What a Woman Wants (26 page)

Shannon glanced up
from the book she was reading when Faith entered the room. A smile touched her lips. Now that things had heated up between Monique and Dr. Montgomery, Monique spent more time over at his place than she did here with them, but they weren’t complaining. They were happy that another good man had entered their friend’s life.

“You’re staying in again tonight?” Faith asked, flopping down on the sofa across from her.

Shannon drew her brows together sharply. “Yes. Do you have a problem with it?”

“No, I’m just curious as to what happened to you and that mechanic. You haven’t mentioned him lately.”

After a brief pause Shannon said, “It was just a fling, Faith, nothing more. We had a good time, and now it’s over. Flings aren’t meant to last.”

Silence settled between them again for several moments, and then Shannon said, “What about you? What happened to you and that tennis guy?”

“Nothing happened. We were never involved.”

“Umm, what a waste.”

Faith shook her head. Leave it to Shannon to think that way. “But not for long. I’ve decided to engage in a serious relationship with Shane before leaving here.”

Shannon looked shocked. “Really? How serious?”

“As serious as he wants it.”

Shannon placed her book down. “When did you decide all of this?”

“Rather recently.”

“And where was I?”

Faith gave her a pointed yet teasing look and said, “Somewhere getting your brains screwed out, I guess.”

Shannon glared at her as she picked her book back up. “Be serious, Faith.”

“I am.” Then when Shannon’s glare deepened, she said, “Oh, all right. I decided this a few days ago, but Shane is out of town now.” What she didn’t say was that he was giving her time to think her decision through. But there was nothing to think through. She wanted an involvement.

“I can’t believe it,” Shannon said, shaking her head.

“What can’t you believe?”

“You and Monique’s plans for this summer. None of them included finding a man, but you found one anyway.”

Faith nodded, seeing her point. “Maybe because unlike you we didn’t go out looking for one to become a victim. Now if you were to ask me what I want, I would give you an answer in more specific terms rather than general.”

“And what would that answer be?”

“I want a man who will love me for me. A man I know I can trust and a man I believe I can count on when the going gets tough.”

“And what about security?”

Faith raised an arched brow. “What security?”

“Don’t you want someone on the same level as you? Who can provide for you?”

“I can provide for myself. Besides, the size of a guy’s bank account isn’t everything. I learned that the hard way with Virgil. When my father introduced us, he assumed he was securing my future. Boy, was he wrong.” Faith stood. “I guess we shouldn’t expect Monique back tonight,” Faith said.

“No, I guess we shouldn’t,” Shannon said, thinking about what Faith had said. When Faith left the room, Shannon momentarily closed her eyes, and the face that suddenly came in view stirred her heart. She had been fighting the truth, but couldn’t any longer. She had fallen in love with Adam Corbain.

She threw her book across the room and stood up, knowing something like that was not supposed to happen. Emotions had no place in a fling. Sex was sex and nothing more.

But it had been more than sex, the greatest she’d ever experienced. It had been a touching of her soul as well. Even without trying, Adam had left his mark on her, and she wasn’t sure what to do about it. How had he gotten to her so quickly? How had he gotten to her at all? Why had that guard she usually kept up lowered just for him, giving him an in she never meant for him to have?

Just like Faith, if anyone were to ask her now what she as a woman wanted, she would have to tell them she wanted a man who provided her with true love, regardless of what he did for a living. She wanted a man who would supply her not only with all the love she could handle but with hot, satisfying sex, emotional intimacy, and the willingness to let her be herself in the bedroom. A man who, when she was in his arms, made her forget the world existed. There was only one man who she knew could give her everything she wanted.

She glanced over at the clock. It wasn’t late, just a little past eight. Was Adam still up working on his car? It had been a few days since she’d seen him, trying to deny in her heart what she now knew
⁷
as the truth.

Deciding she needed to see if there was the slightest chance her feelings were reciprocated, she went into the kitchen and scribbled a note for Monique and Faith—mainly for Faith. Chances were Monique wouldn’t be returning tonight, since it was the night Lyle’s family was coming into town to celebrate his birthday.

She headed for the door, hated to leave Faith alone again.
She’ll understand.
Shannon stopped within a foot of the door and turned around. She could have sworn she’d heard Cely’s voice. She shrugged. Again she’d been hearing things.

Adam put the Wall Street Journal
article down and leaned back in his chair. He couldn’t get Shannon off his mind. He hadn’t seen her since the Fourth of July. For the past few days he’d had no sense of direction, no desire to do any of those things he’d always wanted to do.

Today was the first time he hadn’t worked on his car. Instead he had hung out in his apartment, practically doing nothing but drinking a beer every now and then, eating only when his stomach demanded it and taking unnecessary naps. At one point he thought about driving to D.C. just to get away for a while to visit with Sydney and Tyrone. But he couldn’t get up enough energy or any real interest to make the drive.

He hadn’t been able to sleep through the night, waking up a dozen or more times just to gaze out the window whenever he thought he heard a sound downstairs. It finally dawned on him that she wasn’t coming back. Their affair was over, and she’d made a clean break.

And I wish like hell that I could do the same.

But instead his mind was playing over and over the intimacies that they had shared. He’d had sex with other women, but none of them ever came close to making him feel the way Shannon had. What was it about her that was so different, so intense, so downright unforgettable?

Was it her snappy attitude? Or was it the way she could hold her own against him or the way she could give just as good as she could take? Probably all of those things. He had enjoyed their time together—their little fling, as she called it—and he knew when he returned to Memphis in a few weeks that she would dwell in his mind for days and months to come.

Dwell in his mind as well as in his heart.

