by Evelyn Glass
“I know,” Adriana’s reply is pensive, as she wonders about what secrets lie under the surface and if she really wants to know the answer. “But don’t think I’m going to let you get out of talking about Willow by distracting me!” She waggles her finger at Tommy who laughs deeply.
“Fine! I give up! But if we’re going to get into that, I’m going to need something a little stronger.” Tommy gestures over towards the bar. “I’ll be right back, and then you can interrogate me to your heart’s content.”
Adriana laughs as she watches him go, but she is suddenly very aware that she is all alone. Automatically, she grabs another glass of champagne and drinks it down in a couple of gulps. Standing on your own doesn’t seem so bad when you have a drink in your hand and a little Dutch courage in your heart.
“You’re far too beautiful to be left on your own.” A tall guy who looks like he’s probably another MMA fighter fills the space that Tommy had occupied.
Adriana flushes, partly from the compliment and partly from the champagne. “Thanks, but I’m not on my own. My friend’s just gone to get a drink.” She motions towards the bar where she sees that Tommy has struck up a conversation with an impossibly leggy blonde.
“Take it from me, he’s not going to be coming back anytime soon.” The fighter gives Adriana a knowing look that just makes her blush again. “I’m Dexter—Dex.” He holds out his hand for her to shake.
“Adriana.” She returns his shake, letting her eyes roam the crowd and settle on Grayson who looks deep in conversation with a journalist, the brunette still hanging around him like a bad smell. She wonders if he’s looked over at her even once, if he cares at all. What was the point in him bringing her here? They hadn’t spoken since they’d walked through the front door.
“That’s a great name.” Dex smiles appreciatively, and Adriana notices how nice his smile is.
“Thanks, but I can’t take credit for it.” Adriana shrugs, brushing off the compliment and failing to stop her gaze from landing once again on Grayson.
“Are you here with Fletcher?” Dex’s voice seems to harden at the suggestion.
“No, I’m not here with Grayson.” That admission hurts more than Adriana is willing to let on; so, she barrels onwards, doing what she does when she’s nervous, blabbering. “I mean, I came here with him, but I’m not here with him. We’re just friends.” She takes another gulp of champagne, purely to stop from talking.
“You’re not the kind of girl that most men could just be friends with.” Dex looks like he’s unconvinced.
“And what kind of girl do I look like?” Adriana raises her eyebrows, the alcohol in her system loosening her up.
“The kind that every guy in this room wants to talk to.” Dex looks around for emphasis, and Adriana follows his gaze and notices that they have a bit of an audience. “You look like the kind of girl that men fall in love with every day.” He looks straight at her as he says the words, and Adriana feels herself blushing.
“You’re not exactly shy, are you?” She looks at him over the top of her champagne flute, faintly aware that she is doing something that she has never known how to do. She’s flirting.
“It’s not something I’ve ever been accused of.” Dex looks a little sheepish at the admission. “Is that a problem?” He levels her with an intense stare.
Adriana flicks her eyes over to where Grayson is still standing over the other side of the room with the brunette bimbo. Seeing them together makes her feel like she’s just been punched in the stomach. It doesn’t help that they seem to fit together. Adriana doesn’t fit in that way. This is a different world to her, and she doesn’t know the rules.
What she does know is that Grayson doesn’t seem to have any interest in her at all. The person who is standing in the other side of the room seems like a completely different person to the one whom she had shared a bed with only a few nights before and even the man whom she had been with in the limo only an hour ago. He had been gentle and vulnerable and kind, and he had looked at her as if she were important. The man that’s the toast of the party hasn’t even spared her a glance. Grayson is all mixed messages, mixed feelings and emotions. It felt like a guessing game, trying to figure out what was going on in his head, and she never seems to win. It is exhausting. Yet, here was a good looking guy, paying her attention, being nice to her, and making her laugh.
Adriana takes a deep breath and smiles up at him. “No, it’s not a problem.”
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
GRAYSON
He can feel the anger burning a hole inside of him. He had been whisked from one interview to another by Josie who kept promising it was the last one. At some point Cassie had appeared and kept trying to drape herself all over him, no matter how many times he batted her away.
He had wanted to spend the evening with Adriana, the only person who he had any interest in talking to in the entire place. But now she was talking to Dexter, ‘The Destroyer.’ He is the fighter that he’s up against next for the state title. Grayson had never had any beef with Dexter; they’d even trained together a couple of times as Grayson was making his way up the ranks. But seeing him talking, laughing, and whispering with Adriana is enough to make him want to kill him.
He clenches and unclenches his fists, trying to control the rage that’s flooding through his body like a drug. He can see the two of them out of the corner of his eye, and it’s the moment when Dex lays a hand on Adriana’s bare shoulder that propels him onto action.
“Grayson? We’re not done.” Josie’s voice reaches him, and he realizes that his body is ten steps ahead of his brain. He’s left the interview, Cassie and everyone else behind, as he crosses the room, zeroing in on Adriana.
