Trouble Won't Wait (31 page)

Put that way, yeah. “Did you come meet me because I looked like her?” That might bother me.

“I bought this
house
because you look like her, Mandy. I saw you running by when the realtor was showing it to me.” Oh. Not good. “I came to meet you because you had great legs.”

I let out a relieved giggle. “Okay.” I sigh. “So now we have Laura out of the way. Who’s The Most Beautiful Woman in the World?” I’m talking about the one at his door on Christmas Eve.

I’m turning to her picture, when he says, “You.”

Rolling my eyes, I point at the picture.

“Brenda?” He’s laughing now.

Brenda. Wasn’t that…his sister.

“She and her husband came for Christmas from Denver. Did you think…” He clicks his tongue, not pleased. “The first female you see me with, and you think that?”

“She was pregnant, and you kept talking about a baby when you were delirious. Honestly, if she wasn’t your sister, wouldn’t you want her?”

“I want
you
. Why didn’t you talk to me? Christ, I’ve been dying.”

“Her plates are from Texas, like you.” I’m not finished with him yet.

“She’s a spokeswoman for a big cosmetics company in Dallas. She has a house in Texas, and got the car there. Anything else?” He rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“Well, when I heard her call you ‘hon’ when she opened the door, I thought… It hit me hard. Maybe you guys reconciled, or she just moved out here. Maybe you didn’t know how to break it off with me before we went too far. A million thoughts, most of them bad. You’re always so damn mysterious! What happened to Laura?”

“Car accident.”

Not hard to guess, “In the rain.”

“Uh-huh. Let’s go inside.”

“Not so fast. Your family. There’s something else you’re keeping from me. Get all the cards on the table.” He’s going to resist, I can tell. “Do your parents really live in Florida?”

Adam takes a long time to answer. “Yes. And Aspen. And there’s a villa in Tuscany, a house on Maui–”

“Jesus Christ! They’re bloody rich!”

He nods and shrugs.

Now I understand the Jag and Harvard. “But why are you working for the gas company?”

“It’s a family holding.” A
holding
? His family owns a freaking energy company? GasKo, with a
K
.
Mr. Cheese Singles
. Kraft. I thought Mark was joking.

“Kraft, like the cheese company?” I know my mouth is hanging open while I process this.

“Related, but not my dad’s branch. He has other companies.”

“Like
publishing companies
?”

His expression tells me yes. Bummer. Art is just pleasing his boss.

“Please don’t be mad.”

“How do I know if my stuff is any good, or you used your clout to make the guy buy my book?”

“It’s good. I left publishing and put Art in charge after Laura’s accident.”

“Why would you not want me to know you’re filthy rich?”

“Money tends to attract the wrong kind of women.”

“Like skinny Ms. Old Money.”

“Exactly, and every girl I dated in college.”

“Adam?”

“Yeah?”

“I was coming here with a surprise Christmas Eve. Will you take me home so I can get it?”

He drives me home and parks in my driveway.

“I need to shower first, I’ll just come back over in a jiff.”

He smiles and shakes his head. “No way. I’ll wait.”

When he sees my Lair of Despair strewn with mascara smeared tissues, he smiles and pulls me against him for a kiss.

“You’re a pain in the ass, you know?” he says, before his so-right mouth covers mine. This is the first time he’s kissed me and I don’t feel guilty. The kiss is sweet and urgent, like my need for him. I’m sorely tempted to consummate our love right here in my living room, but Mike or Mark could barge in at any time.

With great reluctance, I pull away. “I’ll just be… I’ll hurry.”

He nods and I feel his gaze follow me down the hall.

* * * *

I’m showered and as lovely as I’m going to get. I’ve re-packed my bag of surprises, and I’m back in the living room with Adam.

He’s been in the kitchen, because he tosses me the birth control pack I’d left on the counter. “Need these?”

