She’d called Medea and asked her to retrieve the envelope and leave it on the back porch. Rosa planned to come and get it after dark. Medea had to go into town and volunteered to drop it off. However, Adam had seen Medea taking it from the cab and wondered what she was doing. It didn’t take much for the housekeeper to tell him the story. Anger initially spurred his action. He refused to let Rosa skirt around him. She wasn’t going to stay in the Valley and avoid him. This last week had been miserable. Seeing her at the drugstore had jolted his heart. As he turned into her driveway, he realized he wanted to see her again. He wanted to wake up next to her in the morning.
Rosa opened the door when she saw the lights. She would be expecting Medea. The smile on her face evaporated when Adam stepped down from the truck. She took a step back inside the door, then stood her ground.
“Where’s Medea?” she asked.
“I’m filling in for her,” he told her. “But don’t think she volunteered your call without a lot of coaxing.”
He sucked in a breath. God, Rosa was beautiful. Her hair hung past her shoulders. She’d changed clothes and wore a T-shirt that hung past her knees. Adam wondered if she was wearing anything under it.
“You brought my photos?” Rosa reached for the package.
Adam had every intention of handing it to her and leaving. He lifted the envelope, then remembered what was inside. As her hand closed around it, his tightened and she tugged. She looked up at him. Adam’s free arm went around her waist and he pulled her into contact with his body. Instantly he was hot.
Hot for her.
Dropping his grasp on the envelope, he circled her waist and took her mouth. He felt her surprise, which lasted an instant before he heard the package fall to the floor and felt her hands slowly moving up his arms.
“You’re driving me crazy,” he said, lifting his mouth. He kissed her again. “I can’t go through this summer with you walking away each time you see me.”
He kept kissing her. Between each word he repositioned his mouth. He couldn’t get enough of her. He wanted to consume her, kiss every inch of her.
“You don’t like me,” she whispered against his mouth.
“I know,” he groaned.
“I’m beautiful.”
“Too beautiful,” he whispered.
He went on pressing his mouth to hers. She was too beautiful, but her beauty penetrated beyond her skin. It was on the inside, too, deep down in places where no one could see. He knew that from the way she worked with his father. Bailey couldn’t hold a conversation in which her name didn’t come up.
Adam didn’t wake on any day without thinking of her, remembering her sitting in the big chair in the great room. His heart hammered whenever he came across her or saw that red car parked somewhere in town.
His arms tightened around her, his mouth devouring hers. He wanted her, all of her. He wanted to be inside her, feeling the wild sensations that rioted through him each time he saw her. He wanted her legs wrapped around him, the feel of smooth skin rocking against his own. He wanted to listen to her soft sighs as he ravished her body. And hear the final climax as their mutual satisfaction echoed about the room.
He was very close to doing that. His hands roamed freely over her and he now knew there was nothing under the T-shirt but more of Rosa. Not a bump, a snap, or a panty line marred the smooth exploration of his hands. The knowledge aroused him more than he already was. His body grew tighter, harder, his emotions drawing hot blood from his toes and pouring it into his loins.
He couldn’t wait to slip his hands under Rosa’s shirt, smoothly lift it up her body and over her head. He wanted to see that body again, the even color tone that ran from her ankles to her hairline. The sexy way she moved. He wanted to taste her, kiss her, explore her region by region. And take his time doing it.
Rosa turned in his arms. Her body aligned with his and it nearly undid him. He moaned against her mouth, a sound of pure pleasure as she brushed against his hardness. As tall as she was, Adam lifted her feet off the floor. Her arms tightened around his neck as he carried her to the sofa.
“Upstairs,” she whispered as her feet touched the floor. “I need a bed.”
Adam heard the need in her voice and nearly ran them up the steps. The moment they reached the bedroom he pulled her into his arms. They hadn’t switched on the lights upstairs. Light from below filtered up, shadowing her features as if she were the female lead in a movie-set love scene. Her eyes were dreamy, lids half closed. Adam kissed her mouth, drawing her close to him, feeling the two of them merge shoulders to knees.
