More Than Rum (The Maple Leaf Series Book 3) (5 page)

“This is true,” Wendie cut in.
“He doesn’t remember to feed himself, never mind a helpless animal.” She tapped
the bill of his baseball cap as she passed by.

“That’s why I have you, dear
sister.” Adam stood and stepped out of the way when Wendie aimed a slap at the
back of his head, which wasn’t anywhere in range from her height. “Get a step
stool next time you try that.”

She growled at him then dug her
keys out of her purse. “I’m going to fetch Ian. Be right back.”

After she left, Adam said, “I
should get going too.”

“Thanks for grabbing those
trees,” Orion said as he stood.

Sage clapped her hands.
“Grabbed trees means you’ll be hitting the chainsaws. I love to watch you
work.” She tossed herself at Orion, and he wrapped his arms around her.

Adam concentrated back on the
pup still nestled against him, but once again his eyes betrayed him. His gaze
slid up to Hope’s face and when he saw the sad expression there as she watched
Sage and Orion, he felt compelled to… to
do
something.

“I’m working tonight at the
tavern. Maybe if you had a drink before heading to bed you’d sleep better.” He
quickly focused on the puppy trying to climb up his shirt. All he could hear
was his pulse drumming in his ears, annoyingly so in his damaged ear, and a
slight dizzy feeling washed over him. Why was this so hard?

Because I’ve been on a few
dates with her already…
and ran like a scaredy cat.

Jesus Christ. Someone should
just swing by and collect his balls, because he wasn’t using them very well.  

“Okay.” Hope stood again.

Wait. Had she said she’d come
to the tavern tonight?

“Great.” That hadn’t sounded
too eager, had it? He had to get out of there. “Good. Here.” He gently transferred
the puppy to her arms, touching her way more than was necessary, but relishing
every single minute of the contact. Relishing it too much. His body was ready,
but his fucking mind was a mess. Had Orion’s living room always been this
small? And hot? Really hot?

“Give me that puppy.” Suddenly
Sage was between Adam and Hope and taking the pooch. “I want to see Orion get
mushy again.”

“I don’t get
mushy
,
Sage.”

“Yes, you do,” Myah said. “Your
eyes go like this.” The kid did a perfect imitation of her father, and Adam had
to laugh along with everyone else, though it pinched his split lip to do so.

“Wow, she’s good,” he said,
giving Myah a high five.

“Yeah,” Orion said, “if I
looked like that. Which I don’t.” He reached out an arm and hooked it around
Myah, pulling her onto his lap.

Sage handed Orion the puppy,
who let out a huge yawn as it balanced on Orion’s thigh. With Sage sitting on
the armrest, the three of them made a beautiful family portrait. Like the kind
that came with the frame when you bought it. A perfect family.

“I have to go,” Hope said.

“Time to go,” Adam said at the
same time.

“Myah, give Auntie Hope her
bundle of fur,” Sage said.

“Can I come over tomorrow and
see her?” Myah handed the pup over.

“You have school tomorrow,”
Sage said.

“I meant
after
school.”
Myah used the Finley Big Blue Eyes on maximum power.

“We’ll see,” Orion said,
clearly
not
mushy all the time as any good father had to be.

Adam wondered if he’d ever be
ready to be a good father to anyone. It didn’t seem possible right now. As
Wendie had so wonderfully pointed out, he could barely take care of himself. A
mini version of him would fare no better under his supervision.

But if I had the right
partner…

Dangerous ground. This
wondering and thinking and dreaming would lead to disappointment when he
couldn’t follow through with it.

One step at a time.
Wasn’t
that what Wendie was always telling him to do? One step at a time wasn’t fast
enough for him though. How long would he be on the first step?

“See you guys later,” he said.

Sage corralled Adam and Hope
with a hand to each of their backs, and the next thing Adam knew, he was
standing on Orion’s back porch with Hope, a tired little puppy, and Ranger who
was doing his best impression of a bear skin rug to the left of the door.

“Isn’t he cold?” Hope gestured
to the dog.

“He’s pooped. He raced
alongside my truck as I drove in and out of the woods dragging Orion’s trees
out,” Adam said. “No better exercise for a mutt. Before you know it, this one
right here will be ready to do the same.” He reached out a hand—somehow not
able to stop touching the puppy—and scratched under its chin. “What are you
going to call her?”

