by Joan Kilby
“Would you rather sit somewhere else? You can find another table and I’ll go get Jacinta.”
“Thanks, no. I need to face Molly sooner or later.”
“Okay, but if you need to escape give me a signal and we’ll find an excuse to leave.”
Crossing the gym took a while. Hayley stopped to say hello to people who congratulated her on her speech that morning and expressed their condolences. And, no doubt, to eye up her escort for the evening. Adam seemed to know quite a few people, too. Mort, the Realtor; Belinda, from the grocery store; Leanne, from the garden center; members of the fencing crew; Tom, the school principal; and a man Hayley didn’t know—Adam told her was a forestry research scientist whose acquaintance he’d made in the line at the liquor store.
Finally they arrived at their table. Hayley was about to sit down when Molly called her over. “Join us. There’s plenty of room.”
She glanced at Adam. “I don’t see how I can say no.”
“It’s fine. I’ll get us drinks. Wine for you and Jacinta?”
“Thanks.” Hayley waved Jacinta over. Her friend made a discreet eye roll, but she picked up her purse and joined them.
“It was nice of you to let Adam come with you,” Molly said to Hayley, subtly fishing for information. “Although I’m not sure why he’d be interested in our little dance.”
Hayley stifled a sigh. There was no point in pretending anymore. “We’re here together on a date.” She touched Molly’s hand and added gently, “I know it must be hard for you to see me with another man, but I like Adam. He’s a good man.”
“Hayley, my dear, it is hard for me, but I always knew in my heart it was going to happen someday. I have nothing against Adam. I’m sure he’s a perfectly fine person. But I don’t want you to get hurt. From what I understand he won’t be in Hope Mountain much longer. Mort was telling me he’d been out to Timbertop to take photos so he could list the property.”
“I know about that. Adam told me himself. But he can still enjoy Hope Mountain while he’s here, can’t he?”
And there was no reason she couldn’t enjoy his company while she had him. If she’d learned anything from the fires, it was that life was short and you had to find your happiness when and where you could. Deliberately going into a relationship knowing it wouldn’t last wasn’t her way, but maybe she needed to jolt herself out of the past by doing something out of character.
“I know you, Hayley Sorensen.” Molly tapped the table for emphasis. “You don’t give your heart lightly—I remember how long Leif pursued you in high school—but once you do, you’re loyal to the end even when—”
“What?”
Molly drew back, mouth pursed. “Nothing.”
How much did her mother-in-law know about her and Leif’s marriage? It was on the tip of her tongue to ask but she just couldn’t. “You’re right, Molly. I don’t give my heart lightly and I haven’t given it to Adam. That’s why I’ll be okay when he leaves. But we are leaving the future open to possibilities.”
“That’s a fancy word for a whole lot of nothing, if you ask me.” Molly shook her head. “He’ll take a loss on the property, no doubt, trying to sell in a hurry. I heard his ex-wife ran off to Sydney and isn’t coming back.”
“Diane’s taking care of her mother, who’s had open-heart surgery.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. Speaks well of her, I suppose,” Molly said grudgingly.
Onstage, the band had finished setting up and began to play a snappy country-and-western tune. A few people got up to dance. Jacinta was jiggling her crossed leg, scanning the room for prospective dance partners.
“Ask Tony,” Hayley suggested, pointing out the handsome vet standing by the bar. “Nope. That redhead beat you to it.”
“Damn. Oh, well, who needs a partner? I’m going to dance by myself.” Jacinta got up. “Want to come?”
“In a minute.” Hayley wasn’t ready to dance, content to watch for a while—the dancers, the band, her friends and fellow townsfolk. The music was lively, the atmosphere upbeat. Laughter and conversation competed with the band. After the emotionally wrenching memorial service, everyone was ready to throw off their sorrow and kick up their heels.
Adam’s dark head was bent toward Rolf as they talked earnestly, the older man gesticulating with a rough hand at frequent intervals. Whatever they were talking about was clearly absorbing. And now the conversation was winding down.
