Bottom line? There was no way he was leaving her.
He heard the cops pounding on the door downstairs, heard frantic partygoers mention the gunshots upstairs. He thought quickly, retracing his every movement. “I didn’t touch anything in this room except you, and I didn’t leave prints on the door handle. Knoll isn’t going to make any sort of statement until he’s had medical treatment and consulted a lawyer—and I’ll be out of plain sight by then.”
But right now, he kissed her again. “Adam,” she whispered, her eyes misting with pain. “Are you sure?”
Oh yeah, he was sure. “Relax, sweetheart. I’m just a concerned partygoer who found you in this condition and insisted on riding with you in the ambulance.”
She closed her eyes, and he couldn’t tell if she was still with him or not. He leaned over and put his lips to her ear. “I love you, Jess.”
Chapter Sixteen
Two months later.
Jess paced on the back porch of the rented cottage. The sunset view of the Wisconsin lake was as stunning as ever, but right now she couldn’t even see the pink and orange sky. Adam would be arriving any minute.
She should be over these butterflies, shouldn’t she? After all, they’d spent most of June and July practically living together in a place smaller than her Chicago apartment. Shouldn’t she be, oh, used to him by now? Enough so that she didn’t moon like a lovesick teenager when he went away for a few days?
Yes, she should. But apparently her heart and body were unaware of how mature adult women were supposed to grow accustomed to the men in their lives. He’d been gone for three days and she felt like she hadn’t seen him in three months.
The irony was that she’d been the one to force him to go visit Tony in prison. She’d insisted and pestered and pummeled him with logic. “He gets out in September. It’s best to know now if he actually resents you or if he’ll want a relationship.”
Adam finally gave in with a long-suffering, dramatic sigh, but it didn’t hide the fear in his eyes. She’d grabbed his hand and winked. “I’ll bet you five bucks he cries like a baby the minute he sees you. Tears of joy, all the way.”
Last night, her phone rang from a private number and she answered on the first ring. Adam’s husky voice filled her ear. “I owe you five bucks,” he whispered. “He never blamed me. This whole time he’s been blaming himself, thinking I hated him.”
Jess rolled her eyes to the heavens. Men. After some manly throat clearing, Adam laughed. “Thanks for making me go, Blondie. Yet another reason we’re so good together—you have a surprising talent for removing my head from my ass.”
She’d simply laughed with him then, just happy the reunion with his beloved uncle had gone so well. But part of her wanted to linger on the point. Yes, we’re so good together. What does that mean for next week?
Because next week, they were leaving Wisconsin. The owners of the cottage were arriving to spend the final month of the summer on the lake, and she and Adam needed to re-enter the “real world.”
Not that she even knew what her real world was anymore.
Knoll’s arrest and Jess’s exoneration had been pretty big news in Chicago. Together, the documentation Jess created detailing Knoll’s operation along with several diamonds Sedarno’s bodyguard didn’t have time to collect, allowed the DA to build a solid case. Knoll was arrested in the hospital and was now apparently working on a plea deal.
Adam stayed completely out of the madness, much to her relief. As soon as she recovered from the surgery on her shoulder, she’d escaped north with him to this remote idyll. Her family thought she was with girlfriends, recovering from the trauma.
Of course, her father did leave her a voicemail every three days wondering when she was going back to work. She got quite a lot of work-related voicemails she didn’t want to listen to: the University, begging her to take Seymour’s job; two recruiting firms who could immediately place her in brand-name corporate positions; the FBI, wondering if she’d ever considered their Cyber Division.
Strange, how she was postponing making a career decision when getting her life back had been her only priority for the better part of a year.
But that was before him. Before he changed everything.
“I love you, Jess.” She remembered his words clearly. He said it just as she fainted after getting shot. But he hadn’t said it since. He showed her—every day with his words and actions, every night with his lips and his body. She knew he loved her as much as she loved him. They just didn’t say the words.
She knew why. They didn’t speak of love because they didn’t know what came next. She didn’t hide her job offers from Adam. On the contrary, he helped her debate the pros and cons of each one. And he didn’t hide the planning of his next job from her. When they left Wisconsin next week, he was going out to California wine country to do reconnaissance on his next jewelry theft, a gig that would involve a lot of role-playing. She’d even helped him pick out clothing for his disguise, for God’s sake.
No, they didn’t have secrets from one another anymore. They just didn’t have a future together either.
She heard the distinctive crunching sound of wheels on gravel. Was that a car in the driveway? Jess raced through the cottage and burst out the front door, a wide grin on her face and her heart pounding in her throat. Oh. No, it wasn’t him. Just the neighbors from up the road driving in to town.
Jess sank to the front steps, embarrassed at how excited she’d been in that instant, terrified at the sinking disappointment that followed when it wasn’t him. She glanced down at her watch, calculating the drive time from the Madison airport...yet again. Where the hell was he?
Ugh, was this a sneak-preview as to how she’d spend her days after next week? Would she work crazy hours at some fancy job that didn’t excite her? All the while pining for a man who was off on fascinating escapades without her?
“Hell no,” she murmured.
The wheels in her brain finally turned fast enough to find a solution to this situation—a wonderful solution. A faint smile formed on her lips as she turned on her heel and went inside to find her laptop. She and Adam had a lot to talk about.
