Tempting Adam Page 14

One step at a time.

  He fluffed a pillow, then patted it. “Now get comfortable. I want you to relax.”

  With a funny feeling in her stomach, she settled where he’d indicated, forcing her muscles to relax. “All right, I’m ready.”

  He chuckled softly. “The rule is that I do all the touching. You’re receiving pleasure here, not giving it.” He shrugged. “Not that having you at my mercy isn’t an incredible turn-on.”

  His palms swept down her arms. “Now, where did I leave off? Was it here?”

  He nuzzled her neck.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  He massaged her breast as he kissed a path down her neck, then across her collarbone. She gripped the pillow to keep from touching him, the need to do so almost overpowering. Drawing a deep breath, she forced herself to lie still.

  As his mouth covered her breast, she closed her eyes. Why was it so difficult to accept this from him?

  Again, he laved her nipple with the pointed tip of his tongue. She gasped and he moved quickly down her belly, parting her thighs as he skimmed over her springy curls. Anxiety rose up in her. His fingers parted her, delved into her moist crevice. She stiffened and caught his hand. “Maybe we should try this some other time.”

  His disappointment was clear in the set of his mouth and the furrow of his eyebrows. He nodded, then moved up to take her in his arms, spooning her with his body.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t have to apologize. It’s okay.”

  She laughed nervously. “I guess I’m just some kind of control freak. I like being in charge.”

  “There’s that, but I think there’s more to it.” He was quiet a moment. “You’ve spent so much time nurturing others, you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be nurtured.”

  “But you do things for me all the time.”

  “Yes, but if the action isn’t reciprocal, you’re uneasy with it. Think about how you harp on me for sending you clients.”

  Could he be right? It sounded simplistic put that way, but the emotions swirling through her held a complexity she couldn’t begin to fathom.

  “Don’t worry.” His breath stirred her hair. “We’ll work this out, along with everything else.”

  She closed her eyes and focused on the warmth and solidity of his body. In spite of all the issues they faced, she drew such comfort from him. Adam was stable, strong and enduring. He knew her and accepted her with all her quirks. A contented quiet fell over them.

  After a moment, he shifted. “So, I gave you two days. Did you get it all figured out?”

  “You mean us?”

  He nodded.

  Closing her eyes, she let the memory of seeing him at Blarney’s with that Judith woman wash over her. It had taken her all this time to understand what the sick feeling in her gut had been. She feared she was falling in love with him.

  But she had no idea what that meant. Their paths were still so far apart. What they needed was time, something she never seemed to have enough of these days.

  “No. But I think I managed to get caught up enough to give you that weekend you’ve been wanting.”

  “The entire weekend?” His eyes twinkled in anticipation and she laughed.

  “Yes, if you still want me.”

  “Oh, I want you all right.”

  LAUREN DREW a deep breath and faced her partner the next morning. The solitude and peace she’d felt with Adam last night had evaporated as soon as she’d stepped through her office door. She’d left their world of fantasies to enter a world of harsh realities—a world of deadlines and budgets and dealing with people who didn’t always see eye-to-eye.

  No doubt Elliot was a genius when it came to artistic execution, but he could be so fickle. And, unfortunately, bottom line had no meaning for him.

  “Elliot, I think we’ll be fine with just the one couple for this commercial. They play well off each other. There was lots of sexual tension in the auditions. And, most importantly, it fits our budget.”

  “But it isn’t big enough for what we’re saying here. What’s our theme? Bennett’s is the better bagel, right? Well, how can we show that with just one couple? We want to show everyone eating at their sandwich shops. All the beautiful people are there, enjoying those bagels and each other. We have to show it’s a happening place. We cannot accomplish that with just this one couple.”

  “But Bennett liked the one-couple version. Besides, the budget doesn’t have room for extras.”

  “But they’re not extras. Don’t you see? They’re necessities.”

  Her head throbbed. “Please, Elliot, I know it goes against your better judgment, but could we try it this way? If it really doesn’t work, then we’ll think of something else.”

  “If we do it that way, I have to insist we go full color on the Sunday insert.”

  She heaved a sigh. The phone at the end of the conference table rang.

  Elliot reached it first. “Need spice, think Entice. Elliot Star here… Norma, doll! I was just thinking about you…probably working. My partner’s a driven woman. I try to keep up… Florida? For the weekend? Sounds exciting. I think I can swing it… Yeah, like old times.”

  His eyebrows arched as he glanced at Lauren. “Well, you’ll have to ask her. Here, I’ll put her on.”

  Lauren gave him a questioning look as he passed her the receiver. “Hello?”

  “Lauren, dear, Norma Craig here. I trust I’m not interrupting.”

  “No, Mrs. Craig—”

  “Norma. Call me Norma. All that Mrs. stuff makes me feel old.”

  “Okay, Norma, what can I do for you?”

  “Well, I was just telling your partner that my husband and I are heading to West Palm Beach this weekend. We would love for the two of you to join us. We could mix a little business with pleasure.”

  “West Palm Beach?” Lauren repeated, stunned.

