Chapter 22
“Heyyyyy, Adam.”
She paired her sultry greeting with a teasing wiggle of her fingers as he made his way to her porch.
He struggled hard to keep his focus on his steps and not her.
He didn’t want to end up face-planting on her steps and risk injuring himself.
He had plans for the two of them, and none of them included spending time in an emergency room.
When he was finally standing in front of her, he inhaled slowly as his gaze climbed up her body and then down again.
Jane stood there with an off-the-shoulder graphic sweatshirt that read IT DON’T GET NO BETTER, a black pair of sleek leggings that put every one of her thick and tempting curves on display, and a pair of black wedge booties that did wonderful things to her hips and thighs.
Adam was inclined to agree with the shirt’s sentiment.
Between high school, college, and the NBA, Adam never lacked female company.
His companions had come in all shapes and sizes from slim to full-figured.
And while he’d enjoyed every one of them for who they were, he’d be lying if he said there wasn’t something about a thick sistah, plump and soft in all the right places, hips, waist, thighs, hell all of her, that just did it for him.
His adolescent brain used to regularly short-circuit every time he saw Janae’s teenaged, shapely body in her gym uniform.
He’d fumbled more crossovers than he could remember every time he’d caught sight of her doing drills on the sidelines during practice.
Now he’d gauge she’d filled out somewhere between a sixteen and an eighteen dress size, and her curves were still putting a hurting on his ability to focus all these years later.
“Hey, yourself,” he answered, taking the hand whose fingers she’d wiggled at him a few seconds ago and using it to pull her into his embrace. The feel of her wrapped in his arms, pressed so close against him, made his blood run hot. “I missed you.”
She pulled her head from his shoulder, looking up into his eyes with a playful smile.
“You just saw me a few hours ago. How could you possibly miss me?”
“Every moment away from you is an opportunity to miss you.”
He leaned down, placing a chaste kiss on her lips. Not that they needed to hide from anyone. But they both lived and worked in a small town, no need to give the gossips more material to run with.
“I don’t remember you being this smooth when we were kids. I guess living in New York has upped your game.”
“Beg your pardon.” He lifted a brow in mock offense. “Outside of tutoring Michael, you spent exactly zero time with me when we were kids. If you had, you’d know my game was always tight. You just wouldn’t give me the time of day, so I never had a chance to show you my skills.”
“Is that what tonight’s about?” she asked with a sexy smile curving the corners of her plush, tempting mouth. “You’re going to show me your game?”
“Darling, I’ve been showing you my game since we ran into each other at Vanessa’s shop. That’s why you’re looking cute, waiting for me on your doorstep.”
Her smile grew wider and he knew he had her. He was about to go in for another kiss when she stepped back and rubbed her neck. It gave him pause.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” She continued to rub the back of her neck for a bit more before raising her eyes to him. “Unpleasant interactions with my mom always leave me a little stiff. I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”
His jaw tightened as his mind could only guess at how bad things must have gotten with her mother if she was still trying to nurse a tension-sore neck several hours later.
He’d wanted to stay, but was trying to give Janae the space she needed to navigate this thing building between them. But now that he saw her, he knew he should’ve followed his mind and stayed and weathered whatever storm Evelyn Tate whipped up around them.
Lesson learned.
If he could help it, he wasn’t about to leave her in a situation like that again. She’d more than likely be pissed with him, but at least he wouldn’t have to walk around wanting to kick himself for not following his first instinct.
When she leaned down to grab her knapsack that was sitting on the porch, he snatched it up and put it on his shoulder before lacing his fingers through hers and guiding her down the steps.
When they reached the passenger side of his car, he opened the door, then helped her inside, and shared a quick wink with her before he closed the door.
As he placed her bag in the back and settled inside the driver’s seat, he looked over at her one last time and asked, “Are you ready?”
When she whispered, “More than,” he leaned over, taking her mouth in another brief kiss, counting the agonizing moments to when he could take as much as he wanted from her.
Pulling away, he started the ignition and gave her one last longing glance, saying, “As my lady wishes,” before he pulled out of her driveway.
