Icebreaker

by Deirdre Martin

  “You keep believing that.”

  Sinead took another sip of water, more to give herself something to do than out of thirst. Despite their little thrust and parry over Moe, Larry, and Curly, nerves were creeping up on her. Her mind blanked for a moment. What should we talk about now? Business. Go to the safe topic of business.

  Sinead gestured to her antique rolltop desk in the far right corner. “Remind me: your photo albums are there.” Time for another sip of water. “They’re really going to help if the case goes to court, Adam.”

  “Yeah, well . . .”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m worried about Ray testifying in court. I hate the thought of him humbling himself for my sake.”

  Sinead hesitated a moment, then reached for his hand, twining her fingers through his. “I don’t think this is going to end up in court. Trust me. It sounds egotistical, but Kidco hired me for a reason. While nothing is one hundred percent certain, I think I’ll be able to demonstrate that there’s really no case, and the charges will be dropped.”

  Adam ran his thumb along hers. “Christ, it’s like a goddamn toothache. I hope it gets wrapped up before the playoffs.”

  “Ray’s worried about all the pressure you’re under with the Blades,” Sinead said quietly.

  “Ray’s an old lady. Pressure is part of being a professional athlete.”

  “He’s just concerned about you.” She paused. “I am, too.”

  “I’m fine,” Adam said testily. “Pressure comes with the paycheck. It’s not a problem.”

  “If you say so.”

  He squeezed her hand. “Chicken smells good.”

  “Thanks.” Because she was neurotic, Sinead had everything in the kitchen on a timer. She’d already cut up the salad and tossed it, putting it in the fridge so it didn’t wilt before dinner.

  She untangled her fingers from his, pleasantly surprised when he slid closer and put his arm around her. “This okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, of course.” It was more than okay. She let herself settle into the crook of his arm, then jumped up a second later. “Oh, shoot! I forgot to put music on.”

  “Sinead.” Adam’s voice was affectionate yet reprimanding. “Just sit down and relax, okay? We can put music on when we have dinner.”

  “Okay.” Sinead sat back down, but inside she was thinking: This is a disaster so far. No, it isn’t. Stop being so melodramatic.

  She let herself rest her head on Adam’s broad shoulder, loving the feeling of his arm around her. Go with the flow. Rather than fretting about filling up the silence, she embraced it instead. They were sitting in the quiet of two people who didn’t need words right now to be close. Gradually, Sinead’s nervousness began to ebb, replaced by a rare sense of calm. Her mind wasn’t speeding like a bullet train. She was so relaxed that when the timer rang in the kitchen, she was jolted back into real time.

  “God, that almost gave me a heart attack,” she said, standing up. Meanwhile, Adam remained completely unperturbed; his gaze was relaxed, almost intimate. Sinead swallowed, trying not to stare at him, or worse, say, “To hell with dinner,” and lunge at him. She forced a genial smile onto her face. “Hungry?” she asked. She almost blushed. Somehow it sounded like a loaded question.

  Adam’s gaze locked onto hers. “Starving.”

  With that, Sinead knew that what she’d been fretting about earlier was completely imaginary: tonight was not going to be a disaster at all.

  14

  “What a great meal.”

  Sinead was pleased by Adam’s satisfied smile as they sat down together on the couch after dinner. Things had gone well. Adam was beginning to let down his defenses, and she was, too. He asked about her marriage over dinner and she told him, though she didn’t go into great detail about what it was that ultimately split her and Chip up. That was just too painful.

  “I’m glad you liked the meal,” she said, “but it’s not like it required gourmet skills. Anyone with half a brain could have made it.”

  “It was still good.”

  “Well, thank you.”

  Adam’s arm snaked around her, pulling her to him tight. “You thought I was a total moron when you first met me, didn’t you?”

  Embarrassed, Sinead buried her face in his shoulder.

  “You did, didn’t you?” Adam pressed, sounding amused.

  Sinead looked back at him. “No. I’d just never dealt with taciturn jocks before.”