Hope shrugged her left
shoulder, her ski jacket swishing softly as she moved. “What do you think I
should call her?”

Adam turned to face the pup
head on and studied her. Okay, maybe he studied the way the pup pressed its
head between Hope’s breasts, but he still got a good look at the puppy’s face.

“Olive.” He wasn’t sure why.
The name just popped into his head and it was right.

“Olive.” Hope held the puppy
up, a grin spreading across her lips. “Yeah. That’s perfect.”

At her smile, something warm
started in the center of Adam’s chest and spread to the rest of his body like
heated maple syrup rolling over pancakes. That was a risky sensation. Feelings
like that made a man do stupid things. Things he wasn’t ready to do. Things
that could eventually end up hurting a wonderful woman like Hope.

“Later,” he said and made a
beeline for his truck.

“Oh… later,” he heard Hope say.

You really know how to mess
with a woman, Rouse.

And that was the last thing he
was trying to do. It was just happening. It kept happening.

Inside his truck, he pulled off
his hat and rested his head on the steering wheel then took some deep breaths,
held them, and released. Sometimes this technique worked. Sometimes it was a
big waste of time.

Running the tip of his tongue
over the split in his lip, he poked the key into the ignition and focused on Hope’s
Jeep parked across from his truck in Orion’s driveway. She had the back driver
side door open, her torso leaning in to secure the puppy. Her jeans molded to
her sweet ass, and Adam let out a groan that filled the cabin of his truck.

Shaking his head, he rolled
forward, but his gaze locked on Hope’s rear tire—her very
flat
rear
tire. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. A whole house full of people
was behind him. They could help Hope. He didn’t need to get involved in this.
He needed to get home, inventory the food Wendie had bought him, eat some of it,
take care of some bills, and head to Black Wolf Tavern for a night of whipping
up drinks for patrons. It’d be a huge mistake to get out of his truck and do
something about Hope’s flat tire.

He only watched for a
microsecond after she noticed the tire too.

“You have a spare?” he asked
when he’d gotten to her side.

She jumped at his voice and
whirled around, her eyes wide and round like a spooked owl’s. Plastered against
her Jeep, she put a hand to her chest as if quieting her heartbeat.

He held up his hands. “Whoa.
Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She rubbed her forehead. “I
didn’t mean to get scared. Normally, I wouldn’t have been. Damn.”

Adam hated that some jackass
caused her to be frightened. She’d probably get over it, but it was going to
take a while. “Do you have a spare?” He gestured to her trunk.

“I’m supposed to, because every
Vermonter who travels on these back roads knows they should have a spare, but…”
she shrugged sheepishly, “I used it four months ago, and it got damaged.”

“And you never replaced it.”
Adam wagged a finger at her.

She shook her head. “I forgot.”

The puppy let out a squeak from
inside the Jeep, and Hope turned back to the vehicle.

“Sounds like Olive wants to get
home right away,” Adam said. “You want a lift?”

What was he doing? Wendie
should be supervising him at all times because he was undoubtedly headed for
trouble, for more than he could handle, for something he’d definitely turn into
a big disaster.

“If you have time to give me a
lift, I’d appreciate one.” Hope hooked a loose strand of hair behind her ear,
and Adam wanted her to release the entire ponytail, letting that curtain of
gold drape around her neck instead.

He cleared his throat. “It’s no
problem. I have to go by your place on my way home anyway.” Sometimes the truth
came in handy.

“Great.” She scooped up the
puppy and held it out to him. “Do you mind holding Olive while I get the bags
of supplies?”

She didn’t wait for an answer
and, the next thing Adam knew, Olive’s warm little body was huddled against
his. A moment later, Hope stood before him with her bags.

Is she… eager… to ride with
me?

How the hell could she be? He’d
basically started a relationship with her during the summer, disappeared for
months, and then avoided her when he’d returned. Was she capable of looking
past those behaviors?

If so, what else was she
capable of looking past?

For a truck big enough to haul
large trees out of the woods, the interior cab of Adam’s bucket truck was… cozy.
Hope’s elbow touched his on the armrest between them. She could have shifted
over.

