Chapter Seven
The Confrontation
Adam
Small towns don’t keep secrets. Not the big ones or the little ones. Someone will buy a pregnancy test at the pharmacy and before they get home to use it, ten people already know. So, by the time I roll into Blake’s Sunday afternoon, I already know.
Lenor Daniels went on a date. With Mason Holt.
I hear it before I even sit down at the bar. Old man Carter is telling anyone who’ll listen that Mason was seen holding her car door open like a “proper gentleman.” Mercy’s behind the bar, lips twitching, clearly dying to spill the details. I don’t ask. I don’t have to.
Because the second I see Lenor walk in with a basket of muffins in her hands, her thick hair down, and her lips pressed tight, I know it’s true.
And my blood goes ice cold in my veins. She actually went out with him.
She let him sit across from her, talk his boring hardware talk, and probably touch her hand.
Maybe she even let him kiss her. The thought makes me want to put my fist through the wall. Or Mason’s smug fucking face.
I push off my stool, ignoring Wesley’s muttered curse behind me, and stalk straight across the room. She sees me coming and stiffens, her jaw tightening like she’s bracing for impact.
“Morning, Lennie,” I drawl, too sharp, too cutting.
She sets the basket on the counter with more force than necessary. “Don’t start, Adam.”
I plant a hand on the bar, leaning in close enough that she can’t pretend she doesn’t feel me. “Heard you had dinner with Holt last night.”
Her eyes flick up, flashing with her signature defiant heat. “So what if I did?”
The possessive growl that rips from my chest nearly shocks me. “So what? He’s not good enough for you.”
She laughs, a hard, bitter sound. “And you are?”
The words slam into me. For a second, I can’t breathe. Because yeah, that’s the truth, isn’t it? That’s what everyone thinks. That’s what she thinks. Reckless Adam Blake. The guy you keep for fun, not forever.
My jaw locks. “I’m not Mason.”
“No,” she snaps, whirling to face me fully now, fire in her eyes. “You’re not. He’s steady. Reliable. Safe. You’re...” Her voice cracks, but she barrels on. “You’re chaos, Adam. And I can’t survive chaos again.”
Her words slice me open, but I can’t back down. Not when I see the truth trembling underneath her anger.
I step closer, my body crowding hers against the bar. My voice drops, low and rough. “You didn’t feel safe with him, did you? Not like you felt with me.”
Her breath hitches and her eyes darken. And I know I’ve got her.
I press in just enough that she has to tilt her chin up to look at me. “Tell me I’m wrong, Lennie. Look me in the eye and tell me that dinner with Holt made you feel half as alive as one kiss from me.”
She opens her mouth. Shuts it. Her throat works, her chest heaving, her pulse fluttering wildly at her neck. I could kiss her right now, and God knows, I want to. My mouth aches for it, my whole body strung tight, ready to snap.
But she shakes her head, whispering, “It doesn’t matter.”
“The hell it doesn’t.”
“It doesn’t,” she insists, her voice sharp even as her hands tremble. “Because wanting you, Adam, terrifies me.”
The fight drains out of me in an instant. My anger, my jealousy all collapses under the weight of her honesty. Terrifies her.
And instead of pulling back, instead of letting her breathe, I reach up and cup her jaw. Gently. Carefully. Like she’s the most breakable thing I’ve ever held.
“You think I’m not scared too?” My thumb strokes her cheek, my voice ragged. “You think I don’t know I’m not good enough for you? I know. But I also know I’ll spend every damn day proving I can be. Just don’t give him what’s supposed to be mine.”
Her eyes shine, wet and conflicted. For one heartbeat, I swear she’s going to let me in. And then Wesley clears his throat loudly from behind the bar. We both jerk apart like guilty teenagers caught kissing under the bleachers.
Lenor grabs the muffin basket and storms toward the door, her shoulders stiff, her head high. “Stay out of my life, Adam.”
The bell jingles as the door slams shut.
I stand there, chest heaving, heart tearing itself apart, Wesley’s disapproving glare boring into the back of my skull. But I don’t regret it. Because for the first time, I saw it clear as day. She wants me. She feels this thing between us just like I do.
And no matter how hard she fights it, Lenor Daniels will be mine. It’s not a question of if. Only when.