“I…you…your procedure—”
“Kissing seems to make everything else feel a lot better,” he assured her with a sly smile.
She wished she could believe that. She wished she could believe an affair with Adam wouldn’t hurt either of them, wouldn’t leave them broken, wouldn’t leave them resenting each other.
“I have to get supper started. I told Mom I’d drive in tonight and help her hang the pictures she found at a flea market.”
Adam’s gaze was penetrating as it studied her to see if she was lying. She wasn’t, though the picture hanging could have waited till another night.
Dropping his hands to his sides, turning away toward the coffeemaker, he stated, “You should have just gone there straight from the hospital. It was silly to drive the whole way out here and then drive back in.”
“I wanted to check on you.”
His expression now was guarded. The coffeemaker began dripping as he turned to face her. “I told you before, Leigh, it was no big deal. I don’t need a private nurse.”
She knew he didn’t want her professional concern, but it was all she could give him tonight. “Just because you don’t want it, doesn’t mean you don’t need it.”
The tension in the kitchen seemed to suck the air out of the room. The coffee dripped, dripped, dripped. The clock on the wall ticked, ticked, ticked. Her heart pounded as she read the desire in his eyes and felt it in her own body.
When the phone rang, she jumped.
Adam looked almost relieved as he said, “I’ll get it.”
Picking up the cordless phone on the counter, he greeted the caller.
When Leigh went to the refrigerator to pull out ingredients to start dinner, she heard Adam say, “I’m glad Sharon decided to come.” There was a pause. “I’ll think about that. I’ll see you on Saturday.”
After Adam returned the phone to its stand, Leigh could feel his gaze on her. She put the carrots on the counter. “That was your mother?” she guessed.
“Yes, she’s getting married on Saturday at three. Sharon has promised to be there. Now all I have to do is figure out what to buy them as a wedding present.”
As he reached for a coffee mug and poured a cup of coffee, Leigh realized Adam wasn’t going to ask her to go with him. Since she’d backed away from him, he might have decided he didn’t want her in his life.
What seemed best for both of them didn’t seem right.
Could she live with that?
Chapter Twelve
On Friday after Leigh appreciatively sniffed the chili simmering in the slow cooker, she returned the lid to the crock. Before he left this morning, Adam had told her he’d be stopping to see Mark after work tonight. The chili would be ready whenever he got home.
Taking escarole and endive from the crisper drawer in the refrigerator to make a salad, she set them on the counter to prepare them for washing. She’d turned on the spigot when she remembered the load of laundry she still had to run through the dryer. She was trying to get the smell of smoke out of her clothes—the ones she’d salvaged, anyway.
She’d just turned off the spigot when the front door opened and Adam came in. One look at him told her his visit with Mark hadn’t gone well. His shoulders were rigid, his jaw was set. There was a furrow across his brow that she suspected wasn’t going to go away easily.
“How did it go?” she asked gently, as she watched him come through the living room.
He was wearing a khaki-colored hooded jacket today. Shrugging out of it, he tossed it over the arm of the recliner. His tan oxford shirt, with its narrow navy stripe, was open at the collar. Adam’s jeans fit Adam the way jeans should fit a man. And Leigh found her heart racing as he got closer—the way it always did.
His expression was somber. “My God, Leigh. I didn’t expect him to look so…so close to death. The last time I saw him he was pale and tired, but—” He crossed to the dining area.
“He was near death, Adam, but he’s coming back now. His body’s fighting to make him well.” Although Marietta had explained the process Mark would go through—the isolation, the special room—Leigh knew no one was really prepared to deal with it.
“I had to wear a mask and gloves and a gown. I felt as if I shouldn’t be there…as if I were using the family’s time.”
“You are family, Adam. You saved his life.”
“Not yet. If the transplant doesn’t take, if he gets an infection—” Adam rubbed the back of his neck “—then there’s no justice in this world. There’s no fairness. It makes me wonder why we’re here—”
She couldn’t help but take Adam’s hand. “Look at the joy Mark has already brought into your life.”