But she didn’t.

She’d been in this truck before
when they’d engaged in Round One of Dating. Was it possible they were on to
Round Two? She hated being confused. She hated not knowing what was going on in
Adam’s head. She hated that she wanted him so much.

At the same time she focused on
petting Olive in her lap, Adam reached over and turned on the radio, probably
to fill the awkward silence sitting in the cab with them. It worked nicely
until
“Feel Like Making Love” by Bad Company came
on. Then Adam hit the power button and returned his hand to the steering wheel
after pulling the bill of his cap down lower. His knuckles were white, and Hope
didn’t risk a full glance at his face, but she caught his clenched jaw in her
peripheral vision.

Does he feel like making
love?
Because she sure as hell did. They’d never gone past some quick bouts
of kissing in Round One of Dating, but she remembered—in vivid detail—how
Adam’s kisses made her want more. Then he’d poofed out of her life just as
quickly as he’d poofed in.

And now he’s back.
Or
was he? She didn’t know. This could all be merely a shared circle of friends
and there was no way to avoid one another. This could be a simple lift home
because of a flat tire.

It didn’t feel that way though.
Adam’s dashboard thermometer read 19°F, but Hope could have sworn it was 91°F
instead. She desperately wanted to peel off her ski jacket, but Olive was
enough to manage without trying to wiggle out of a coat. Besides, she didn’t
think she’d be able to stop at only her coat. Her sweater and jeans might
follow and then where would they be?

Right where I’d like to be.

She envisioned herself naked in
her seat with Adam looking at her as if she was off her rocker, which she most
definitely was. Funny what images the mind was capable of conjuring. Hope had read
an article on parallel universes once, and it came back to her now. What if
those images that were so clear in her mind were actually glimpses of another
universe where she and Adam
were
getting naked in his truck?

If so, how did she get to that
universe?

Cold shower. She needed one.
Badly. She also needed the distance between Orion’s house and her mother’s to
be a lot shorter than it was. She needed the front seat of Adam’s truck to be
at least double its current size. She needed…

…a new pair of jeans because
Olive peed in her lap.

Adam sniffed and turned his
head to look at Hope. “Am I smelling what I think I am?”

“Yes.”
How utterly
embarrassing.
“But don’t worry. None got on your truck. It’s all on my
right thigh. All of it. Every last drop.”

Adam surprised her by laughing.
The sound of the gruff chuckle plucked strings deep inside Hope. Strings that
vibrated and made her entire body feel like a tuning fork. An amazing feeling,
by the way. A forgotten feeling. One she was glad to meet again.

“Ouch.” Adam brought a hand up
to his mouth.

“Your lip?”

He nodded. “Yeah, don’t make me
laugh.”

“It wasn’t me.” Though she
wanted to make him laugh. Often. “It was Olive.”

Reaching behind her seat, Adam
rummaged around then presented a roll of paper towels. “Will this help?”

“Thank you.” She took the roll,
tore off a few sheets, and pressed them to the hot, wet stain on her thigh. “Sorry
about the smell.”

“Don’t be. I’m sure after my
shift at the tavern tonight, I’m going to smell like onion rings and beer.
That’ll easily override this stink.”

“You only drive this truck on
tree jobs.”

“Usually, yes, but now that I
think about it, I don’t want my good pickup to smell like Black Wolf Tavern.
That scent is good when you’re in the bar but gets to your stomach when you’re
not.”

“True.” Hope stuck the damp
paper towel in one of the pet supply bags for lack of a better place to put it.
“Again, I apologize. Olive is sorry too, aren’t you?” She held up the pup, who
swatted her paws at the air, trying to get free.

“At least it wasn’t number
two,” Adam said.

“Eww.” The thought of that on
her pants was truly revolting. “I suppose there’s going to be accidents in the
house for a little while until Olive catches on to the program.” Her mother
wasn’t going to be happy about that.

“Nah. Olive is going to be a
star student—right, pooch?” He took the puppy from Hope and set her on the
armrest.

