Nicole was right, though. He did need to be reliable if he intended to barge into Lily-Grace’s life. If he wanted to be involved in her future, he’d need to contribute financially, too. Despite Nathaniel glibly saying he had skills and should use them, it wasn’t going to be that easy. His reputation as a womaniser meant that he wasn’t exactly loved by the blokes in the area. He got the cold shoulder most places he went, particularly in the pub, either that or killer looks. He couldn’t blame some of the husbands, he supposed, albeit they probably cared more about their own reputation than their wives. That was okay. Adam could live with it, though he wasn’t quite sure why a gang of Neanderthal thugs had jumped on the bandwagon, tossing snide remarks after him, slashing his car tyres once, he suspected, which was worrying. Also worrying, now he’d decided to try to do something about his finances, or lack thereof, was that his card had been marked by at least two local car workshops. Mechanics being the only thing he was any good at, it didn’t leave him many options employment wise. Short of a paper-round, Adam couldn’t see how he was going to get a regular job.
But then – he reached for the final plinth to finish the section of fence he was working on – wasn’t he getting a little ahead of himself here? Nicole might even change her mind and not get back to him. In which case, his boat needed to be ready to go. He needed to be ready to do what he’d done since his world fell apart – move on. There was nothing else to keep him in the area, no commitments, and that was the way Adam preferred it. Other than Lily-Grace, he couldn’t envisage surrounding himself with family, only to lose them all over again. It was almost inconceivable now that he’d actually been making wedding plans once. He’d wanted to marry Emily, she must have known that. It wasn’t commitment to her that had been the problem. Emily had his heart, all of it, he couldn’t have been more committed than that. But then, maybe he hadn’t had hers.
History. Don’t dwell on it. Preferring not to disassemble it all over again, try to work out when it was exactly that she’d decided to sleep with his brother, Adam poured his energies into his physical endeavours instead.
Turning for his drill, he noted Sherry walking across from the house. ‘Hi, Adam,’ she called, pausing behind him. ‘I thought you could use a drink.’
Dragging an arm over his forehead, Adam straightened up and turned to face her. ‘I’d love one.’ He smiled.
‘In the kitchen,’ she said, nodding towards the house. ‘A beer, so cold the glass is perspiring. I thought you might like to cool down while you drink it.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’ Adam’s smile broadened. The heat was relentless, unusually for mid-June. He squinted up at the cloudless blue sky. It didn’t look as if there was going to be a break in the weather anytime soon either.
‘Fabulous, isn’t it?’ Sherry followed his gaze.
‘Definitely.’ Adam grabbed his vest from the post where he’d hitched it and used it to wipe the sweat from his torso, before tugging it back on. ‘Though not so great when you’re working in it.’
Sherry trailed her eyes over him. Adam could read the look. ‘You could take a shower,’ she offered.
‘Erm.’ Adam glanced sideways to where her husband was leading a horse to the stable blocks. ‘Probably not a good idea.’
‘I wasn’t proposing to join you, Adam.’ Sherry gave him an enigmatic smile and turned back towards the house.
Adam watched her as she led the way, her hips swinging in that provocative way women’s hips did as she went, but her demeanour all business. Pity. She was an attractive woman. She had nice eyes: cornflower blue, he’d describe them. Adam recalled how she’d reeled him in with those eyes, locking them unflinchingly on his and asking him outright whether he thought she was attractive. What was he going to say? No? When she’d leaned in to brush his lips with hers, trailed a fingernail suggestively from his chest to his abdomen, was he supposed to pretend he wasn’t interested? Uh-uh. He’d defy Nathaniel not to have done what he’d done and taken up the invitation, particularly as it was obvious her husband was giving yet another new stable girl so-called riding lessons.
She had nice lips, too. He returned Sherry’s smile as she turned to beckon him in through the back door. Soft, full lips. He’d like to taste them right now, but Adam wasn’t about to try. It didn’t look as if she’d been so thrilled by the action the first time she wanted a replay. Plus, there was the matter of the shotgun; possibly a bloody big shotgun, of which he’d prefer to steer clear. Accepting the beer Sherry offered him from the fridge, Adam concentrated on satiating his thirst.