Instantly, he removed her clothes. The T-shirt slipped with ease up her torso, leaving her naked. For a moment he watched her heaving breasts, moons that begged him to touch them. Lowering his mouth, he obliged. He felt her head fall back as if she were giving him both room and permission to continue.
Adam’s mouth covered the dark circle of her nipple and Rosa arched in his arms, her body instinctively yearning for his touch. Adam’s body strained against his clothing. He wanted them naked. He wanted to feel her skin next to his.
Her hands found his waist and undid his belt. He felt her slender fingers at his waist. Slipping her splayed hands inside his waistband, he felt the soft scratch of her nails over sensitive skin. Her hands went lower, pushing the pants down slowly until her palms cupped his buttocks. He thought he’d come right then and there.
Grabbing for her hands, he pulled them away from him, but kept them trapped in his grasp. He pulled back a second. They looked at each other, breathing but not speaking. Guiding her hands, he let her remove his pants. Then he sat on the bed, pulling her into his arms and removing the remainder of her clothes.
She was beautiful, more so than he remembered. He understood how her image jumped off the pages of a magazine. She was sexy, sensual, and moved with an elegance that was every man’s sexual fantasy, including his. He kissed her belly, his tongue jutting out and tasting the warmth of her scented skin.
Lying back, he pulled her with him. She laughed as the two of them became entwined in each other. He flipped her over and parted her legs. Entering her was like nothing he could compare. The experience was totally and unexpectedly new. And something he wanted to do over and over again.
His rhythm changed at that moment. Intensity spurred him on. Rosa’s legs encircled him, drawing him into her. She met his thrusts with those of her own. For Adam in that instant, something changed within him. He more than wanted this woman. He needed her. He needed her for more than sex. He needed her humor, her anger, her love.
Their bodies merged, released, connected. Pleasure coursed through him, heated with the chroma of volcanic lava. Then he felt the wave, the coming of his climax. He warded it off, straining, holding, continuing, wanting to make sure Rosa understood the pleasure she was giving him and in kind returning it. The strength built within him. He heard her sounds, mingled with his own. Animalistic grunts filled the room as their bodies seemed to catch fire, light the room, and work toward an inevitable explosion.
Then it happened. He heard her name, shouted as if it were torn from a dying animal, and realized the sound had come from him. Moments later he heard her scream and together they fell spent on the coverlet. Adam didn’t want to break the connection between them. For the first time in his life he thought he’d found the one person who completed him.
He held her, falling to his side and pulling her with him. His heart pounded in his chest and he knew nothing would ever satisfy him like she did. And he wanted her with him, forever.
The Angus was no surprise to Rosa. As its name indicated, it was a beef restaurant. The decor was rustic, log walls, huge paintings of Angus cattle gracing them. The chandeliers were reproductions of longhorns with bulbs positioned in them. There were a few booths along the back, remnants of a long ago time before the place was updated to include white tablecloths and bud roses. There was no doubt that the food had always been superb.
Rosa smiled and acknowl
edged strangers as she was led to the table where Thomasina and Vida sat waiting. She was used to both the silence her appearance often caused and the low whispers and covert stares she sometimes received. Today it was the whispers first, then silence when she stopped to say hello to someone she’d met earlier. After a brief exchange, she went on to her waiting party sitting near the center of the room.
Tommie looked in awe of her entrance. Her mouth nearly hung open. Rosa could see the young girl wished she’d get the same kind of reception. Little did she know what a burden it could be. Rosa often wanted to be anonymous, part of the group, not set apart by some status. She had to be strong enough to ignore the way people looked at her. It was a learned trait and it did separate her. So she adapted, walking a line between being thought arrogant and stuck-up if she ignored the stares and friendly and approachable if she didn’t. She’d learned the hard way that getting too close to the public could mean someone harmed her.
