Page 45 of Cocky Prince
“Your head okay?” he says, his mouth curled in a half-smile.
“No,” I grumble quietly. My brain is fogged because of thisjackass.
“What was that?” he says.
“Nothing.” I hand him the water. “You need anything else?”
He shakes his head, taking in the updated kitchen. “Do you own this place?”
I glance at the space I lovingly remodeled. Before I bought the house, the kitchen was 1970s yellow. Now it features white-painted Shaker cabinets and limestone counters. “I bought it as soon as I returned to town.”
Adam gulps the water, watching me. “Didn’t you want to rent for a bit? Make sure you’re in for the long haul? You’ve been gone a long time.”
I fill another glass and take a sip. “It’s complicated. I bought the place from my parents. They weren’t able to sell it when we first left town. They rented it after we moved, but part of me always felt I owed them.”
He looks around some more, as though seeing it from a different perspective. “It’s small, but I don’t see why your parents wouldn’t have been able to sell it. Lots of people look for mountain cabins as second homes.”
I set the glass on the counter and face him. “It wasn’t the size, or the way it looks. You were there, Adam. You saw how people treated me—the way you treated me—”
His face tenses. “I wasn’t cruel to you.”
“Weren’t you?”
He stretches his neck and looks away. “I told Jaeg to break up with you—”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Because,” he says with emphasis, his gaze sliding back to me, “I didn’t want him dating you.”
Adam’s eyes aren’t cynical or sly. His gaze is half-lidded, and very intent.
“You didn’t want me with Jaeg…and it had nothing to do with the rumor?”
He shakes his head slowly.
“Then why?”
He drops his chin, and suddenly my throat goes dry. It’s not like men haven’t desired me. It’s that no one who consumes my thoughts ever has. And whether those thoughts are images of killing him, or kissing him, Adam has been on my mind since he started working at Blue.
What is happening? Adam flirts with me. He harasses me. But showing genuine interest? What he’s talking about goes way back—eleven years. That’s not simple flirting with a coworker, that’s…something else.
“I was sixteen and stupid, but I shouldn’t have done it,” he says. “I know I already apologized, but Iamsorry.” He looks away and runs a hand through his hair, ruffling it even more. He sets the glass down and his expression lightens. “I better get back to work. It’s gonna take a while to build the closet for you.” His mouth twists wryly, but I’m still hung up on his admission.
I don’t understand Adam. Not at all.
Ilust after him. Adam flirts, because it’s his nature—he’s a lady-killer. But what he implied… Never in a million years would I have guessed he might have been jealous of Jaeger and me. He hinted at another reason for his actions in high school the night of the taco dinner, but I assumed he was referring to me not being good enough for Jaeger.
I was skinny, nerdy—who am I kidding, I’m still nerdy—and I wasn’t popular. There could have been no other reason why he would want Jaeger to break up with me. Not with the rumor and everything else going on.
Unless he wanted Jaeger to break up with mebeforethe rumor broke out. And I have no idea what to do with that.
Adam walks into the living room and glances back. “You might want to stay out here. I’ll be demoing.”
I’m still reeling—until I register his words.
“Wait! What do you mean?” I sweep after him into the hallway. All the shoes and boxes are out of the closet and Adam is standing inside, safety goggles on his face, a hammer poised above his head.
“Adam. Put. The. Hammer. Down. What are you doing?”