  “Very telling, your use of the word jock, not athlete.”

  “Fine, I’ll admit it,” Sinead said with a little huff. “I thought you were a hulking twit incapable of putting two sentences together.”

  Adam laughed loudly. “And when did you change your mind?”

  “Who says I have?”

  “I can put two sentences together right now if you want,” Adam murmured.

  Sinead’s heart fluttered. “Okay.”

  He tucked her hair behind her ear, gently pressing his mouth to her ear. “I want you. Now.”

  “Me, too,” Sinead said, trying not to tremble. She decided to be bold and kissed him lightly. If Adam was surprised, he didn’t show it. Instead, he waited a few seconds before taking control, turning the bare touch of their lips into something more urgent. There was no denying the electricity passing back and forth between them, the sense that something long suppressed was finally being brought out into the light. Sinead gathered her senses together as best she could and stood, extending her hand to lead him into her bedroom.

  She turned on the bedside lamp. Adam lay down so gently beside her, looking at her with such unabashed tenderness that Sinead found herself teary. He really cares about me. I’m precious to him. And he’s showing me.

  His gaze remained amorous as he put his arms around her and held her tight, his mouth leaving a trail of tiny kisses along her jawline. Sinead’s eyes lazed shut. It felt wonderful, especially when his mouth moved down to the hollows of her collarbone. But sweetness wasn’t what she wanted right now. She was aching with want of him. Again boldness overtook her: she grasped his face between her hands and kissed his mouth greedily, unable to hide her yearning. She wanted to devour him and be devoured in return. Groaning, Adam flipped her onto her back, and then he was on her, his luscious mouth as demanding as hers. Sinead worried about squeezing the life out of him as she clutched him tightly. She wanted to feel every inch of his body against hers, his male solidity pressing down on her, possessing her. She wanted to be unable to tell where she started and he ended.

  Her craving for him was overpowering as she released him just long enough to tug on the back of his sweater. “I want this off,” she whispered. “Now.”

  Adam laughed. “You never stop bossing people around, do you?” He bit her neck softly and then sat up, straddling her as he whipped his sweater off and tossed it on the floor. Sinead reached up, pressing her palms to his smooth, hard chest, allowing herself the luxury of feeling him. His chest was burning; or was it her hands? Adam smiled down at her so seductively that for a split second, her shyness returned as she thought: Am I really worthy of such a look of desire?

  But clearly Adam thought she deserved it, as his mouth dipped down to hers, his kiss nakedly intense. Sinead pressed herself against him, physical desperation overtaking her body. Adam lifted his head to look at her; there was a ravenous look in his eye that made her blood churn excitedly, far past the point she thought possible. Adam seemed to sense it as he helped her quickly struggle out of her shirt and bra. His eyes hooded as he teased at her nipples with his mouth, his teeth gently tugging one minute, his tongue flicking the next. Sparks of pleasure cascaded through Sinead, the want of him building inside her starting to become unendurable. For the first time in years, she felt fully, truly alive.

  A sharp breath overtook her as Adam’s mouth slowly began its descent down her body, his kisses maddeningly light. He was torturing her and enjoying every moment of it. As was she. Body burning, she rocked her hips against him, lightl
y at first, then harder. “Please,” she whispered. Once again, Adam lifted his head to meet her eyes. Need was growing in him, too. She could see it on his face; hear it in his heavy breaths.

  Slowly, almost gingerly, Adam undid the zipper of her jeans and tugged them down, along with her panties. Her breath held as she saw him drink her in before his fingertips created invisible trails up and down the insides of her legs and over the terrain of her hips and belly. Such delicious torment—but she wanted the torture to end.

  “Make love to me,” she whispered. “Now.”

  “So demanding,” Adam said with a sexy smirk. “I love it.”

