Mister Match (The Match Series Book 1) (31 page)

“No,” Adam said. He put the cards down on the coffee table and faced Lisa. “It doesn’t.”

Clare looked up at them, then tucked her legs under her and reached out. “Mind if I draw some?” When Willow nodded and held out the bowl, she drew a card.

“What does it say?”

“Play.” Clare shook her head, looking irritated. “I already play plenty. That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking I should quit doing.”

“Quit playing?” Lisa repeated. She felt as if she were breaking out of a trance. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Playing’s kind of your thing. Maybe you should just do it more in moderation, or something.”

“Players can’t do things in moderation,” Clare said. “That’s why they’re players. It’s like alcoholism. You’ve got to quit entirely, or just keep on being a drunk. There’s no in between.”

“But maybe,” Lisa pointed out, “like a drunk, you can’t just quit cold turkey, or you’ll go into withdrawal.”

Clare rolled her eyes. “I want to draw another card.”

She drew Transformation.

“Wow, that’s a great one,” Willow said.

Clare stared at it. “Pretty appropriate for me right now.”

“Really?” Willow asked. “Do tell.”

“I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking.” She shrugged, the movement studiedly casual, but Lisa thought her bare shoulders looked bony and vulnerable. And young. “I think I might go it alone for a little while. See how that goes. I haven’t really done that, you know.” She rolled her eyes. “Like, ever. At least, not since I was six or seven years old.”

“You’ve had boyfriends since you were six years old?” Willow sounded dumbfounded. Then she shook her head. “Never mind. Good for you. It’s good to spend some time alone. Character-building.”

“Or,” Clare said, “maybe I’ll try online dating.”

Lisa stared at her friend, and barely held herself back from throwing a pillow at her. “You said online dating was for losers!”

“I never said that!” Clare shrugged. “And anyway, I am kind of a loser. All I’m good at finding in a man is a great cock and a tendency to run at the first sign of a real connection.” She looked up at Lisa with those tawny eyes that seemed both painfully youthful and far older than their years. “I want what you and Adam have. So would you guys quit torturing us and yourselves already, and kiss and make up?”

“Finally, someone who’s talking some sense,” Adam said, sounding annoyed and relieved at the same time.

One step forward, and he was in front of Lisa. In the next instant, she was in his arms, her lips against his, her heart thudding wildly as it beat out the message—
I’m yours—I’m yours—I’m yours.

Chapter
36

____________________________________

“T
o you guys.” Willow raised her glass. “I’m going to miss you both more than I can say. And this place, too.”

She looked sad as she glanced around the reception room of Indulgence the next morning, and then took a sip of her vodka tonic. She winced as she swallowed. “Ugh. Drinking vodka at nine in the morning just feels wrong.”

“Oh, live a little.” Clare topped off her glass with more of the mixture she’d brought in an insulated Thermos.

“I don’t know,” Lisa said. “I kind of like it.” She held up her own glass to look at it through the morning light streaming in through the windows.

“You’re wearing it again!” Clare shrieked. “Will, she’s wearing the ring!”

“Oh, it’s even prettier than I remembered,” Willow breathed. “Wait, you’re wearing it again. What does this mean?”

Lisa couldn’t help but grin as she looked at the engagement ring Adam had given her. It sparkled and glittered in the morning sunlight.

“It means,” she said, feeling as if she were brimming over with happiness. “It means we’re going to see where things head between us.”

The expectant look on Clare’s and Willow’s faces dimmed a few degrees.

“Man,” Clare complained, “I thought you were going to say he proposed to you for real, this time.”

“You didn’t let me finish,” Lisa said, grinning. “We’re going to see how things go between us, and then, when enough time has passed that our friends and families can’t accuse us of rushing into anything... We’re going to get married. For real, this time.”

Willow, beaming, clapped her hands, and Clare tackled Lisa in a bear hug.

“I knew it!” she crowed, and twirled around in a circle. “I knew it! You guys are perfect for each other.”

“I knew it, too,” Willow pointed out.

“Maybe,” Clare said, “but I knew it first.”

Lisa sighed happily as her friends bantered and took another sip of her drink. This was the most perfect Saturday morning she could remember—except for the fact that Willow was leaving in three days.

