Secret Kiss (6 page)

She looked like she’d seen a ghost when she’d shot up from the floor like she was spring-loaded. She’d lied about wearing contacts. And she seemed a little…frazzled.

Which was puzzling. Extremely puzzling.

“So…” Jane stood, her hands trembling as she tucked a strand of hair that had fallen onto her face behind her ear. “You’ll be working here. It’s a shared space. That’s your desk.” She pointed to the desk that looked identical to hers. “I’ve already added you to our database as full access. If you need anything or have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks.” Adam nodded as he took the two steps over to his new workspace.

He hadn’t shared an office with anyone since he’d been in the Army. And even then, it had only been for a limited time. Once he’d been assigned more delicate (classified) operations, he had been upgraded to top-level-security office space. He’d appreciated the privacy.

The only issue Adam had with this new environment was not the lack of privacy. No, the issue was that he’d be so distracted by his new coworker that he might as well be living above the bar, dealing with the noise and spotty Internet connection.

After setting his computer up, he started working on the base model of the app all versions would stem from. But it was taking twice the time it should have taken. The more he tried to concentrate, the worse his performance was.

Normally
, he was laser-focused.
Normally
, he lost himself so completely in his work that hours would pass in the blink of an eye.
Normally,
he wasn’t sitting within five feet of Jane Marshall.

Hoping caffeine might help him gain some of his focus back, Adam stood and glanced around the open space for a coffee machine. He didn’t immediately see one—or any kind of a breakroom.

So, turning to Jane, he asked, “Where do you keep the coff—”

When she lifted her head, her stare slammed into his solar plexus. He was struck speechless when his eyes met hers. The light of the midmorning sun streaming in through the window caught her eyes, and they sparkled unlike anything he’d ever witnessed before. The first time he’d seen her, those eyes had struck him as one of her most enticing qualities. But he never could’ve imagined how they came to life as the streaming sunlight highlighted the glittering golden flecks in her eyes.

He was mesmerized.

“I’m sorry. What?” Jane blinked in confusion, and it snapped Adam out of his momentary paralysis.

“Um, coffee. Do you have a coffee maker?”

“Oh…” Her mouth pursed and her nose scrunched. “We actually don’t. We have a small kitchenette with a mini fridge and cupboards, but no coffee maker. Mike and Nikki don’t drink the stuff. I do, but a small coffeehouse opened up on the corner around the same time we signed the lease. I usually just run down there, or I call in an order and they run it up. Do you want me to order you something?” She was already picking up her phone to place the order.

“No, that’s all right. I could use some air. You said it’s on the corner?” he asked as he stood and pushed his chair in.

“Yep. It’s called Brewed Awakenings.”

He smiled at the play on words. “Can I get you anything?”

Her eyes lit up, and she let out a small moan. “Oh my gosh, a large soy latte would be amazing.”

Adam nodded, trying his best to ignore the way his body responded to her moan. “Comin’ right up.”

“Wait.”

He was on his way out the door when she stopped him. He turned and saw her digging through her purse.

“I know I have a five.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s on me.” He started to walk out again.

“No.” She shook her head and furrowed her brow. “I can’t let you do that. Just one sec…”

Adam wasn’t going to take money from her to get the java. He knew that she was technically just his coworker and they were at work, not on a date, but it still felt so wrong.

“Seriously, I insist. It’s the least I can do, neighbor.”

Jane’s head shot up. Neither of them had mentioned the fact that they lived across the street from each other.

“Oh, I, um… That’s right… I did see you this morning.” A blush rose up her face.

He couldn’t help but think it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. “Yep.”

For a brief moment, he thought about pointing out that he’d actually had his first sighting of her last night, but he rethought that plan. For some reason, the subject seemed to be embarrassing her, and although he found it ridiculously adorable—actually,
because
he found it ridiculously adorable—he decided to drop it.

After a few beats, she smiled a little sheepishly. “Thanks.”

He grinned back and walked out the door. Fast. Stepping out into the cool mountain air, he forced his breathing to slow in hopes that his heartbeat would follow. That girl, the one who had already hijacked his mind, was quickly making her way under his skin. She wasn’t just climbing over the firewall he’d built; she was walking right through it as if it didn’t exist. He needed to figure out how to protect himself. Now.

Plus, he was done with any kind of romance. Jane wasn’t someone he would pursue even if he were looking for a relationship, because she was obviously an all or nothing girl. He’d already given his all. Been there and done that. With Alexis, he’d fallen under a spell. That spell that had cost him everything. His job. His best friend. The secure, safe, predictable life he’d spent his adult years building.

With Alexis, he’d been young and inexperienced so falling as fast and as hard as he had really hadn’t scared him. He’d gone with it and been happy to take the ride.

But now, he was older. Wiser. And the way he felt around Jane scared the shit out of him. There was no way he was heading down that road again.

As he stepped through the door of Brewed Awakenings, he was met with the delicious aroma of coffee beans and fresh pastries. He noticed two attractive women he’d seen around town and at his cousin’s bar.

“Hi, Adam.” The redhead waved with a friendly smile. “We heard that you were starting today. What can we get for you?”

Adam was still having a hard time getting used to small-town living. He’d grown up in a suburb of Detroit. Then he’d been in the service for ten years before settling in Langley, Virginia. So this everyone-knowing-everyone’s-business was all new for him.

“Can I get a large soy latte and a large black coffee?”

“Sure thing.”

Adam glanced around the small coffee shop. The décor was not at all what he expected from a coffeehouse. It was vintage. There were black and white pictures of old Hollywood movies and stars. There was a large black chandelier hanging in the center of the room.