‘Good?’ Sherry asked, once he’d glugged half in one mouthful.
‘Very,’ he assured her, wiping his forearm across his mouth.
‘Come and sit down,’ she said, helping herself to a beer. ‘Take the weight off your feet for five minutes.’
Adam nodded and followed her to the table.
‘I have a proposition for you, Adam,’ Sherry said, removing the cotton shirt she wore loosely over her strappy top, as he sat.
‘Oh?’ Adam eyed her over his beer and his eyes lingered. He couldn’t help it. Her breasts were fabulous. She had a fantastic figure. He had no idea what the husband was thinking, playing around. Clearly, he wasn’t. Sometime, probably soon, the guy was going to lose her. With no children to consider – her husband apparently didn’t want kids – Adam figured it was only the business keeping them together.
‘How’s the boat coming along?’ Sherry asked, flicking back her auburn hair as she seated herself opposite him.
She had nice hair, too. Coloured possibly, not natural like the girl’s on the quayside this morning, but still sexy. He’d felt bad about losing his temper with the girl the way he had. Even if he had almost come to a watery demise, along with her dog, he’d been well out of order. He wasn’t even sure why he’d been so angry, other than there was something about her that had reminded him of Emily, evoking feelings he’d worked hard to forget. He was going to have to swallow his pride and apologise, he supposed.
‘Good,’ he answered Sherry, pulling his thoughts away from a girl whose name he didn’t even know, and who would probably tell him where to stuff his apology. ‘Still a fair amount of work to do, interior mostly, electrics and upholstery.’
Sherry arched a curious eyebrow. ‘Leather upholstery, I assume?’
‘If funds allow.’ Adam tried not to read any innuendo into the statement. ‘It’s probably the most serviceable.’
‘You can’t beat the smell of leather.’ Sherry sighed, taking a sip of her beer.
‘No.’ Adam watched mesmerised as she wiped the froth from her lips with the pink tip of her tongue, and then, mindful of the husband out in the yard, he glanced down and busied himself with his own beer. ‘The hull’s sound now, though,’ he went on. ‘The engine needs an overhaul and I’ve yet to finish paying for it, but a few more decent jobs and I should be almost there.’
‘You’re good with your hands, aren’t you?’ Sherry commented.
Adam glanced sharply back up. ‘Some people say so, yes.’ He nodded, now definitely confused as to where this was leading.
‘So why do odd jobs, then, Adam? Didn’t you ever think of maybe setting up a business?’
‘Putting down roots? No, not really.’ Preferring not to talk about his past, the shared business with his brother, the boatyard they were due to take over from the father he no longer saw and had flatly refused any further financial help from, even when he’d been at his lowest ebb, he ran a finger contemplatively over the rim of his glass. Boats had always been part of his life. As a kid he couldn’t keep away from them. He recalled how, attracted by the still of the water, the boats under renovation in the dry dock, he’d spend hours sitting on the lock gates at Diglis in Worcester, a vantage point to the River Severn. He used to think about his mother a lot then: why she’d left him behind, where she’d gone, why she hadn’t been in touch. He knew why, though, in his heart. He’d watched his father’s bullying day after day.
With no wish to be stuck behind a desk when he’d left school, he’d initially relished every minute working at the boatyard. He’d enjoyed working with his brother, too, though they’d always been competitive; trying to outrun each other on the track at school, on the rugby field. Darren had also taken huge pleasure in proving who was better at martial arts, to Adam’s physical discomfort. He hadn’t realised how competitive his older brother was though, until he’d moved in on … History, he reminded himself. Forget it.
‘Maybe, one day,’ he said, coming back to the present. ‘For now I prefer to travel light, though, so …’
Sherry nodded thoughtfully. ‘About that proposition,’ she said.
Adam eyed her quizzically, wondering if she might be about to offer him something more permanent. He wouldn’t say no to short-term employment, particularly now.
‘I’m afraid I’m running out of jobs around the farm, Adam.’
‘Ah.’ Adam nodded. He guessed she might be. Once the fence was finished, he’d fixed pretty much everything that needed fixing.
