Dangerous In Love

by Alexa Davis

“If you could just see some of the pictures I’ve produced, I think you might be willing to reconsider.”

  “I’m sure that your work is lovely, but the company has a strict policy to enforce. Thank you for your time. Jane will show you out.”

  My jaw fell open in outrage as I stared at her in shock. “You’re not even willing to look at the portfolio that I brought?”

  The woman sighed and sat back deeper in her seat while Jane, the secretary, opened the door. “I already told you that your portfolio is irrelevant. Have a nice day.”

  Angry, I grabbed my bag off of the floor and stormed out of the building. I was furious and devastated, knowing I had just blown my last opportunity to become a photographer at a major company. I’d already been rejected by six companies. This was my last hope, and I blew it.

  It was becoming an increasingly emotional thing for me. I didn’t know what else to do.

  Bitter tears were streaming down my cheeks by the time I made it home. I drove crying through the city of Akron until I made it back to my parents’ house. My cheeks were flushed, and I still felt my eyes sting from the salty tears when I parked in the garage.

  I grabbed the satchel containing the useless portfolio off the seat beside me and slammed the door shut. My shoes scuffed against the concrete floor of their garage as I made it over to the door. A sound exhaled from my chest that was halfway between a sigh and sob as the door swung open to the kitchen.

  Mom was chopping onions on the counter. I could smell them from the minute I stepped inside. She didn’t look back at me even though I knew she had heard me come inside, so I spoke to her instead. “Hey, Mom. I’m back.”

  The sound of my voice was off, and she glanced back at me over her shoulder. When she saw my face, all remnants of our earlier fight were gone. She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. “Oh, baby. What happened?”

  “They wouldn’t even consider me!” I explained to her in outrage. “The woman who interviewed me didn’t look at my portfolio or anything because I have no work experience.”

  Mom’s brow line furrowed with confusion and asked, “Then why did they call you in for an interview?”

  “I have no idea!”

  “Well, that was rude of them, wasn’t it?”

  I nodded in agreement and rested my head against her shoulder. She brushed her fingers against my hair and sighed. “Sweetie, what about the other job we were talking about the other day? About starting your own photography studio?”

  I pulled away from her and looked in her eyes confused. “You still think I can do it?”

  “Absolutely. You can stay at the house as long as you need until you can get on your own two feet.”

  I smiled and waved my hand toward the stairwell. “I’m going to go put this stuff away. Can we talk when I get back?”

  “Sure.”

  I took my bag and walked up briskly toward the stairs. In the back of my mind, I thought about the offer from Adam to move into his apartment. I knew I had to call him at some point. I couldn’t stay cooped up at my parents’ place forever. I pulled my phone out of my satchel and found the business card that he had given me.

  I guess now is as good a time as any.

  Chapter 11

  Adam

  Thursday

  My desk was covered with the paper write-up of the case that Jon Hansen and I were trying. I’d spent the last four days pouring over the material and familiarizing myself with the people involved. The gut feeling I had about the case involving corruption turning out to be correct, but it was so much more than that.

  For the last few years, Akron had been having trouble with some drug dealers running around. I collected a file of all the police reports and newspaper clippings that I could find, putting together a picture of the scale that we were dealing with. It was clear our client had been one of the dealers involved on a lower level, but I hoped that by putting pressure on the prosecutor, we might be able to gain a plea deal and use his info to help them catch the bigger fish.

  Any prosecutor worth their salt would know it’s far more valuable to catch the man behind the larger operation than send an underling to jail. However, that all depended on our client and whether they’d be willing to testify. All of this was far too early to tell, and I still needed to talk with Jon about it because his was the only opinion that really mattered.

  Hopefully, I could finish the paperwork today and give myself two days to prepare for court instead of one.

  Reaching over to the mug on my desk, I brought it to my lips only to discover that it was empty. I sighed, pushing my chair out from beneath my desk and went to pour another cup. It was going to be one of those days. Leslie smiled as I walked past her in the lobby and made my way over to the break room. After retrieving the caffeinated beverage, I held it carefully in my hand and brought it back with me to my desk.

  I’d barely sat back down when I saw my cell phone buzz with the Bulters’ home number blinking across the screen. The skin between my eyebrows puckered, curious as to why Max’s parents would be calling me, and set the cup down on my desk. I accepted the call with a swipe of my finger and brought the cell phone to my ear. “Hello, this is Adam.”

  “Adam, this is Vanessa,” her melodic soprano voice spoke to me on the other line. The second I heard it, I felt my heart beat faster. This is what I’d been waiting for—hoping for—ever since that night we were together.

  “Vanessa, hi! How are you?” I inquired nervously.

  She chuckled softly. “Well, I was hoping we could talk. Do you have a minute?”

  “Sure, I’m really glad to hear from you. What’s going on?”

  “Well, I know that what happened the other night makes what I’m about to say a little bit awkward, but I was wondering if your offer was still on the table for me to move into your spare bedroom.”

