AdamsObsession (9 page)

He smiled. “Good morning, you.” He leaned in for a kiss.

“Mmph.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Morning breath.”

He resolutely removed her hand and pressed his lips to hers.
He nuzzled her mouth. His tongue swept in to explore with tantalizing licks.

“I love the way you taste. Love the way you smell.” He
nested his nose in her neck and nibbled there until she started to grunt and
groan in pleasure.

“Adam,” she breathed. “Stop it.”

He lifted his head and gazed at her. “Do you really want me to
stop?”

She traced his lips with her fingertip. “No. But we need to
talk.”

With a groan, he flopped back down onto the bed. “Oh no. Not
the we-have-to-talk talk.”

“Well, we do.” This was serious. “Tomorrow we have to go
back home.”

“Don’t remind me.” He pulled the covers over his head.

“Adam, we have to talk about this.”

He poked out his head and studied her. “Yes,” he said at
last. “But can’t it at least wait until we’ve had breakfast?”

Her stomach rumbled at just that moment and they both
laughed. He threw back the covers, revealing his exquisitely muscled form.

“I’ll call room service,” he said, padding naked into the
hall.

And she was left with the vision of his defined and dimpled
ass burned into her mind’s eye, realizing with wonder that the sudden rising
hunger wasn’t for food at all.

In the end, they nearly missed breakfast altogether. After
placing the order for room service, Adam joined Katherine in the shower—showing
her all kinds of interesting things one can do with a bar of soap. They became so
engrossed in this scintillating study, they almost didn’t hear the repeated
knocks on the door.

Even then, Adam had to answer the door wearing nothing but a
skimpy towel and a rueful grin. As the waiter nodded and rolled the laden cart
into the suite, Adam realized what the living room looked like.

Clothes—his and hers—were strewn everywhere. His sweatpants
dangled from the back of the sofa, her teddy was in a mangled heap on the floor
and her panties—her
panties
for God’s sake—were crumpled next to the dining
room table. He knew how it appeared but he really didn’t care. Still, he made
sure to give the waiter a generous tip, because the long-suffering man managed
to keep his eyes averted and his knowing smile at bay.

Once they were private once more, Adam called Katherine into
the dining room—delighted to see her prance in wearing nothing but a slightly
damp towel. Together they uncovered dish after dish—he’d ordered rather
generously from the menu, as he didn’t know her tastes.

“Ooh,” she cooed. “Eggs Benedict.”

Adam frowned. He’d ordered that because it was
his
favorite. Blast. He’d have to share. But then he realized he didn’t mind
sharing with Katherine. Perhaps he could convince her to lick hollandaise off
his body. Several promising spots came to mind and he grinned like a wolf.

“Negotiations may be necessary,” he purred, stepping closer.

She tipped her head to the side. “What?”

He flicked at the knot holding her towel in place. It fell
with dramatic flair, tumbling to her feet in a rumpled mass. She stood before
him, naked, exquisite. He dipped a finger into the butter sauce and dabbed it
onto a hardened nipple, swirling the warm cream around her areola as well.
Holding her gaze, he bent his head and licked her clean.

By the end of this exercise, she was panting.

“I do like my hollandaise,” he growled.

Breakfast, it turned out, could wait.

It wasn’t until several hours later that they, satiated in
mind and spirit, returned to the conversation Katherine had suggested when they
awoke. They were lying together on a lounger on the balcony, the city splayed
before them. They were full and drained, physically replete. It was time to
talk.

“There’s something I want to know,” she said by way of
introducing the subject. It had been bothering her since last night, since he’d
revealed his identity as her secret online lover. But she’d forced it to the
back of her mind, refusing to let her doubts ruin the conflagration of their
passion.

“Hmm?” He leisurely stroked her hair, massaged her scalp. It
felt wonderful. She purred and rubbed against him like a cat.

What was she going to ask again? Oh. Yes. “How long, Adam?”

“Huh?” He tipped his head to stare at her.

She nestled closer, shifting so she rested on his hard
chest, her chin poised in her folded hands. She could see his face from this
position, see into his soul. “How long have you known about me?”

“Ah.” His brow arched as realization dawned. “About
Wildkat?”

“Yes.” Having felt the pain of being mocked by a
lover—Dumbshit though he’d been—she was sensitive about certain things. It
bothered her that Adam had known who she was while she’d had no clue about his
identity until she’d walked into the kitchen and seen him cracking out ice
cubes.