  “We have our own little Beech Baron. It’s a twin engine that seats four comfortably. Charles pilots it. We’ve got room for two more, if you pack light. I know it’s short notice, but I won’t take no for an answer.”

  Short notice? She’d say. It was already Thursday. “Well, I—”

  “Humor me. I have this thing about getting to know everyone before I work with them. It’s really important to me that we mesh well, that we’re of like mind.”

  “Well, I’m sure we won’t have any trouble—”

  “Wonderful! I’ll take that as a yes. We’ll pick you up in the limo on our way to the airport. Shall we say Friday evening around seven?”

  “Mrs.—Norma, this weekend really isn’t good for me.”

  “I would really hate to have to look elsewhere for Secret Temptations’s advertising needs. We’ve got plans for six more stores in the next four years. We want to saturate the market. We’ll have some heavy advertising needs.”

  Lauren gritted her teeth in frustration. “Friday at seven will be fine.”

  She hung up the phone in a daze. How would she explain this to Adam? With a resigned sigh, she dialed his number.

  ADAM PRESSED his cell phone to his ear and turned his back, walking away from where a backhoe carved a neat strip from the side of a hill. “Hi, sunshine, sorry I couldn’t hear that. You said something about this weekend?”

  Her voice came across a static-filled connection. “I said I wanted to get together for lunch so we can talk about this weekend.”

  “Can’t get away for lunch today, but I’ll stop by tonight.”

  “I have that dinner with the bagel people. Don’t know when I’ll get home.”

  “I thought the wining and dining was over once they signed the contract.”

  “They’re spending lots of money and we have to keep them happy. I’ll feel a lot better once this commercial is shot.”

  “So tell me now what you have in mind for the weekend. Just give me a hint, though. I like surprises.”

  “Well, I wanted to tell you in person…”

  “Tell me what?”

&nb
sp; “Promise you won’t be upset.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that, Lauren. Don’t tell me you have to work. We talked about this. You said you were going to start cutting back on the weekends.”

  “I know. You’re right. But this couldn’t be helped.”

  “It can never be helped with you.” He hated the anger burning through him.

  “Adam, please. This is for a potential account we’re courting. It could mean the difference in us scraping by this year, or really making something of ourselves. It’s really important.”

  Frustration welled up inside him. “Right. And your business is more important than anything else.”

  “You know that isn’t true. I’ll do everything I can to try to get back early enough on Sunday to see you.”

  His stomach clenched. “Get back?”

  “I’m going to West Palm Beach for the weekend. This couple has a place there and they’re flying us—”

  “You’re going away?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry.”

  He gritted his teeth against all the old memories—his parents leaving, the feelings of abandonment, Lauren always by his side to make everything better. She was his touchstone.

  It was juvenile to be upset over a single weekend. It wasn’t as though he needed her here, holding his hand all the time. Any other weekend he wouldn’t have objected, but she’d never once missed celebrating his birthday with him and he hated the thought of turning thirty without her.

  But more importantly, even after their bout of incredible lovemaking last night, he wasn’t so sure they stood on steady ground. He had wanted this weekend to make everything right again. Now she was leaving and he hated to feel slighted, but he did. It hurt that she clearly had forgotten his birthday.

  “West Palm? That doesn’t sound like a business trip to me.”

  “I’d much rather stay. You know that.”

  “Yeah, well, I’d much rather you stayed, too.”

  “I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up somehow. We’ll do something next weekend.”

  “Sure. Call me when you get back.”

  Without waiting for her response, he disconnected. A heaviness settled over his heart. Would she ever quit putting work first?

  LAUREN GLANCED UP from her laptop as Kamira knocked at the bedroom door. “Come in. You just getting home?”

  Kamira nodded as she plopped down on the bed beside a scattering of papers and files. Her silver tabby jumped up beside her. “Working?”

  “Always.”

  “Not always. You didn’t work last night. How did your evening with Adam go? Things are really heating up between you two, aren’t they?”

  Lauren closed her eyes, thinking of her earlier conversation with him. He’d sounded so hurt. “I don’t want to talk about it. What’s up with you?”

  Lips pursed, Kamira eyed her a moment, then shrugged while she scratched the cat’s ear. “Same old, same old.”

  “You’ve been spending lots of evenings at the center.”

  A quizzical expression crossed her housemate’s face. “Yeah, we’re just about ready. We should start using the new section next week. I’m telling you that cute little Mark has been the biggest help. I don’t know how we would have gotten it done without him.”

  “He’s not so little.”

  “Well, he’s young.”

  “Just a few years younger than you.”

  “Lauren,” Kamira’s eyebrows rose. “Are you insinuating something?”

  “Well, you did make that comment about him the other night and you two seemed so cozy when I got home the other day. I felt like I was interrupting something.”

  “Please. I told you I’m no cradle robber.”

  “And you’ve got Greg.”

  Kamira hesitated. “Right.”

  “Something wrong?”

  “No. Maybe. It’s gone a little flat.”

  “I’m sorry. Want to borrow my cookbook?”

  “Hmm, maybe.”

  “So seriously, was I interrupting?”

