The Attraction of Adeline

by Lisa Wells

  “Did you—”

  They both spoke at the same time and stopped, smiling goofily at one another, while the waitress set their salads in front of them.

  “You first,” he said as soon as the waitress slipped away.

  “Did you imagine your dream woman the other night while you were masturbating?” she asked, giving him a look before picking up a cherry tomato and popping it into her mouth.

  Jack choked on his drink. He raked his eyes over Adeline’s face. “Did you really just ask me who I thought about while I was jacking off?” He’d definitely been thinking about Adeline. Thinking about her naked and bent over his bed.

  Adeline’s eyes sparkled. “What? Are we going to act like it didn’t happen? Not talk about it?”

  Jack ran a finger under his collar. He glanced around to see if any of their fellow diners were listening to their conversation. If they were, they were pretending not to be. “You’re the one who ignored my phone calls the past three days. I thought maybe it was you who was avoiding the topic.”

  She gave a delicate shrug of her shoulder. “It’s a subject that should be talked about in person, not over the phone. But if the subject is too delicate for your in-person sensibilities, then I’m open to you coming up with an alternative conversation starter.”

  He inhaled and tried to exhale his uptight ideas about what dinner-out conversation should be. Nope. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t talk about masturbating in the midst of a busy restaurant. “How was your day?” He groaned inwardly. She was going to think he was the stodgiest date on the planet.

  She wrinkled her nose. “Boring. It was just me and Dexter all day.”

  “Have you been practicing conjugating your French verbs?” The question reminded him that in his fantasy the other night, she’d been wearing a French maid’s uniform.

  “Oui,” she said without a lot of enthusiasm. “Avez-vous pensé à moi?”

  She wanted to know if he’d missed her. “Je vous ai manqué plus que ce qui est en bonne santé,” he replied. This was his opening. Time to man-up. Tell her of his change of heart.

  She wrinkled her brows. “Quelle?”

  “I’ve missed you more than is healthy,” he translated. His heart no longer wanted to keep her at arm’s length. Elbow’s length seemed much more fun. Close but not too close. Maybe he should wait until they got home to talk about their relationship. Maybe it was also inappropriate for dining-out conversation. She might laugh at his idea. Fuck. Should he, or shouldn’t he?

  They sat quietly and ate. “I’m sorry I shot down your first question,” he said. “Are there any other questions you would like to ask? I promise not to criticize.”

  She swiped her tongue across her glossy lips. “When did you lose your virginity?”

  His stomach muscles tightened, and he nearly groaned aloud. “If I didn’t know better, I would think your intent is to see me blush.”

  Her smile danced. “Not at all. But, if we’re going to pretend to be engaged, I should know the answer.”

  He tapped his finger on the table. This was a perfect time to say, “About that.” “Indeed you should. But no one is going to ask you that question.”

  She gazed into his eyes. “Indulge my curiosity.”

  She was unlike any woman he’d ever been on a date with. On the one hand, he really enjoyed her straight forward approach to life. Her honesty. God, he loved that about her. “Curiosity has been known to kill the cat,” he said, avoiding her question.

  “Vrai,” Adeline said with an approving nod. “Curiosity has also been referred to as the fornication of the mind. If we indulge in our mutual curiosity, it will be like we’re doing it during a dinner date.”

  He pulled at the collar of his shirt. What the hell. You only live once. “Then by all means, let’s get curious.”

  “Parfait. We can play Ping-Pong Personal Trivia. We ask and answer questions with no hesitation, and no matter what you’re asked, you have to tell the truth.”

  “Is that a real game?” He took a bite of his salad.

  “Kinley made me play it our first night together in our dorm.”

  “That sounds like her. Very bossy.”

  “Do you want to play?”

  “Sure. I’ll start. Sex?” he asked.

  She rolled her eyes. A habit he found both annoying and endearing. “I’ve had it.”

  “Good to know.” Who all had she had sex with? Who was the last man she had sex with?

  “You?” she asked.

  “I love it.” And he’d love to have it with her, but he didn’t add that part. Yet.

