Page 51 of Slow Burn
I grinned at him. "You sound disappointed. Were you hoping to catch the show?"
Serious eyes bore into mine. "I was, yeah."
It was so tempting to tell him that I'd be more than happy to give him a private show—the frustration was very real. Luckily, I caught the words and quickly swallowed them back down.
"I get a lot of dancing in now that I am at the studio every day." My mouth curved upward on its own. Soulbeat—dancing—was undoubtedly my happy place. Somewhere I could be who I was without judgment.
"You didn't always have your studio?"
I shook my head. "I still don't. My old dance instructor needed someone to fill in for her." Not sure why, but I couldn't bear to look at him when I said the next part. "I…uh…used to work at my parents' hardware store."
"Hmh."
I gave him a curious look but before I could ask what the hellHmhmeant, Sheldon came darting across the sand, tail happily wagging at the sight of the man sitting next to me. He skidded to a stop between Adam's legs, kicking up sand in every which direction, and let out an excited bark.
"Hey, buddy," Adam cooed, giving my dog a scratch behind the ears that had his eyes rolling back in his little head. Not proud of it, but I was kind of jealous of my dog just then. I wanted this man's hands on me. Had a few itches he could scratch too.
"Your parents were the ones who told you that you couldn't dance?" His remark had the effect of a bucket of ice over the head—and lady bits. No one could have their parents and sex in their brains at the same time.
I eyed Sheldon, who seemed to be in a state of bliss, before following the lines of Adam's tattoo along his corded arm and over his broad shoulder. When my gaze finally landed on his, he was already watching me.
What did he see when he looked at me like that?
"They wanted me to study accounting and for a while I did." My insides twisted when I recalled how miserable I was. How spending every day looking at numbers sucked the life out of me little by little.
"What happened?" Adam asked quietly.
My tongue slipped over my lips. "I woke up one morning and decided I was done."
"Good for you."
"Oh no, it really wasn't. I went to New York, determined to be the next best thing, and fell flat on my face." This was the part that stung like nobody's business. "I came back home with my tail between my legs a year later and started working for my parents the next day." I laughed dryly. "If it hadn't been for my grandma leaving me this house in her will, I probably would've still been in my childhood bedroom."
Saying the words out loud made me feel so inadequate. And it sounded a hell of a lot like I was a quitter.
I didn't like accounting, so I quit.
I couldn't get a decent job as a professional dancer, so I packed up and came home.
My throat burned with the sudden bout of tears I tried to keep inside. I didn't want Adam to see, so I focused on the waves gently rolling over the sand.
A calloused palm landed on my knee, drawing my attention back to the man beside me. He regarded me for the longest time; those dark eyes roaming over my face. "Success isn't always measured in what we accomplish," he finally rasped. "Sometimes we find it in the things we learn along the way."
I couldn't speak past the thick lump in my throat. Hell, I could hardly breathe. The way he made me feel, I wished I could find the right words. Something to describe the crazy but wonderful feeling he evoked inside of me.
Unaware of what he was doing to my insides, Adam lifted his hand and toyed with the strands hanging over my shoulder. "I like your hair like this." His murmur was so soft, so sensual, it had delicious shivers dancing down my spine.
"I likeyou." The words slipped from my tongue before I had a second to check them. But once they were out, I didn't regret saying it.
Adam's eyes turned darker. "You shouldn't." The fingers tangled in my hair moved, his grip getting tighter the closer he got to my scalp.
"You keep saying that," I breathed out.
"Mhm." His gaze bounced between my eyes and mouth. By the tortured look on his face, I knew he was trying to decide what to do. And as desperately as Iwanted to beg him to just kiss me already, I needed him to get there on his own.
To crave this as badly as I did.
I knew the exact moment the war within himself was over. Impossible as it might've seemed, those dark irises turned even darker. The fist in my hair gripped tighter as he leaned forward and pulled my face to his at the same time.
