More Than Rum (The Maple Leaf Series Book 3) (12 page)

And she’d already put way more
effort into him than she should have. He had to catch up and bank some points
for a later time.

He liked that he thought about
having a later time with her. That made what they were trying to do important
somehow, and he supposed it was. Relationships were serious business. It was
time he rolled up his sleeves and got involved.

“Not steak. Good,” Hope said as
she opened her container to find barbecued chicken wings resting on a bed of
Jake’s Cajun rice with a side of green beans and a slab of cornbread.

Adam opened his to find the
same meal, which smelled like the delicious Deep South. His mouth instantly
watered. “You don’t like steak?”

“Oh. Um. No, I like steak. I
just wasn’t in the mood for it tonight.” A rosy color crept up her cheeks.

“Why not?”

The color on her face deepened
and she fanned herself with her hand. “Whew. Some heat coming out of this
container, huh?”

“Hope?” He reached across the
table and took hold of her wrist to stop her fanning.

“Yeah?” She used her other hand
to gather her hair and pull it off her neck.

“I was wishing for soup.”

She let go of her hair and
laughed. “That would have been much faster.” Nodding, she said, “Okay, so we’ve
established I’m not the only one who is turned on here, correct?”

“You are not alone. Not by a
long shot.” He slid his hand from her wrist to her hand, held it briefly, then
released it after giving a quick squeeze.

She offered him a grin so
seductive, he nearly used his arm to swipe all the food and dinnerware right
off the table. That would make climbing across it to get to her all the more
feasible.

“We have all night,” she said.

“We do.” He caught her gaze,
cleared his throat, and went for it. “I promise that I beat the shit out of the
dickhead who said no to you last night, Hope. I apologize for his rude
behavior. He will not be making an appearance this evening. You have my word on
that.”

“Okay.” She hooked some hair behind
her ear, silky blonde strands slithering over the shoulder of her fitted black
sweater. “Just out of curiosity, why did that guy say no?”

Adam’s leg bounced beneath the
table as he registered the vulnerability in her eyes. He gripped his kneecap
and forced the limb to stop. “That guy does stupid things.” He didn’t want to
ruin the evening by talking about how messed up he was. Besides, it was taking
all his resolve to appear normal. He didn’t have anything left to spare on
revealing secrets.

Hope appeared to understand.
She studied his face for a moment then placed her napkin on her lap. “Shall
we?” She motioned to the food between them.

They dove into their meals
making conversation about various topics. Every time Adam made Hope laugh, he
felt as if he had scored a point in a game he sincerely hoped he was winning. Judging
by the light in her eyes, the odds were in his favor.

“So,” he said as they finished
the last bites, “Sage told me you were a basketball champion in high school.”

Her head snapped up and her
eyes bugged. She chewed, swallowed, wiped her mouth with her napkin, then set
it down on the table. “That just came up in a conversation?”

“Not exactly. Sage decided to
‘help’ me make up for last night with you.”

“And that’s the help she
offered? I’m going to kill her.” She shook her head, making that golden curtain
of hair shimmer.

“Why?” He leaned to the left
and pulled his phone out of his pocket. After tapping the screen a few times,
he said, “Aren’t you proud of this?” He showed her the picture Sage had sent of
Hope in her uniform holding the trophy.

She snatched up the phone.
“OMG, I’m going to kill her slowly and painfully. I can’t believe she sent this
to you. I’m deleting it.”

Adam was quick. He plucked the
phone out of her hands. “You will do no such thing. I’m keeping this one.”

Hope scowled at him, but
amusement shined in her eyes, and he absolutely loved it. “Okay. Fine. Then I
need an embarrassing photo of you. I want it on my phone by tomorrow
afternoon.”

“That’s a fair demand, but all
the embarrassing pictures of me are in Florida with my parents.”
Safe.
Bullet
dodged.

“I’m sure I can put Wendie on
the case.”

Shit.
That would be just
the sort of thing Wendie would be delighted to do, and she’d no doubt choose
the most humiliating picture she could find. His mother would be all too eager
to help.

“Wendie’s much too busy to be
sifting through the hundreds of fabulous pictures my parents have of me. I was
the star of the family so every photo is gallery worthy.”

