Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
“ I think maybe we should try someplace else,” Mel said, looking around the trendy boutique she’d wanted to visit. It was packed to the shiny mirrored ceiling with pants and tops and skirts and sweaters in an array of fashionable hues straight out of the latest style magazines she read on her breaks at the library. Everything looked expensive and adorable and way too intimidating for Mel to even touch. “I doubt these will fit.”
“What? Don’t be silly.” Adam took her hand and tugged her forward, giving her a side-glance once-over that had her toes curling in her sandals. “These will fit you. Trust me.”
He stood to the side while she carefully flipped through the racks, pulling things out and draping them over her arm. She smiled benignly at the sales staff milling about, praying they wouldn’t approach. The staff all looked perfect and polished and would no doubt find Mel lacking in the worst way. Finally, they moved toward the dressing rooms at the back of the store with her armload of garments .
“May I help you with those?” a salesclerk interceded before they reached their destination, probably sensing a sizable commission, though her tone seemed sincere. She unlocked one of the dressing rooms, then helped Mel hang everything on the hooks inside. “My name’s Andi, and I’ll be outside if you need anything. Let me know.”
Adam took up guard position beside the door, while Mel locked herself inside, shaking her head. “I’m telling you, none of this stuff will fit.”
“How do you know?” he asked. You haven’t even tried any of it on yet. I bet it’ll fit you just fine.”
“If you’re right and I even half this stuff works for me, then I owe you a beer.”
He chuckled. “Okay. And what do I owe you if I’m wrong?”
The slight flirtation in his tone made her pulse thud.
A kiss.
The words teetered on the edge of her lips, but she chickened out. “I don’t know.”
“Hmm,” he said, sounding skeptical. “Hurry up and change.”
She stared at all the clothes on the hooks. Since high school, she’d worn the same style, the same size. She knew what worked for her and what didn’t. Handing him back all this stuff after she was done and making him take her to a different store because she’d been right after all would be sweet revenge. Those thoughts finally spurred her to undress.
“How’s it going in there?” Adam called a short time later.
“Dandy.” Mel pulled a pair of skinny jeans off a hanger and tugged them on. “Give me a minute. ”
“You’ve had five already. Not that I’m counting or anything.”
Mel sighed, picturing him leaning against the wall, looking effortlessly gorgeous and drawing all sorts of female attention without even trying. He’d always been far too sexy for his own good.
Surprisingly, the jeans slid up her legs and over her butt with ease, like they were made for her. She buttoned and zipped them, then turned looked in the mirror, her mouth agape. They fit her like a second skin, in a good way. That couldn’t be right.
Mel checked all the angles and found nothing amiss. No muffin top, no pinching, nothing but a perfect fit.
Adam knocked on the door again. “Are you stalling because you owe me a Bud Light?”
“Maybe.”
His arrogant chuckle had her grabbing a light blue top off another hanger, the fabric a silky rayon jersey with a cowl neck and cap sleeves. A far cry from her usual twinsets and pearls. She pulled it over her head, then wriggled it down to her waist. The clingy material hugged her curves without being too revealing, and the color made her skin glow. After one last check in the mirror, she reached for the door handle, needing confirmation that she wasn’t imagining all this.
“All bets are off until you let me see…” Adam’s words trailed off as she opened the door. He stood frozen, his gaze moving slowly upward from her bare toes, over her hips and thighs to her chest. Mel had long since stopped breathing. Time seemed to slow. No, she wasn’t imagining it at all.
Each flicker of his gaze over her felt like warm honey on her skin, slow and sweet and delicious. Adam swallowed hard, the muscles working in his strong, tanned neck working, and Mel had the sudden urge to nuzzle the hollow at the base of his throat.
She vowed then to buy this outfit and wear it whenever he was around.
When he spoke, his voice sounded rougher than before. “Told you they’d fit.”
“Guess I owe you a beer then.” Mel crossed her arms, the move thrusting her boobs up higher. His attention returned to her chest and her pulse tripped. She uncrossed them and smoothed her hands down her sides instead.