  “No, it’s just…”

  “I think Mark has a crush on you. He seemed nervous the other day.”

  “Really, you think so?”

  Lauren shrugged. “I’m no love expert, that’s for sure.”

  “Me neither. So what’s the problem with Adam that you don’t want to talk about? When I saw all those candles this morning I figured things were great with you two.”

  Tears welled in Lauren’s eyes. “I don’t know. As long as we concentrate on the moment, we do all right. It’s when we talk about the future that we get into trouble.”

  “Uh-oh. He’s still talking bambinos?”

  “I can’t even manage to plan a single weekend with him. How could I ever hope to plan a lifetime?”

  “Well, you have been working an awful lot lately.”

  Unease rose inside Lauren. She was so tired. “I…need to.”

  “Really? I thought you guys were on steady ground now and maybe you could start easing up.”

  Lauren drew a deep breath. “It’s just necessary to keep us there.”

  Kamira paused a moment, then she shrugged. “Well, Adam understands that, doesn’t he?”

  “I think he tries to. Everything comes so easy for him, though. He thinks I should work smart and not hard, but he doesn’t realize all the little details that have to be taken care of. It just isn’t that simple.”

  “But you have been making more time for him.”

  Guilt filled Lauren. “I promised him I’d spend the entire weekend coming up with him. I was going to give him my undivided attention.”

  “Uh-oh, something came up at work?”

  “An invitation to West Palm Beach with some prospective clients. It’s a potentially big deal. It would make all the difference. Once we get them on board I might not have to work all the time.”

  “Ouch, so you’re going away on this great weekend getaway and he’s upset.”

  “Practically hung up on me.”

  “He’ll get over it. You’ll see. You just have to plan something extra special for him to make up. That’s always the fun part.”

  “I don’t know. Sometimes I think maybe we should have just stayed friends.”

  “Really?”

  Lauren shrugged. “No. Maybe.”

  “It kind of complicates things that you were best friends before, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes. You know, I think I always loved him, but not in a romantic sense. He was just always there for me. Maybe I was just too attached.” She shook her head. “I’m so confused. I had all these old feelings and now there are all these new feelings and I can’t tell what I want anymore.”

  A small laugh worked its way from her throat. “I’m having sex with my best friend and it’s incredible, the most fantastic sex I’ve ever had. I should be ecstatic.”

  “But he doesn’t want to just have sex.”

  “You know, I can put him first. I can commit to a lasting relationship, but I don’t know how I feel about having children. I don’t know if I’m up to that kind of responsibility. Honestly, it scares me.”

  “And he’s serious about being a family man.”

  “Yes, I really think he is, though he seems open to not having kids. How can I force him into a compromise like that?”

  “And the longer you’re in this relationship, the harder it will be to go back to the old one.”

  Lauren sat back and thought for a moment. What would it be like to not be Adam’s lover? Could they still be best friends? Her vision blurred. “I don’t think we can go back. If we can’t work this out, then I’ve lost my best friend.”

  10

  “DON’T FORGET your suntan lotion. With that pale complexion of yours, you’re likely to burn,” Elliot said to Lauren as he entered her office, his arms full of the day’s mail.

  “We’re shooting the Bennett Bagel commercial next week. This really isn’t a good time for both of us to be leaving.” She held out her hand for her
share of the assorted envelopes and packages.

  “It’s all set. Besides, if you need to, you can handle most anything by phone.”

  “I suppose so.” She scanned a couple of the return addresses, sorting the mail into stacks as he handed it to her one by one.

  He paused, perching one hip on her desk. “I can’t believe you’re not even a little enthusiastic about this trip. White beaches, beautiful sunsets. If I know Norma—and I do—this will be mostly play and very little work. She really hates to talk business.”

  “If we’re not working, then why are we going?”

  “Because Norma wants to get to know you better. Trust me, once you’re in with her, we’re set.”

  “Great. No pressure. What if she doesn’t like me?”

  “She’s going to love you. I’ll bet you get to be her new best friend.”

  “Well, there may be an opening for that.”

  Elliot’s eyebrows drew together. “You and Adam aren’t best friends anymore?”

  “It’s complicated, since I listened to everyone’s advice about taking it to the next level.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “He wants a serious relationship.”

  “And you don’t?”

  “I don’t think I can have one and still pull my share around here.”

  “You don’t see me cracking a whip. Take some time off. You could use it. I don’t understand why you have to work all the time. We’re doing okay.”

  She stared at him, her frustration building. If only Elliot understood how precarious life could be. How the rug could get yanked out from under them at any moment. “You know, we’d be in big trouble if we were to lose just one of our accounts.”

  As he always did when she broached the subject, he waved her concerns aside. “Why all the gloom and doom? We’re way too busy to be on the brink of collapse. I refuse to hear it. What you need is to just relax. Everything is going to be fine. I’m telling you, in a week’s time we’ll be adding Secret Temptations to our list of accounts. I can feel it in my bones.”

  He just couldn’t understand. Obviously, he’d never had to rebuild his life from scratch. He just didn’t have the same perspective she had. “I just don’t like cutting things as close as we’ve been.”