Fahrenheit

by Capri Montgomery

  When she turned around and smiled at him, not just a smile that graced her lips, but one that was present in her strikingly beautiful green eyes as well, he was sure he was in the safe zone. “Is everything okay?”

  She shook her head. “My brothers at work again,” she mumbled. “But I’m fine. I can deal with Thomas later.”

  “Want to tell me about it?”

  “I really shouldn’t bother you.”

  “Eve, I have two older brothers. Bounce your troubles off me because I assure you I can understand what you’re going through.”

  “Are you sure? I mean this is our first date. Isn’t there some rule about what not to bring to the table?”

  He shrugged. “Rules are made to be broken.”

  She laughed. “Don’t let anybody in law enforcement hear you say that.”

  He took her hand in his. “Come on, let’s get a table and then we’ll talk.” Adam was well aware that if they didn’t get inside soon all the good tables on the roof would be taken. Everybody seemed to like to eat up top, and he couldn’t blame them. While the downstairs had an open, wrap around, patio area filled with tables and a stage for live music, the upstairs had the best views. Downstairs you could see the surrounding streets and brush covering the beach. But upstairs, the ocean was on one side and the intercostal waterway was at least visible from the other.

  The environment wasn’t high-class elegance, but it wasn’t dressed down beachwear either. The dress code was strict. No flip flops, no swimwear, no shorts. Most people came in a nice pair of jeans or pants. On the rare occasions he was there he occasionally saw somebody trying to come straight from the beach to LJ’s. He also saw those people get turned away. There was, as the doorman would say, a fish place just down the street that would welcome their barely covered body with open arms, but not at LJ’s. They either covered up, or they went elsewhere.

  The doorman wasn’t some feeble looking man either. He was tall, built like Arnold in his early days, and from what Adam had heard, he was an expert in two forms of martial arts. He never declared himself to be former military. He wasn’t law enforcement. He was an enigma. Nobody knew exactly what this man did before he arrived in town, but they knew what he did now.

  “Two,” Adam held up two fingers for the hostess. “Up top if you have one.”

  “I do,” the bleached blond smiled warmly at both of them. “Follow me.”

  “Following,” he said as he took Eve’s hand in his. After they were seated he sat his menu down on the table, leaned forward and looked into her eyes. “So, what’s going on?”

  She sighed. “Thomas put a rush on my insurance check. He, oh God, who knows what he said to the poor man, but my claim got pushed ahead because of him.”

  “And that makes you angry?” He didn’t understand why. Most people were probably still trying to get the insurance to even consider paying. He doubted that the renter’s insurance policies covered bombs. Knowing most corporations he was sure the insurance companies would try to find any excuse not to have to dish out millions of dollars in insurance.

  “Yes. I’m an adult and I wish they would stop treating me like a child.”

  “I see.” He leaned back in his chair. “You know, Eve, part of being treated like an adult is to act like one.” He could tell he had made her angry by the way her eyes widened and her cheeks flamed with red heat. “Your brothers are just trying to help you. Being an adult means you realize when you need help, to ask for it, and to accept it.”

  “That sounds oddly hypocritical coming from you, Adam. You moved here to get away from your brothers and their controlling ways.”

  “Yes, I did. When it came to my career I needed space to breathe, to grow. But there are times when I’m glad they are the men they are. And if I were in your situation now, homeless and out of a boatload of my personal things, I’d willingly accept their help.”

  “I’m not homeless,” she shook her head as if she wasn’t quite ready to admit defeat. “Thomas made sure I would have a home to move into before he left. I should be able to get in on Friday, at least that’s what the landlord said when he called me.”

  “See,” Adam felt the need to remind her of the reason she had that home now.

  “It’s just that I wish they wouldn’t worry so much. When they worry it makes me feel…”

  “It makes you feel what, Eve?”

  “It makes me feel like I’ll never be able to make them proud of me—to show them I can take care of myself. To make him proud of me,” she sighed

  “So the problem isn’t really your brothers, or shall I say, brother. The problem is that you think the only way to gain his respect, to earn his love, is to show Thomas that you can handle whatever the world throws at you without needing to be rescued.” He could tell from the interaction between Thomas and Eve when he first met her brother that she was closest to him; that her world probably revolved around him. He knew that was the person she wanted to make proud the most.

  “Yes!” She took a deep, calming breath. She chuckled. “Okay Doctor Carrigan, I see your point.”

  “I’m not a doctor, Eve. If I were I’d have you on my couch telling you to tell me about your mother. I’d have to bill you about two fifty an hour on top of that.”

  “You’re cheap,” she grinned. “And you’re good, very good. I do need Thomas to be proud of me. My whole life I’ve looked up to him, and I’ve always wanted to make him proud. I’ve cared more about making Thomas proud of me than I did my own father.” She shook her head. “I’m a little stubborn. You’ll soon learn that about me,” she laughed. “It’s from my Irish side.”

  “Irish?”

