. She liked playing a role. She liked being able to step outside herself and her real life for a few hours, and pretend to be someone else.

“That’s right.” He reached down, clamped strong hands on her thighs and pulled her up to straddle his waist. “And we’ve both saved ourselves for marriage, so we’ve got some serious sexual tension stored up.”

She lost her breath as he crossed to the bed in two steps and leaned down with her still clinging to him. A moment later, she was on her back, and he was on top of her. She could feel he was already huge, hard as a rock, where he pressed against her between her legs. Which was a good thing, because she was breathless, already dripping wet for him, moaning in need as she reached up, grabbed his neck and pulled his head down to hers to mate fiercely at the mouth.

“I don’t have any condoms,” she gasped as he pulled her shirt over her head with rough, urgent fingers.

“I do.” He spoke brusquely, desire clipping his words. Then he bent to her, stroking a hand over her bared skin. “You are so gorgeous. I don’t know how no one’s snapped you up before now.”

Before now.
Did that mean he’d snapped her up?

She didn’t have long to consider the question. A moment later she was panting as he bent and flicked his tongue over a nipple, making her let out a sound that was nearly a scream.

How could her need for him be this intense? He’d just given her the biggest orgasm she’d ever had than twenty-four hours ago, and now she was clawing at his back, his thighs, as if she could take him into her own body just by yanking hard enough.

He untied the drawstring of her pants, pulled them down and took a moment to admire her panties before pulling them off too. She sent up a brief prayer of thanks to the gods of sex that she’d bothered to put on the cute, lacy pink ones with the little bows, and then she was naked and vulnerable in the late afternoon light.

He cupped her where her legs joined and pressed his palm against her hot, wet curls, making her twist and writhe on the bed.

“You’re like a livewire,” he murmured. “All raw energy.”

“Adam,” she said. It was all she could say.
I need you inside me, on top of me, pressing me down. I need you in me.

He moved away from her just long enough to take off his clothes and shoes, and then he was back, his weight on her a blessing, his lips on her skin maddening, starting fires wherever they touched.

“I want you in my mouth,” she murmured, and then her eyes went wide and startled. “I can’t believe I just said that!”

“Say it again,” he commanded, his voice thick with need. “Say it.”

“I want you...” She swallowed and tried again. “I want you in my mouth.” She licked her lips and saw his eyes shutter closed for a second, as if he were suddenly overcome.

A surge of power rushed through her.
She
was doing this to him—she was rendering him needy and shaky and begging for more.

She pressed a hand to his chest, shoved him to lie on his back. Then she moved down his body and took the thick, hard length of his cock first in her hand, delighting in how he responded to her touch.

And then she took him into her mouth.

She was experimental, tentative, at first. It had been a long time since she’d done this. She wasn’t sure she remembered how, and she didn’t want to do anything wrong. But when she swirled her tongue over the impossibly velvety skin of the head of his cock, and he groaned as if she were torturing him, she knew none of that mattered.

He was completely under her power.

She let herself go, reveling in the feel of his hot, velvety skin against her tongue, the slight, salty flavor of him when she licked the tip of him. But after only a few moments, he shifted, shoved up onto one elbow and caught her face in the palm of his hand. “Hey.”

She looked up, afraid she’d hurt him somehow. “Am I doing something wrong?”

He chuckled, a strangled sound. “Uh, no. Not in the least. That’s the problem. If you don’t stop, I’m going to be finished here in just another second or two.”

He took her hand and drew her up to lie on top of him. Her hair tumbled into his face.

“I don’t want to finish until you’ve had your pleasure,” he murmured. “Until I’ve watched your eyes go cloudy with release. And then I want to lose myself inside you.”

His words made her body go weak and fluid and taut all at once, and she moaned in response like a dying woman.

Keeping her atop him, he reached off the bed, groping around for a moment until he found his slacks, his wallet. She waited breathlessly as he pulled out a condom package and sheathed himself. Then, with a small war cry of victory and pleasure, she slid down onto the length of him, taking him fully into her body.