Dex’s sense of danger alerts him to Grayson’s menacing figure approaching, and he seems to look a little more uncertain than he had before. “Grayson, nice job with Kong the other night.” Dex raises his glass in salute, but Grayson isn’t even listening.
“Adriana, you ready to go?” He rests his hand possessively on her shoulder, pulling her closer against him.
“You’ve finished all your stuff, then?” Adriana waves vaguely back to where he’d just spent the past hour and sidles out of his hold, taking a step away from him.
Dex looks between the two of them, as if he’s trying to figure something out.
Grayson blows out a breath in frustration. “Yes, I’ve finished, so are you ready to go or what?” He sounds angry. He knows that, but he can’t seem to do anything to temper it down. Seeing her with Dex has done something to him, made him feel out of control. He doesn’t like it, not one bit.
“Hey, Fletcher, there’s no need to get all worked up over me talking to Adriana here. I thought you two were just friends.” Dex looks at him innocently, and Grayson has to resist the urge to wipe the smile off of his face.
“We are just friends.” Adriana looks like she’s actually buying this shtick of his. She had no idea that Dex never slept with the same woman twice; he sees every possible lay as a challenge to be overcome. He would say anything to get these women into bed. That had never bothered Grayson before, what Dex did as his own business. But not now, not when he was trying to do it to Adriana.
“There you are. What are you doing over here, baby? They wanted some photos to go with the interview.” The whining edge in Cassie’s voice grates on his nerves like nails on a chalkboard. But he’s not focused on her, all he can see is the expression of hurt on Adriana’s face.
“Don’t worry, man. If you’re…busy…”—Dex gestures between Grayson and Cassie, making the suggestion of exactly what they’re going to be busy with drop—“I can take Adriana home.” He flashes her with that stupid, charming smile of his.
“Yeah, like hell you will.” Grayson squares up to Dex, ignoring his better judgment telling him not to make a scene, not now, not here.
“Grayson, stop it.” Adriana’s voice is urgent, and her hand on his arm is probably the only thing that’s stops him from swing
ing a punch.
“You want to fight me, Grayson? Right here, right now.” Dex levels him with a cold, hard stare and then drops his voice so that only Grayson can hear him. “Her pussy must be real sweet to get you this bent out of shape. I guess I’ll find out sooner or later.” He shrugs like Adriana is a foregone conclusion, and Grayson takes another step towards him.
“Easy, G.” Suddenly Tommy is in-between them, pushing them back from each other. “It’s not the time or the place.”
“Grayson.” Adriana’s voice brings him back to his senses. He realizes that they’re the center of attention. There were strict rules about fighting outside of the ring, and Dex was just trying to goad him into throwing the first punch.
“Let’s get out of here.” Grayson grabs hold of Adriana’s wrist and pulls her behind him.
“Nice to meet you, Adriana. Call me!” Dex’s laugh rings in Grayson’s ears, and he has to fight the urge not to turn around and give the guy the pounding of his life. He’ll get the chance to do that in the ring.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Adriana finally wrenches herself free from his grip outside the limo. She’s breathing hard, and her eyes are flashing like fire.
“What’s the matter with me? What the hell’s the matter with you?” He’s so jacked he feels like he wants to tear his hair out. “What are you doing talking to Dexter?”
She folds her arms and raises her chin, an expression of determination that Grayson is becoming more and more familiar with. “The last time I checked I could talk to whomever I wanted to, Grayson!”
“He’s not a good guy, Adrie. He’s not someone you want to get involved with.” Grayson rubs his temples, trying to get Dex’s mocking words out of his head. He should have punched his teeth out for talking about Adriana like that.
“What? And you are? Is that what you’re saying, Grayson? That you’re a good guy? That you’re someone I should get involved with? Because the last time I checked, good guys didn’t sneak out of bed without a word, good guys didn’t disappear into thin air with no kind of explanation.” Adriana’s face is flushed, and she’s swaying a little as she talks.
“You’re drunk.” Grayson reaches out to steady her.
“Don’t touch me.” She pulls away from him so violently she looks like she’s in danger of toppling over. “And yeah, I’ve had a couple of drinks. Something you might have known if you had spent any time with me tonight.” Her bottom lip trembles, and she bites on it, a gesture that breaks Grayson’s heart.
“So that’s why you were talking to Dexter? Because you didn’t think that I was paying you any attention?” Grayson looks searchingly at her, frustrated that he can’t seem to get anything right.
“I was talking to Dex because he was nice and charming and funny and he was interested in me. Is that so hard to believe, Grayson? It wasn’t about you! It was about me!” Adriana shakes her head like she can’t believe how self-absorbed he’s being. “Goodbye Grayson.” She turns around and takes a step before he grabs her hand and spins her around.
“Where are you going?” How was it possible for one woman to be so goddam confusing, he wonders to himself?
“To get a taxi. I want to go home.” She goes to leave again, but Grayson hasn’t let go of her hand.
“Get in the car, Adrie. I’ll take you home.” He opens the passenger door and looks at her expectantly, but her face is creased into a frown.