Closing his eyes, Adam took a deep breath. “If he dies…”
Leigh had never been more aware of her deep feelings for Adam. Without hesitation she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. He stiffened. But after a few seconds he enfolded her in his embrace, too. Their hearts beat in unison.
Adam still smelled of the outdoors. With his strength surrounding her, she could admit to herself how much she wanted him…had always wanted him. When she looked up at him, he gazed down at her with a hungry intensity that rocked her soul. There was a deeper need there, and male desire that wouldn’t be eased with a few kisses.
As he dropped his arms, he said, “If I don’t let you go now, we’ll end up in my bedroom.”
Although she released him, too, her eyes stayed on his. “Maybe it’s time we gave into this. Maybe it’s time we grab what we can now.”
“You’re not the type of woman who has an affair.”
“No, I’m not. At least, not just with any man. But with you… I want to feel you again, Adam. I want to touch your skin and let you touch mine.”
“Leigh.”
His voice was a sharp warning, and she knew her words were as arousing as anything else they might do. Somehow she managed, “I’ve missed you, Adam.” It had taken her this long to realize the emptiness inside of her had always been her loss of Adam. No other man had come close to filling up that space.
“If I touch you—” His hand stopped in midair.
“Touch me,” she whispered.
Instead of touching her, he kissed her. His hand laced in her hair, holding her head, making sure she understood his need as his lips first took hers, and then his tongue invaded her mouth. Suddenly she understood the restraint and self-control he’d exhibited for the past few weeks, and she gave herself up to Adam’s need, as well as her own. There was a depth to this kiss that she’d never felt from Adam before. She responded as she’d always wanted to respond—with her whole being.
They couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. His hands pulled her T-shirt from her leggings as he kept kissing her. Through the sensual haze, she remembered she wanted to stroke him, too, and her fingers went to his shirt buttons. But their arms were getting all tangled up. They couldn’t seem to keep kissing and get undressed, too.
Finally Adam swept her down the hall with him to his bedroom, kissing her the whole way. His bed was the closest piece of furniture. Somehow she found herself kneeling on the edge, staring up at him, unbuttoning his shirt.
Stilling her hands, he said, “Wait.” Then he pulled her T-shirt up and over her head.
Adam’s buttons took no time at all, but his expression told her he thought it took forever. When she finished, she moved her hands from his belt, up through the soft curly hair to his nipples.
When Adam groaned, she smiled.
“You’re having too much fun.” His voice was dark, husky, promising her the same fun she was giving him.
Reaching behind her, he unfastened her bra. Then with deliberate, studied slowness, he eased the straps down her arms, finally tossing the filmy fabric away. Taking her breasts into his hands, he let her nipples graze his palms. Then he did it again. Fireworks shot through her, sparking here, there and everywhere, causing small fires to light into a larger one that became her desire as well as
Adam’s. After he shrugged off his shirt, he sat down on the bed. Without warning, his lips surrounded her nipple. She thought she’d swoon from the pleasure of it.
His hands were tugging at her leggings and panties and soon she was lying on the bed, naked. She heard the clank of his belt buckle as he unfastened it, the rasp of his zipper as he skated it down. Then he was beside her, as naked as she was…as ready for their union as he had ever been. They needed to reaffirm life. They needed to know there was a reason for them being on this earth.
“Oh, Adam,” she sighed, as she wrapped her hand around him, making him shudder with the intimate caress.
While they lay there face-to-face, Adam kissed her again, caressing her breasts, sliding his large hand down her hip, eventually slipping it between her thighs.
“Protection, Leigh. Are you on anything?”
“No. Do you have—”
Instead of answering her, he reached in the nightstand drawer, jerked it open and pulled out a foil packet. Then, apparently knowing what she was thinking and wondering, he admitted, “There have been a few women, Leigh. But I’ve always used protection. I’ve never taken any chances. Not with pregnancy. Not with anything else.”