Neither of them lasted long. She moved atop him with mindless urgency, pressing the heels of her hands into his chest to ride him harder, and he stared up at her, into her eyes, as he held her hips, her breasts, and urged her on. The tension built within her, the tiny little strokes like the feathery touch of bubbles that meant she was rising toward her peak. And then the bubbles fizzed over. Her body screamed and convulsed around him. She saw his eyes go wide and clear in the second before she lost coherence and fell against him, overcome.

Chapter
26

____________________________________

A
dam had mentioned nighttime swimming, but they didn’t get much swimming done, or anything else for that matter. If they had bothered to look out the window at some point during the day, they might have caught the motel manager staring across the courtyard at their suite, shaking her head with a little smile.

But they didn’t look out the window. They hardly left the bed.

Around midnight, deliciously sore and raw and loving it, Lisa scooted back on the bed to sit against the pillows. “So is there anything in that fridge, or are we marooned here with no provisions?”

“Nothing,” Adam said dolefully. “The cupboards are bare. We’ve got nothing to eat.” His expression turned wolfish. “Except each other.”

Lisa felt an arrow of desire spear through her abdomen. How could she still want him just as sharply as she had the first time? “We could make a run to the grocery store,” she pointed out. “There’s got to be a store somewhere nearby.”

“Sure, but you realize James has the car. We’ve only got our feet.”

Lisa’s eyes rounded. “Oh my God. We’re stuck here.”

He cut her a look, swatted her thigh with the nearest pillow. “City girl. We can hoof it. There must be a convenience store someplace nearby, at least. Come on.” He moved off the bed and around to her side with a speed and grace that excited her, and nearly alarmed her—the power of him, right here, up close and personal. They’d made love half a dozen times now, and yet she could still hardly believe her luck.

He pulled her to her feet. “Come on. Put something on. Let’s go.”

Their midnight walk was lit by a hazy moon, nearly full, and punctuated only by the soft, rushing, rhythmic sounds of the surf.

“This town goes to sleep early,” Lisa murmured as they walked, hand in hand, down the center of the street.

“We’re kind of on the edge of town. People probably get up before dawn, a lot of them, anyway, to head out on the water.”

Lisa took a deep breath. “It smells wonderful here, doesn’t it?”

“I love it. I love the humidity, the soft air. I love the Gulf Coast, even though the water’s shallow a mile out—”

“And it’s brown and warm as a bath,” Lisa added with a grin.

“And if you pick up a handful of sand from the bottom,” he started, and glanced down at her.

“It smells like oil!” She giggled. “And your silver jewelry turns the color of copper.”

“Yep, we’ve got the finest beaches in the country,” Adam confirmed with a grin that showed teeth shining blue in the moonlit darkness.

They found a gas station convenience store that was still open. The clerk, a large man with a long, thin, gray ponytail, eyed them as they loaded up on bags of chips, bottles of Gatorade, chocolate chip cookies and fried cherry pies.

Outside the store, clutching their paper bags, they inexplicably collapsed in giddy laughter together. For a long moment, they hooted and giggled together like two teenagers, neither knowing exactly what the joke was, but both knowing it was a private one that only the two of them shared. Then they started the long walk back to the motel, fingers linked together and arms swinging under the light of the hazy moon.

T
he next day, James returned them to the Houston airport, where they took a quick and bumpy flight back to Austin.

Somehow, Lisa managed to fall asleep for the duration of the flight. She awoke to Adam murmuring, “Wake up, sleeping beauty,” in her ear. His beard stubble tickled her cheek and neck, bringing a smile to her lips.

Out of the airport and once again in the privacy of his chauffeured car, Adam closed the door and reached for her, and she nearly cried with relief.

“I’m going to miss you this week,” he murmured into her hair. “I’m going to miss getting to touch you and hold you, and look at your pretty face while we’re having a conversation about whatever random thing under the sun.” He took a deep breath, as if inhaling her scent to memorize it. “I’m going to miss looking into your eyes while we’re making love.”