  “I—”

  “I promise I won’t get in the way,” she blurted out before I was even able to formulate a sentence. “I’ll give you all the space you need; you won’t even know I’m there. I can even help out with the chores and cook dinner, if that works out for you. It’s a horrible thing to ask, I know, but I’m desperate.”

  I laughed openly at her charming plea and reclined back into the seat of my chair when I responded. “Vanessa, relax! The offer was genuine, and I would be more than happy to help you move in. What happened the other night is irrelevant.”

  She breathed out a sigh of relief and said, “Really? You’d still let me live with you?”

  “Of course. Truth be told, it was getting kind of boring living in that big place all by myself. It will be nice to have some company.”

  “Okay, but I have to warn you, I still don’t have a job yet. I’ve been applying all over the city, but nothing seems to stick.”

  I smiled at her honestly and clicked the end of my pen. “That’s not a problem. Didn’t you say something about wanting to start up your own business, anyway? You can stay with me for as long as you like while you are trying to get that started. In fact, I know one of the guys at the Men’s Club owns a photography company, and I could probably get you in.”

  “Wow, Adam. Thank you so much, I don’t know what to say.”

  “How about, ‘I’ll see you around six at our place, roomie?’”

  Her voice cracked with raw emotion as she recited the line right back to me, “I’ll see you later at our place. Bye, Adam.”

  “Bye, Vanessa.”

  I hung up the phone with Vanessa and smiled to myself thoughtfully. How about that?

  A moment later, I flipped through my stack of contacts and looked up Frank Howell from Men's Club. I reclined back into my seat and dialed his number on my cell phone. The call rang through on the other line, and after a couple seconds, I heard him pick up on the other side. "Frank Howell."

  "Hey, Frank, this is Adam," I told him cheerily.

  "Adam! How's it going, pal?"

  I chuckled. "Pretty good. I was wondering if you c
ould do me a little favor..."

  I hung up the phone with Frank not long after and smiled while setting the cell phone back on my desk and turning my attention back to work.

  That had worked out better than I imagined.

  I couldn't believe Vanessa and I would be living together so soon after being reconnected; it was kismet. I drafted a quick email to Jon Hansen and spent the rest of the afternoon looking into my other clients. One of the opposing councils had filed an injunction, requesting and change of venue, so I had to appeal the judge in question to convince them it was more beneficial to keep the proceedings local.

  Before I knew it, the clock read five fifteen, and I was still neck deep in my work.

  Crap. Vanessa...

  I quickly closed the files on my desk and packed up my briefcase so that I could meet her at our apartment. Leslie and the other staff were already heading out the door themselves when I grabbed my coat and scarf to hurry after them.

  I was cursing myself internally by the time I made it to my car, figuratively throwing myself in the driver’s seat. Thankfully, there hadn't been any snow today, and the roads were clear. The drive home was a blur as the only thing I could think about was Vanessa freezing on the sidewalk while she waited for me.

  When I finally made it to the apartment, there was a red Honda Civic idling outside. Through the windshield, I could see Vanessa's golden hair and silhouette. Good, at least she wasn't alone outside.

  She looked up from typing on her cell phone when I pulled up along beside her and met me on the sidewalk. She had a knit wool hat that came down around her ears and the same brown coat from the night at the bar. Her blonde hair shone brightly against the snow and fell gracefully past her shoulders.

  "Hey!"

  "Hey! Vanessa, I'm so sorry, I completely lost track of time. Were you waiting long?"

  She smiled and said, "No, it wasn't that bad."

  "Let me just unlock the door, and I'll help you get your things."

  "Sure."

  She stuffed her hands into her pockets and bounced quietly while trying to keep warm before running around to unlock the trunk of her car. I placed my key into the lock and unlocked it for us and then joined her to help carry the load inside. Truthfully, it wasn’t that much stuff. I was expecting her to bring a lot more than she had.

  We maneuvered through the snow, and I held the door open with my foot as she came inside behind me. “Thank you.”

  “No problem. Uh, I guess you’ll be in this room over here,” I rambled nervously.

  The spare bedroom was the first one down the hall. It had the same hardwood floors as the rest of the apartment and ample closet space. I kicked the door open with my foot, and it swung open to give Vanessa the first view of her space. She looked around it wide-eyed and smiling, taking one step at a time as she explored.

  “Sorry, it’s kind of a mess right now. I didn’t have time to clean it before you got here.”

  “No, it’s perfect!” she insisted. “I think tomorrow I’ll have to go out and get a bed,”

  “Yeah, it’s not really set up as a bedroom yet. We’ll have to do something about that. Tonight at least, you can sleep on the couch until we get that taken care of.”

  “Sound’s good.”

  I smiled at her, resting my shoulder against the doorframe. “Come on; I’ll show you the bathroom.”

  She dropped her bag and followed me down the hall. “The master bedroom has its own bathroom, so this one out here will be yours,” I explained to her cautiously. “Is that okay?”

  “Yep!”

  “Just make yourself at home, literally. Feel free to browse and get familiar with the landscape. What’s mine is yours.”

  “That’s really kind of you.”

  I set my briefcase down on the counter and poured myself a glass of water from the fridge.