“So humble.” Hope laughed. “Still,
I’ll just ask Wendie to check into it for me.” She got up from her seat and
went to her jacket hanging next to Adam’s. With phone in hand, she returned to
the table a few seconds later. “A quick call and I’ll be right with you.”

He let her find Wendie’s number
and call, knowing how amusing his sister would find this request.

“Hello, Wendie,” Hope said as
she switched to speakerphone and placed her cell in the middle of the table.

“Tell me Adam is behaving
himself. I can come slap him if he’s not,” Wendie said.

“He was being a perfect
gentleman until he busted out a throwback picture of me that Sage sent him. I
need retaliation. I was hoping you could help.” Hope glanced up at him, and hot
damn, she was adorable. Truly. The very definition of the word.

“Can I help? Why, I’d be more
than willing to help. In fact, I know the perfect pictures to send you. I just
have to call Mom.”

Hope arched a triumphant brow.
“Excellent.”

“What pictures are you thinking
of, Wendie?” Adam asked.

“Nice try, little bro, but I
think it would be best as a surprise revelation, don’t you, Hope?” Wendie asked.

“Absolutely. The more
embarrassing the better, okay?”

“You got it, sister. Calling
Mom now. Later.”

Wendie hung up and Hope tapped
her phone to end the call. “Well, that was easy.” She rubbed her hands together
in anticipation then put her phone back in her jacket pocket. “I can’t wait to
see what she comes up with.”

“You’re a little evil, aren’t you?”
Adam started to clear away their dinner dishes. “Sage said you were the kindest
person around, but I have my doubts now.”

“Even nice girls have to get a
little naughty sometimes.”

Adam stopped halfway between
the dining room and the kitchen. The notion of a naughty Hope had all the blood
rushing to one spot in his body. He actually felt a little lightheaded.

She walked past him, carrying
their empty wineglasses and take-out containers. “Where’s your garbage?” She
held up the trash as she set the glasses in the sink.

He had trouble formulating a
reply. His head was still processing what a naughty Hope would be like. When
she bent to pick up a napkin she had dropped, he let out a noise that fell
somewhere between a whimper and a hungry, predatory growl.

Napkin in hand, Hope looked at
him. “Are you okay?” She put the trash on the counter and approached him. With
a little effort, she pried the dishes out of his hands and set them on the
counter. “Adam?”

“Yes. I’m okay. I’m fantastic.”
Except I’m equal parts excited and afraid.
Most of him was way past ready
to enjoy Hope, but a tiny voice inside his head had doubts.
It’s been too
long
.
You’re going to fuck this up.
And his personal favorite was
You
don’t deserve her.

“Adam.” She placed her hands on
either side of his face, cupping his jaw. Gently rubbing her thumbs along his
stubble, she said, “You look as if you might be on your way to freaking out. Is
it my turn?”

“What do you mean?” And how did
she know he was about to freak out? Was he sweating profusely? Was he shaking?
He checked the armpits of his thermal shirt, but there were no wet marks. He
glanced in the mirror hanging above the fireplace in the living room. Nope. He
didn’t have the shakes.

“Is it my turn to assist you?
Like you assisted me in the parking lot… twice now. Once after The Incident,”
she cleared her throat, “and once earlier tonight. I owe you.” She tapped two
fingers to his temple. “Turn this off.” She gave him a warm smile and his
shoulders instantly relaxed. “Which sounds easy, but is probably the hardest
thing to do. I totally understand that now. I didn’t think I’d have such a
ginormous problem going to Black Wolf Tavern. It’s so stupid, but my mind
insists the only way to protect myself is to not walk across that parking lot
at night.”

“It’s paralyzing,” he said, but
he half wondered if he’d said it aloud or not.

She slid her hands to his
shoulders. “Well, you didn’t let me keep myself locked in my Jeep tonight. You
found a solution even if the solution was avoiding the situation for now.” Her
brows furrowed for a second, but then she looked up at him. “I think I have a
solution for you. You want to hear it?”

Again, her smile was a fish
hook in his mouth, and she was reeling him closer, taking his mind off
everything but her.

“I’d love to hear your
solution.” He trailed a finger along her cheek. God, her skin was so soft, so
perfect.

She closed her eyes and slid
her hands down his arms, her fingers clamping around his left wrist. With a
small tug, she pulled him closer. She opened her eyes, and Adam could see his
reflection in the dark chocolate pools flecked with gold.