“We ordered,” Vida said when Rosa was seated. “I got a salad for you.” A waiter seemed to have followed the maitre d’. Immediately he set a glass of lemonade in front of her.
“No steak?” She laid her sunglasses on the table and adjusted her purse strap over the back of her chair.
“And a steak,” Vida conceded. “Medium well.”
Rosa smiled. She was watching her weight. It was ingrained in her after so many years of refusing pizza, sugared drinks, mashed potatoes, and anything fried.
“Well, Thomasina, has Vida told you anything about becoming a model?”
“She told me how she got to be one.”
Vida had gone the traditional route. She’d sent a letter and photo to several agencies. When she got no response, she attended an open call and got a job and an agent. From then on she worked. Not always at the best jobs, but eventually she made it to the top.
“My method was different,” Rosa began. “I fell into modeling.”
“Fell?” Tommie asked. “How?”
“I’d just graduated from college. I was an engineering major and planned to get a job as soon as the summer ended.”
“Really?” Tommie said on a long breath, obviously impressed. “Engineering. You must be really smart.”
“Roads, bridges, concrete structures,” Vida supplied. “Our Rosa has a lot of talents. She used to explain things to us about the structures where we were photographed. Of course, we didn’t understand a word she said.”
“Anyway,” Rosa went on, “that summer I went to Italy. It was a graduation present from my family. I’d studied the language and they knew I longed to go. While coming out from under a bridge that was very well constructed and looked as if it had been there for centuries, I happened upon a designer who wanted to know what I was doing under his bridge.”
“He owned the bridge?”
“It was on his property. I didn’t realize I’d strayed onto an estate. There was no gate. I was driving along and stopped when I saw it. Instead of throwing me off the place, he invited me to lunch and afterward asked if he could take a few pictures of me.”
“And you let him?”
Rosa nodded. “We took them on the bridge. A day later he called me and asked me to model for him. I didn’t believe him.”
“Why not?”
Rosa looked at the two women from Waymon Valley. “It’s a vastly different world in some places,” she said.
“No, it’s not,” Vida objected. “Men are the same all over.”
“You thought he was on the make,” Tommie stated.
Rosa nodded. “This was Italy and while he was handsome, older, with that worldly air that is so appealing, and had an accent to die for, I was from Dallas and knew a pass when I heard one. At least I thought so, but he was serious. And my career was launched.”
“She’s a Cinderella story,” Vida said. “Most people go the route I went or they register with several agencies and hope for the best. It’s probably what you should do. I’ll write you a letter of introduction. That’ll get you past the crowd.”
“I have a better idea,” Rosa said.
Both women looked at her in anticipation. “You can start immediately. Well, almost immediately.”
“What do you mean?” Tommie asked.
Rosa didn’t get to answer. At that moment she heard a familiar voice and her throat closed off. Vida and Tommie turned to see what Rosa was looking at. Adam Osborne had come in, smiling and shaking hands as he passed by table after table. Rosa could see he was heading for them. Rosa wondered if each time she saw him or heard his name, she’d have the same reaction. She wondered if this was how her brothers felt when they met the women they fell in love with. And what did Adam feel when he saw her?
Rosa thought about last night. Her body grew hot and she was sure she’d spontaneously combust within seconds. Vida and Tommie sat next to each other, leaving the only free seat next to Rosa.
Without asking, Adam slid into the chair, his leg grazing hers as surely as if it were a hot poker. Rosa had no doubt that it was intentional.
“What are you doing here?” Tommie asked. Her smile was wide. She was obviously glad to see him.
“I don’t mean to interrupt. I was just over at the cable station. They need news. I thought I’d do a story for them.”
“On what?” Vida asked.
“You three,” he said.
“Us?” Tommie said, sitting up straighter in her chair.
“Human interest,” he said, glancing at Rosa. “Two veteran models helping a novice get started. People love that sort of thing.”