‘I wondered whether you fancied continuing to see me anyway, though,’ Sherry went on, outwardly confident, but her eyes were clouded with uncertainty, Adam noted. ‘You know, continue seeing each other, I mean. Not as a couple, obviously, as, um …’ she trailed off, clearly flustered.
Adam looked her over curiously. ‘Friends?’
Sherry nodded, her eyes flicking down and back.
‘With benefits?’ Adam added cautiously.
‘Yes,’ Sherry said, looking relieved. ‘I know time is money, so I’d make sure you weren’t out of pocket, and we wouldn’t have to meet here. I have the holiday cottage, we could, you know …’
Adam searched her face, bemused. Did she have any idea how many men would think they’d won the lottery if offered a proposition like that?
‘Well, what do you say?’ Sherry wet her lips with her tongue and swallowed nervously.
Adam smiled. Their previous liaison hadn’t been a complete disaster then. ‘Did you honestly think I’d say no?’
‘I hoped not.’ Sherry laughed and exhaled a long breath, her shoulders visibly relaxing. ‘I’d better let you get on.’ She nodded towards the yard and got to her feet. ‘We’ll liaise on the phone as to timings, yes?’
‘Anytime,’ Adam assured her. ‘I’ll, er, go and finish that fence then.’
Standing, he debated, and then walked around the table and took a step towards her. ‘You don’t need to make sure I’m not out of pocket, incidentally,’ he said softly. ‘Trust me, Sherry, seeing you is plenty incentive enough. You’re a very desirable woman.’
‘Pity my husband doesn’t think so. I can’t remember the last time we …’ Sherry trailed off again, humiliation hot on the heels of the uncertainty he’d seen in her eyes.
The man really was a prat. Adam despaired inwardly. ‘He must be blind.’ He smiled and reached to brush a stray tendril of hair behind her ear.
‘You’re a hopeless flatterer, Adam Hamilton-Shaw, but lovely with it.’ Sherry sighed and turned her face to his touch, her eyes now closed, her lips slightly parted.
Irresistible. Adam trailed his thumb downwards, tracing their outline. Risky though it was with the husband outside, he was sorely tempted. One kiss couldn’t hurt, could it? Leaning in to find her mouth with his, he probed softly with his tongue, hopefully leaving her with no doubt that he really didn’t need any inducement. Seeing her vulnerability, he wanted to kiss away her insecurities.
He wanted her. Breathing heavily, he eased back and steered her away from the window. He couldn’t go too far, not here, it would be completely insane, but … Adam scanned her face and then, finding what he needed there, he pushed his tongue back into her mouth, kissing her hungrily, before grazing his lips across her chin to kiss his way down the length of her neck. Tentatively, his pulse racing – his antennae on red alert for sounds from outside – he trailed his mouth along her shoulder, peeling one flimsy strap of her top down as he went.
‘Extremely desirable,’ he whispered, pulling her towards him. His hips hard against hers, he held her gaze, one hand pressed to the small of her back, the other peeling her remaining cami-top strap back.
‘And you’re doing terrible things to me,’ he grated, pressing his mouth back to hers. Time of the essence, he didn’t linger, kissing his way once again downwards, he paused at the soft hollow at the base of her neck, between her breasts, easing the top down as he did. ‘You should never doubt yourself, Sherry,’ he murmured, venturing to take one inviting breast into his mouth, sucking gently, circling with his tongue, until a low moan escaped her.
Now feeling distinctly frustrated and most definitely turned on, Adam found his way back to her ear. ‘When and where?’ he whispered throatily.
‘I’ll call you, as soon as—’ Sherry stopped, her eyes pinging wide. ‘Hell! It’s James.’ She paled as the male voice right outside the window forced them apart like a thunderclap.
‘Crap.’ Adam gulped, stepping back, then forwards again to help her with her straps. ‘You’re an attractive woman, Sherry.’ He caressed her lips briefly again with his. ‘Definitely desirable, trust me. I’d pay you. I mean …’
‘Go,’ Sherry said, laughing, urging him onwards. ‘Use the front door. I’ll ring you.’
‘Do.’ Adam winked over his shoulder, quashing a fleeting feeling of guilt as he left. Why he should feel guilty when the husband … husbands … were usually cheating without compunction, he wasn’t sure, but he always did.