“I think I’ll show you
instead,” Hope said.

She placed his left hand on her
hip. His other hand moved of its own accord to her other hip. Without thinking
too hard—
for once
—Adam encircled her waist and pressed her body to his. She
looked up at him expectantly, but he knew she was in charge here. That turned
him on something fierce. He’d never been with a woman who had taken the lead,
and he rather loved the way Hope was being so gentle with him. It was as if she
were coaxing a shy kitten out from under a porch with a can of tuna.

Only she was offering much more
than a can of tuna.   

Kissing Adam was better than
Hope had remembered. Sure, she’d kissed him just this afternoon, but somehow
the man had improved his technique in the few short hours since then. And his
technique hadn’t needed all that much improvement. Her toes curled and uncurled,
only to curl again in her socks. It didn’t take long for her entire body to
buzz with raw energy. She almost forgot she was the one in charge.

 
That won’t do.

She tightened her hold on him,
pressing more of her body against his rock-hard, broad-shouldered, absolutely
yummy body. She hooked her leg around his and nearly cheered when his big,
beautiful hand clamped onto her thigh, hiked it higher, and held her leg in
place at his side, bringing her body even closer to his, lining up all their…
parts.

Air.
She needed to take
some into her lungs or she wouldn’t have the necessary oxygen to keep her
conscious.

And she
needed
to be conscious.

Their kissing continued as
tongues tangled and hands explored whatever they could reach. Hope was certain
she could stand there forever in Adam’s apartment and kiss him nonstop. He
tasted slightly of barbecue sauce, hints of maple syrup and bacon toying with
Hope’s senses. She was almost completely lost, except for one small thing.

A little voice in her head. The
one that said,
He might say no.

He had promised that guy wasn’t
going to join them tonight, but how could she be sure? They’d kissed like this
last night. Hell, they’d even removed most of their clothes last night, yet
he’d stopped them. He’d said no, and that had been the end.

If he said no tonight, Hope
would never recover. How many times could a girl be so dumb? There was a limit,
and Adam was on his last chance.

She meant it this time.

She did.

God, he kissed like a romance
novel hero.

“Hope?” His voice was low, a
little gravelly.

This is it
.
He’s
going to back off and leave me all revved up with nowhere to go.
“Yes?”

“I think Olive has to go out.”

He took a step away from her so
she could see her pup sitting at the sliding door in the dining room. Olive let
out a few whimpers when she realized Hope had seen her.

“Oh. Right. Poor thing.” How
long had the pooch been whining? Kissing Adam had affected Hope’s hearing…
along with every other sense. “Is it all right if I take her out in your
backyard? I’ll take a bag along.”

“I can take her.” Adam made a
move toward where their jackets were hung, but Hope grabbed him.

“No. I’ll do it. You stay here
and…”
Keep wanting me.
If he went outside, he might cool off and let his
head get in his way, in
their
way. She was not letting that happen. Not
tonight.

Adam opened his mouth to
protest but his cell phone rang. He let out a growl that made Hope think of a
bear—one she desperately wanted to wake from hibernation.

“Get that,” she said. “I’ll be
right back.”

Hope pulled on her boots and
loved when Adam rested her coat on her shoulders. He gave her a hug from behind
and dropped a few light kisses on the rim of her ear. She felt his touch down
deep, deeper than anyone else had ever reached.

Olive let out another whine,
this one ending with a little squeaking bark.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Hope
said. “She better really have to go, or I’m about to make a lovely black and
white spotted rug for in front of the fireplace.” She put on her gloves and clipped
the leash onto Olive’s collar while Adam laughed.

“Just think of how I’ll warm
you up when you come back inside,” he said as he turned on a floodlight,
unlocked the door, and slid it open.

“Now that I like. Good
thinking.” She patted his cheek with her gloved hand while Adam’s cell phone
rang again. “Somebody wants you. Like, besides me.”

With a wink, she tugged Olive
out onto a lovely deck with a trellis on one side and built-in benches along
the perimeter, all covered with a layer of snow. She looked around, wondering
how she could be so hot while surrounded by snow and a January nighttime wind. Shaking
her head, she watched as Olive made a round, yellow stain in the snow on the
deck. The way the dog kept sniffing and circling let Hope know more was indeed
on the agenda.