“Good thing, because I could use a drink.” His husky, self-deprecating response was the sexiest thing Mel had ever heard, and she rested a hand against the wall for support.
“Since when did you become an expert on women’s clothes?” Mel asked, desperate to distract herself before she tackled him to the marble floor of the boutique and kissed him silly. “Most guys wouldn’t know a cute top from a turnip.”
Her words seemed to finally break him out of his daze. Adam turned away, but not before she caught the heat in his eyes. “I spend a lot of time around females. I pay attention to what they like.”
“I bet you do.” She shifted her weight. His experience was why she’d wanted his help, right? The fact that it bothered her now made no sense whatsoever.
Adam rubbed the back of his neck, his hand shaking slightly. And now her heart ached for an entirely different reason—tenderness. Apparently, the bad boy of Point Beacon was as affected by her as she was by him.
She savored his reactions a bit longer as she glanced back into the dressing room mirror again, moving this way and that to see all her angles. “You’re sure this outfit isn’t too tight?”
“No.” His voice sounded strained as he licked his lips. She met his gaze in the mirror, and the air between them seemed to sizzle. Then he stepped forward to nudge her back inside the dressing room. “It looks great. You look great. Trust me.”
He was standing so close now. Mel closed her eyes and swayed toward him before she could stop herself, her forehead bumping his chin.
“Please, Mel,” Adam growled, the sound tight with tension. “Try on the rest. Pick out a few that you like and let’s go.”
He then left, shutting the door behind him. Mel wondered when things had gotten so crazy. She also wondered what she’d have to do to make him lose his control and finally kiss her.
“I answered your questions back at the restaurant about my service,” he said after a while through the door. “Now it’s your turn to tell me something in exchange?”
“Like what?” Mel asked, not liking where this could go.
“Tell me what you’re looking for in a boyfriend.”
You.
She slumped against the wall of the dressing room, eyes closed, forcing herself to answer. “I want someone who’s smart and funny and kind and sweet. Someone who makes me laugh and makes me feel protected and cherished. A person who’s loyal and honest and steadfast. Who won’t run at the first hint of trouble. It would be nice if he had a great smile and beautiful eyes, too.”
Like you .
“That’s a tall order,” Adam said after a moment. “Not sure we can find a guy like that.”
Mel straightened and slipped her feet into her shoes.
This new outfit was comfortable, and after Adam’s reaction, they’d have to pry the clothes off her cold dead body. She was wearing them home. As she packed up her other clothes, she said, “Well, if we can tick most of those boxes, we’re good.”
After the way he’d shared with her at the restaurant and how great he’d been today, she felt like she was finally on the right track with him. They’d part ways, still friends, on her birthday. Until then, though, she still had a few more weeks, a few more chances to break down his walls and get him to open up to her and see how great they could be together.
Adam had started today’s adventure with a positive attitude, but now it was fading fast. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed the time with Mel. On the contrary, he’d enjoyed it too much. That was the problem.
He kept his eyes straight ahead as he drove Mel’s Camry back toward Point Beacon, merging onto the exit ramp from Interstate 465 to 69 North, willing his inappropriate attraction to her back into submission. Each time he closed his eyes, he could still see her looking at him with those big green eyes, could still feel every time she’d brushed again him, the way she looked, her scent. Everything she did seemed to be a natural aphrodisiac where he was concerned.
And if he couldn’t resist her, what about the rest of the male population in their zip code ?
He’d been so distracted by her that he hadn’t even thought of his business all day. What kind of owner did that make him?
A messed-up, horny one. That’s what.
Adam glanced at the speedometer and realized he was going well over the speed limit and eased up on the accelerator. They’d left the mall an hour ago, and he was still thinking about the way Mel’s butt looked in those jeans—even though her nonstop chatter from the passenger seat should’ve doused his lust like a fire extinguisher on the ride home.
He sighed and shifted in his seat, staring out at the endless farm fields surrounding them. After he dropped her off at her place, he planned to get on his bike and ride for a few hours, forget about that promised beer she owed him. Because accepting it meant more time with Mel. In her house. Alone.