Adam clapped a hand on Rolf’s shoulder and rose, coming around the table to Hayley. “Dance?”
“Love to.” She put her hand in his and together they walked onto the floor. Heads turned their way but Hayley decided to ignore the inevitable wagging tongues. She deserved to enjoy herself.
She should be hardening herself to Adam’s departure. Instead she was looking forward to tonight. Summer and Zoe would be in the barn. She and Adam would be alone in the house. Tonight wasn’t about commitment and the future. She’d grown up over the past weeks. She could have a relationship without expecting it to last forever. She could make love to Adam and enjoy it, no strings attached.
“Did Molly give you a hard time about being here with me?” he asked.
“She’s worried I’ll be heartbroken when you leave.” Hayley smiled to show she wasn’t worried. “What were you and Rolf talking about? It looked very deep.”
“We made a stab at football and cars, two ordinarily failproof guy-talk subjects but those didn’t pan out. Then we found common ground in a topic dear to both of our hearts.” Adam paused, a grin quirking his lips.
“Well?” Hayley demanded. “What topic is that?”
“The best way to stack firewood. Rolf is a ‘bark up’ kind of guy, just like myself.”
She laughed. “Firewood. I don’t believe it.”
“Cross my heart. We bonded over the intricacies of wood cutting and stacking. Norwegians—and their descendants—can talk about wood for hours. He’s going to show me a good place to chop down trees for firewood. The supply I’ve got isn’t going to last a whole winter.”
“You’re not going to be here next winter.”
“Oh, well, it’s good to stock up anyway. You never know.”
That was true. Hayley smiled. You just never know.
* * *
HAYLEY SAT ON the bed and slipped off her high-heeled sandals while Adam popped the cork on the champagne. Tiny bubbles of excitement rose in her just like the fizz in the sparkling wine. Candles glowed, freesias poured forth their heady scent, chocolates and strawberries were at the ready. Adam had gone to a lot of trouble just for her. She felt precious and wanted and, dare she say it—loved?
“I hope you don’t think I’m trying too hard,” he said, pouring the bubbly liquid into flutes. He’d taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. His forearms and neck glowed, tanned and dark against his pale shirt.
“It’s wonderfully romantic.” She accepted a glass and shifted a little when he sank onto the bed beside her. “Cheers.” They clinked glasses and drank. “Summer and Zoe safely in the barn?”
“All tucked away in their sleeping bags in the hayloft with flashlights, snacks and magazines. I told them they could use the cottage bathroom if they needed it.” He met her gaze and smiled. “We won’t be disturbed tonight.”
He kissed her lips in a gentle brush of his mouth, sweet and cool. Tiny kisses in the corners of her mouth, beneath her jaw, then back to her mouth, this time a little more insistent, subtly demanding entry. She opened to him readily, wanting this, wanting him. She longed to let go of the past and move into the future, whatever it held.
The kiss deepened, intensifying not just her physical response but her emotions. Now she held nothing back in a sensual merging of lips, breath and tongues, a mindless swirl of heat and sensation. She put her arms around his neck and pressed her body
against his, seeking more contact.
To her relief, there was no repeat of the doubts that had marred their encounter by the stream, no cooling of the blood when things got hot.
But a drop of cold liquid on her neck made her aware she was still holding her champagne glass. With a breathless laugh she broke apart to set it on the bedside table.
When she turned back to Adam, he was unbuttoning his shirt. He paused, his eyes dark and intent. “Before we go any further, are you sure about this?”
Hayley nodded. Oh, she had questions—about his job and promotion, how long they would have together once he sold the house, how often they might see each other when he was back in Melbourne—but there would be time later to talk. For now she would enjoy the fantasy that he was hers.
She slid her hands up his bare chest, feeling the smooth skin and ripples of hard muscles beneath her palms. He undid the clasp holding her halter top together and the two sides of the bodice slipped down, exposing her bare breasts.