  She closed her eyes as Adam slid off her. She heard him undoing his belt, the soft sound of the rest of his clothing hitting the floor. There was the crinkle of a wrapper, and then he was back on the bed, his heated body crashing back down on hers. Sinead dug her nails into his back, gasping with pleasure when he parted her legs and eased himself inside her. His rhythm was slow and easy, but that wasn’t what she wanted as she lifted her hips with each thrust and took control of the pace herself. Adam returned her frenzy, his body punching inside hers deep and hard. As the world around them burned away to just the two of them, Sinead finally achieved the relief she sought as she was swept away on pounding waves of bliss. She had barely recovered when Adam upped the tempo, and pressure began building inside her again, sweet and sharp. Mere seconds later she was overcome with roaring pleasure for a second time, her joyous screams filling the bedroom. Adam moaned, and with a final, hard thrust, filled her as he shuddered with his own release.

  He was so quiet at first, Sinead didn’t know what to think. She was cuddled in his arms, drowsing in and out of that lovely postsex haze that she’d almost forgotten existed. She assumed his silence was one of happy satiation. But the longer it went on, the more she began to worry.

  “Adam?”

  “Mmm?”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, fine.” He squeezed her. “Why?”

  “You’re just so quiet.” She felt a tiny prick of anxiety. “You’re not thinking you made a mistake, are you?”

  Adam opened his eyes, propping himself up on one elbow to look at her. “You’re joking, right?”

  “I don’t know. I feel like you finally opened up to me, and now you’re retreating somehow.”

  Adam kissed her forehead. “You’re wrong. I’m just relaxing. Riding the inner tube, as Ray used to say.” He peered at her curiously. “Why? Are you used to guys who are chatty after sex?”

  “Not guys, guy. I’ve only ever been with Chip before this, and yes, he was quite the postsex yakker.”

  Adam looked dubious. “What did he yak about?”

  “Himself, mostly.”

  “Figures.” He caressed her hair. “I’m sorry. Generally I don’t say anything if I don’t think anything needs to be said.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” Sinead said. “I just want to make sure that now that we’ve taken this step, you’re not going to dump me after one night.”

  “I’m not going to dump you. To be honest, I thought you might dump me.”

  Sinead was taken aback. “Why’s that?”

  “I get the sense I’m not the type of guy you usually socialize with. I don’t know that a hockey player from western Canada fits in with your social scene.”

  “First of all, I don’t have a social scene. Secondly, do I seem like a one-night stand kind of woman?”

  Adam kissed her shoulder. “Nope.”

  One-night stand . . . “You know, if my partners find out I’m seeing a client, I’m dead. It’s considered very unprofessional—except when they do it.”

  “Jerks. You know where I wish we were right now?”

  “Where?”

  “In a cabin in the country.”

  “I have a country house, you know,” Sinead revealed.

  “You do?”

  “Yeah, in Bearsville, about two hours north of the city. I haven’t been there for a while.”

  “Why don’t you go there more often?”

  “I have no life outside of work.” She paused. “I’m a workaholic, Adam.”

  Adam feigned surprise. “Really? I never would have guessed. I am, too, in case you haven’t noticed.”

  “I have.” Which is good, Sinead thought. It will ensure things don’t get too serious, too fast. If they even get serious, which they might not. Unless—oh, shut up, please.

  “Maybe we could go away for a weekend at your house sometime,” Adam suggested.

  “That would be nice.” Sinead pictured them taking walks together. She’d relearn how to cook. She wouldn’t bring her laptop. She’d sleep well.

  “How’s the hunting up there?”

  Sinead sat up, staring at him in horror. “What?”

  Adam looked dismayed. “Let me guess: you think hunting is horrible.”

  “It is horrible!”

  “We just ate a chicken, right?”

  Sinead felt cornered; she could see where this was going. “So?”

  “Have you ever seen how chickens are raised? At least the deer are in the wild! They aren’t being treated like shit at factories, pumped full of hormones, raised in horrible conditions before they die!”

  “But it’s awful to kill animals for sport!”

  “It’s not just for sport. If I catch any fish, we’ll eat them.”

  “And if you kill a deer?”

  “I’ll gut it, dress it, and grill us some venison. Plus I can saw off the legs and make myself a nice gun rack.”