“Shit, I forgot it again!” The day is mostly over, and I haven’t taken the one for today yet. Judging by his silly grin, he’s already noticed Sunday is still in there. “I just got them a couple weeks ago. Mike got fixed after Rachel, so I’m not used to remembering. Maybe you can help.”

“We could skip it.” His eyes tell me he very much wants another baby.

I plan to give him one, as soon as propriety allows.

“Yeah, good example for Rachel. Mom’s still divorcing Dad, and she’s pregnant by another man.”

“Point taken. By the way, stick with novels. Your poetry sucks.” He points to my notebook on the floor near the couch.

“Hey, I was under duress. Bite me.”

“Still wish impotence on me?” Oops! “Ready to go?”

“Let’s go make those pills necessary.”

* * * *

Adam gets us to his house in record time. His Christmas tree is still up, though Rascal has been wreaking havoc with it. Next to the tree is something tall, draped with a canvas cloth, and a big red bow cinched around it a little more than halfway up.

“I have something for you.” His dimples flash. “Untie it.”

It’s a sculpture, of a woman running.
Of me
. A sculpture of me! The tall thing in his studio, and now I see the shoe string I saw that day. I don’t even know what to say. Nobody’s ever spent that kind of time making me anything. It’s good, very good. I’m not sure I look this great when I’m running, but I appreciate the sentiment.

“We were supposed to go away for the weekend,” he tells me. “I had a trip set up, snowmobiling to a cabin behind the property in Aspen. I called you a thousand times Friday. I told the house manager in Aspen to arrange it all that one night when we were on the phone.”

“Adam. I’m really sorry. Really. God, I messed up so much. What if you hadn’t called me today?”

“I would’ve been at your house, knocking down the door if I had to. I lasted as long as I could. Please promise not to leave me like that again.”

“I promise. Remember how you wrote me about those three big words? You can say them now, but you better hurry if you wanta do it before I do.”

He’s holding me, and the trembling I just felt is now a thundering in my heart.

“Really?” he asks.

I nod.

“I love you. Always. I’m sorry I kept so much from you, and almost lost you because of it. But we’ll have forever to make up for it. I promise.”

I’m shaking more, and it’s because I feel like crying again, but happy tears this time.

“I love you too, Ferris. God, I love you so much. Come on, let me show you.”

He picks me up as he kisses me. I wrap my legs around his middle while he carries me to his room.

“Wait, there’s a CD. And lingerie,” I murmur against his neck.

“Next time.” He’s in a rush, and I’m fine with that. We’ve waited long enough. On his bed, he’s kissing me all over, helping me off with my sweater, the one he loves. I have a fleeting memory of Mike and how good our lovemaking was, but this will be even better.

When I’m in my bra and jeans, I wish we were in a darker room, knowing he’ll soon see the pale, slick streaks left on my tummy from my pregnancies.

His shirt gets peeled away, and I forget all about my hang-ups, taking in his amazing chest and those arms, nearly the size of my legs. Adam lies on me, kissing me, and I feel like we could go on forever. God, he’s heavy. His weight feels fantastic on me. So right. I love the way he holds my head when we kiss. It feels like he can protect me from anything. His mouth moves down between my breasts, nuzzling and nipping. I arch with the sheer joy, the pleasure, the need to move forward.

His doorbell is ringing. Insistently.

My left nipple gets a, “Goddammit!” Adam goes on, ignoring it. The visitor, the intruder, begins pounding.

I have to laugh. If I don’t, I’ll scream. God, we’ve waited so long, to be interrupted now?

“Expecting company?”

“Nobody ever comes here but you. And your kids.”

Nonetheless, he’s getting up. I hope it’s not a woman at the door, because he’s going without his shirt, and he might just give a female a heart attack by opening the door with a body like his. I hear the door squeak open, and Rascal mews in distress as Adam scoops him up, foiling yet another attempted safari into the great outdoors.

“Hi, you’re Adam Kraft, right?” Shit, it’s Mark!

“Yeah.”