  “Thanks, so much for doing this,” she told me graciously. “I couldn’t stand another week of living with my parents. I promise not to bother you while you’re working; it’ll be like I’m not even here.”

  I chuckled, drinking heavily from the glass and setting it on the counter. “It’s really not a problem. I won’t be around much anyway because of the new case they’ve got me working on.”

  She clanked down embarrassedly and said, “About the other night…”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I responded instantly. My heart started racing at the mention of it, and I pushed the thoughts of her soft and kissable body to the back of my mind. I couldn’t let my libido ruin the arrangement for us. I have to keep it in control.

  “Do you think that we should talk about it?”

  I shrugged. “Why? I don’t want to make things weird for you, and it shouldn’t interfere with our living situation.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. I was really embarrassed and nervous about what you’d say.”

  I smiled. “Don’t be; you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  “Okay, well, I’m going to get settled in. What do you want me to do with some of the stuff in the closet?”

  “Just bring it out here and set it on the table. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Okay.”

  She skipped off toward her bedroom, her blonde hair swaying slightly, and turned around right as she reached the doorway.

  “Hey, Adam?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Her returning smile warmed me from the inside out, despite the freezing cold outside. It was warm as the midday sun. She whipped around and disappeared into the room. I heard the door closed shut behind her and the sound of her rustling through her bags.

  It seemed odd to me. Vanessa kept acting like I was doing her a tremendous service, but all I felt was happiness and gratitude that she was here. I’d never lived with a woman before, so it was a completely new frontier for both of us.

  I didn’t see it as a burden at all; it was an adventure.

  Chapter 12

  Vanessa

  Sunday

  The next morning, I woke to the smell of coffee, bacon, and eggs wafting from the kitchen, rousing me from a long night’s slumber. I looked up from the cushion underneath my head and sniffed longingly at the air as I pulled myself into a seated position. It smelled delightful. My hair was absolutely horrific after sleeping on the sofa, and I tucked it swiftly behind my ears as I pulled on a robe and walked out into the kitchen.

  Adam was there, cooking on the stove and wearing his suit and tie. He looked up when I stumbled in and smiled at me, but all I could muster was a shy wave. It felt weirdly intimate to be there sitting with him in my pajamas without a lick of makeup on. “Good morning,” he told me happily. “Are you hungry?”

  “Starving,” I responded, walking over to get a cup.

  I poured myself a mug of coffee and sat down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. As I was adding the cream and sugar, Adam finished at the stove and brought us each a plate of eggs and bacon. “Wow, this looks delicious! Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he responded with a smile. “I thought you could use and nice breakfast after all you’ve been through. Moving can be stressful.”

  I grunted in acknowledgment and sipped noisily from the rim of my coffee mug, eyeing the muscular lines of his broad shoulders and masculine frame longingly. “So…”

  He grinned at me, and then his eyes widened with recognition suddenly. He reached down into his pocket and pulled out a bit of paper. “Oh, right! Before I forget, I called my buddy Frank that I was telling you about and told him you were looking for work,” Adam explained as he was handing the paper to me. “He agreed to meet with you this morning about starting at his studio.”

  My jaw fell open as I took the note from him, with an address written on it. “Oh my gosh, really? Adam, I could kiss you!”

  He stopped eating and lowered his fork down slowly.

  I blushed, looking away in embarrassme
nt after realizing what I said and shook my head as if to shake away the naughty thoughts from forming. Way to go, Einstein. I didn’t mean to say things like that, or think them for that matter, but they kept slipping out at the most inopportune times. I hadn’t seen Adam in years, and it brought back old feelings that I’d been burying since high school. The chemistry was there, but we have a say in what we do with that: it’s what separates us from the animals.

  “Um, I just meant to say, thank you. I can’t believe you did that for me.”

  “No problem. The appointments at ten, so I hope you’re ready.”

  “You better believe it,” I confirmed. “More than anything.”

  Adam cleared his throat and smiled, walking his plate and mug over to the sink. “Alright, I need to head out if I’m going to make it to work on time. Good luck at the interview.”

  I nodded, nibbling on a strip of bacon in my hand and pulling my legs up underneath me. He grabbed his coat and briefcase from the living room and waved goodbye before heading out the front door.

  After the door fell closed, I let out an exasperated sigh and looked out over the apartment. The space was clean and organized, not what I’d expected from a bachelor pad. In the center of the living room was a plush brown couch that was angled so it faced the entertainment center. I was impressed with how well-maintained it was. Adam had been right about the prime location in the city, too. The condo was right next to businesses and far enough away that I felt safely out of reach of my parents.

  Almost instinctively, I started a mental list of all the things I would need to pick up from Ikea to make my bedroom livable. A new bed and dresser were the bare minimum I required, maybe some drapes for the window, too. It would still take time for it to feel like home, but I didn’t want to spend another night on the living room couch if I could manage it. I planned on taking care of that right after I finished the interview Adam had set up for me.

  That’s right. I still have to make myself presentable…

  I drummed my fingers on the table and looked down at the piece of paper in my hand. Frank Howell Photography.