He seemed to understand her concern, because he kissed her
and resumed the tantalizing torment on her skin, stroking her neck and causing
all manner of delusion to swell within her.

“Not long. I only began to suspect when you said something
to Sara about a duck on a june bug.”

“I did?” She really didn’t remember saying any such thing.

He nodded. “After the meeting where Tristan gave us this
assignment.”

“Oh.” She tapped her lip reflectively. “That was less than a
week ago.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Did you think I
was playing you?”

“Maybe. A little.”

He shrugged. “I kind of did. I was trying to figure out if
it was really you or not. I kept thinking it had to be a coincidence. But once
you wore that red vest, hell, all I could think of was getting you somewhere
far away from the office and fucking you silly.”

“Which, I might add, you did.”

He shot her a self-satisfied smile. “I still can’t believe
we found each other online.”

“I’m glad we did.”

“Mmm. Me too. What made you pick that chat site? Of all the
chat sites on the internet?”

Katherine smiled. “Sara told me about it.”

Adam barked a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“I went there, just to check it out, because I heard Sara
talking to Shannon about it.”

“Really? Just think. If things had turned out differently,
you could be cuddling one of them right now.”

He tightened his arms around her. “I don’t want Sara or
Shannon. I want you.”

“Oh Adam.” She sighed. “What are we going to do when we get
back?”

“What do you mean?”

She tried to push away but he wouldn’t let her. “We can’t do
this in the office.” She gestured to their twined, very naked bodies.

He shrugged and slipped a hand deftly between her legs.
“Technically, we probably shouldn’t be doing this on a balcony.”

She smacked his muscled arm with an impotent fist. “Cut it
out. I’m serious. My job means a lot to me. When this ends, it’ll be impossible
for us to work together. To see each other every day. All day. My office faces
yours, for heaven’s sake.”

“It’s not gonna end.” He nibbled on her neck.

“Everything ends,” she said. “Besides, in the meantime, I
don’t want to get fired because I’m screwing the boss.”

“That won’t happen.”

She sent him a dark look. “It’s happened before.”

He stilled. “What are you talking about?”

“Remember Dumbshit?”

“The pathetic one-timer? Yeah.”

Katherine shrugged. “We worked together. After our brief
affair—”

“
Very
brief affair.”

“After our very brief affair, he told everyone. It was
awful.
I
was the one who got hauled onto the carpet.
I
was the
one who had to deal with the snide comments and the innuendos. Getting
routinely passed over for prime projects. I was the one who had to eventually
quit. I’m not letting that happen again. I’m not.”

“Nothing like that is going to happen.” A fierce frown
crossed his face. “If anyone would get in trouble over this, it’s me. Tristan
and I have one steadfast rule and it’s—”

“Don’t fish in the company pond.”

He blinked. “How did you know about that?”

“Everyone knows.” She sighed. “There’s only one thing we can
do.”

“What?” His frown grew darker. Clearly he didn’t like where
she was going with this. But it was true. There was only one logical end to
this.

An end to this.

“We stop.” Her voice was soft but resolute.

“The hell!” He untangled himself and shot to his
feet—magnificent and hard and…angry—and sat on the lounger next to hers. She
shivered a little at the loss of his warmth. His presence. “Are you suggesting
what I think you’re suggesting? After what we’ve shared? After all this? We
just stop? Just walk away? Is that what you want?”

She shook her head. “No.” Of course not. “I just don’t see
any other way to balance our jobs with…” She waved her hand, unable to come up
with words to describe what they had. “
This.
”

“I do.” He growled, coming to his knees before her and
yanking her into his arms. “This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”

“But…”

“We can still see each other. We will still see each other.”

“But…”

“No one at work needs to know. Well, Tristan has to know but
no one else. It’s a private relationship. Between us. We’ll just keep it
between us.”

“Tristan?” A pain pinged in her chest. Her breath hitched.
Panic swirled in her gut. “We can’t tell Tristan.” They couldn’t tell
anyone
.
The specter of her last affair, her last disaster loomed.

“We have to tell him, hon, he’s my brother. I can’t keep
something like this a secret.” He snorted a laugh. “Hell, even if I wanted to
keep it a secret from him, I wouldn’t be able to. He’d figure it out. And then
there’d really be hell to pay.”

She couldn’t look at him. She just couldn’t. She turned her
head and stared out at the city but she didn’t see anything. Dark memories
blinded her.

“Kat?”

She didn’t answer.

“Kat? Sweetheart. Talk to me.”

She sniffed. Swiped at her cheeks.

“What is it?”