  She nodded. “My mother is Italian and black, but my father is Irish. Thomas looks more like my dad, even though he has a bit of a natural tan he has more of a fair skin look during the winter, but tans very nicely come summer. I’m the darkest of the children. Gavin is effortlessly tanned with this naturally subtle bronzed skin all year long. Alyssa is…well she’s a little lighter than me actually. I guess we girls took more after our mother than our father, except I have the green eyes, which is probably in my dad’s family somewhere. Alyssa, she has these gorgeous deep blue eyes, deeper than Thomas’ blue eyes. It’s just beautiful.”

  “So where do the blue eyes come from in your family?”

  “My dad has blue eyes. I’m the only one with green; it’s weird. I wanted blue like Thomas, but after I got older I realized that wanting and having were two different things.”

  “I like your green eyes,” he stated.

  “I like them too—now. But growing up I just wanted to be like my big brother.”

  He held the conversation with her, listening to her determination to make her big brother proud. It was more than just wanting Thomas to see her as an adult, to be proud of her accomplishments. Her desire almost bordered on need. She needed his approval like she needed air, like she needed life.

  He loved the sound of her voice, soft, melodious, and sexy in its own way. She had a wide range of pitches, from downright sweet to sexy as hell. She had the kind of voice that could seriously become the phone voice of a major fortune five hundred company. He liked her voice—a lot. He was almost disappointed when she asked questions about him because he knew that meant she would stop talking and he would have to hear his own voice instead of hers.

  “Will you excuse me for a moment?”

  “Sure,” she smiled up at him. He loved her smile too. He was in trouble, big trouble, because he was starting to love everything about her. When he first saw her he felt an attraction to her, one he thought was based on lust, but now…now he wasn’t sure lust was all there was to it. He didn’t know this woman well enough to declare love; yet somehow he felt as if she were the one woman he was meant to spend forever with.

  Eve flipped open her phone and smiled when she saw the caller ID. “Hello, Thomas;” she said with a smile on her face. Talking to Adam had calmed her considerably—and just in time.

>   “I saw that you called. Is something wrong?”

  “No. Nothing’s wrong.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I’m fine Thomas. Actually, I’m on a date, but Adam’s in the bathroom right now. I just started to call you earlier because I talked to Mr. Domer; my insurance adjuster, and he told me what you did.”

  “And you want to tell me off?”

  “No. I just want to say thanks.”

  “Whoa,” he exhaled sharply. “You never take my interfering this easily. Where’s the other shoe.”

  She laughed. “Well, before you thank me for not being such a total girl here I have to give the credit to Adam. We had a talk and I guess you can say he showed me the error of my ways.”

  “You really like this guy. Should I tell mom to start planning another wedding?”

  “Hey,” she snapped. “I didn’t say anything about marriage. We just met—kind of, and he’s, well we’re, we’re not there yet.”

  “Yet,” Thomas chuckled. “I knew it. Eve’s falling for the fire guy.”

  She bit her lip to keep from unleashing her currently growing anger. “I didn’t say that. Ooh! I should have known you would read something into my words.”

  “You said “yet,” Eve and that tells me that you’re planning on getting there.”

  She sighed in frustration. Why did the man have to be so observant? “What about you, Thomas? Thena seems like a phenomenally nice woman—marriage material wouldn’t you say?”

  He growled. “Don’t you have a date to get back to?”

  “Smooth, Thomas. Real smooth.” He was right. She did have a date to get back to because she was sure Adam wouldn’t be in the bathroom much longer. If it weren’t for the timing, she would gladly keep Thomas on the phone and push the issue more deeply. Clearly she had won—this round anyway.

  “When do you move into your new place?”

  “Friday. There was a leak with the roof and he wanted to get it fixed before I move in, so I get to move in on Friday.” She heard the low rumble in Thomas’ voice. “Would you prefer I move into a leaky place?”

  “There wasn’t a problem with the roof when I secured the place.”

  She shrugged, knowing he couldn’t see her. “Well, we did have some rain to come through here, not enough to put out the fires, but I don’t know…maybe there was just enough rain to expose a small leak or something. Look, I’m just glad he’s getting it fixed now and not later.” It wasn’t as if the date for move-in was pushed back significantly. She was only going to be three days late moving in to the new place, and the landlord had already gave her a three day credit on the month’s rent so she didn’t have to worry about getting Thomas’ money back for the unused days on the lease. She smiled just thinking about Thomas. Her big brother—the protector. He had come prepared, ready to plunk down cash to assure she had a safe home to live in. She hadn’t expected him to be ready to secure housing for her, although she should have known he would have. Thomas was always protecting her. Sometimes she wished she could return the favor.

  “All right. Call me once you get settled in and let me know if the place is suitable. If it’s not I’ll get you out of the lease.”

  She laughed. “Yes big brother.” She said her goodbyes and disconnected the call before slipping her phone back into her handbag.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Perfect,” she smiled as he sat down in front of her. “I think we’re still in a holding pattern for our food.” They had long since ordered, and everybody around them seemed to be getting their meals, but the waitress had yet to bring their dinners.

  “I hope you’re not in a hurry to get somewhere.”

  She laughed. “No. I can’t think of any place I need to be right now.”

  “So I have your undivided attention then?”