* * *
As he turned the car onto the lane of their rented cottage, Adam stuffed the expensive speeding ticket into the glove compartment. He’d been a little too anxious to get back, and the cop was unimpressed with true love as a reason to go 90 in a 45 mph zone. Stupid. But that’s what a few days without Jess did to him. Turned him reckless when his whole existence depended on being careful.
These two months had been the happiest time in his life. They never stopped talking, never stopped laughing. They teased and challenged each other. They made love all night long.
She couldn’t seriously think it was ending next week, could she?
As he put the car into park, Jess rushed out the front door and beamed at him. He felt the answering smile bloom over his face, accompanied by a sharp twist in his chest. Suddenly, the answer was as clear and obvious as the day was long: He was going to convince her to come with him. Sure, she wanted a new job, but maybe she could start her own business. One that would allow for a lot of flexibility and travel.
He climbed out of the car and Jess threw herself into his arms, almost before he had them open. For a long moment he didn’t speak. He just held her tightly against him, breathed in the lilac and vanilla scents of her hair, and savored the feeling of coming home.
When she finally pulled back to look him in the eyes, she said, “Adam, I’ve been thinking.”
Her tone had all the gravity of a serious announcement, and his stomach sank. Had she decided on one of the jobs? She swallowed and opened her mouth to continue.
No. Not until he said his piece first. “I love you,” he blurted.
Jess blinked and jerked backward. “I love you too,”
she whispered.
Adam drew a shaky breath. “I know we haven’t talked about staying together, but I want to. Being apart isn’t right for either of us. Let’s figure out a way to live our lives together.”
Jess’s eyes filled until they overflowed. Wiping them away, she sniffled a bit, but her voice was strong and teasing. “Way ahead of you.”
She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside to the kitchen where her laptop beeped and hummed and displayed lines of code. He squinted at the screen. “What are you doing?”
“Creating some new identities,” she said matter-of-factly. She gestured at the computer. “I’m trying to access some DMV databases at the moment. It’s tricky, but I’ll figure it out.”
Adam shook his head back and forth. “Huh?”
She pushed him backwards until he sank into a chair. Then she climbed into his lap and put her hands on his shoulders. “How about an actual partnership, Adam? I’ll be your literal partner-in-crime. I have a lot to learn, but I do come with formidable computer skills.”
He gripped her wrists, his hands tight like manacles. “No. Absolutely not.” Had she gone completely crazy while he was away?
She leaned down, pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. “I’ll listen to you; I won’t be stupid like I was in Vegas.”
Unable to help himself, he deepened the kiss until they were both out of breath. He forced himself to break away. “I’m not worried about your capabilities, Jess. You’d be an amazing asset to anyone in this business. I thought so the first night we met.” He tipped up her chin, forced her to look in his eyes. “But your life...you want to throw it away to become a professional bad guy?”
She snorted. Loudly. “Is that how you see yourself? As a bad guy? I hate to break it to you, gorgeous, but you’re the best guy I know.” When he opened his mouth to protest, she laid a finger across his lips. “Yeah, yeah, so you break the law. So what? You never hurt anyone. Ever.”
Adam flushed and fell silent under her loving gaze. Well, shit. How exactly did they get here? She wanted them to become some sort of jewel-thieving couple? She wanted to travel the world with him, work with him every day on planning the jobs, and sleep with him every night? It was ridiculous. It was crazy.
It was absolutely fucking perfect.
Before she launched into a lengthy sales spiel, Adam stood up so quickly she would have fallen on the floor if he hadn’t looped his arm under her knees and picked her up.
He carried her into the bedroom. As he tossed her on the bed and began a slow, deliberate climb over her body, she asked, “So that’s a yes? To partners?”
Adam grinned down at her; a bubble of happiness pushing inside his chest so strong he felt like sunshine and streamers might burst out of his eyes. “It’s a yes. To partners in every way.”
* * * * *
Acknowledgments
Being a writer has been my dream for decades...as everyone who knows me can attest. There have been so many people who helped and encouraged me over the years and on this project in particular. Without further ado:
Thank you to Carina Press and my fantastic editor, Lauren Plude. I’m thrilled to be writing for Carina. Lauren, you are a pleasure to work with and your suggestions are annoyingly good. (Annoying as in, why didn’t I think of that myself?)
Thank you to my critique partner, author Ruth Vincent, who just makes everything better with her calm and witty advice. I’m so glad I don’t write urban fantasy, Ruth, because I would just cry all day when I had to compare it with yours.
Thank you to my wonderful Girls Night ladies. I don’t know what I’d do without our Wednesday night therapy sessions. You keep me sane and you make me laugh.
Thank you to my parents and sister for putting up with me as a child when I didn’t want to do anything but read. Your years of endless pep talks and enthusiasm mean more than I can say. I love you so much.
And finally, my husband. You not only gave me the title of this book, but also the space and patience in which to write it. Thank you, baby. Let’s go have a glass of wine.
About the Author
There are only three things Michelle Dayton loves more than sexy and suspenseful novels: her family, the city of Chicago and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Michelle dreams of a year of world travel—as long as the trip would include weeks and weeks of beach time. As a bourbon lover and unabashed wine snob, Michelle thinks heaven is discussing a good book over an adult beverage.
Visit Michelle on the web:
Website: www.MichelleDayton.com
Twitter: @MKDaytonWriter
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ISBN-13: 9781488031564
Strange Tango
Copyright © 2017 by Michelle Dayton
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
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