“I’m just…”

“What?”

“I’m scared, Adam.” There. It was out. “So scared that it’ll
happen again.”

“It won’t happen again.” He frowned. “It won’t. I promise.
Only Tristan will know.”

“And it won’t interfere with my work? My position at the
company?”

“No.”

“Because I don’t think I could take that again. It was
awful. People were mean.”

“It won’t happen again. I promise.”

She eyed him warily. “You won’t send me emails trying to get
me to play with myself in the office?”

His smile was ingenuous. “Only at lunchtime.”

“Oh, Adam.” She had to laugh. She had to. He was so
adorable.

“Oh, Kat.” He kissed her gently. “So… Do we have a deal?”

“We keep playing as long as no one in the office—”

“Except Tristan.”

“As long as no one except Tristan knows about it.”

“Perfect.”

“Perfect.”

But was it perfect? An old worry gnawed at the back of her
brain.

She leaned back on the lounger, giving him access to all sorts
of delectable treats. And as he nibbled and licked them both to heaven, she
thrust away her suspicion that the deal they’d struck wasn’t really perfect at
all. In fact, it had some rather fatal flaws.

Because this was what she wanted now. For once in her life
she’d let tomorrow worry about itself.

Chapter Ten

They returned to the office like conquering heroes because
that one presentation nearly doubled their business—and promised to do much
more. No one questioned why they’d missed the reception or a number of the
breakout sessions on the second day of the conference they’d been keen to
attend. Or the banquet. Or the closing session. Or the exhibit hall.

Everyone simply assumed they’d been celebrating. Which they
had been. After a fashion.

Every time he thought about it, Adam couldn’t stop a goofy
grin from blossoming on his face. He’d start remembering something she’d said
or done. Or something he’d said or done. Or he’d start thinking about something
he’d like to say. Or do—mostly do—and he would be possessed of the urge to
smirk.

Everyone else was so delighted with the outcome of the
conference they assumed that was the source of his inappropriate chortles. They
all assumed he was gloating.

Everyone, that was, but Tristan.

Tristan knew something more was up. Tristan knew it
immediately.

It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Tristan and his
brother had been in business together for years. They’d started this company
with Jack Maris straight out of college and been through countless ups and
downs since then. Tristan had seen his brother elated over a number of triumphs
as the company grew by leaps and bounds. Granted, this was one of the greatest
bounds but Adam’s patent delight augured something beyond the boundaries of
business.

Oh. And his gaze kept slipping over to Katherine and
lingering there. That kind of gave the game away as well.

And, oddly enough, hers kept slipping toward his—and a
similar radiance would light her expression—whether they were in a meeting, or
in the lunchroom, or in the parking lot or working in their offices. She did
her best to hide it, as did Adam. But Tristan noticed.

Tristan Trillo noticed everything.

He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, something had happened
between his brother and his trusted financial analyst, something that had
changed the tenor of their relationship. Tristan was bound and determined to
make sure that
something
didn’t get in the way of his profit margin.

He poked his head into Adam’s office the afternoon following
the triumphant return. “Can I see you for a minute?”

“Sure.” Adam motioned to the chairs in the corner. “Have a
seat. I’ve been meaning to talk to you too.”

“Yeah.” Tristan glanced across the hall. Katherine was
working away, rather diligently. Her brow furrowed and her bun was all mussed
up with pens and pencils thrust haphazardly into it. She looked like a
porcupine.

And Adam was mooning over her.

“I was thinking maybe the conference room.”

“The conference room?” Adam lifted a brow. “So this is a
serious chat?”

Tristan narrowed his eyes. “I think so.”

“Okay.” With one last languishing glance at the object of
his obsession, Adam closed his laptop and followed his brother down the hall.

Once in the conference room with the door quietly closed,
Tristan didn’t waste any time. “So?” It was really all he needed to say. Adam
caught on immediately.

“Yeah.” He nodded. You know, with a goofy grin and all.

Tristan’s mood darkened, his gut roiled a bit. Why on earth
did he feel…betrayed? “But we had a rule.”

Adam’s smile widened. “Yeah,” he agreed. “We
had
a
rule.”

Tristan glared at his brother. He muttered the only
sentiment appropriate to the occasion. “Shit.”

Tossing himself into one of the conference room chairs, Adam
shrugged unrepentantly. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, you know.”

“I don’t care.” Tristan dragged his fingers through his
hair. He stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows into the hall. Didn’t Adam see
the danger here? Didn’t he care? When they’d started this company—on a
shoestring and a prayer—they’d studied models of success and failure. They knew
protecting valuable assets was essential to their success. And they had
agreed
.
“We can’t afford to lose Katherine. She’s critical to our business plan.”

“We aren’t going to lose Katherine.”

Tristan spun to face his brother. “You don’t know that.
Hell. Remember what happened to Levin?”

“That ain’t gonna happen.”

“How can you know?” Their friend had indulged an
ill-conceived affair with his secretary. It had blown up in his face when she’d
filed a discrimination suit after the relationship ended. By the time it was
all over it had cost Levin his job. The firm had barely recovered from the
losses.

Adam crossed his arms over his chest. “Kat isn’t like that.”

Kat?

Oh fuck.

“She isn’t like that…now. When everything is
hunky-frickin’-dory. But when things go bad?”

“Things aren’t gonna go bad.”

Tristan threw up his hands. “I can’t believe those words are
coming out of your mouth. After what you went through with Betsy?”

“Kat isn’t anything like Betsy. Besides, this isn’t
marriage. We’re just having fun.”

“God. I can’t believe you would do this. You, of all
people.” He paced the room. “Damn it, Adam. All these years, I’ve kept myself
under strict control because we had an agreement. We had a rule.”

“It was your rule.”

“You agreed.”

“Of course I agreed. I was married. I didn’t have any
intention of fooling around at the office. I was all about work. If you
remember correctly, it was my commitment to this company that ash-canned my
marriage.”

Tristan knew that. Betsy hadn’t been shy about sharing her
resentment over the amount of time Adam had dedicated to work. Eventually,
she’d resented her way right into someone else’s bed. Several someone else’s,
in fact.

It was a pity Adam’s marriage had failed. But to be honest,
knowing Betsy it would probably have happened sooner or later.

Besides, this wasn’t about Betsy. It was about Adam. And
Kat
.

“So now here you are, footloose and trolling the office for
pussy.”

“Hey! Watch it.” Adam bristled. “Kat’s not just pussy. She’s
more.”

Tristan snorted. “They’re always more than just pussy, until
they are nothing but.”

“Kat is different. This is different. By the way, you can’t
tell anyone. She wants to keep this on the QT.”

“Oh. By all means.” Tristan caught the expression that
flashed through his brother’s eyes at his snide tone and his belly clenched.
Shit.
“Don’t tell me you have romantic feelings for her.”

A strange expression flicked through Adam’s eyes. After a
second or two, he stood, shook off whatever that had been, threw back his
shoulders and snapped, “And how hypocritical is it for you to lecture me when
you have your own closet office romance going on?”

Tristan blanched, suppressing the rush of irrational guilt
that snaked through him. He had nothing to feel guilty about. Nothing. He
propped his fists on his hips and growled, “What are you talking about?”

“Who is it, exactly, that’s had you so hot and bothered for
all these years?”

What the hell?
“I am not hot and bothered.” This, he
spat.

“Really?” Adam smirked. “
All these years, I’ve kept
myself under strict control because we had an agreement.
You said that,
less than a minute ago. Who, precisely, were you keeping yourself in check
from? I mean, if the rule was a hindrance to your game and all, who did you
have your sights on. Sara? Shannon?
Jenny?
”

Tristan narrowed his eyes. “None of your damn business.”

“I think I hit a nerve.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“I don’t have to,” Adam said with a smug smile. “
I
have a girlfriend.”

“
Son of a bitch.
”

“Wanna talk about it, Tristan? ‘Cause I’m dying to know who
you’ve been lusting after.”

“I said, none of your goddamn business, and I meant it.”

“All right. Fair enough.” Adam relaxed his stance. “How
about this. I’ll stay out of your private life as long as you stay out of
mine.”

Tristan blew out a breath. Hell. He knew when he was beat.
But he’d be damned if he’d leave it like this. Live and let live was a great
philosophy, just not when it came to his business.

He amended, “I’ll stay out of your private life if you can
keep your private life out of my business life.”

Adam stretched out his hand. “Deal.” He beamed like a kid
just offered the keys to the candy store but Tristan was far from delighted.
With unclouded vision, he could see all kinds of disasters raising their ugly
heads in the future.

At least, he comforted himself, Adam hadn’t discovered
his
dark secret.

That would have been the worst disaster of all.

“Whoa, mama. I’d like to tap that ass.”

Behind the partition, eating his lunch, Adam grimaced. Jack
Maris was always pontificating on the prime asses that needed to be tapped and
asses he’d like to tap and, well, asses in general. Adam noticed that all those
prime asses managed to remain wholly untapped. By Jack, at least.

“Holy cow, yeah,” Kenny, the intern, chimed in. “She’s one
hot mama.”

Adam poked his head over the short wall. The interns were
seated in their usual gaggle at the lunch table worshiping Jack. Sara—newly
returned from her mother’s deathbed and relieved it had been a false alarm—sat
with them, shaking her head and muttering under her breath.

“Did you see what she’s wearing today?” Billy wiped his hand
dramatically across his brow, like whatever it was, was way too hot to handle.

Sara frowned and bit into her apple. “It’s the same thing
she’s always worn,” she muttered.

“Not,” Kenny chirped.

“No.” Jack shook his head. “I mean, technically it’s the
same boring blouse but she
un-frickin’-buttoned
it.”

“Like, two buttons!” Billy moaned and buried his pimply face
in his hands.

Kenny swallowed. His long, thin throat undulated. “You could
practically see her cleavage.”

Man
, thought Adam,
these guys really need to get
laid.

“Oh. She wants it,” Jack, the arbiter of all things sexual,
announced. “I mean, haven’t you noticed a difference?”

“Like, totally.” Billy nodded.

“Oh yeah.” Kenny’s head bobbed as well.

Jack licked his lips. “There’s something about her lately
that just, I dunno, sets off all my triggers.”

“I know. Like, since she got back from Vegas.”

Adam’s jaw snapped shut. His left eyelid started to twitch.

“Do you think maybe she got laid in Vegas?” Billy asked.
“Like, maybe she got a taste of some man meat and now she’s hungry for more?”

Adam frowned, certain now that the little cretins were, in
fact, talking about Kat.
No
, he thought.
She’s not hungry for more
man meat. At least not intern man meat.
He stood and glared over the
partition.

No one noticed him.

“She has a
boyfriend
,” Sara offered. “She’s not
interested in any of you.”

“She has a boyfriend?” Jack spat chunks of a partially
masticated sandwich pocket on the table.

Yeah. She does.

“Since when?”

Sara blew out a breath. “Since forever?”

“I never heard she had a boyfriend,” Jack complained.

“Why would she tell you?”

Yeah. Why would she?

Jack’s lip curled. “I bet he’s a limp dick.” He glanced
around at the others. “Otherwise, why would she be such an ice queen?”

Adam’s muscles bunched. Suddenly Jack looked like someone
who needed a smackdown.

“I bet she got laid in Vegas by some hot stud, like a male
stripper or some shit like that, and she got the fever.” Kenny, Adam decided,
was delusional.

“She needs a hot beef injection,” Billy suggested and the
others—with the exception of Sara—concurred. Sara rolled her eyes in disgust.

It was only by extreme strength of will that Adam refrained
from ripping their collective heads off. Granted, the occupants of the
lunchroom were the younger crowd at Trillo–Maris—the interns and the morons and
Jack—but their comments were unprofessional at best and insulting at worst.

And they were talking about
Katherine
.
His
Katherine. That in itself made him want to do damage to their persons. He
bristled but before he could make his opinions known, Jack offered the
coup
de grâce
.

“I think maybe I should seduce her.”

Adam’s blood curdled. He opened his mouth to speak but his
throat was clogged with rage.

“Man. That would be sweet.”

Sara shook her head. “Impossible.”

“How amazing would that be? Anybody up for a bet?” Jack
opened his arms wide, encompassing the group. “The guy who kisses her first
wins. Wadda ya say? Kenny? You in?”

“Oh man.” Kenny made a face and shuddered in what Adam could
only assume was nerdish delight. “Imagine collecting on that bet.”

Sara blew out a breath and glanced at Adam. “Are we gonna to
have to sit through another sexual harassment training? I swear to God.
Sometimes I feel like I work in a frat house.”

Billy and Kenny—neither of whom had seen the inside of a
frat house—high-fived. “Awesome.”

Jack turned and noticed Adam for the first time. “Hey,
buddy. What do you think? Want in on the bet?”

Adam glared at Jack and snarled, “What the hell is wrong
with you?”

“Dude.” Jack leaned back and threw up his hands. “I was only
joking. No need to go all feral on me.”

“Not. Funny.”

“Dude.” Jack collected and crumpled up his trash. “No need
to get so intense.”

“This is a business,” Adam said, his voice cold and clipped.
“You can’t talk about the female employees like that. You can’t play games or
make bets or objectify them. Jesus, Jack!”