Adam,
the screen indicated.
Oh, this ought to be good
, I thought to myself as I took a long drink and then said “Hello” in a none-too-happy voice.
“Maddy, it’s Adam.”
No kidding.
“I got delayed, but I’ll be there in—”
“You’re late,” I interrupted, promptly sipping more beer in the ensuing interlude.
“I know, and I apologize. Something out of my control came up—”
“Oh, I bet
something
came up,” I said bitingly. Being a smartass was better than crying, and the beer made it all too easy.
Adam paused. “Maddy, are you alright? You sound kind of, I don’t know, not yourself.”
“Never been better,” I answered, before downing the last of my cold beverage.
“Uh, if tonight’s not a good night…” he trailed off, uncertainty in his voice.
I wanted an explanation—in person— so I hastily replied, “No. In fact, how soon can you get here?”
“Ten minutes?”
“See you then,” I said flippantly, before hitting
end
.
I waited until I heard his Porsche pulling into my driveway to get up from the kitchen chair I’d settled into.
Whoa, steady there
, I thought as I held tightly to the edge of the table for a few extra seconds. The alcohol I’d consumed had caught up to me, and I was definitely feeling it.
Tottering in my heels, I negotiated my way to the front door. Once I made it there without incident, I fluffed out my hair, bit down on my lips to give them some color, and pushed up my corset to further enhance my already-prominent cleavage.
Let him see just what he’ll be missing once I kick him to the curb.
But when I opened the door, I was met with a breathtakingly gorgeous—albeit slightly blurry—Adam. Dressed in a deep blue pullover that complemented the color of his eyes and faded jeans that hugged him in all the right ways, he was quite a vision of handsomeness. “Wow! You look hot,” I blurted and then mentally slapped myself for complimenting him when I was supposed to be mad.
Adam chuckled, and I caught him steal a glance at my ample cleavage.
Score one for me
.
“
Com
ing in, Adam?” I giggled, throwing his words from the night on the runway back at him, while leaning against the doorframe for support.
Adam eyed me curiously, brow furrowed, “Have you been drinking, Madeleine?”
“Aw, just a little,” I pshawed. I grabbed his hand and tugged. “Come on in to my humble abode. Or should I say
your
humble abode.”
Adam allowed me the illusion that I was dragging him across the floor and into the living room, but in reality he was helping me keep my balance. “Maybe you should lose the heels,” he said when I almost tripped.
“Trying to get me out of my clothes already, Adam?” I teased, swaying.
“Come here, Maddy,” he said gently as he led me to the sofa, where I promptly fell back into the cushions. He knelt down on the floor in front of me, while wrapping a hand around one of my heels. “Lift,” he prodded.
Sighing, I complied, and Adam unzipped my boot. “So I had a little too much to drink,” I protested. “It’s your fault anyway.”
Dropping the boot to the floor, he wrapped his hand around my other ankle as his oh-so-blue eyes met mine. “My fault?” he asked, nonplussed as he unzipped the other boot. “Why’s that?”
I held up my index finger. “One, you’re late.”
“Only fifteen minutes, and I apologized.” The second boot dropped to the floor.
“That was only the first reason,” I said, waving my finger and raising a second. “Number two, and this is a big one.” Adam cocked an eyebrow. “I saw you driving by with another woman.”
Adam laughed—and damn if he didn’t look more gorgeous than ever. This man was maddening. But I forged on. “Who was she, Adam?”
He curled his hand around my calf, smiling. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”
“It’s not funny,” I huffed. “And I’m not jealous.”
“You are,” he said as he rubbed my calf gently. “But you have no reason to be. That was my
sister
in the car. She was supposed to come in tomorrow, but she came up from Boston early.”
“That was Trina?” I squeaked out, realization dawning on me that she was the person Jennifer had brought over today.
Oops.
“Who did you think it was?” Adam asked, unmistakable amusement lacing his tone.
“Oh, I don’t know. Nobody, really…” I trailed off.
Not only did I have no intention of sharing my misinterpretations with him, but his hands were wrapped around both my calves now, and whatever he was doing with his fingers felt amazing.
“Yeah, sure.” A smile played at the corners of his mouth.
“It’s not important anyway,” I said as I relaxed back into the sofa. “We should just pick out a movie and forget about it.”
“We should but first”—Adam swiftly pulled me into his lap—“we should do this.” His lips crashed down on mine, and I maneuvered my legs to either side of his.