She scooped up Olive and
regarded the deck stairs leading to the backyard. They had been shoveled, but
still looked a little slick. With a death grip on the railing, she descended,
repeating a
Do Not Fall
mantra in her head. She did not want to ruin the
sexy evening by breaking an ankle on the stairs.

Sure enough, the last step was
out to get her. She felt it as soon as the toe of her boot hit the thin patch
of ice that had appeared to be bare wood. Her boot slid off the step, making
Hope’s other leg fold under her like bad origami. She kept her hold on the railing,
but Olive leaped out of her other arm and landed on all fours in the snow
bordering a shoveled patio. Hope’s body, on the other hand, was stretched out
along five steps, the cold and the wet seeping into her jeans.

What a clumsy buffoon.
She felt she somehow had made that slip happen by wishing for it to
not
happen.
Ugh.
Thank God Adam had not come out with her. She would have
been mortified.

Hope slowly got to her feet and
looked to where Olive had landed, but only the pup’s little imprint in the snow
remained. “Olive? Where’d you go?” She took two steps into the snow and called
again, but no dog appeared. No answering bark sounded.

Only silence greeted Hope, and
it wasn’t a pleasant silence. Combined with the darkened sky and the drooping
shadows of snow-laden tree limbs, that silence was downright freaky. Had Olive
seen something and gone after it? Concern oozed its way under Hope’s skin.
She’d seen coyotes in the woods around here with her own two eyes. Some people
had reported seeing bobcats too. Olive could easily be prey to either of those.

Hope looked back at Olive’s
imprint in the snow and found a set of paw prints and a snaking line from the
leash leading to the woods. “Dammit.”

“Olive!” Hope called again.
“C’mere, girl. Want a cookie?” She rustled around in her jacket pocket and
extracted a treat. “Smell that? It’s all yours if you get your ass back here.”

I’ll give her a whole
chicken if she gets back here right now
.

Hope had been in the middle of
something she
really
wanted to get back to. Searching the woods for her
dog was at the very bottom of her list while getting back to Adam was at the
top. Actually getting back to Adam was its own separate list. That was how
important it was.

“Olive! Let’s go. Now.”

A slight whimpering bark echoed
from the darkness ahead, but it didn’t sound too far.

Hope jogged toward the bark,
her movements making her aware of an ache in the leg that had buckled behind
her on the stairs.
Shake it off.
She crested a small hill and the
barking sounded again. Hope squinted in the darkness and made out Olive’s tiny
form.

In the middle of a frozen pond.

“Oh my God!” Hope charged ahead
as Olive tried to get to her feet, but the ice made her little legs slip and
flail out to her sides. The puppy made several attempts—high-pitched barks
sounding now—but each time, her body fell back to the frozen surface of the
pond.

“I’m coming, baby!”

She stepped onto the frozen
pond, testing her weight on it. When no crackling sounded, she approached
Olive, her hands held out, her movements slow and cautious.

“Hey, Olive,” she said. “Look
what I have.” She jiggled a few treats in her gloved hand. “Don’t these look
yummy?”

Why hadn’t she held onto the
leash when she’d fallen? What kind of a doggie mommy was she?

That was easy. A bad one. A bad
doggie mommy.

She lowered to her knees when
her feet felt as if they were going to slip and crawled toward Olive. Reaching
a hand out, she grabbed the leash while the pup whimpered and continued to
slide around in one spot. With a swift tug, Hope sent Olive sliding her way.

“Gotcha,” she said when the dog
crashed into her lap.

Olive shivered and tried to
climb up Hope’s jacket.

“It’s okay, baby. I have you
now.” A moment later, she hoisted Olive into her arms, hugging her close to
stop the shivering.

The
worst
doggie mommy.

Hope unzipped her jacket and
tucked Olive inside then crawled back to the edge of the pond. As she set her
feet on the snow on the perimeter, a loud snap sounded from above. Snow
flurried down, then everything got totally silent again.

She looked up, but it was too
dark to see anything. Shivering, she continued walking, but a snapping sounded
again. When she looked back, a huge, thick branch came careening down from the
treetops. It smashed into the center of the pond—right where she and Olive had
been—and blasted through the ice. Cracks spiderwebbed from the hole as the
branch sunk deeper into the frosty water.