  “Of course you do. I once sent nude pictures to Playboy.”

  He swallowed hard. “Um, that’s interesting. What did they say?”

  “They put me in a file of possible future centerfolds celebrating female chefs.”

  He waited for the waitress to walk by. Decided to steer the conversation away from sex, or they might not make it through their meal. “I like my sandwiches without the crust.”

  “I like men who wear briefs.”

  So much for changing the subject. “I wear boxers. Are you wearing a garter belt tonight?”

  “I don’t remember. I own two. Pink and black. You saw the black one. Are you good at sex?”

  “I’ve never had any complaints. Are those your real boobs?”

  She glanced at her cleavage. “They’re mine, but thanks to Victoria’s Secret they appear two sizes larger than they are.”

  “I bet they’re perfect without any help.” A mouthful was all he required.

  “Of course they are. When did you lose your virginity?”

  Back to that again… “Freshman year in high school. You?” He refreshed their glasses of wine.

  “My junior year in high school. After prom. In the bed of a Chevy pick-up truck, by a guy named Travis B.”

  “Did you love him?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Jack let loose a long breath. What happened to end her and Travis B.?

  “You’re pausing,” she accused.

  “Was Travis a cowboy?” What was it about cowboys that turned sensible women into puddles of love? Not that he thought of Adeline as sensible.

  “He had a cowboy hat.” Adeline leaned a little closer. “When did you get your first blow job?”

  He leaned back in his chair. An image of her gloss-covered lips wrapped around him slid solidly in place. “Sometime in middle school.”

  She blinked. “That young…” Then she smirked. “How long did you last?”

  Jack scowled. “Not very long.”

  Adeline laughed. “Don’t sweat it.” She took a sip of her pinot.

  “My willpower has improved since then.” He reached out and covered her hand with his. “A whole lot.” This was fun. Inappropriate as hell, but fun.

  She pulled her hand out from under his and picked up her fork. “I’ll let you in on a secret.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Girls prefer boys who don’t last long when they’re giving blow jobs.”

  The man sitting at the table behind her coughed.

  “I’ll try to remember that,” Jack said, lowering his voice. He’d forgotten, for a moment, where they were.

  “Sex is a whole different story,” Adeline responded, not bothering to lower her voice.

  “She’s right,” Jack heard the woman sitting at the table behind Adeline say.

  Jack glanced at the woman. She was older, with gray hair, granny glasses. She had the audacity to wink at Jack. He cleared his throat and swung his gaze back to Adeline, pretty sure his cheeks were red. “Did I mention I really love sex,” he whispered.

  “As much as I do?” Adeline asked.

  “Check please,” Jack said to the waitress who stopped at their table with the rest of their dinner. Surely, Adeline wouldn’t be initiating so much talk about sex if she hadn’t changed her mind about their rules. As soon as they got home he was going to strike their no-sex rule and add sex i
s okay to their rule list. Well…maybe not as soon as he got home. Maybe not until tomorrow morning.

  “But, our food just arrived,” Adeline said, giving him a cheeky smile.

  “We’ll take it with us.” He glanced at the waitress who was still standing there looking befuddled. “We’ll need doggie boxes.”

  “Jack? Jack Foster is that you?” declared a well-cultured female voice.

  Jack cursed under his breath. Of all the restaurants…

  …

  Adeline’s heart was racing. They were going to have sex. She’d known it the moment she saw Jack watching her walk toward him when she arrived at the restaurant. A raw hunger vivid in his eyes, he hadn’t bothered to hide the emotion. And she didn’t bother to lie to herself that she hadn’t dressed to seduce.

  She watched a beautiful woman swish toward them with a hip-swinging, step-boom-step model strut. Adeline glanced at Jack. Who in the hell was she?

  He was smiling. But not a set-in-cement smile. More of a slippery smile. Kind of like an oh-shit-I’ve-been-caught smile. Interesting. Was she an old lover? Or maybe a current lover who didn’t know anything about Adeline. Was she the one, not work, keeping Jack out at night? Taking him out of town three days at a time?

  Jack stood. “This is a pleasant surprise. Are you back from your trip?”