Soft and warm those tender kisses were until they turned ravaging. Desperate, hungry, I couldn’t get enough of Adam. And caught off guard, he responded.
With his fingers tracing the laces on the back of my corset, Adam broke away long enough to breathe out, “This is
very
hot.” His hands trailed down to curve around my bottom. “God, Maddy, do you know how much I want you?”
In response I let out a stifled moan and grinded myself down against him.
Please, don’t stop.
And though I could
feel
his body didn’t want to, Adam hesitated.
I sighed in frustration, and he moved his hands to the sides of my face. “What is it? What are you thinking?”
I shrugged. “Why’d we stop?”
He kissed me softly, and against my lips, he said, “If we keep going, I might not be able to stop.” He pulled back and our eyes met. “It’s just… Maddy, I know you want more than—”
“Adam,” I broke in, “I don’t have any expectations. I mean, I do, but…”
I didn’t know what I wanted, not really. And that was the problem. Yes, I wanted Adam. But not like this. Not under the influence of alcohol, although my buzz was wearing off. But Adam was correct; I’d regret a hasty action.
Ducking my head, I muttered, embarrassed, “You’re right. At least one of us is thinking tonight.”
“Hey, hey.” Adam wrapped his arms around me. “We can talk about this stuff later. Why don’t we watch that movie?”
I nodded my head against his shoulder and held on, enjoying his warmth, a minute more. When we broke away, I scooted off of Adam and rose to my feet, straightening my clothes in the process.
Adam tried to be coy, but I caught him sneaking another peek as I adjusted my corset top. “What?” he asked, playing innocent oh so well.
“Nothing,” I replied, shaking my head. “I’m going to grab something to drink. Do you want anything? Beer? Coke?”
Adam cocked an eyebrow. “What are you having?”
I was done with drinking for the night, so I answered, “I think I’m switching over to Coke.”
“Coke sounds good,” he said. “I’ll have the same.”
I started toward the kitchen, and halfway there I called back, “Oh, I have food too. If you’re hungry, I can heat up a pizza.”
“Sure.” I heard Adam say. “Do you need any help?”
“No, no, I’ve got it,” I yelled back. “Go ahead and pick a movie. There are some in the TV cabinet on the bottom shelf.”
Having reached the kitchen, I grabbed two cold Cokes out of the fridge. And then I pulled the pizza out of the freezer, unwrapped it, and slid it into the oven. The back of the box indicated it would take twelve to fifteen minutes for the pizza to be ready, so I set the timer and went back into the living room.
“How long is your sister staying on the island?” I asked Adam as I handed him one of the cold sodas. He was crouched down in front of the TV cabinet, thumbing through my limited DVD collection.
“Just ’til Monday,” he replied.
He opened the soda and took a drink, while I walked back to the doorway and leaned against the jamb. I had promised myself that I’d forget about the case for this one night, but if there was ever going to be an opportunity to spend some time with Trina, this weekend could be it. So I casually inquired, “Will Trina be at the café this weekend?”
“She’s hanging out with Helena most of the day tomorrow, so, yeah, probably,” Adam said as he rose from his kneeling position, two DVDs in hand.
Perfect!
I thought, but to Adam I said, “Find anything good?” I nodded to the cases he held.
Holding up both a comedy selection and a classic Hitchcock film, he asked, “Funny or suspenseful?”
The oven chimed before I could answer, and Adam walked back to the sofa. The toe of his shoe hit something on the floor, and he stopped. To my dismay I saw it was one of the DVDs I didn’t want him to see. Crap, I thought I’d pushed them both under the sofa. Adam bent to pick it up, and I froze, catching the image on the cover.
Oh no
, it was the romantic tearjerker. “Um, we don’t have to watch that one,” I said in a rush of words.
“Is there some reason this one is halfway hidden under the sofa?” Adam smirked as he skimmed over the back cover.
“Um, no,” I muttered.
”Hiding your chick flicks, eh?” Adam teased in return. He was enjoying this way too much.
“I must have dropped it,” I mumbled, embarrassed for the second time in one night, because we both knew that wasn’t true.
The timer buzzed, so I made a quick escape to the kitchen. I’d literally been “saved by the bell.” Or maybe not. As I was getting the pizza out of the oven, Adam came into the kitchen.
He grabbed the paper plates I’d set out on the counter, and I slid the pizza onto a large cutting board. “I bet you’d never guess,” Adam said softly, “but I’ve always wanted to see that movie.”