  “For now; once the food comes all bets are off.”

  “You’re going to ditch me for food?”

  “Adam, I might be skinny, but I like to eat.” And at fifteen dollars for a plate of Alaskan Salmon and a bed a of baby spinach leaves, she planned to eat every ounce of food—even if she had to take it back to the hotel and eat it for breakfast.

  “I think there’s something about me that I should tell you, Adam.” She turned serious. There was no time like the present, and while she didn’t want to ruin a good date, she knew if she waited any longer she was going to chicken out of having the conversation they needed to have.

  “You’re an ax murderer,” he said jokingly. He started to laugh, but stopped the moment he saw she hadn’t started laughing with him. “Jesus! You’re not are you?”

  “Of course not,” she frowned. She had been so lost in trying to find the right words that she hadn’t immediately reacted to his joke. Apparently he took that as a sign that she was an ax murderer.

  “Okay, you had me worried for a minute there.”

  “Seriously, do you think I’m that crazy?”

  “No, but you know I see a lot in my line of work.”

  “Ax murderers?”

  “Well, no; not those.”

  “I should hope not.”

  “Okay, what do you need to talk to me about?”

  “Well…how do I say this?”

  “Just say it.” He leaned forward and took her hand in his. She exhaled slowly before taking another deep breath and exhaling it again, just as slowly as the first. She needed to calm her nerves. This was crazy. She wasn’t ashamed of her choice. She wasn’t afraid of it either. But she was afraid of his reaction to it. She was starting to wonder, based on things she had heard from Mitch and other people, if men were all the same. She was starting to wonder if any of them out there on the dating market would be willing to pursue a relationship even if they knew they wouldn’t get sex out of it. Wondering was starting to work her nerves.

  “I’m…I’m waiting,” she shook her head trying to clear the fog. This part of the conversation went so much better in her head earlier today. Now that the words were trying to come out of her mouth the conversation wasn’t looking so good.

  “Waiting? Okay, waiting for what?”

  “Oh, Adam, I like you. I do, but...”

  “You’re dumping me at dinner?”

  “No, but you might want to dump me.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “I’m waiting until I get married to have sex.”

  “What?”

  “I’m a virgin, Adam. And I’d like to be one on my wedding day, and I want my husband to be the only man I share that part of myself with. And I understand,” she felt herself rambling on, “if you don’t want to see me again. I mean it’s a lot to ask of anybody. And I’m not doing this for religious reasons, or any strong opposition to sex before marriage on a whole, but I want to wait. It’s a choice I made a long time ago and it’s very special to me.” She stopped talking, realizing he was just sitting there staring at her.

  “And you think I wouldn’t want to see you if I knew I wouldn’t be getting you flat on your back with me between your legs?”

  “Well, I…” she felt her mouth hanging open, but the words weren’t coming out. When he put it that way it did make it seem as if she were saying he was a jerk bastard who only had one thing on his mind, but that’s not what she meant—it wasn’t at all what she meant.

  “Eve, if you want to wait I can respect that. I like you. I want to date you. I don’t know if we’ll head toward marriage, but sex isn’t a condition for my dating you. I’m not that kind of guy. You want to wait. We’ll wait. If we work, and we take that walk down the aisle then I’ll be a happy man knowing I’m your first, your only, but if we don’t, I won’t have any regrets.”

  She sat back in her chair, realizing she had been stiff as a board on edge while waiting to hear his response. “Okay,” she nodded. “Good. I’m glad. I was worried, but…”

  “But you didn’t need to be. I just have one question for you.”

  “What?”

  “We can still make o
ut right? I mean, I can kiss you and hold you; right?”

  “Of course. Kissing isn’t off limits.”

  “Good,” he sat back with a big sigh of relief. “Because I’ve been dreaming about tasting that sweet looking mouth of yours and I can’t wait to have a chance.”

  “Oh,” she stammered. “Okay.”

  “You’re so beautiful. Your skin is smooth and rich, and it makes me wonder if you taste as good as you look.”

  She felt her breath catch in her throat. Adam was sexier than she thought he could be. He had the frat boyish good looks. The scar enhanced his image a little, but his mouth…there was nothing boyish about that. He was all man, all twenty-six years of him. He looked innocent, when in reality he was lethal.

  “And when I get around to tasting you; I’d like to know you won’t have any regrets afterwards.”

  “I won’t.” She heard the huskiness of her own voice. There would be no regrets at all when she and Adam did kiss.

  Adam looked around at the other tables. “Eve, I’m real sorry about this, but I’m not sure we’re ever going to get our food.”

  She laughed. “It has been a while since we ordered.”

  “Yeah, and that guy in the corner came twenty minutes after us, yet he’s already eating.”

  “Well, we could always ditch this place for Stake and Shake.”

  “That’s a sorry excuse for a first date don’t you think?”

  She shrugged. “I like their milkshakes.”

  He laughed at her. “All right, Stake and Shake it is. Let’s blow this joint.”

  “Oh,” she shook her head. “Don’t mention the word blow anytime soon. I’m still having flashbacks to my apartment complex going up in pieces.”