Chapter 9
ADAM
“Bro… did I do this? Maxwell. I swear to God, I made this happen.”
For fuck’s sake.
My jaw tightened as I ignored Josh MacMillan while standing in the middle of the crowded ball room, taking a bigger than usual drink of my whiskey because, well, Josh was unfortunately pretty hard to ignore.
Especially when he wouldn’t stop running his mouth about AJ.
“I mean come on. I was just noticing how hot she looked and then I asked you about her stupid fiancé. Didn’t I?
And then boom. They’re over. After five fucking years.
” Josh gave a hearty laugh to the skies, like the gods of dirty rebound sex had just smiled upon him. “Bro. How does that even happen?”
Dragging my palm across my jaw, I looked at him then at Keith, the head of the music division whom I’d been talking to before Josh came loping over like an idiot. I took another drink before peering over at Keith.
“Sorry,” I muttered, to which he laughed.
“Hey, I was like that once. I’ll let you young guys talk,” he said before excusing himself and leaving me alone with Josh and his cartoonishly blatant ogling of AJ from well across the room. He palmed his hand over his head as he stared at her.
“Goddamn, I just hope that isn’t a padded bra.”
My jaw clenched. It’s not, I thought as I reluctantly brought my eyes to her.
She was standing by the arched doors that led to the courtyard, looking like a fucking bombshell as she smiled wide, talking to Liza and some others from the office that I didn’t know.
Christ, AJ. Don’t do that, I willed her as she leaned over to murmur in Liza’s ear, drawing both Josh and my eyes to the dip of her lower back—the way it curved into a round ass I couldn’t believe I hadn’t spent the past five years staring at.
What the hell had I been doing with my time?
Probably working, I thought to myself wryly as Josh snorted.
“Look at those fucking clowns,” he said as a few guys—other assistants—inched closer to AJ and her friends, lingering around. Clearly waiting to cut in.
I couldn’t blame them.
It was why I’d avoided her since we got here. I knew well I could spend my entire night fixating on her. On how good she looked. Who she was talking to and who was looking at her. I knew it only took one glance in her direction to break the seal.
And now that it was effectively broken, I couldn’t stop watching her, staring hard the way I did when I wanted her to look up at me from across a crowded room.
It took another few seconds, but she then did exactly that.
“Oh, shit,” Josh said before giving a big grin and a wave. AJ paused, giving that slow, close-lipped, what’s going on smile as she waved back. “Goddamn,” Josh groaned through his smile. “See that little jiggle when she waved?”
I scowled, knowing well that he was talking about her tits. Whether or not I wanted to admit it, I’d been looking too.
“That’s it. No matter what happens tonight, I gotta smash.”
I managed a bored nod despite the increasingly hot irritation crawling through my veins. “Cool. I need another drink,” I said. And with a tightly-clenched jaw—along with a nod toward the bar when AJ caught my eye again—I excused myself.
AJ
I had been summoned.
I’d sensed it coming from well across the room, so as soon as my gaze locked again on Adam’s, I headed for the bar, giving an obligatory eye roll to Liza as I said, “The boss needs something.”
That was usually the case at these parties, and it was usually some work-related task, like getting intel from a fellow assistant or helping him eavesdrop on one of the partners.
But I had a hunch that wasn’t what this was about tonight.
“So.” Approaching the bar, I arched an eyebrow at Adam as he nodded his thanks at the bartender. “Any reason you and Josh MacMillan were staring me down?”
Adam eyed me over the edge of his glass as he took a drink. “There’s a reason he was. He wants to fuck you.”
My eyebrows flew up. “Really. And what makes you say that?”
“I don’t know. Just the fact that he told me explicitly.”
“Huh.” I blinked in surprise as I leaned one elbow on the bar and eyed Josh from across the room. He was talking to the Melissas from marketing, a pair of bubbly BFFs who talked openly about their “giant boner” for Josh.
And now that I was single, I could see it.
He was a bit of a bro, but at least that gym addiction meant he was pretty built.
He wasn’t Adam-level ripped, nor did he look as powerfully good in a black suit as Adam did right this very second, but I very clearly needed to stop noticing Adam, so maybe Josh was the key.
He certainly wasn’t anyone to kick out of bed.
From the corner of my vision, I could see Adam watching me.
“What, are you interested?” he asked with open disbelief.
I laughed. “Well he technically doesn’t work at Engelman and he’s pretty objectively hot.”
“He calls everyone ‘broski’ and refers to himself in third person. As J-Mac, no less.”