Olive immediately sat on her
rump, her head craning to look around at everything from her new perspective.
When she was done inspecting, she looked up at Adam then lowered to drape her
little body on his forearm. Adam looked down and smiled, while Hope expected a
fire to consume her at any moment. Had he been this gorgeous before he’d
disappeared for a few months? Had that stubble around his mouth and jaw been
that freaking hot?

“I think she’s in love,” Hope
said, not sure if she was really talking about Olive.

“Nah. Dogs are whores. They’ll
cuddle up to anyone,” Adam said. “You know what they do to the people they really
love?”

“What?”

“Pee on them.”

The combination of Olive
snuggled on him and his unexpected joke had Hope nearly exploding with lust. Puppies,
humor, scruff of a beard, and oh, God, did he just put sunglasses on? Did he
know what he was doing to her?     

Ambulance needed on Stannard
Mountain Road.

She glanced at his hand on the
steering wheel and the knuckles that were still white. Maybe he did know what
he was doing to her, because maybe she was having the same effect on him. Damn,
he was such a puzzle. She ought to corner Orion and make him tell her all
Adam’s secrets. Enough with giving Adam time and respecting his privacy. She
needed answers. She needed the key to unlock this guy. Her cousin was happy.
Her sister was happy. She deserved to be happy too.

Adam had the potential to make
her happy. Extremely happy. She just had to get past the fortress walls.

When he pulled into her
driveway, her mother was shoveling snow off the front porch. She stopped when
she saw them and leaned on the shovel.

No questions, Mom. Please.

She didn’t need her mother
interviewing Adam and scaring him away. Unraveling the mystery of Adam Rouse
was going to take a delicate approach. Joy Stannard was not delicate.

“Thanks for the lift.” Hope
looped her arms through the handles of the pet supply bags. She looked at Olive
who hadn’t moved even though the truck had stopped. “I almost hate to disturb
her. She looks so comfortable.” Hope wouldn’t mind being draped over Adam
either. Perhaps they could get to that point soon.

“She does, but I will
eventually need this arm today, so she’s got to go.” He gently prodded the
puppy until she got to all fours and stretched so her spotted rump was in the
air. When she yawned and shook out her body, Adam’s mouth turned up in a half
grin. A kryptonite grin that had Hope’s legs feeling weak. “She is very cute.”

She’s not the only cute
thing in the immediate area.

A gush of cold air filled the
cab when Joy suddenly appeared and opened Hope’s door.

“Where’s the baby?” she asked,
peeking into the truck.

Olive climbed over Hope’s lap
and basically leaped into Joy’s waiting arms. The pup’s tail wagged like a
propeller and Olive immediately licked Joy’s face, determined to get every square
inch.

“Oooh, aren’t you a sweetie?
Yes, you are. Yes, yes, yes.” Joy rubbed noses with Olive and then brought her
in against her chest. A moment later, a wet spot grew on Joy’s powder blue
sweatshirt. “Well, okay then. If that’s the way you feel.”

Adam and Hope laughed and Joy
gave them a stern look. “How is this funny? I’ve been pissed on.”

“Adam believes puppies pee on
people they love.” Hope gestured to the dark stain on her jeans.

“I see.” Her mother shifted a
little so she could see Adam. “Nice to see you again, Adam.”

“Likewise, Mrs. Stannard.” He
swallowed loudly, both hands on the steering wheel now, index fingers tapping.

Time to let him off the
hook.

“Give me the puppy, Mom, and go
inside to change. Our first order of business is to introduce Olive to where
she can and cannot pee.” Hope held her hands out for the dog.

“Good call.” Joy gave Adam a
wave and walked toward the house.

Hope climbed out of the truck
with the bags and the pooch. “I’ll see you later.”

“Hey,” Adam said before she
could close the door.

“Yeah?”

“What do you like to drink?
I’ll have it ready for you.”

Adam Rouse making sure I’m
coming to the bar tonight. Interesting.

Hope thought back to when he’d
poured shots for them after her attack. “Rum. I’ll drink anything with rum.”

“Excellent choice.”

She only hoped her choice in
men would be as excellent.

****

After fixing Hope’s flat tire
at Orion’s house and hanging the maple-scented air freshener Sage gave him in
his truck, Adam returned home and made a giant sandwich out of the cold cuts
Wendie had bought for him.