“No bra. I knew it,” Adam said. “You’ve been driving me crazy all night.” Reverently he cupped one breast and lowered his dark head to kiss and lick and suck gently on the nipple.
Hayley tipped her head back and shut her eyes, letting out a tiny moan as the pressure increased and the electric sensation shot from her breast to her pulsing core.
His hands moved over her as he greedily sucked first one, then the other breast. Her skin heated beneath his caress as her touch became more urgent. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders. He had broad shoulders and flat pecs, a tapered torso and a smattering of dark hair across his chest that ran down to his waistband and disappeared, leading her eye lower to the hard bulge in his pants. As she looked at him, his gaze roamed over her, from her tousled hair to her flushed cheeks to her bare breasts to her waist with the bunched dress still around it. For a long few seconds they simply drank each other in by candlelight.
“Stand up,” he said huskily, lifting her hands as he rose.
She pushed her dress over her hips and stepped out of it, leaving her wearing nothing but her panties and high heels. Adam dropped his pants and peeled off his underwear. His erection jutted high, setting her pulse racing and making her instantly hot and wet. His gaze lingered on her breasts and the junction between her thighs.
“You’re incredible.” He lowered himself to his knees, kissing and licking his way down her breasts, her belly, to her thighs. His hands touched her breasts, her butt and slid between her legs to stroke her through the thin, moist silk of her panties before pulling them down.
She gripped his shoulders as her eyes slitted and lost focus. He kissed and licked and sucked his way back up, pushing her legs apart a little to nip at the sensitive inside of her thighs.
He paused to lick between her legs. “Do you like that?”
She clutched his head in her hands. She would come in seconds if he kept that up. “Yes,” she moaned. “But right now I need you inside me. Please.”
Adam lowered her onto the bed and left her a moment while he found a condom and put it on. Then his warm weight slid over her. He was so hot and she was so needy, tingling and pulsing and aching. Her legs parted of their own accord and she moaned again as he pushed a little way in, then paused, hard and hot and throbbing.
He bent his head and took a nipple into his mouth, swirling the peak with his tongue, sucking and withdrawing. “Tell me what you like. I want to know so I can do it to you over and over.”
She wanted him inside her, pushing hard. But she also loved the stoking of the flames. “Talking. That’s what I like. Talk dirty to me.”
He pulled back, a grin on his face. “You little minx, really?”
She nodded, twisting a lock of hair as she tried to assess his reaction. Leif had just laughed at her and joked about mucking out stalls. That was his idea of dirty talk.
Adam leaned down and whispered in her ear, his breath hot and shivery. “I’m going to push inside you with my big hard cock until you sigh and moan and cry out and beg me to let you come. You’re hot and wet and I love the feel of you so tight and hot around me.”
Oh, dear God. “That’s it,” Hayley moaned. “More.”
Adam whispered a stream of naughty nothings in her ear as he slowly pushed inside her, stretching and filling her. And then just as slowly pulled out. He did it again, driving her mad with his words and his hands and his body. He was erotically eloquent, not missing a beat as he filled her ears with sweet, sexy talk, torturing and teasing her with his body, until she was taut as a bowstring, ready to scream with tension.
“Stop, Adam, I can’t take any more,” she panted.
His eyes sparking, his face alight, he paused, halfway in, pulsing and hot. “But we’ve only just got started.”
“You’re very bad,” she told him sternly, trying not to break into a grin of delight. Sex had never been fun or whimsical or hot...ever.
“I know. And you love it.” A wicked grin stretched across his impossibly handsome face.
“Take me now.” She lifted her hips and, with both hands on his butt, pulled him home, hard. Her eyes shut on a long wave of pleasure as he filled the hollows inside her, places that hadn’t been filled in far too long, stretching her and completing her.