Adam sucked in a deep breath, almost daring himself to breath when it suddenly hit him why he felt so strongly about Shannon. Why he’d been in such a piss-awful mood since he’d last seen her. She had been wrong. It hadn’t been all about sex. At least for him, it hadn’t been. For her it was the challenge of doing a mechanic, but for him it was something else all together.

He hit his hand on the table in denial but knew it hadn’t done any good. The truth was the truth. And speaking of truth ... he hadn’t told her his true profession, because he had wanted her to accept him for who he was and not what he was, but she hadn’t been able to do that.

He turned when his cell phone began ringing. He wondered if it was Kent calling or a member of his family. He started to ignore it since he wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, but then decided what the hell. He crossed the room and picked up the phone. “Hello.”

“I’m downstairs. Will you let me in?”

Adam went still at the sound of Shannon’s voice. His muscles tensed. He tried to swallow but couldn’t.

“Adam?”

He snapped out of his daze and said, “Yes, I’ll let you in. I’ll be down in a second.”

Although he was glad she had come, he knew why she was there. She wanted unemotional sex, but he had news for her. There was no way he could be emotionless where she was concerned. She would not be making any more booty calls, at least not with him.

Shannon watched the
garage door go up, and the same adrenaline that had been working a number on her since leaving the house was at its peak. She could only stare beyond the opened door as her pulse escalated alarmingly. And then Adam was there, and she quickly moved toward him.

“Hi,” she said, hearing the garage door lower behind her. The moment their gazes locked she felt an intensity of emotions she’d never felt before.

“Shannon,” he acknowledged, a deep, throaty sound that seemed to caress her skin. “Why are you here?”

She swallowed nervously. Wasn’t he glad to see her? Was he upset that she hadn’t contacted since the Fourth? “I needed to see you,” she said softly.

“Do I need to ask why?” he asked dryly.

She studied his face. This wasn’t exactly the reception she had hoped for. But then with all things considered, and what she said the last time they had seen each other, what did she expect?

She inclined her head. “Aren’t you going to invite me up to your apartment?”

He slowly raked his eyes over her, making her pulse that much more erratic. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a regular blouse, probably the most clothes he’d ever seen cover her body.

When his gaze returned to her face, she knew he was trying to fight her, fight whatever it was that always pulled them together, that strong sexual chemistry they could never deny. And the question that lodged in her mind was, Why was he even trying?

Before she could wonder any longer, he swept her up into his arms.

He hadn’t intended
to touch her, definitely didn’t intend to make love to her, refusing to put himself through such torture and pain. But the moment she looked into his eyes and asked if he was going to invite her upstairs, any resistance to her died then and there. Every step he took defined a weakness in him for her that he could not fight. He could no longer focus on what was right or wrong about their relationship, or about the lie it was based on. The only thing he could concentrate on was how much he loved her and wanted her in his life, although she would want no part of the things he wanted.

Loving her was a lost cause. He knew it but loved her anyway. The only things that would sustain him during the lonely months ahead would be the memories of the weeks they shared together; especially tonight. It would be one he intended for her to remember for a long time. Then after tonight it would be over, and he meant it.

In the morning he would pack up and go to D.C. for a few days and then return to Memphis. He would pay one of Kent’s top mechanics to finish restoring his car, since doing so no longer held the thrill that it once had. The next time Shannon came looking for him, he would be gone, and he’d give Kent strict instructions not to tell her where if she asked.

Once inside the apartment, he placed her on the bed, stood back, and reached for the zipper to his jeans. “Wait, Adam!”

He blinked. “Why? Isn’t this what you came for?”

“Yes. No.” She swung her legs on the side of the bed and sat up. “We need to talk.”

Surprise lit his eyes. “Talk? What do we have to talk about? Besides, I don’t feel like talking.”

Shannon frowned and braced back on her hands and glared up at him. “Well, I do.”

“Fine, then talk,” he snapped, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.

Shannon decided she didn’t like his attitude. She stood. “I’m leaving.”

She turned toward the door, and he reached out and touched her arm. She met his gaze and suddenly felt it, something other than the sexual chemistry they shared. And before she had time to dwell on it further, he gently pulled her into his arms.

She couldn’t deny herself this, another chance to be held by him, kissed by him, touched by him, and so she went willingly, locking her arms around his neck just when his mouth came within inches of hers. As if he knew this would be a kiss to savor, he took the tip of his tongue and slowly outlined the fullness of her mouth, licking it like it was the best thing he’d ever had the pleasure of tasting. Her body shuddered as sensations rammed through her, and when he captured her bottom lip and began gently sucking on it, she felt a relentless tug that began in her stomach and moved down with aching leisure to the area between her legs.

She wondered if he knew how much he was torturing her. Did he care? Evidently not, because then he took his hands and began caressing her back, slowly moving his hands down to her backside, and the moment he pulled her to him, to let her feel the magnitude of his desire for her, he captured her mouth like a hawk bearing down on its prey.

She felt him easing her back on the bed as she became engulfed in heated desire. She knew she had to talk to him and make him understand; otherwise, what they were doing would end up being just another roll between the sheets, and she couldn’t end things with him that way.

She pushed at him. “No, Adam, get off me. We do need to talk.”

Adam pulled back, hearing the desperation in Shannon’s voice, and something broke within him, a flood of intense love he could no longer contain. He reached out and took her hand in his and caressed it lightly. He didn’t want what they both wanted to end up being just another sex-intense coupling. She was right. They needed to talk, and although he was certain what they had to say would be vastly different, they needed to hear each other. She probably wanted to reemphasize what she saw as the depth of their relationship so there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings.