Adam, Enough Said (This Can't be Happening) (39 page)

I froze.

I hadn't felt this much dread since the night Mia had the miscarriage.
I knew that whatever was about to come next wasn’t going to be good.

“Max--”
Mia whispered his name like a painful plea, but Max cut her off.

“I’m gonna kill you,” he
vowed, firm, and that was all we heard before the line went dead. Mia dropped the phone to the ground like it shocked her and I pulled her into my arms.

“Oh
God!” she breathed, and her whole body shook.

“Don’t, Mia.
He’s just trying to scare you.” At least I sure as hell hoped that was all it was.

“H
e set my car on fire, didn’t he?” she asked so low I could barely hear her, but I knew she'd started crying.

I squeezed her tighter and
swore to hurt Max if I ever got my hands on him.

“Yeah, Freckles, but don’t worry about this. He’ll be caught soon.” Or killed, but I didn’t say that out loud. “The only really bad news, other than your car, is
that you’re gonna have to come to work with me tomorrow. I don't want you out of my sight.”

Her head snapped up and her eyes hit mine. “You’re kidding
?”

I kissed her forehead.
“No, Baby, nothing about this is funny.”

And when the alarm sounded at six o’clock in the morning, Mia knew exactly how not funny this was.

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

Mia Bryant

“Let Max kill me. As long as I get to sleep longer, I don’t care,” I mumbled, because I was still half asleep and waking up this early sucked.

“Mia…” Adam growled, but I ignore
d him. It was too early to put up with his bossiness and I was exhausted. Between listening in on Adam’s conversation with Spencer, his conversation with his Lieutenant, crying my eyes out over my car, watching a tow truck load up and take off with Cat’s remains, showering again to get the smoke stench off our bodies, and worrying myself to death, I’d only slept three hours, tops.

And I was
not
a morning person.

I
maneuvered my head under my pillow and prayed Adam couldn’t see me. Maybe if Adam couldn’t see me, he’d forget I ever existed. Out of sight, out of mind. But a moment later, the pillow disappeared and I realized the lights had been turned on. I squeezed my eyes tight and whined, “Turn off the lights.”

“Mia, we gotta get going or I’ll be late
for work.”

“So go without me,” I muttered
, praying he’d say okay and go away. Then I felt the mattress dip at my side and a hand brushed the hair off my face.

He
spoke right against my ear. “I hate waking you up, but there’s no way I'm leaving you here alone. Get up, Baby,” he ordered with affection before I felt his heat, and his weight leave me. A moment later, a loud smack echoed in the room when he spanked my ass. I growled and lifted my head to yell at him, but his mouth swooped down and covered mine, before I had the chance.

Bastard.

He pulled away and I scrunched up my nose.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth yet,” I informed him.

His grin lit up the already bright room. “Neither have I. Now get up.”

And I did,
grudgingly.

After using the
bathroom and brushing my teeth, I stood in the closet for at least ten minutes wondering what in the hell I was supposed to wear to a police station, but just as I was about to give up, I heard Adam walk in.

“You okay in here
?” he asked and I turned.

I froze
at what I saw.

I knew it was my half unconscious state, because on a normal day, my girly parts would not ache for hi
m at six o’clock in the morning, but I wanted to jump him. His body took up the doorway and he looked oddly bigger than usual. He was dressed in black slacks, a crisp white, button-down shirt with the sleeves already rolled up to his forearms, a black leather belt and black leather shoes. He wore his badge on his belt and his gun on his hip.

Sweet baby Jesus.

“You look really, really good,” I told him and I couldn’t meet his eyes, because I was too busy staring at his body.

“
Baby, stop looking at me like that. We don’t have time,” he warned and I nodded as I stalked him. He watched me and I kept going until I stood in front of him, but not close enough to touch.

“Mia,
I want to take you for breakfast,” he said, and I knew he in fact meant sitting down somewhere to eat for breakfast, but my mind was already stuck doing the dirty with Adam.

“Well then,
take me for breakfast and do me right here, right now, and make it fast,” I decided, before shimmying out of my panties.

And then I was facing the back closet wall, hands over my head and legs spread wide. Adam gripped my waist hard, fingers pressing deep, he shoved his face in my neck and took me from behind.

And to help ensure we both got off and still made it in time for breakfast, I dropped one arm, arched my back more and reached between our legs to cup him and caress him.

"Shit, fuck," he hissed and needless to say, we both came fast, hard
, and loud.

I was starving, but really, I needed coffee and lots and lots of sugar. My life depended on it. I could easily go without food, but coffee - no way in hell. I'd wanted to make some for the road, but Adam was adamant that we stop and eat first, so there hadn’t been enough time.

Well, there had been, but Adam was being a douchebag.

During the entire drive downtown, he’d been quiet, silently brooding. A complete one-eighty compared to the mood he'd been in after our quick expedition in the closet earlier. When I asked what was wrong, he squeezed my hand and assured me everything was fine, but his mood told another story.

And h
is mood was affecting my already dejected mood. I'd been acting fine and pretending everything was okay, because I didn't want to dwell on
all
of my current problems, but I was far from fine. I mean, Cat was gone, my baby, the car I bought after I'd left Adam and fixed up to look better than brand new.