And yeah, Adam liked to live on the edge as much as the next hellion, but this was insane. The miles flew past until the Welcome to Point Beacon sign showed in his headlights just after sundown. He pulled into Mel’s driveway a few minutes later and parked. Mel got out and walked around to the trunk. He followed, his Harley mocking him from the side of her garage where he’d parked it this morning. For a crazy second, he considered making a break for it and hurtling away at breakneck speed, but that idea was soon nixed as Mel handed him bag after bag from her shopping spree.
The last lingering streaks of violet were fading in the indigo sky. A warm breeze stirred but did little to cool Adam’s overheated body. The weight he carried didn’t keep him from watching the sway of Mel’s hips again as she walked up the steps to her front door. Man, those jeans were going to kill him one of these days .
She smiled at him over her shoulder as she unlocked the door. “Excuse the mess, please.”
She’d mentioned that the first time he’d been over, too, but her place was neat as a pin, far as he could see. Compared to his home, it looked like the frigging Taj Mahal. She went inside, putting out a foot to keep that fluffy cat of hers from escaping as she flipped on the lights. Adam put her bags on the sofa in the living room, per her direction, then glanced over at the coffee table, where a copy of the Cosmo sex guide sat, several tabs marking the pages. He swallowed hard.
“How about the beer I owe you?” Mel called from the kitchen.
“Uh, actually I should probably go,” he called, rushing back toward the foyer like his butt was on fire.
“I’m sorry?” she said, coming down the hall toward him. “I didn’t hear you.”
She’d already pulled two Bud Lights from her fridge and twisted the caps off. He stood, torn, as she passed him a bottle. He hated to waste a good beer.
Mel drank hers, nose wrinkled. He wondered why she’d bought these when she clearly didn’t like them, but feared he already knew the answer. She shrugged. “Wine’s more my thing.”
Adam nodded, sipping for his own bottle as he searched for some topic of conversation. His brain landed on the bar the other night. “Uh, Lilly and Dom seem pretty solid.”
“Yeah. They’ve been together a whole month. New record, I think.” Mel leaned against the doorframe leading into the living room. She’d taken off her shoes, he noticed. Her pink polished toes sticking out from beneath the hem of her jeans. “Seems like she might have met her match.”
Her voice went soft when she said that, as did her eyes, and something pulled taut inside Adam, sending a pang of yearning deep into his chest. He found himself moving closer to Mel before he could stop himself. Close enough that if he reached out, he could pull Mel closer for the kiss he’d been dying to give her all day.
Mel tilted her head and squinted at him. “Are you okay? You got awfully quiet.”
“Lots on my mind. Garage stuff.” He lied through his teeth. “I really should go.”
He stepped back, careful not to make any more bodily contact.
“Guess I’ll see you next time,” she said, one eyebrow raised. “You’ll call me to set up the next lesson, right?”
“Right.” Somewhere between the clothes and the shoes and the lunch and the lust that afternoon, he’d lost control of this entire situation. He couldn’t say exactly when or why, but he blamed the pheromone-fueled fog in his brain that worsened whenever Mel was around.
He’d almost reached the front door when her cat twined around his ankles, nearly tripping him. Adam caught himself against the wall and did his best to disentangle himself from the frisky feline.
Mel bent and picked up her cat, kissing its head, then cuddled it under her chin.
Lucky cat.
“I’ll call you, I promise,” he said, one hand on the doorknob.
“I’ll be waiting, as usual.” She sounded so forlorn, his couldn’t stop himself from slipping his fingers beneath her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Hey. Don’t talk like that.”
At his touch, she inhaled, drawing his attention to her chest again in that slinky blue top. As if drawn by some invisible tractor beam, Adam leaned in and brushed his lips over hers, so lightly they were hardly there at all. Mel’s mouth moved beneath his, sweet and soft, just like he imagined, and he drew back before he couldn’t anymore.
“Talk to you soon,” Adam said, then rushed into the warm summer night.