“Thanks, Wendie,” he said
around a mouthful of sandwich to his empty apartment. He was so hungry and
convinced himself it was for food though that wasn’t anywhere near the truth.

Driving in the close confines
of his truck with Hope had been… had been… what had it been?

Amazing. Nerve-wracking.
Stimulating. Excruciating.

Conflicting emotions made a
mess of a guy. Adam wished he had neat little containers for sorting his
scattered feelings. He’d lock a couple of those containers shut with chains and
a sturdy padlock and stash them deep in his closet to gather dust. Better yet,
he’d drive them out to Lake Champlain and dump them.

He finished his sandwich then
tackled cleaning his apartment, because nothing burned off sexual frustration
like a little toilet scrubbing. Afterwards he sat on his couch with his laptop
to write invoices and pay bills.

My life is so fucking
exciting.

But menial tasks were good.
They kept the mind busy. Kept it off a person’s issues. What they didn’t do,
however, was keep a man’s thoughts off a beautiful woman.

And there was no denying that
Hope Stannard was a beautiful woman. The most beautiful woman he’d ever set
eyes on. He knew people often confused Hope and her sister, and he did see the family
resemblance, but he’d know Hope anywhere. He’d know her with his eyes closed,
because every time he’d been around her, she smelled faintly of cinnamon. Was
it her shampoo? Her body lotion? Her skin? He had no idea, but he liked it.
Probably too much.

Hope also had eyes the exact
color of expensive Italian leather, a rich and endless brown that sucked a guy
in. Permanently. Even after all the time between now and when he’d first met
her, he couldn’t sand her out of his memory. She was stuck there like a
wood-burned image.

Sage was gorgeous, but she was
a little too sassy for Adam’s taste. Hope was gentle and kind and found the
good in everything. Could she find the good in him? Could he let her?

Watching Sage, Orion, and Myah together
earlier made him want to try with Hope, but he knew it wasn’t that easy.
Relationships got complicated, especially when one of the members was
defective. If he were firing on all engines maybe he’d be up for the task, but
in his current state, getting up in the morning was a monumental task. He
probably shouldn’t have asked her to come to the tavern, and he definitely
shouldn’t have promised to have a drink ready for her. Too personal. Beyond
casual. Now her visit to the bar tonight would mean something to her, and it
shouldn’t.

It really shouldn’t.

Adam grumbled to himself and
dove back into his work. Two hours later, he forced himself off the couch and
changed into a dark-red, long-sleeved T-shirt that had a black crescent moon
and a howling wolf head logo in the upper corner with the words
Black Wolf
Tavern
encircling it. He slid into a fresh pair of jeans and black work
boots.

After brushing his teeth, he
studied himself in the bathroom mirror. Except for shadows around his eyes from
not sleeping and the slight bruise forming where his lip was split, he was
decent enough in the looks department. As far as he could tell, he wasn’t
hideous, which hadn’t always been the case. The nightmares allowed him to
relive the injuries that had caused scars. Fortunately, through the wonders of
modern medicine, most of those physical scars, except for one, had been
removed.

The emotional ones were a
different story.

The trick tonight would be to
turn on the personality—the one he used to have before he’d joined the Marines
and gone to Afghanistan. The one that was quick to make jokes, knew what to say
to a lady to make her smile, and could tell exactly what drink a person needed.
If Adam could tap back into that guy, he’d be coming home with a nice sum in
tips. Not that he was working at the bar because he needed the money, but the
extra cash wouldn’t hurt.

He drove the short distance to
Black Wolf Tavern and wasn’t surprised to see a healthy dinner crowd already
gathered there. With limited places for the locals to hang, this bar drew a
nice business. He was lucky that one of Jake’s regular bartenders had quit and
moved to Virginia last week, making an open spot behind the bar for him.

“Hey, kid,” Jake said when Adam
arrived in the back room to hang his coat. “Ready to make your Black Wolf
debut?”

“I am.” He was sure bartending
would be like riding a bike. All the skills he’d learned during his bartending
days the last year of college would come rushing back to him. If not, Jake had
shown him where the Mixology Bible was located behind the bar. He could read
and follow a recipe, so he’d be fine.