If she could believe anyone in this world, it was Adam. Of course he’d had other women. Of course he’d gone on with his life.
At her silence, he tipped up her chin and looked into her eyes. “We can still stop.”
She knew Adam could stop…would stop…because that was the kind of man he was. “I don’t want you to stop.”
“Those are golden words,” he rasped close to her ear.
As he sucked her earlobe, she became so restless she couldn’t keep still. Her hands searched his body for a place to land…a place to caress…a place to do to him what he was doing to her. They gave and took pleasure…gave and shared kisses…gave and caressed each other’s bodies until they glistened with their desire.
When Adam tore open the foil packet, she asked, “Can I do it?”
“You’ve grown bolder over the years,” he teased with a smile.
“Maybe. Or maybe I know more about foreplay now.”
His eyebrows arched, and he laughed. “From what you’ve read in books, of course.”
“Of course,” she repeated so innocently that he had to kiss her before he let her apply the condom.
As she rolled the condom onto him with the teasing pleasure of a true courtesan, he sucked in a breath. Then he took her hands, held them under his beside her head and muttered, “Foreplay be damned.”
When Adam thrust into her, Leigh met his demand for satisfaction with a cry of pleasure. After that, she was sure she entered another realm. With each thrust she became more united with Adam. Her joy came from more than physical ecstasy, as he sent her spiraling from one peak to the next, each successively higher, each promising so much more. She teetered on the edge of erotic sensation for what seemed like forever, until suddenly she was climaxing, stars bursting all around her.
Adam cried his release.
Leigh loved Adam’s weight on top of her…loved being able to nibble at his shoulder…loved licking the salt from his skin.
“Keep doing that, and we’ll have to start all over,” he mumbled into her neck.
“Would that be so bad?” she asked, wondering if he now had regrets, wondering if he’d landed back on earth as fast as she had.
Where before Adam had been joking, now he raised himself on his elbows and said seriously, “Not bad. But maybe not good for us, either. Maybe now we’ve gotten this out of our systems.”
His expression was unreadable and his guard was firmly back in place. She knew she had to be the one to take the risk. “I don’t think it’s that simple. I’m not sure you and I could ever get enough.”
Adam’s expression didn’t change as he rolled onto his back, stared up at the ceiling, then pushed himself up and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ll be right back while you think about what tonight means.”
As he disappeared into the bathroom, Leigh wondered just what he was thinking about. She found out when he returned a few minutes later.
Standing by the edge of the bed, he concluded, “We know where we stand this time, Leigh. We have a little over two months until you leave. It’s up to us to decide what to do with it. Your plans haven’t changed, have they?”
He was asking her if tonight had changed anything, and it had. It had made her aware of how serious she was about him. It had made her wonder if her dreams were her dreams or if they were her mother’s. It had made her think about a medical degree and what that would mean for her future. “I received a full scholarship,” she said softly. “That was the letter that blew into Thunder’s corral.”
Perfectly still, he looked away and then met her gaze again. “You’re fortunate. Now you won’t be in debt for years.”
“I still have undergrad loans to pay. But it will make everything easier.”
She could see he wouldn’t ask her about the two of them. He wouldn’t ask her to give up her plans. He wouldn’t ask her to have an affair with him until she left. But that’s what she was going to do.
Sitting up, she took in the taut muscles of Adam’s shoulders, his washboard stomach, his tall, wonderfully built body. Just looking at him made her quiver inside, and she wasn’t going to give this up. She wasn’t going to give him up. Not yet.
Taking hold of all the courage she had ever possessed, all she might ever possess, she asked, “Would you rather sleep alone, or would you like company?”
The green lights in his eyes told her what his answer would be before he said, “I’d like the company, if you’re the company.”
“I’m it.” She tried to keep her voice light.
Lowering himself to the bed, he bent to kiss her.
Leigh let thoughts of the future and consequences burn away as their passion consumed them once more.