Janae reached for the car door handle when she heard Adam’s deep voice fill the car.
“Please don’t touch that handle.”
She didn’t have to look in the mirror to feel her brows tugging into a tight vee.
“Why not? I can open my door myself.”
“I didn’t ask you what you could do, Janae. I know you’re capable of opening the door. I simply asked that you didn’t.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know why this chivalry thing is so important to you. It’s just a car door, Adam.”
Janae watched him grip the steering wheel, his fingers tightening around the twisted leather cover as he sat quietly before turning his stony expression to her.
“Janae, I get that you are a woman who is used to doing for herself. Independence is a great thing. But it can also be a detriment when it becomes a trauma response to never having anyone take care of you.”
“Excuse me.” She was barely able to get the words out before he lifted a finger to interrupt her. Just who the hell he thought he was, she didn’t know.
“Before you get ready to read me, answer me this question. When was the last time someone did something for you without being asked?”
Janae opened her mouth to reply, but as she searched her memories, she couldn’t find an answer to Adam’s question.
“Janae, you are a leader. A fighter. Anyone who spends five minutes in your presence can easily see that. But people who do everything for everyone else, they don’t usually have a chance to spend time taking care of themselves.
When you’re with me, I don’t want you to have to think about anything.
I want you to know when we’re together, I will take care of your every need, no matter how big or seemingly inconsequential. ”
Her throat was tight. She wanted to rage, wanted to read him for filth the way she would anyone else who dared to tell her anything about herself.
Except, there was so much kindness and truth glimmering in his hazel eyes, that the fight that was always brimming just beneath the surface somehow dissipated, leaving her with this desire to give into what Adam was offering.
When was the last time someone took care of you?
Again, even when she asked herself that, she couldn’t come up with an answer. And right there, she decided that maybe, just maybe, it would be nice to know what it felt like to let someone else take the reins.
Her fight with her mother this afternoon left her raw. Even though she smiled and teased on her doorstep when he arrived, deep down she was hurting from the things her mother had said to her.
Could she stop being superwoman for five minutes and let this man be a balm to her tired soul? Did she even want to?
Without thought or word, she moved her hand away from the door, placing her palms flat against her thighs.
Adam sat still, watching her, probably to see if she would default to her superheroine ways.
But whether it was because she didn’t want to fight with him or maybe because he’d spoken complete truth to her that rattled her aching soul, either way, she sat there and would continue to do so until he opened the door for her.
Because for tonight, she wanted Adam to take care of her, to focus on what she needed, and if her temporary acquiescence was all he asked in return, tonight, only tonight, she would give it to him.
He opened her door and helped her out of the car, carrying her bag in one hand while the other rested at the base of her back, gently guiding her from the driveway, up the steps and into his house.
“So, what do you have planned tonight?”
He sat her bag down next to the bottom of the staircase, and turned toward her.
“I’m gonna draw a hot bath for you upstairs. You can soak some of that tension away while I cook. I have Alexas set up all throughout the house, so I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready for you.”
“You’re not gonna join me?”
He folded his arms, one corner of his mouth lifting into a cocky grin.
“I’d love to, but I think you need some time to soak away the day. I want you able to give all your attention to the good, relaxing time we’re going to have when you come back down.”
Not sure how to respond to that, she simply nodded and followed his lead upstairs into the spacious main bedroom.
Once inside, he sat her bag down on the foot bench and pointed to a door to their right, before disappearing inside the bathroom.
While he did whatever he was doing in there, she took in the spacious room with its wooden panels accenting the window frames that brought a masculine yet warm look to the room.
The maroon and cream accents in the carpeting and the gold-framed artwork on the walls brought together the bold and modern in conjunction with the deep brown furnishing.
By the looks of his bedroom, Adam had great taste. She couldn’t wait to get a tour of the rest of the house to see how he’d made this cookie-cutter house in his development, a home.
“I left lounge clothes and a robe on the back door.”
“You bought me lounge clothes? How did you know what size?”