“Don’t you get it? I’ve had enough! I’ve had enough, Grayson. So no, I’m not going to get in a car with you just so you can confuse me all over again.” She crosses her arms, and Grayson is surprised to see her eyes look like they’re filling with tears.
“Adrie.” His voice is filled with tenderness, as he pulls her towards him. He wraps his arms around her, wondering how it’s possible for someone to feel so good against him, like she belongs there. He holds her tighter as he feels her shaking. “Get in the car, Adrie. We need to talk.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
ADRIANA
She had never understood how those girls in movies managed to cry prettily. She had never mastered that art and was still fighting to keep at least a semblance of control together as she collapses into the back seat of the limo, too emotionally exhausted to argue with Grayson anymore.
They drive in silence only broken by Adriana taking breaths as deep as she can to keep the tears at bay. It seems to be taking longer to get home than she remembered, and it’s only when she concentrates on the landmarks around that she realizes they’re not going back to her place.
“This isn’t the way home.” Her voice trembles like she might explode into floods at any point.
“No, it’s not. Like I said, we need to talk.” Grayson rubs his temples, looking pained, but his voice is cool and calm and in control, exactly how he likes to be.
“So you’re abducting me? Sure, because that makes sense!” Adriana barks a laugh without humor. All she wants to do is go home, get out of her dress, climb onto her bed, and cry out this pain in her chest.
“I just want a few minutes to speak to you, without interruptions. After that you can go home, and you never have to see me again. How does that sound?” She can feel Grayson’s eyes on her, but she stalwartly looks out of the window, not feeling strong enough to meet his gaze.
She doesn’t reply, partly because she figures there wouldn’t be any point. Grayson has proven that he generally just does what he wants. However, it’s also partly because she wants to know what it is that he has to say to her. After a while, the limo comes to a stop, and Grayson hands the driver a hundred dollar bill.
“How about you take a long walk, Joe?” There isn’t even the hint of a question in Grayson’s tone.
“Thank you, sir.” Joe slips out of the driver’s seat without hesitation, leaving Adriana and Grayson alone.
“You’re used to people doing exactly what you want, aren’t you?” Adriana frowns at him, struggling to figure out what that must be like.
“When I was a kid, I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to make my parents do what I wanted; how to make him stop hurting my mom and me; how to make him leave; how to make my mom stronger; how to stop her from crying all the time.” Grayson’s voice is soft, as he goes to that dark place in his mind. “It’s nice to have a few things now that I’m actually in control of.”
“Grayson, I’m sorry.” Adriana’s voice is barely a whisper as his words conjure up the image of a scared, little boy, so different from the man sitting beside her now.
He shrugs as if it’s not important. “That’s not what I want to talk about.” He locks eyes with her, and Adriana feels that familiar pull that he exerts over her without even trying, but she pushes it away.
“What can you possibly have to say to me, Grayson, that’s going to change anything?” Adriana feels the anger boiling in her stomach again. “You just spent the entire night ignoring me, doing your thing. I get that…it was work. But she wasn’t work.” Adriana bites her bottom lip to stop it from trembling as she thinks about how hurt she had been to see Grayson with that girl, knowing exactly what it is that she wanted to happen and knowing that he might want the same thing.
“Adrie, nothing hap—” Grayson abruptly stops talking as soon as Adriana holds her hand up.
“It was like you were making a point that didn’t need making. I already knew you could be with any girl that you wanted in that place.” She swallows the lump in her throat as she thinks of Grayson with someone else, with anyone else.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Adrie. I don’t want to be with any girl. I want to be with you.” Grayson reaches out to rub his thumb against the soft skin of her cheek, and her heart beats faster at his touch.
“Grayson, don’t play games with me. Ten years ago I was a lovesick teenager who didn’t know any better; but, now, after the other night, how can you expect me to believe you?” She ducks her head, breaking contact with him, and she immediately misses the feel of his h
and against her skin.
“Because I need you to.” His voice is husky with emotion, and that’s what makes Adriana look up at him in surprise. His eyes are full of sincerity, and she can feel herself falling into the trap yet again. “Nothing makes any sense without you, Adrie. It hasn’t for a long time.”
“If that’s true then why did you leave the other night? Do you have any idea how it felt when I realized that you weren’t coming back?” She talks around the lump in her throat, refusing to cry.
“I’m sorry. I was a coward." He shakes his head like he can’t believe the way he behaved.
Adriana’s brain is reeling at his words. He’s saying everything she could have wanted him to, but she’s having trouble processing it all. “Earlier tonight, you said that I scare you. What did you mean by that?”
Grayson smiles at her sadly, and she feels her heart ache a little. “I meant that the way you make me feel scares me. I’ve never met anyone that makes me feel the way you do, Adrie. Not ten years ago and sure as hell not now.” He takes a deep breath, like he’s psyching himself up for what he’s about to say. “You make everything better. You make me want to be better. Even when we were kids, I knew that I wanted to make you proud of me. I wanted to be the kind of man that you could be proud of.”