  “Of course she’s back. That’s not a ghost standing in front of you,” Adeline blurted. Crap, that wasn’t very nice. But, in her defense, sexual frustration did that too her. The last thing she wanted was for Jack to waste time with small talk. She wanted him to say hi and bye and push the woman on down the aisle toward her table, wherever that may be.

  Jack tossed Adeline a disapproving frown before swinging his gaze back to the intruder.

  The perfectly coifed glamour girl laid her hands on his shoulders and kissed both of his cheeks. “Just this very morning.”

  “I’d heard rumors they were going to keep you there for a while.”

  She laughed. A tinkling sound of flirtation. “Speaking of rumors, I heard rumors going around about partner promotions. Are they true?”

  “I try not to listen to more than one rumor at a time.”

  Since Jack didn’t seem inclined to introduce her, Adeline busied herself, slathering honey butter on a fresh hot roll. She never passed up an opportunity to try another chef’s hot rolls. They were one of her specialties, and she liked sizing up the competition.

  “Not that I have any hope of being promoted. Mr. Carter’s views are more ancient than my grandfather’s wardrobe,” the woman was saying.

  What a weak-ass metaphor. How about more ancient than the collection of dinosaur bones at the Smithsonian.

  “Old-fashioned values have helped to make the company what it is today,” Jack responded, sticking up for his boss.

  Adeline liked that about him. Jack was a good man.

  The intruder shook her head in disbelief. “And it’s that kind of loyalty that will make you a great partner.”

  And a great husband. The thought made Adeline’s mouth go dry. Since when did she start thinking of men in terms of good husband or not good husband?

  “Are you meeting someone? I don’t want to keep you,” Jack said, moving just enough to block Adeline from the stranger. Did he do that on purpose? Adeline hoped so. The last thing she wanted to do was play nice with a stranger.

  “I am, but I’m early.” The intruder took a step to the side. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your dinner partner?” She turned her full attention to Adeline who was in the process of popping a half of a butter-drenched, to-die-for hot roll in her mouth.

  Adeline chewed fast.

  “This is Adeline.” Jack’s voice sounded resigned. Like introducing her rated right down there with getting shot in the balls with a pink Taser gun.

  Adeline’s happy-ass high took a nosedive. Was he ashamed of her? Was that what this was about? Not him trying to rush the interloper on her way?

  “Hi.” The woman literally looked down her straight nose at Adeline. “Bless your heart. I envy women who can eat carbs with no care for their waistline.”

  Adeline may not be as sophisticated as the woman standing in front of her, but she knew an insult when she heard one. What a first-class bitch. If Adeline wanted to eat bread, she’d eat bread, and who was this dame to point out her waistline to Jack?

  They shook hands like opponents in a single’s bar. When the shake was over, Adeline reached for her purse to pull out her hand sanitizer.

  Jack tossed her another disapproving stare.

  Hell. What was his problem? Did he have any idea how many germs are on the handles of doors leading into restaurants? It wasn’t as if the woman stopped to wash her hands after coming into the restaurant.

  “Are you our new secretary?” A look of hope brewed in her green eyes. “Jack, darling, I bet you’re happy she’s a she and not a he. I personally wanted a male secretary this go around.”

  Adeline sanitized her hands, taking her time, and then smiled serenely at the interloper as she dropped her sanitizer into her purse. “The only dictation I take is in the bedroom. I’m Jack’s fiancée.”

  “Fiancée,” the woman exclaimed, her face turning a shade of red that clashed with her candy-apple red lips. She fanned herself with her hand, showing off beautiful manicured nails. “Oh my God. The company’s most eligible bachelor has been caught.” She spoke in a tone faker than most restaurants’ grilled cheese sandwiches were. They were almost always fried.

  Both women glanced at Jack.

  His Adam’s apple convulsed several times.

  He took Adeline’s hand. “Adie, I’d like for you to meet Debbie Roberta. She’s in charge of special projects.”