Chapter Three
Sienna was coming back from her early morning walk with Tobias the next day when she heard him. ‘Morning,’ he shouted across the marina.
Looking up from her phone and yet another intimidating text from her ex, a man whose feelings regarding women were definitely, frighteningly skewed, she glanced back across the marina to see Lothario standing on the back of his boat.
‘Nice day for it,’ he said.
‘Depends on what you have in mind.’ Sienna couldn’t resist a sarcastic retort. In his case, flaunting himself to every passing female, it seemed. She looked him over, noting he was wearing his staple wardrobe, cut-offs and vest, revealing an awful lot of toned caramel mocha latte, which was undeniably tasty. Pity his attractiveness was only skin deep.
‘Not a lot.’ He cocked his head to one side, appraising her, appraising him. ‘Staying around the marina today mostly. I thought I might give taking a dip in it a miss though. Bit cold.’
Sienna flushed, not sure what to say to that. She’d already apologised, hadn’t she, or at least tried to.
‘I meant it’s a nice day for sunning yourself,’ he said, looking her leisurely up and down now, causing Sienna to blush, right down to her not exactly demurely dressed décolleté. She was wearing a bikini top, she realised, and cut-offs. Oh God. Let she who casts the first stone …
‘Did you get him one?’ he asked confusingly, as her cheeks radiated enough heat to give them both a suntan on their own.
‘Sorry?’ she asked, feeling a disturbing tingle of sexual tension shoot right through her, as his eyes came to rest on her breasts.
‘Your dog.’ He looked back to her face, the expression on his own intense, dark, thoughtful. Sienna swallowed. ‘I wondered whether you’d managed to get him a life jacket,’ he went on, running a hand through his hair.
Tousled, touchable, clutchable hair, Sienna thought a little breathlessly, and wondered whether she’d taken complete leave of her senses. ‘No. I mean … not yet.’ She blew out a heated breath. ‘Right, well, I’d better, um …’ She indicated the cottage behind her, intimating she should go, whilst resisting an urge to cross her arms over herself as his eyes flicked over her, yet again.
The furrow in his brow deepening, he smiled a short inscrutable smile, and turned towards his cabin. And then turned back. ‘Look, about yesterday, I er …’ he hesitated, now looking nervous. ‘I owe you an apology. I was completely out of order and I�
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‘Sienna!’ Lauren called from the cottage window at the crucial moment. ‘Your dad’s on the phone.’
Sienna made sure he wasn’t around before setting off back across the marina again. In light of his attempt at an apology she’d debated whether she might have been judging a book by its cover. But even if her judgement was right, she owed him a proper apology too, she’d decided. It wasn’t a little thing he’d done. He’d actually been extremely brave. He had saved Tobias, at huge risk to himself, and he’d done it instinctively, which had to count for something. Also, she had to concede, whatever his lifestyle, however promiscuous he was, he quite clearly didn’t try to take what wasn’t offered freely by women.
Sienna’s breath caught in her chest, her mind shooting immediately again to her texting ex, who simply refused to go away and let her forget. Trying hard to dismiss him, even as her phone pinged in her pocket, she swallowed and focussed her thoughts back on her mission. Whatever Lothario … Adam … did, it was none of her business. There was obviously more to the man than met the eye. She might be wrong, of course. He might well be exactly what he appeared to be, an attractive man with no particular ambition in life other than to have regular sex. Unless appearances really did deceive, though, he was obviously caring of women’s needs, particularly in the bedroom.
Stop it. Pulling herself up, before her errant mind ran away with her, she went into the chandlery. Seeing no signs of Nathaniel at the counter, or behind it, where he could often be found mooching for spare boat parts, she went around it and tapped on his office door. She’d made up her mind to get Adam a bottle of something by way of a thank you. Clearly being his friend, as well as his landlord, Nathaniel would know what his preference was, she’d assumed. Perchance, while she was here, she might just find out a little bit more about Adam. Her curiosity was definitely piqued, and Sienna wasn’t sure it was purely in the interests of research.
The Rest of My Life Page 3