Hope nuzzled Olive’s furry
little head with her chin as the puppy quaked in her arms. She fought to
contain her own tremors. “That was a close one, little girl. Don’t run off like
that again or I’m trading you in for a hamster.”

She crunched through the snow
toward Adam’s place, wanting inside more than ever now. She was cold, she was
freaked, and miraculously, she was still horny as hell. Adam could help with
all three of those.

The snow was coming down
horizontally now as the wind picked up. Hope was happy to see Adam’s outline on
the patio. She increased her pace, eager to get to him.

Only it wasn’t him.   

****

“What’s up, Diana?” Adam paced
back and forth, his cell phone to his ear, but his body still rearing to
experience the lovely Hope Stannard. Nothing was stopping him tonight. Nothing.
As soon as she came back inside, he would show her just how he felt about her.  

“The jackass you helped us
apprehend. The one who attacked Hope outside Black Wolf Tavern,” Diana said.

Something churned around in
Adam’s stomach and his brain took back control from his penis. “What about
him?”

“Some higher-up called in some
favors, and he was released about an hour ago,” Diana said.

“What? I was an eye witness to
that attack. I saw him pressed up against her.” He stopped his pacing and
searched his living room for something to throw or break.

“Adam, you don’t have to
convince me, buddy. I can smell a scumbag a mile away and that guy stank. All I
know is that paperwork was missing, release requests were approved, and I’ll
bet my salary that money changed hands. When I inquired about the details, I
was told to back off, which means that somebody
real
important is pals
with this dickhead. Kevin looked into it as well with the same results.”

“So now what?” The words barely
slipped between Adam’s clenched teeth.

“The asshole walks, but we keep
an eagle eye on him. He’s bound to get cocky about beating the system and fuck
up again.”

“And that puts some other
innocent person in potential danger. Or worse, if this shitpig is the vengeful
sort, it puts Hope in danger again.” He paced again, ready to explode right out
of his skin. What good were laws and rules if people could get away with
breaking them because they had the right kind of friends?

“Trust me, Kevin and I are just
as pissed about this as you are, but our hands are tied.” Her frustration rang
out with each word.

“I know. I’m not mad at you.
I’m mad at the flawed system.”

“I’m going to call Hope next.”

“I’ll tell her. She’s… here.”

“Well, okay then. Hey, maybe
you can spin this to your favor. You know, convince her she needs a full-time
bodyguard.”

That wasn’t a half-bad idea. He
wouldn’t mind gluing himself to her side. All in the name of keeping her safe,
of course.

“Thanks for the update, Diana.”

“Even if it sucks.” She sighed.
“Sometimes I love my job. Other times I want to break something. Where’s the
justice?”

“Apparently justice can be
bought.”

“And stupidity is contagious.
Take care.”

Adam swiped at his phone then
tossed it onto the couch cushions. If it weren’t so late, he’d march himself
down to the police station and start banging heads together until he got
answers. He drew in a breath and blew it out.

Focus.
Maybe he couldn’t
do anything to keep that asshole locked up, but he’d take Diana’s suggestion
and keep Hope with him. He could protect her. He had the training.

All he needed was to get her
back inside and keep her here.

He pulled on his boots and
stalked to the sliding door. He ripped it open and stepped onto the deck. What
was taking Hope so long? The dog was still so small. Pissing and shitting
should have been something that took seconds.

“Hope?” He went to the stairs
and searched the patio and the yard from the deck vantage point. Seeing some
disturbed snow, but no woman or pup, he carefully descended the stairs. He
eyeballed the impressions in the snow and noted that a set went into the woods,
but a set also came back out to the patio.

“Hope? Olive?” he called, but
the only thing he heard was the wind and the buzzing in his bad ear.

Another set of footprints, much
larger than the size of Hope’s feet made their way around the side of the barn.
Beside those prints were two wavy tracks as if… as if someone had been dragged.

Adam took off at a run and
skidded to a halt in his driveway when he saw Hope’s Jeep was gone and all the
tires on both his trucks were flat. He inspected the closest tire to see it had
been slashed and assumed the rest had been too. His boots crunched on
something. Glass. None of his windows were broken though, so it had to have
been a window on Hope’s vehicle.