  Sinead blanched.

  “That was a joke, Sinead.”

  “Thank God. Adam, I don’t know about your coming up there to hunt.” She hated when she was at her house during deer season and she’d wake to the sound of gunfire echoing off the hills. “Maybe the first time we go up to the house together, you could bypass killing things?”

  “Fine.” He looked at her affectionately. “No one could ever accuse you of being tepid in your views, that’s for sure.”

  Sinead lay back down, covering her face with her hands in disbelief. “I can’t believe our first postsex discussion was about deer hunting.”

  Adam gently pulled her hands from her face. “We can talk about The Three Stooges if you want.”

  Sinead couldn’t help but smile. “You’re pretty funny.” “For a bonehead.”

  Adam looked tender as he gathered her into his arms. “Why don’t we try to get some sleep? I’ve got practice tomorrow morning—”

  “And I’ve got tons of work to do.” She ran her index finger down his cheek. “I’ve crossed a line here, you know. I vowed I would never get involved with a client. That I’d never be like them.”

  “It’s no one’s business.”

  “Technically that’s true, but—”

  “Earth to Sinead: we just made passionate love, and you’re back to talking about work.”

  “God, you’re right. I promise I won’t do it again.”

  “Good.” Adam kissed her forehead. “Thanks for a wonderful night.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Perry.” Sinead was filled with joy and a little bit of confusion. She kept the latter at bay for now, concentrating instead on the moment and the sheer rightness of being in Adam’s arms. She was remembering what it was like to live a full life, and she was happy.

  15

  Sinead chuckled as she walked into her parents’ bar to meet Oliver, trying to ignore the knowing smirk on his face as she slid into the booth opposite him.

  “Oooh, look at you: smile on your face, cheeks all aglow—you got some sugar last night, didn’t you?” His observation made her apprehensive. Was there really something different about her appearance now that she was dating Adam? If so, what did that say about her previous demeanor?

  “Good evening to you, too, Oliver.”

  “Avoidance. Means the answer is yes,” said Oliver, waving crazily for Christie to come over to their table.

  “It’s not avoidance. It m
eans I’m sitting in my parents’ pub, starving. Can I at least have some dinner before you start cross-examining me?”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Thank you.”

  Sinead took a sip of water, turning around to scan the back of the dining room so Oliver couldn’t see the big, goofy grin on her face. She and Adam had gotten up extra early to make love before they both went to work, and it was lovely, languid, and slow. Sinead was worried they might drift back to sleep afterward, but then realized that was impossible. This was her and Adam, the two most conscientious people in the world. Despite their glorious dawn tumble, they were both up and out the door when they had to be. But as the day rolled on, getting up with the sun had taken its toll: Sinead was exhausted, trying to keep herself from constantly yawning.

  She turned back to Oliver.

  “Well?” he said.

  “I want to hear about your weekend first. If you can even remember it.”

  “Very funny.” Oliver looked thoughtful. “Well, let’s see. Friday night I went to a lingerie show—”

  “What?”

  Before Oliver could explain, Christie came over to the table, plunking down a glass of scotch in front of him. “I take it this is what you want?”

  Oliver flashed a seductive smile. “It’s one of the things I want, yes.”

  “God, Oliver,” said Sinead, embarrassed to be friends with him.

  “How did last night go?” Oliver continued, his eyes indiscreetly sweeping Christie’s body. “Put out any raging fires?”

  “Nope.”

  Oliver fixed her with what Sinead supposed was his “smoky, seductive” look. “Well, I know one—”

  “Bye, Oliver,” Christie said, walking away.

  Oliver jumped right back into his story.

  “Okay, so you know that Swedish supermodel, Dani?”

  Sinead braced herself. “Oh, no.”

  Oliver broke into a big Cheshire cat smile. “Oh, yes. I met her at a cocktail party last week, and she invited me to come to the lingerie show she was modeling in. How could I refuse?”

  “Did you enjoy yourself?”