Willow had just sprung the news on Lisa and Clare—that she’d gone after a position as director of the newest Indulgence Spa, scheduled to open at the Houston branch of the Keiko Hotel, and she’d gotten the job. And now, they needed her there.

Everything was changing.

Lisa frowned. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us you were applying for the job.”

“I didn’t think I would get it,” Willow said. “I didn’t want to say anything until I knew what was going to happen.”

“I know. I just can’t believe they’re transferring you so fast. I would’ve thought you would have another few weeks, at least.”

Willow lifted a shoulder, the gesture a bit glum. “I know. Construction on the Houston Keiko is apparently ahead of schedule, so they needed me sooner than they thought. They just called me at seven this morning. I didn’t know it would happen this quickly, either.”

Lisa sighed. “Do you really have to go? You could just stay here.”

Willow laughed and swiped at her damp eyes. “I can’t stay. I’ve already packed everything up and terminated my lease and everything.”

“You could move in with me,” Lisa offered magnanimously. “I’m sure Mr. Monkey wouldn’t mind. Although, it might be a tight squeeze whenever Adam’s in town. But we’ll make it work.”

“Stop,” Willow moaned, “you’re going to make me cry.”

“Jeez, guys, we’re supposed to be celebrating, not getting all weepy.” Clare gulped the rest of her drink resolutely and then focused on Lisa. “Tell us about the rest of your night last night. I want all the details.”

Lisa grinned, set down her glass and lay down on the floor. She stared at the ceiling as images of Adam flashed through her mind—Adam bending over her, pressing into her, holding her as he rocked her into ecstatic oblivion. “It was perfect,” she murmured happily. “Beautiful. Everything I ever dreamed of.”

“You’re so cheesy,” Clare said, and laughed when Willow swatted her knee. “Kidding. I’m kidding, okay? So where did you say he went this morning?”

Lisa frowned slightly. “I didn’t. He didn’t tell me.”

“Hmm,” Willow said. “That’s funny.”

She sounded a little funny. Lisa raised her head and looked at her. “What? You guys, what?”

“What, what?” Clare said, clearly trying to sound innocent and failing miserably.

Lisa sat up. “You know, I’ve had about enough of you guys plotting things behind my back. What’s going on?”

Clare giggled and jumped up, and danced around her in a circle. “We got you a surprise.”

“What surprise?”

“It’s in room four,” Willow said with a smile.

Lisa glanced dubiously at the hallway that led to the massage rooms. “What is it? Did you guys buy me a massage table, or something? Because I already have one. A pretty nice one, actually.”

“Just go see,” Clare said, and nudged her with her bare foot. “Go.”

Lisa sighed. “If this is another thing that’s going to piss me off, well, I’m going to be really pissed off.”

“Don’t worry,” Clare called after her. “You’ll like it.”

She stepped into room four, and frowned. The room was empty.

Well, not completely. There was a little piece of paper tented on the massage table.

“Take off your clothes and lie down,” it read.

“You guys,” Lisa called out. “Come on. I don’t need a massage right now.”

“Yes, you do,” Willow sang out from the reception room, and Lisa could hear Clare’s burst of laughter.

Lisa grinned, and rolled her eyes. They weren’t even supposed to be at Indulgence this early. The first customers weren’t scheduled to arrive until ten.

Which made a little pre-workday massage sound kind of fun, in a playing-hooky-from-school kind of way.

She slipped off her pants and her tank top, tossed her bra and panties into the corner, and slid under the sheet. As soon as she lay down and closed her eyes, she smiled again.

This was where it had all started—right here, on this table in room four. She’d met Adam for the first time in this room. She’d first laid eyes on his bare back, his cute ass, right here.

She sighed and grinned again, remembering his silly joke from the first day they’d met—“All water, no Stones.”

She couldn’t believe it. He was back, and he was hers. Her stomach thrilled with pleasure just thinking about it. Last night had been incredible. They’d talked and held each other and made love until late into the night, so late that she’d been groggy when Clare and Willow had shown up on her front step this morning, with vodka in hand and news of Willow’s transfer.