She pressed her nose into his neck. It was unbelievable how much things had changed—how much she had changed—in the space of a few days. Somehow, she’d become a wanton woman, naughty and fully satisfied.

“This has been like living out a fantasy,” Adam admitted. When she pulled away and gave him a look, he shook his head. “I’m serious. I felt completely anonymous at that motel. I haven’t had that feeling in so long. It was perfect. For one night, we were just Steven and Lisa Masters. I didn’t have to worry about smiling for the cameras, or being anyone other than who I am. It was the most relaxed I’ve felt in a long time.”

“Oh. Good.” She nodded and looked out the window at the highway rushing past. It was good that Adam had felt so content. She knew it was good. She just couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit disappointed that his fantasy seemed to be more about privacy and anonymity than about spending intensive time with her, most of it naked.

And, of course, she was being silly. Whatever this was between them, it couldn’t last. Adam’s job took him all over the country, all the time. He couldn’t have a real relationship, not while he was working so intently on growing his business. And besides, there was their exit strategy—the one they hadn’t managed to discuss one bit for the entire rest of the weekend, since their dinner Friday night.

Maybe Adam wasn’t looking forward to staging a breakup, any more than she was.

On the other hand, maybe she should look at this weekend as a new beginning. A chance to start looking at life in a new way. The truth was, she was different now. Her time spent with Adam, being spoiled and adored, had cured her at some deep level: She no longer felt like a broken woman, used and discarded by an asshole ex who wasn’t even worth the heartbreak.

In that moment, looking out at the road and the scenery whizzing by as they rode into downtown Austin, Lisa made a decision. From here on out, she was done feeling lonely and washed-up. From now on, she would have no regrets. She would enjoy whatever experiences life handed her, and she wouldn’t worry about anything any more than necessary.

There it was—her new life philosophy. If it didn’t sound so similar to Clare’s haphazard, stubbornly solo approach to life, she might almost be able to convince herself it was a good one.

Next to her, Adam’s phone rang. When she glanced over, she saw him frowning at the Caller ID. “It’s Dan. I just this minute powered my phone back on.” He grimaced slightly. “He’s probably pissed I went off the grid for the entire weekend.”

“I hope everything is all right.”

As soon as Adam swiped the screen to answer the call, it was clear things weren’t all right, not in the least.

“What?” Adam demanded. “Jacob who? I don’t know any Jacob.” He stopped abruptly as Dan continued in what sounded like a tirade. “No, she didn’t— Dan, calm down. The guy is obviously a nutjob.”

“What’s going on?” Lisa mouthed, but Adam held up a hand and shook his head.

“Listen, I’m dropping Lisa off right now, and then I’ll call you back, all right? We’ll figure this out.”

He looked pensive as he rang off.

“What’s happening?” Lisa asked. Something was obviously wrong.

“Apparently,” Adam said slowly, “some guy named Jacob contacted the Mister-Match offices yesterday. He sent an email threatening to sell a story to the press unless we paid him off.”

Lisa frowned. “Story? What story does he have to sell?”

Adam looked at her carefully. “He’s saying he has nude photos of you. Photos from—from last week.”

“What?” It came out on a near-shriek. She sat up ramrod straight. She felt electrified. “Adam, you don’t—you can’t possibly believe that, do you?”

“Of course not,” he said, but he didn’t sound entirely convinced.

“I swear, the only person who could possibly have nude photos of me would be you. And as far as I know, you didn’t use a camera this weekend.” A jagged laugh erupted out of her chest. “Adam, the last man I was with before you was Rodney, a year ago. I mean, this is just ridiculous.” Her heartbeat was skittering in her chest, and she forced herself to take a deep breath. “God, do you think it could be Rodney who sent that email? Like, with a fake name? What was the name, again?”

“Dan said it came from someone named Jacob.”

“Jacob?” she sputtered. “I have no idea who that could be. I’ve never even gone out with anyone named...”

And then she fell silent.