Then
I found out Max was a lunatic.

I'd been forcing myself not to let
my devastation show, but Adam was making it hard, and by the time we walked into Terry's Diner, nothing had changed.

All heads turned in our direction
when the bell chimed over the door and Adam greeted a few patrons like he knew them personally. And even though Adam held my hand firmly in his, I could tell he was more than a little uncomfortable.

I couldn’t recall ever seeing him so uncertain, which was exactly how he appeared.

“Baby, as much as I want to fuck you in that outfit, you realize I'm gonna catch shit for it at the office,” he said, as soon as we were seated in a booth and left alone to look over our menus.

H
e didn’t sound angry or annoyed. He just sounded…

Odd.
Maybe even a little troubled.

I immediately wondered if it was my outfit that had changed his mood, but I quickly
shoved the thought aside.

I remembered h
is expression as he'd watched me walk down the stairs back at the house. I remember his face as he'd stared at me, so hard I'd thought he might have a heart attack.

I remembered how he
'd laughed - hard - and shook his head at the fact that I'd coordinated my outfit with his, but he'd made sure to tell me just how sexy he thought I looked. His expression had told me the same.

I
wore my snug-in-the-booty, black, boot-cut slacks, my white, see-through, sleeveless button-up top, with a white, satin camisole underneath, my black, patent leather, peep-toe heels and the matching belt. I left my hair down and wavy, and I curled my eyelashes, swiped on some mascara and brushed some clear gloss on my lips... which, of course, he'd wiped off the second I'd stepped off the last step and he'd kissed me.

"Adam, will you please tell me what's wrong?"

He'd been looking around the room, but as soon as I spoke, his eyes came to me.

"Nothing
's wrong, Freckles," he answered, and immediately after, his eyes glanced around the room again, searching for something.

I
inhaled, exhaled, and sank into my seat. He didn't want to talk? Fine. I wouldn't talk either, but no sooner than I'd made that decision did Adam sit up straight.

"Mia, I'll be right back. Don't move from this table
," he ordered like a command and I clenched my teeth so tight it was a miracle I didn't crack a tooth. My eyes stayed trained on his back as he walked through a row of tables, past the front counter and into the kitchen.

T
he kitchen?

What could he possibly be
doing in the kitchen? I turned away, added more sugar to my coffee, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

What felt like minutes
later, our waitress came out to take our order and I just so happened to glance at the kitchen door just as it swung open and another waitress walked out.

It only stayed open approximately five seconds, but that was
all the time I needed to see what I saw, and it only took me one more second to recognize whose face Adam was holding between his hands.

Her hair was
darker, maybe by a shade, but I could never forget the profile of her face.

I started shaking. So much so
, that I moved to set my coffee cup on the table and it slipped out of my hand. As soon as it crashed, I jumped, scooted out of the way, and climbed out of my seat before I got burned. Blood was pumping through my veins so hard and my muscles were so tense, I knew I would be sore later.

"
Careful, Hon, let me get that for you," the waitress rushed as she pulled out some napkins and threw them on the table to soak up my mess. I didn't acknowledge her. Not even to thank her. I couldn't. My mouth wouldn't form words.

I didn't know what to do.

Why would he do this to me now?

I needed air.

UGH!

I couldn't breathe.

That son of a bitch!

I knew
the waitress was watching me closely, but she said nothing, which was good because I wouldn't have been able to speak to her anyway. I reached across my seat, snatched up my purse, turned and headed for the door, praying the whole way out that I didn't trip over my own feet and embarrass myself more.

To think
, I even dressed like him because I thought it would be funny and cute; only made me feel foolish.

I wanted to cry
, but I denied myself the simplest of release because I was in a rage.

At least I found out why he'd been acting so strange.

My feet hit the pavement. I didn't know what to do or where to go. I was so nauseous, I felt faint. Only a few days in and he'd already broken his promise not to touch another woman... and that woman was
her.

I
'd considered the possibility of accepting whatever friendship he had with that...
stripper -
without even knowing the whole truth - because deep down, I was dying to trust Adam.

B
ut seeing them together again…

I knew I couldn't. I
didn't care how sweet she was or what she did for him in the past or that he felt guilty for reasons still unknown.

I turned to walk across the street
, because I had to get far away, but then I stopped and thought better of it. Max could be out there somewhere and I didn't want to leave one asshole only to run straight into the arms of another.

I was
upset, but I wasn't stupid.

I turned in the opposite direction and headed
back towards Adam's Tahoe.

As I was
halfway between the diner and vehicle, I heard Adam shouting my name. I kept walking. Not hurried, not slow, just fast enough to get me to my final destination without incident.

"Baby!" Adam shouted again
and his voice had grown closer, therefore louder.

I made it to the passenger door
and tugged on the handle, but it was locked. My fucking luck. I heard Adam's feet pounding on the pavement and a second later his chest hit my side. I took a step back and looked up. He lifted a hand, ready to touch my face, but I slapped it away and hissed, "Don't fucking touch me."

He
dropped his hand and flinched like I slapped him, but quickly regained his composure.

I turned away from him, faced the door and demanded,
“I want to leave now. Unlock the door.”

But I got nothing.

“Unlock the door!” I snapped louder. I’d never felt so much rage in my life.