“The chick flick?” I looked up, shooting him a look of disbelief.
Adam tapped the paper plates against the counter and smiled. “I’ll admit, maybe it won’t make my life complete. But judging from your reaction, it seems like it would be something you’d enjoy watching.”
“It’s only one of my favorite movies, like ever,” I said under my breath as I pulled a cabinet drawer open and rummaged for the pizza slicer.
Adam’s hand stilled mine. “Then let’s watch it.”
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe I was going to watch such a romantic movie with such a gorgeous guy. Maybe he was starting to fall for me too. A girl could only hope, right?
In the end we watched the “chick flick.” And not surprisingly I cried at all the touching and sad parts, of which there were many. And Adam was sweet, wiping my tears away and showering me with tender kisses. By the end of the movie, I was curled up with Adam on the sofa, wrapped up in his strong arms, feeling happier than I’d felt in a very long time. If only things could have remained so blissful.
The next afternoon, as I hurried into the toasty warmth of the café, a cold shiver coursed down my spine. Unfortunately it wasn’t just a reaction to the icy drizzle and frigid temperatures that had blown in off the sea. Though the weather did indeed add to my uneasiness, I had this feeling I just couldn’t shake that something bad was about to happen. But I had to put my worries aside for now.
Helena was behind the coffee bar, leaning on the counter and laughing along with a tall, smartly dressed woman with short, dark hair. Though she looked different than I remembered—more chic, more polished—I recognized that she was Adam’s sister, Trina
.
Glancing up as I approached, Helena called out a cheerful, “Maddy!”
Trina smiled as I reached the counter, and Helena turned to her and asked, “You remember Maddy Fitch, right?”
“Of course I remember,” Trina said warmly. “It’s good to see you again.”
The next few minutes were spent engaged in reintroductions and small talk. Trina confirmed she was staying until Monday and then confessed she had come up to the island a day early because she’d gotten into an argument with Walker. Helena asked her if it had been about anything serious, but Trina said no. They’d just been getting on each other’s nerves with all the planning for the upcoming wedding.
“Men,” Helena said exasperatedly, shooting Trina a look of solidarity.
“Speaking of which,” Trina said slowly as she turned to face me, her stunning blue eyes so similar to Adam’s that I had to keep myself from staring. “I want to know your secret for getting my boring brother out on a Friday night. If he’s not out of town on business, he’s usually holed up in his study working.”
Helena broke in with, “Aha, I heard you two had made up. But Nate didn’t tell me you had another date.”
“It wasn’t really a date,” I explained. “We just watched a movie together at my place.”
“That sounds cozy.” Helena nudged Trina’s arm. “Come on, tell us all the gory details.”
“Uh, maybe not everything, Maddy.” Trina grimaced. “We are talking about my
brother
here.”
“It’s not like that anyway,” I insisted. “We watched the movie, and then Adam left.”
Sure there’d been a little bit more than that, like some amazing kissing, but I had no desire to share those details.
“Oh sure,” Helena said with a roll of her eyes. “Editing for Trina’s sake is fine for now. But you know I’ll be expecting the unrated version later.”
“Um…” I trailed off.
Thankfully Trina saved the day when she said, “Really, Helena, leave Maddy alone. You really need to get off this island more often.”
Helena laughed and agreed, and I jumped at the chance to ask how she and Nate had come to live on Fade Island.
She explained that after college, Nate, who’d been trying to get picked up as a quarterback, was drafted by an NFL team across the country. But during training camp, he suffered a career-ending injury, thus halting their plans to move west. Adam, who had moved out to the island following Chelsea’s disappearance, then asked Nate if he’d be interested in “managing” Fade Island. Nate had a degree in a computer-related discipline as well, so Adam went even further, offering Nate a chance to do some work for him on the side. Made sense, and I’d already suspected as much. Nate and Adam had been computer whizzes back in school. But it made me wonder once again just how involved Nate was in Adam’s business. That would better explain why they so often traveled together.
As for the “managing” the island offer, Nate was immediately interested, but Helena wasn’t so sure. When she expressed concern that there’d be nothing for her to do on the island, Adam came up with the idea of running the café. Though it would be dead in the winter, the summer clientele promised to keep her plenty busy. Still waffling, Nate and Helena made up their minds without further ado once they saw Adam’s more-than-generous final offer. They quickly accepted, moved onto the island, and never looked back.