The women worked together, so his order was up quickly. After paying, he made sure to smile in a friendly way.

“Thanks…” He paused, feeling a little awkward that they knew his name but he didn’t know theirs.

The brunette spoke up and motioned to the redhead. “I’m Audrey, and this is my sister, Vivien.”

“Nice to meet you.” His smile grew larger. Then, lifting the cups he was holding, he said, “I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

“Looking forward to it.” Vivien winked and waved.

Her sister rolled her eyes as an amused expression spread across her face.

Stepping back into the bright mountain day, Adam tried to pinpoint what was different about his interactions with Audrey and Vivien versus his interactions with Jane. All three women were objectively equally attractive. They were all friendly. Vivien was even flirty. But from the moment he’d seen Jane,
something
had been different.

He’d always had a very analytical mind, and it was working overtime to figure out exactly what the difference was while he made the short walk down the block to the office. When he reached the door, he realized his pulse was beating faster at the fact that Jane was on the other side of it.

Adam took a deep breath to collect himself and looked down the street. The office was located just off Main Street. There were several small businesses on both sides of the street, and the fire station was on the corner opposite Brewed Awakenings. The street looked like it could be on a postcard titled “Small-Town America,” complete with an American flag waving in front of the firehouse and a golden retriever lying beneath it.

Could this place be real? Were there genuinely good people left in this world? Shaking his head, he knew that only time would answer those questions.

Knowing he couldn’t put the inevitable off any longer, he opened the wooden door.

Jane jumped out of her seat. Rushing towards him, she barely got out, “Thanks so much,” before snatching the cup from his hands.

Adam watched as she took a drink and closed her eyes. The sound that she made as she drank her soy latte shot straight to his groin. When she finished her drink, she moaned as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Damn.
His body felt more alive while watching her drink a coffee than it had in… He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d felt like this.

Tilting her head up, Jane’s golden eyes peered up at him as she sighed. “I needed this. Thank you.”

“No problem.” He tried his best to temper the rasp in his voice.

His mind might have known that nothing could happen between him and Jane, but his body had other ideas. Smokin’ hot, sexy ideas of exactly what he wanted to do with her. And it was far from nothing. He needed to power down. Stop the program that was going haywire in his brain.

Shaking off the vivid images of some of the things that absolutely could
not
happen between them, Adam shifted uncomfortably while she headed back to her desk. Unfortunately, what he saw when she was walking away from him overrode his shutdown system.

There was a large rip that started at the waist of Jane’s slacks and ran all the way down the seat of her pants. The opening it created allowed him to see her black lace panties.

Black. Lace. Panties.

God help him.

Looking at him over her shoulder, she asked, “What?”

Shit. He must’ve made a noise. No doubt it had been a sound of sheer male appreciation.

“Ummm…” Adam needed to tell her that her
ass
ets were on display. But he had no idea how to say that.

“Is everything okay?” Concern flashed across her face as she faced him.

Without the distraction of her pale skin peeking through the lace covering her rounded cheeks, he cleared his throat. “You have a tear. In your pants.”

“I do?” she asked, glancing down and inspecting her slacks.

“No, it’s behind.” That was the most delicate way he could think to put it.

When Jane twisted to see what he was talking about, the concern that had been there moments before was replaced with horror. “Oh my God!” She jumped a couple of inches off the ground and gasped as her hand flew to cover the rip.

Adam wanted to assure her that it was fine, that he hadn’t seen anything, but he didn’t get the chance. Because, in a Tasmanian Devil–like whirlwind, she grabbed her purse and flew out the door.

Jane had left the building.

He stood in place for a moment, trying to replay how he could’ve handled that better. When he couldn’t come up with anything, he decided he should use this time to work without the dark-haired distraction. The only problem with that plan was that vicinity was not a part of the distraction equation. Not to mention that he now knew she owned black lace panties.

Yeah. He was screwed.

‡

“A
ll right. See you then.” Jane disconnected her call with Mike and let out an audible sigh of relief.

As she slumped onto the desk, it hit her that she’d done it. She’d made it the entire week alone with Adam without another embarrassing snafu. Now, Mike and Nikki were back and the pressure was off.

That realization caused her to stand and do a small victory dance at her desk. Thankfully, she was alone in the office, so no one (Adam!) was there to witness it.

After she’d been humiliated on Monday when she’d bared her backside, she had been more than a little tempted to work from home until Mike and Nikki returned. Instead, she’d pulled her big-girl panties up—kept them covered—and gone in to work every day.

During the week, she and Adam had been friendly, but they’d kept the talk to a minimum. And—thankfully—she hadn’t had any more
“Lucy”
moments.

“Dance party!”

Jane jumped and turned to see Vivien, coffee and pastry bag in hand, shaking her booty in the doorway.

While Jane laughed with nervous energy, her cheeks heated with embarrassment. Not so much because Vivien had walked in on her victory jig, but because of how easily it could’ve been Adam.

“It’s been a long week,” Jane said, trying to explain-slash-dismiss her impromptu boogie episode.

Vivien’s brown eyes widened, and a smile bigger than Texas crossed her face as she said with all kinds of innuendo, “Oooooh, I bet.”

Jane had no desire to address that. So she grabbed her purse and pulled cash out to pay for the drink and tip. “Thanks so much for dropping this off.”

On Monday, when Adam had insisted he pay for her drink, Jane had agreed because she hadn’t wanted to make things awkward. But since then, she’d been coming in an hour before he did and had a standing order with the Brewed Awakenings crew to deliver her coffee and bagel.