The restaurateur. The
fake
restaurateur—the one she’d met for half a drink at the Sidecar, just last week. His name had been Jacob. She’d figured out within about five minutes of meeting him that the guy was a liar, and he hadn’t seemed particularly bright, either. Could he have emailed Mister-Match.com with such a preposterous claim?

“What?” Adam was asking, leaning in, looking concerned. “What is it?”

“Adam,” Lisa said. She was starting to feel ill. “I—I hate to say it, but I might know who this Jacob is.”

He shook his head. “Who?”

She was really starting to feel sick to her stomach. She closed her eyes briefly and then forced herself to speak. “I went out with a guy last week. He was a real loser, and a liar, too. His name was Jacob.” At the look on Adam’s face, she went on, hurriedly. “Obviously, I didn’t get naked with him. Not even close. We met for a drink at a bar. I didn’t even finish mine. The entire date was probably less than a half-hour long.”

Adam was just staring at her, as if waiting for the part where she would yell,
Just kidding!

That killed her. “Look, it was another setup by Clare and Willow. They made me meet up with him.”

“They made you,” he repeated, his tone neutral.

“Well, yes, sort of,” she insisted. “But it was obvious from the start that he was a liar. A scammer. He said he owned a restaurant, and then it turned out he was just a busboy there, or something. He was just trying to impress me.”

“And you let him take photographs of you?”

“No!” she protested. “Of course not! I’m telling you, we barely met for twenty minutes. I had half a drink and then I left. The guy was a creep.”

Adam didn’t say anything, so she stopped talking. Her chest felt heavy, as if a weight were sitting on it.

After a moment, Adam spoke.

“You didn’t tell me you’d gone on another date with—with another man.”

Lisa winced. There was a note of betrayal in his voice, and she could hardly stand it. “Adam,” she said miserably, but he shook his head.

“No, I—” He stopped, ran a hand roughly through his hair. “You can go out with whoever you want. You can do whatever you want, with anyone you like. I just...” He shook his head again.

“Adam, whatever this is, between us, it’s not real. Is it? I mean, we’ve been playing roles. You’re Mister Match, and I’m your fiancée, and we’re going to break up soon. Right?”

“Right,” he agreed, but his voice was flat.

“It’s all been fake,” she said again, pleadingly. She was beginning to feel desperate—desperate to make him understand, to understand, herself. Desperate to fix this ridiculous mess.

“You’re right. It’s all been fake. Since the beginning.” He looked down at the leather seat between them. “I guess,” he muttered, his voice so low she almost couldn’t hear the words, “I’m just the chump who started taking it seriously, somewhere along the line.”

He turned away from her and didn’t look at her again for the rest of the ride.

A
dam was upset with her, and yet he was still enough of a gentleman to carry her things up the walk to the door of her apartment.

“Thank you,” she said, lamely, stopping on the small concrete stoop.

“You’re welcome.” He sounded stiff, and he was still avoiding her eyes.

“So what’s going to happen?” She shrugged. “What are you going to do about—about the email?”

“I’m going to call the police and press charges,” he said shortly.

Lisa raised her eyebrows. Involving the police made the whole thing sound so much more serious than she’d realized. “Oh. That’s probably smart.”

“If what you said is true,” Adam said, “then whoever sent that email, whether it’s your Jacob or someone else, he’s obviously lying about having nude pictures of you. And blackmail, or extortion, or whatever this is, is illegal.”

“Right.” Adam had said he was
her Jacob
. And he’d said “If what you said is true,” as if there were some doubt. Lisa rubbed a hand over her abdomen. The sick feeling that had begun in the car seemed to have settled in.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, even though the words sounded woefully inadequate. “I never should have gone out with him in the first place, but I definitely didn’t know it would lead to anything like this.”

Finally, Adam looked her in the eye. “Why did you go out with him, Lisa? Really. And don’t tell me it’s because your friends forced you to do it. We both know that’s not even possible.”

Lisa looked down at her feet. The frustration and hurt in his eyes were so apparent, right there at the surface. She hated that she’d hurt him. What could she possibly say that would make it any better?