“I’m Mark House.”

“I know.”
Nobody
else looks like Mark.

“You been seeing my sister.”
He’s seein’ lots of me just now, Marko
.

“Somethin’ like that.” Adam sounds wary–Mark is formidable.

“You got a girlfriend or somethin’?”

Adam clears his throat nervously. “Not…no.”

“I need you to come with me and straighten her out. She thinks you do, and–”

“I think it’s under control.”

“You don’t understand. She’s a human disaster right now.”
Thanks, bro. Very complimentary
. “I know she’s a stubborn pain in the ass, but I think she has a real thing for you. She burned her lousy husband and he’s out of the picture. I can get you in her house, and you can straighten her out.”

“I don’t think that’s really necessary–”

“It is if you want her to listen!” Mark is bent on throwing his considerable weight around to see his mission complete. “Look man, I saw how many times you been callin’ her.”

Okay, this has gone far enough.

“Mark?” I call. “He’s kinda busy now. Can you come back later?”

It’s quiet at the door, other than Rascal mewing at Adam to let him go.

“Oh. My bad. I’ll uh… Call me later, okay, Mandy? Sorry.”

Ha! Mark: embarrassed and surprised. How awesome is that?

I’m smiling when Adam returns, wiping his brow. I think he was afraid he was going to get his butt kicked for my being here. Or for my not being here. Either way, he’s relieved.

“See, I told you he was harmless,” I joke.

Adam looks less than convinced. “How’d you ‘burn’ Mike?”

“I don’t wanta talk about him and ruin the mood. Now where were we?”

Adam remembers
exactly
where we were. He spends a little time there, before he goes for my feet.

“You’re askin’ for trouble,” I warn him as he deeply massages a heel.

“Mmm-hmm.”

Flames of desire warm me everywhere. The foot thing is great, but I’m so ready for him to touch other places. I’m unbuttoning my own jeans to that end, when he takes over for me. A few more kisses, and he unzips them. When he shimmies them down my legs, he sighs. He sounds the way I felt when he exposed his chest. Now it’s time for
his
pants to go.

I’m rewarded for my month-long wait with bikini briefs. I take the time to squeeze that steely butt, leaning against him on our knees. He pushes me back and lays on me again. Is there a better place in the world than under his weight? I can feel him hard against me, and it drives me wild.

My hand threads between us and inside the top of his underwear to finally feel what I’ve been thinking of for so long. He’s hot and hard in my hand. His breathing is jagged against my hair. Together we push his last piece of clothing down his legs while I stroke him.

I’m thinking of him now, sliding in my welcoming, needing body. I must have said it aloud, because he’s murmuring, “I know, I know.”

Adam removes my bra, giving him full access to my breasts while I continue holding, rubbing. I wish I had the hands to touch every inch of his body at once. His mouth draws on a nipple, sending streaks of need ricocheting through me. He’s taken me to that place again, with only my body and his. I’m hot for him, desperate, mortally aroused. He’s the fix and I’m the addict. I’ll die if I don’t have him soon.

My writhing under him has finally spurred him to move forward. A hot hand slides over my hip and tummy, tugging panty with it. I’m impatient for his touch, greedy. Now I wish
he
had more hands.

He’s pushing the panties past my knees when he sees me, notices I’m hair-free. A purring moan, and his hand starts touching, feeling the smoothness, the slick state I’m in. His exploring drives me wild, teasing me past any rational thought.

All I can get out is, “In me…”

Adam knows, and first it’s a finger, then two. I buck against him, crying out for more. His tongue goes to work where I need it most, and I’m lost, shaken by my own pleasure. This orgasm, I know, is a preamble, an opening act to what I’ll feel when he’s inside me.

I gasp for breath when he moves above me, preparing to enter. His full weight is on me again, and when he enters me, my world is complete. Adam fills a void in me, perfectly. We’re saturated with the pleasure of our ultimate togetherness, merely lying there, still.