He began to move, long, firm thrusts stroking in and out, stoking her to fever pitch. She matched his rhythm, wrapping her legs around his hips and pushing back. Candlelight flickered over his skin, casting shadows on his muscles and the hollows of his cheeks. Now he spoke to her in low tones, holding her gaze as he whispered intimate phrases, making her feel beautiful and desirable.
Her eyes filled and she couldn’t speak, lost in Adam’s beautiful, dark eyes as they both moved together, making small adjustments here and there to find the sweet spot. Holding back, then surging forward, higher and higher until finally she gasped and broke open. The sun poured out of her, and the river streamed through her as shards of green and gold and blue danced across her eyelids....
Adam’s muscles tightened beneath her fingers as he pumped harder, looking for his own release. She clung, tightening around him. Slick with sweat and heat, he came, too, with a shuddering cry. Then he lowered himself onto her and she wrapped her arms and legs around him, blissed out, listening to his breath slow in her ear and his heartbeat gradually return to normal.
They lay there as the seconds stretched into minutes, and she savored a sleepy sense of well-being. If she were a cat she’d be purring like a train engine.
With Leif she’d had orgasms, pretty good ones, but this was beyond anything she’d experienced before. Adam was a sexy, considerate lover who’d excited her and satisfied her. Her heart was full of awe for everything he’d made her feel. It was huge, almost too big for her to comprehend. Was this love? If it was, then she’d never been in love before. What she’d felt for Leif paled by comparison, like thinking she’d been looking at the sun, then finding out all along it had been a lightbulb.
How stunted her life had been until now. But how wonderful that she’d found Adam before it was too late. Forget what she’d told herself about being fine with him leaving and that having him for a short time would be better than nothing. She couldn’t give him up now.
He stirred and eased off her slightly, keeping an arm and one leg over her. She nuzzled his neck and worked her way around to his mouth to claim a kiss. “You are awesome.”
“You are.” He kissed her lazily, stroking her damp hair away from her temples. “When I get my energy back I’ll grab the chocolate and strawberries.”
“Allow me.” She rolled off the bed and brought back the platter of delicacies along with the bottle of champagne. Raising her glass again to his, she said, “To a night of debauchery and pleasure.”
Adam fed her a strawberry and then a piece of dark chocolate, making her eat them at the same time and chuckling whe
n she moaned with pleasure. “You keep surprising me. Here I thought butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth and you turn out to be a wanton.”
“I am not. And no one from this century says wanton.” But when had she ever sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed after mind-blowing sex, stark naked, drinking champagne and eating strawberries? She giggled just to think of how far she and Adam had come since he’d driven onto her property all stern and demanding and she’d been prickly and intent on pushing him away. She’d had no idea then that a short month later she would be contemplating a future with this man.
He traced a finger down her bare instep and around to her sole, tickling her. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
“Oh?” She smiled and popped another piece of chocolate in her mouth. “What is it?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ADAM FELT UNACCOUNTABLY nervous telling Hayley about Lorraine’s offer. His plan made sense in so many ways. It was logical and neat. It might not be immediate or romantic, but the important thing was that he thought it would work. With Diane he’d tried bending to her whims to make their marriage last, but he’d only succeeded in hastening the end.
“I mentioned Lorraine made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” He paused. Hayley nodded, watching him intently, the half-eaten strawberry forgotten in her fingers. “It was better than I’d expected or hoped for.”
“You told me you made partner. I know I wasn’t very supportive earlier, but I really do think it’s wonderful.” Hayley leaned over and hugged him. “Congratulations.”
“It’s better than partner. I’m to head up a brand-new office in Shanghai. More projects are in the offing. We’ll be very busy over there for the foreseeable future.”
“Shanghai.” Hayley blinked, her smile fading.
“It doesn’t mean the end of us, far from it,” he hastened to assure her. “I’ll have to put in the hard yards at first. I figure a year or two.”
“You mean you’re going to live over there?”
“Yes, but I’ll be back and forth. When I’m here, I’ll be here with you.” He searched her face. “If you want me.”