  Debbie’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “Among other things.” She quickly recovered and flashed a forced smile. “Tell me. How did you manage to get Jack to put a ring on it?” She grabbed Adeline’s left hand. Frowned. Turned to Jack. “Why haven’t you put a ring on it?”

  Jack pulled at his ear. “Her engagement ring was a bit large. We’re having it resized.”

  Adeline smiled brightly at Jack. Kudos to him for thinking fast on his feet. “I was afraid it would fall off, and well, something that big, needs to be secured to my finger. Isn’t that right, Jackie dear?” Since he’d made a point of using her nickname, she decided it would be appropriate for her to use one for him. If she remembered right, Kinley used to refer to him as Jackie.

  Debbie made a weird noise. Like a trapped animal’s weak cry for help. “Describe your ring.” She shook her head as if freeing herself from whatever trap she was in. “I’m dying to know what kind of taste Jack has in diamonds.”

  Adeline settled into her chair. This was her first test as Jack’s fiancée. She needed to make this perfect. “It’s the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen. A square cut blue diamond. Huge, of course.” She adjusted the low neck of her dress, drawing Jack’s gaze to her décolletage. “He said the blue reminded him of my eyes during sex.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Adeline sat poker-faced, watching a muscle in Jack’s jaw twitch as he walked around the car and opened the driver door. Something was wrong. Way wrong. No idea what, but wrong. He’d ended their date the moment Debbie walked away. And she hadn’t even blurted anything embarrassing. “Now are you going to tell me what’s got you in a tizzy?”

  “What in the hell were you thinking, telling her we were engaged?” he asked, setting the to-go boxes in the backseat.

  That’s what this was about? “I guess I wasn’t.”

  “Obviously.” He balled his fists against the steering wheel. “Hell. Now the whole office will know by tomorrow. She’s probably already shouted it on social media.”

  Adeline fumbled with her seatbelt. “Is that so bad? Wasn’t that what we were working toward?”

  He took a long breath. Gave her a look she couldn’t decipher. “Yes, but—”

  “But?” Disappointment settled in her s
tomach. She’d heard the word “but” used in that tone too many times. We’d love for you to continue to be our foster child but… “But what?” she asked, preparing herself for a disappointing answer.

  He gave a brooding laugh. A cross between the sound of a villain and of a leading man in a romantic comedy. “Nothing. I just panicked. I’m sorry.”

  She stared at the man sitting across from her. At the wavy black hair that made her fingers itch to touch it. At the thick, perfectly arched eyebrows above nerdy, black-framed glasses. At the ridiculous fedora he loved to wear. At his expensive suit. Panicked, my ass. “You started the sentence.” She paused and gave him a church smile. One full of peace and light and falser than hell. Because it hid the sin. It hid her true feelings. Total frustration. “No reason not to finish,” she said in an equally false peaceful tone.

  He removed his glasses. “There’s no point. Just a stupid thought I had.”

  She stared straight into his naked brown eyes. Unfathomable pools of frozen dark chocolate that managed to scatter her thoughts like birds when a car backfires. They’d been having so much fun until Debbie showed up. Adeline glanced away. Regrouped. “The point would be satisfying my curiosity.” Her calm tone didn’t match the churning in her stomach.

  He slid his glasses back on. “I was about to tell you I wanted to call off our plan to present you as my pretend fiancée.”

  “Call it off?” An ice pick to the heart would have hurt less. She smoothed the fabric of her new dress, picking off a breadcrumb. She had three new outfits. One for each date he promised her. “When did you plan on telling me this decision?” Before or after they had sex, because they’d definitely been barreling toward sex tonight. “I thought we were having fun.”

  Why? Why? Why? She’d been on her best behavior. Charming as fuck. God. She rubbed the spot over her heart. There was actually an ache inside her chest. If she died tonight and they cracked her chest open during an autopsy would they find an ice pick with Jack’s fingerprints sticking out of her heart?

  He grimaced. “This time, it’s you who didn’t let me finish.” He started the car, put it in reverse, pulled out, paused, put it in forward, pulled back into the parking spot, and shifted the gear back into park. “It’s not you. It’s me. It’s just not a good idea.”