“I thought you were finished with broadcast news,” Rosa said. She remembered her past encounter with his reporting.
“This isn’t broadcast. It’s cable. And they need something at the station. It seems there isn’t much to report and few people to do it. I’m helping out. It’ll be nothing like the last time,” he told her.
Rosa stared at him. News was in his blood and as much as he said he wasn’t interested in it, she knew differently.
“So, what’s been going on?”
Without asking permission, he placed a small digital tape recorder on the table.
“Rosa and Vida have told me how they got in the business,” Tommie said, and went on to recap the stories for him. “Rosa was about to say something more when you came.”
Three pairs of eyes swung toward her.
She was suddenly tongue-tied. Images of herself and Adam flooded her mind and she couldn’t think coherently.
“Don’t mind me,” Adam said. “Pretend I’m not here.”
She could do that as well as she could pretend he hadn’t rocked her world.
Clearing her throat, she took a sip of her lemonade before trying to go on. “I was about to say that I have a photo shoot coming up.”
“You do?” Vida’s eyes opened wide. “When?”
“In a week.”
“I thought you were here for the summer,” Adam said. “No work.”
Rosa wondered if she heard something else in his voice. Regret? Concern? Disappointment? “I am here for the summer.”
“But you just said—”
“I know.” Rosa cut Vida off. “I’m not leaving.” She wasn’t sure why she added the last. She wanted Adam to understand that there was something between them and she wanted to pursue it to its natural conclusion. Or the end of the summer when she’d have to return to work. “I got a call from Crawford. He wants me to do one shoot.”
“That could take days,” Vida said. She remembered well the delays that could happen at a shoot: equipment failure, late deliveries, differences of opinion on how the setup should be, temperamental models or photographers, the weather. “And once he’s got you some place exotic there’ll be another job and another one.”
“I only accepted one day. I told Crawford it had to be done here and after one day, finished or not, it’s over.”
“And you think they went for that?”
Rosa watched both Adam’s and Tommie’s heads
swing from Vida to her.
“I might be willing to let it roll over another day,” Rosa said. “Because Tommie here is a novice.”
“What?” Tommie said. “What does that mean? Who’s Crawford?”
A smile slowly spread over Vida’s face. “That’s a wonderful idea.”
“What?” Tommie asked again, looking confused.
“This will make a very good story,” Adam said.
“What?” Tommie asked for the third time, exasperation showing on her face.
“Crawford is my agent. And you’re going to be a model in a shoot,” Rosa told her.
“What?” she said, but this time her voice held breathless wonder. After a moment, questions poured from her like a waterfall. “What do I have to do? I’ll need to get my hair done. What are we to wear? Where are they taking the photos? What magazines will the pictures be in? When is it? Adrian is going to be so jealous.”
“Slow down,” Rosa told her, making the connection that Adrian must be her best friend. “All you need to do is show up on the day. Your hair will be done by professionals. Your makeup will be done. Clothes will be provided for you. And there will be someone there to fit you.”
Rosa glanced at Vida. “I thought she could wear some of your designs.”
Vida reached for Rosa’s hand and squeezed it. “Don’t worry about any of the details. I’ll take care of them.”
“Another supermodel in the making,” Adam said.
“What about the model walk?” Tommie asked. “Don’t I have to practice that?”
Rosa and Vida laughed. “You won’t be on a runway, Tommie,” Rosa said. “You’re going to be positioned by the photographer and stand still while a photo is taken. You can move in some cases, but in most instances it’ll be a still photo.”
“I can hardly wait to tell everyone.”
“Not yet,” Adam said. “I have some background questions.”
The waiter brought their food and while Adam hadn’t ordered anything, a T-bone steak was set in front of him. Rosa was reminded how well he was known in this town. Dallas was much larger. She could go places where people only recognized her from her modeling jobs. Few of them would know how she liked her steak. And even fewer of them would know her order without her giving it.
Last Night's Kiss Page 14