She’d only had a few sips of her drink, but she was tired from staying up so late. The combination made her relax so thoroughly that she didn’t even hear the light knock at the door a few minutes later.

The door slid open and then closed, and Lisa came halfway to consciousness. “Do you want me on my back, or...?” she murmured, but the massage therapist whispered, “Ssh, you’re fine.”

She settled back into her relaxed state and only dimly heard the clicking of the CD being turned on, and then the mellow and contemplative guitar chords started.

She frowned. She knew this song. She just couldn’t place it.

Warm, gentle hands smoothed onto her back. “Hello, Ms. DeLuca. I’m Adam Masters, and I’ll be your massage therapist this morning.”

Her eyes snapped open. “Adam?” She twisted around to see him, but he chuckled and rubbed her shoulders, pressing her gently downward.

“Hush. Lie down on your stomach.”

“Hey!” She laughed and tried to sit up, but he caught her wrists and moved into the vee of her legs.

“That’s very unprofessional,” she said, as he pressed intimately against her. Pleasure flushed softly, determinedly through her.

“Hush,” he commanded again. He kissed her and then pressed a finger to his lips, laughing low as he guided her onto her stomach.

She wanted to look at him, to touch him. She wanted nothing more than to gaze up into his eyes, just stare at him. But he was working his fingers into the muscles in her back, around her shoulder blades, and after a beat, she moaned and closed her eyes.

“Is the music okay?” he asked after a minute. “It’s Moonlight Mile. One of my favorite Rolling Stones songs.”

“Mine, too,” she managed. He was using a technique on her lower back that made her simultaneously want to laugh, cry and go to sleep. “What are you doing? Where did you learn this?”

“Oh, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“What tricks? Tell me, I want to know.”

“I took a class, that’s all. I had a lot of time alone last week, you know.”

She frowned. “You took a massage therapy class?”

She could tell he was smiling as he admitted, “No, I did it the over-privileged rich-boy way. You know, I paid a massage guru a fortune to give me an intensive lesson. We basically just hit the high points.”

“Wow.” She wrinkled her nose. “You didn’t go to Rodney, did you?”

“Nah, I hired someone better. Besides, I heard that guy’s busy trying to pay back his ex-girlfriend for a lot of money he owes her.”

“You heard that, did you?” Lisa’s eyes drifted closed as a smile found its way to her lips. “I’m pretty sure you heard wrong. And anyway, I heard his ex doesn’t care about the money anymore. I heard she found someone a lot better to think about than that jackass. Plus, her new boyfriend’s loaded, so he’ll be able to pay off her debt to the IRS, no problem.”

Adam laughed. “I see. Well, she’s a lucky woman.”

Lisa moaned as he did something that made her neck feel wonderfully like rubber. “I hope you realize you’ve dug yourself a hole, here. You’re going to have to do this pretty much every night from now on.”

“I’m counting on it,” he said, his voice deep and rumbly. “I don’t want my wife to come home achy and cranky after work every day.”

“Your wife.” Why did that phrase make her eyes prickle with happy tears?

“That’s right,” he murmured. “You know all that stuff we said last night, about waiting an appropriate length of time, and blah blah blah? I think we were just delirious from lack of sleep.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. I think we’d better just go ahead and get married as soon as possible. Give the gossip bloggers something to talk about.”

“Right. We’ll do it for the gossip bloggers.”

“I’m so glad you agree,” Adam said. “I think we’ve strung them along long enough. It’s time to throw them a bone. But,” he murmured, “not until I’ve turned you into putty in my hands and had my way with you.”

She felt him lean in and kiss her neck, then her ear. “I love you, Lisa,” he murmured.

“I love you, too,” she whispered. She felt like laughing and crying at once, and like screaming with excitement. She felt like turning around to throw her arms around Adam, hug him close and never let him go.

But she didn’t. There would be plenty of time for all of those things. For now, all she had to do was lie here and enjoy the gift he was giving her, because he loved her, she loved him, and everything was going to be okay.

Better than okay.

“Now, be quiet,” Adam said, with gentle laughter in his voice. “I’m trying to work, here.”

The song played out its meandering lullaby, and Lisa allowed herself to get lost in the wonderful feeling of Adam’s touch.

The End