18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
Callie jumped at the knock on the summer house door. She had been so deep in her music, thinking through a tricky transition, that she hadn’t heard the footsteps approaching. Roscoe stretched, rolling over to chase his patch of sunlight on the floor, and gave a belated bark.
“Nice watchdog,” observed Adam from the doorway. She felt the low rumble of his voice vibrate through her, as though she had touched the tuning fork to her ear. She shivered, then leaned over to scratch Roscoe’s ears affectionately, anchoring herself on Roscoe’s calm energy.
“He knows you’re not dangerous.”
She straightened up and began putting her instruments away. Roscoe clambered to his feet, stretching and shaking off the nap.
“How did things go last night with Danny?” she asked. “He didn’t say anything about it this morning, so I didn’t ask. He seemed peaceful, though.”
Adam stayed rooted in the doorway. Maybe he wanted to pretend their little encounter last night hadn’t happened, but she remembered quite well. She snapped the last case shut .
“Better than I expected,” he finally answered.
“That’s good, right?” she asked. “Why the long face?”
“Let’s say that it wasn’t my finest moment,” he said. “I hate feeling like I don’t know what I’m doing.”
He stepped into the room, giving Roscoe a chance to slip out the door and go exploring. He walked over to sit beside her on the bench. Did he remember all the toe-curling things they had done on this bench? He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands, and staring out at the lake.
“Look, I didn’t mean to interrupt your work time. I just wanted to thank you for last night.” He sat back and met her eyes. “Danny and I really made a breakthrough, and we could never have done it without you.”
She smiled. “You’re not interrupting. If you hadn’t stopped by, I would have come to see you.” She took a deep breath, gathering her courage. “I’m glad that things went well with Danny, but that’s not why I wanted to see you. I wanted to know if you had changed your mind.” She leaned forward to cup his jawline with her palm. She let her whole body sway toward him, pausing when she could feel his breath on her lips. She waited there for his answer, impressed with her newfound audacity.
“I still think it’s complicated,” he said, but he didn’t pull back.
She nodded, hope bubbling up inside her.
“I still think it’s a bad idea.”
“Aren’t we always?” she asked.
She let her hand steal around the nape of his neck, her thumb tracing the curve of his ear.
“But I’m beginning to think we should do it anyway,” he said.
She smiled, breathing in the heady mix of Adam and hope.
“So what are you waiting for?” she whispered. “Stop thinking so much and just do it. ”
At her words, something inside Adam snapped. For so long he had kept his emotions tightly leashed, submerging his own needs in order to build a life for Danny. Not anymore. This was his moment. Screw the consequences.
He closed the gap between them, pressing her back against the cushions of the bench, taking her mouth with a fierceness that matched hers. She shifted beneath him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hooking a leg around his hips. He growled his approval.
He gained a new appreciation for flowing skirts and blouses as he discovered how easy it was to shove them out of the way, revealing the delicate skin beneath. She quickly tugged off his work shirt and the t-shirt beneath, refusing to let him slow down. He would have lingered, chasing her elusive scent from the hollow of her neck across her collar bone, but she would have none of it, wriggling free of her underwear and struggling to free him from his button-fly jeans.
They found themselves laughing, breathless, as the last barriers fell away and then silent, stunned, when she locked her legs around him and pulled him deep inside. They balanced in that moment, forehead to forehead, breath to breath, absorbing the reality of their raw, physical connection. With each pulse, he could feel her surround him, until the connection overwhelmed them and they tumbled over the edge together, faster and faster, until the release slammed into them, wave after wave of it, leaving them spent, motionless.
He felt his world shift beneath him, subterranean plates heaving and sliding to make room for Callie. This moment had altered the geography of his life. He needed a new plan, because he refused to imagine a future without her.
He said nothing. For now, it was enough to breathe with her, to feel their hearts beat together. Plans and promises could wait until tomorrow.