Page 40 of The Biggest Secret
He blows on his hand and shines his shirt, like it’s a badge. “Skill, nothing but skill.”
I’m shaking my head. Poor Janet Casanova.
The guys get up and get another round, and we settle into a good night. I’ve had a few tequila shots. I’m feeling pretty good. A little loose. Comfortable. Mouthy.
“Billy, did Adam leave work when you did?” I have to know. I’ve checked my phone nonstop and still no text has come.
Slowly, his eyes leave Adley and come around to mine. “He did,” he says slowly.
I raise a brow waiting for more. Billy loves to talk. “Told him he better show up here if he didn’t want to watch you play basketball.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Basketball?”
“Yeah, I told him a girl like you could very easily find a rebound, if you wanted to, of course. So, the more he slacks, the faster he loses track of you.”
I shake my head, pursing my lips. “He doesn’t seem too concerned.”
“Oh, he’s concerned. Trust me. The guy just doesn’t know how to get out of his own way of thinking.” Billy’s eyes flick past me and a little grin spreads across his lips. He is a natural charmer. He leans a little closer to me, putting his arm around the back of my chair. I feel him move my hair. “AAA has a lot to learn.”
We laugh together, and then I hear a throat clear and my heart drops. I push away from Billy as he says, “Hold your ground, girl.”
“Billy. Move,” Adam speaks and Billy scrambles from his chair. It’s comical, and the others laugh at his nonsense. I know it’s only half theatrics and the other half reverence for his big brother as Billy was just asking for trouble whispering in my ear like that.
I take a slow breath, harden my appearance, keeping my spine straight. I’m rigid in my chair as Adam slinks into his. Widening his legs as he sits, purposely brushing his thigh against mine. I take a quick sip of my drink, avoiding looking at Adam who has not stopped staring at the side of my face, willing me to look at him, since he approached our table.
“Adam, how nice of you to join us tonight,” Britt sneers. She’s had a few drinks and I’m worried about what may come out of her mouth. She’s got a wild mouth sober.
He doesn’t answer her and he’s still looking at me, I can see him out of my peripheral vision. “I’m sorry I was late.”
“It’s fine, Adam,” I reply curtly.
“It’s not fine, Chelsea. I’m trying to apologize here, please let me.” He’s speaking low to me. The music is loud, and the rest of our table is trying not to eavesdrop, but I don’t miss the need in his voice. Or the use of the word please.
I turn to him, and just like I knew I would be, I’m locked into his intense stare. His eyes dart around my face like he’s memorizing me, and I’m staring back, mesmerized by him. The scruff onhis face, the slight bend to his nose from when Jackson hit him with a football when they were younger. The way his pupils are dilating like they used to when he was turned on.
“I know I screwed up. Again. Everything I told myself I would not do this time around; I already did on day one.” He leans closer, placing one arm around the back of my chair, the other leaning on the table in front of me, caging me in as he continues taking in my dress, his eyes sweeping down my chest and to my legs which are crossed and showing skin. I hear him whisper ‘fuck’ under his breath. Ugh, what is it about a man when he does that? I automatically lean closer to him. His eyes dart back to mine. “God, look at you. I’m a fucking asshole for standing you up tonight,” he growls out.
I have a choice to make here. I can allow him to draw me in, like always, or I can take a stand, like Billy said and not allow his sexual appeal to blind me.
Though taking advice from Billy is kind of going in blind, too.
I grab my drink, and the other shot that just magically appeared in front of me.
“Thought you could use that,” Billy says. God, he really wants to get a beating from Adam tonight.
“Thank you.” I slam the shot back, then chase it with my drink. Adam hasn’t moved out of my space yet and being this close to him is just so overwhelming.
Turning to Adam, I say, “Okay, so you’re sorry. What’s next? Are we going to reschedule dinner and hopefully you remember to show up? Or maybe you want to pick a day for you and Dominic to go to the park. Only I won’t tell him because if you don’t show for that, his little heart won’t understand why Daddy was too busy.”
“Chelsea, that’s not fair and you know it.” He grows angry. He is speaking through gritted teeth. “How can I rearrange something when I didn’t know about him? How am I supposed to adjust years of work and clients, when I had no way to ease into it, huh? Maybe if you had told me instead of running off two years ago, I would have been able to bring on bigger crews. You took my choices away from me!” He slams his fist onto the table making our glasses rattle and nearby patrons take a closer look at us.
“Hey, tone it down, brother.” Jackson glances around the room.
Adam ignores Jackson and leans in even closer to me, studying me. “Are you trying to provoke me?”
“Adam.”
“You are, aren’t you? I remember this game, Peaches.” His nostrils flare as he breathes through his nose, eyes on fire, purring the nickname he only ever whispered to me. His hand that was on the back of my chair, sweeps my hair to the side and wraps around the back of my neck. He squeezes and it gives me goosebumps. He directs me closer to his face, his mouth at my ear, his hot breath making me wet. I shiver and feel him smile against my face.