“Well, thankfully this is an area where personality isn’t exactly the deciding factor.”
“No? Then what is?”
I squinted as I studied Josh a little harder. “Hmm. Well, a strong upper body is important but I think the deciding factor is the glutes.”
Adam coughed on his drink. “Come again?”
“The gluteal muscles.”
“Yeah, I know what glutes are, but why are we talking about them?”
“You asked what the deciding factor was in choosing a partner for a one-night stand and I say it’s a nice sculpted ass.”
“Holy shit, I hate this conversation.”
“Because your thrusting game isn’t going to be strong if you don’t have strong glutes,” I explained. “Also you asked for this conversation so don’t cry about it now.”
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t aware at the time that it would lead to a discussion about Josh MacMillan’s ass.”
“His very sculpted ass.”
“Christ.” Adam winced hard. He let a couple seconds pass as he took a drink, but then he muttered, “Mine is better anyway.”
I burst out laughing. “Really.”
“Yeah. We don’t have to pretend you haven’t noticed.”
I squinted. Umm. Okay. If there was one part of Adam Maxwell’s body that I did let myself check out from time to time, it was definitely his ass. So yes, that was true. But... “How do you know that I’ve noticed?” I asked.
“Reflective windows at the office.”
I raised my eyebrows way up. Oh.
“Damn.” I gave a genuine laugh as I thought of all those times I followed him into the conference room and totally looked.
“Well, there goes my cover,” I said, making him laugh too, and for a second it felt like our usual joking around.
Like we weren’t talking about how I did sometimes check him out.
It was weird. It felt half-normal, half-crazy. Like we were toeing the lines of safety. Was this flirting? Was it not? I had no idea but I didn’t ponder it for long, because suddenly, Josh was approaching us at the bar.
“AJ. Gorgeous,” he said, holding his arms out grandly. “I’d give my condolences over your idiot ex, but you look like you’re doing more than fine.”
I laughed, almost solely because I knew how much he annoyed Adam.
“Thank you, Josh,” I said, managing a smile as he touched my hip and started to extol the beauty of breakups.
Between nods of feigned interest, I eyed Adam, who didn’t bother disguising the way he was shaking his head through all of Josh’s pet names for me as he spoke.
Sweetheart. Angel. He really was such a douche, but I couldn’t help being amused by it as Adam leaned against the bar, looking like he wanted to blow his brains out.
“Know what I say? Forget that loser. Okay? How long were you with him again?” Josh asked, his questions like rapid fire.
“Almost six years,” I replied with suppressed laughter as I eyed Adam, who mouthed Jesus Christ.
“Six years. AJ. You must be ready for a real man. I mean look at you. I know you’re ready.”
He continued talking a mile a minute till he was briefly pulled away, at which point Adam turned to me.
“Yeah, there is no way in hell you’re going home with that clown,” he said.
“Weird, I missed the part where it was your decision.”
“AJ. For Christ’s sake, he’s not going to be quiet about it, and the last thing you want is someone with ties to the office talking about what you were like in bed.”
I tipped my chin up. “Fine. I won’t have sex with Josh MacMillan,” I said, waiting till Adam’s tense shoulders relaxed before I added, “I’ll just find someone with no ties to the agency.” He groaned. “Or I’ll just go to a bar after this and pick some lucky guy.”
“You’re going to go home to some stranger’s place tonight?” Adam laughed. “No the fuck you’re not.”
“Sorry, boss, that’s actually not your call. And I’ve already made the decision, so.”
He stared at me, more serious now. “Remind me why you need this so badly?” he asked, looking at me like I was so out of my mind that I couldn’t help but take offense.
“Oh, I don’t know, Adam. Probably because I spent over three hundred dollars on lingerie and an entire week getting primped and preened and waxed so I would feel like walking sex for my fiancé, but he didn’t end up fucking me, because he was too busy fucking someone else, so on top of the fact that I was left completely high and dry, I’m dealing with a bit of an emotional shitstorm, I’ve got a lot of post-breakup logistics to deal with once I get back to LA, and all I want right now is to blow off this steam with a really, really good orgasm.
” I was breathless, hot all over by the time I finished my rant, and it didn’t help that Adam had his gaze locked so fucking tightly on me, penetrating me in a way that made me feel as naked as I wished I could be right now.
“Long story short, I’m feeling pent up in a way I don’t think you would ever understand,” I said, my ears tingling hot as I tossed back the last of my champagne.
Adam didn’t take his eyes off me, but he took his time responding. “And what makes you say that?” he asked once I was done with my drink.