Pleased that Adam had asked her to go along to his mother’s wedding, Leigh had dressed carefully, even though she knew the ceremony would be somewhat casual. She’d managed to salvage an emerald-green dress with a flared skirt and a short cropped jacket. After a few washings and a long ironing it looked good. Adam’s expression when he saw her in it told her she’d chosen well.
The justice of the peace was located in a small house. John and Peggy had decided to get married in Portland, go out for a nice lunch afterward, then spend the night in a motel. Adam told her his mother hadn’t stayed overnight anywhere—away from the farm—in years.
As the justice of the peace’s wife introduced herself at the door, Leigh smiled and followed Chloe Wagner to a prettily decorated room with metal folding chairs and a white lectern. She couldn’t help thinking about last night.
And this morning. She and Adam couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. After they’d made love the first time, they’d done it again. Finally they’d eaten supper. But dessert had turned into desire and they’d gone back to bed. Eventually cuddling and falling asleep, they’d awakened hungry for each other again. Now whenever Adam looked at her, she knew what he was thinking. He was wishing they were back in bed. So was she.
After Mrs. Wagner left them in the wedding room, she went to answer the doorbell’s peel.
Leigh asked Adam, “Are you sure your mom won’t mind me coming?”
“I’m positive. She told me to bring a guest to make the occasion more festive. At the time I didn’t think I would.”
She knew what he meant. There had been so much tension between them before. After last night…
When Peggy Bartlett, soon to be Pavlichek, entered the small room with her fiancé and her daughter, Leigh recognized her immediately. The past ten years showed, but today, in her mauve suit, with an orchid corsage on her lapel and her wide smile, she looked as happy as any bride should look. When she saw Adam and Leigh, her green eyes opened wider.
She didn’t hesitate to come toward them. “Leigh Peters?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am. I ho
pe you don’t mind that Adam brought me along.”
“Of course I don’t mind.” She motioned to her fiancé. “Come here, John. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
Sharon trailed behind the man who would soon be her stepfather. Leigh felt sorry for her. Adam had told Leigh everything Sharon had said. His stepsister wasn’t exactly frowning now, but she didn’t look happy, either.
After introductions were made, Peggy turned to John. “Leigh and Adam were friends in high school. More than friends, I think.” She sent Adam a knowing smile.
Before Adam could respond, John took him off the hook.
John Pavlichek was a big, burly man with a butterscotch shock of hair and a matching beard. Today he looked uncomfortable in his suit. But his tie was perfectly tied and his trousers meticulously creased. “That stove for your mother was a perfect wedding present. We couldn’t have asked for anything nicer. She told me when we get back to the farm, she’s going to start cooking up a storm.”
Addressing Leigh, he explained, “It’s one of those smooth-topped ranges. That oven’s big enough for a twenty-pound turkey!”
Although she and Adam had discussed wedding presents briefly the night he’d received the call about the wedding, he hadn’t told her what he’d decided. It seemed he’d chosen the perfect present, and a generous one, too. But she’d seen that generosity before—with Mark and with Shawna.
The justice of the peace entered then. He was a tall, thin man with almost no hair. After he made sure the paperwork was in order, he asked, “Shall we get started?”
As Sharon sat beside Leigh during the short ceremony, Leigh thought she saw a tear come to the woman’s eyes when her mother made her promises. Leigh could only imagine what was going through her head.
Leigh had never known her own father. Honestly, she’d never wanted to know him, from what her mother had told her. Yet in many ways, she guessed he was like Jared Cambry. As a teenager he’d been afraid of responsibility, and he’d taken off for parts unknown rather than deal with the girl he had gotten pregnant and her unborn child. Years later her mother had heard through the grapevine that he’d been killed in a motorcycle accident. When Leigh learned of it, she had felt lost, even though the man had never been in her life. It was hard to imagine what losing a parent would actually be like.
Take A Chance On Me (Logan's Legacy) Page 16
