More Than Rum (The Maple Leaf Series Book 3) (11 page)

Hope sat in her Jeep in the
parking lot of Black Wolf Tavern. Her breathing came in short, rapid gasps as
the paralyzing images of being attacked came knocking on her windows again. Her
hands had a kung fu grip on the steering wheel. She couldn’t make herself shut
off the headlights and get out of the damn vehicle.

How many times is this
stupid reaction going to happen?

She’d come to this tavern
hundreds of times, and she still had hundreds of times to go. Some jerk wasn’t
going to ruin the only place in town for her.

Just open the door and get
out.

Of course she’d have to unlock
the doors first. Why couldn’t she have found a parking spot in the first row
along the building? She should have brought a flashlight and a baseball bat
with her. God, it was dark out, and why was it so warm in the car? Shouldn’t
she be freezing? She could see her breath in front of her face, but when she
pulled her gloves off and rubbed the back of her neck, her fingers came away
sweaty.

Gross.

Wouldn’t it be lovely meeting
Adam smelling as if she’d run a marathon? Assuming she actually got out of the
car and made it into the stupid bar to meet him.

Grrrr...

She should have asked Sage or Lily
to come with her tonight, but a third wheel on what she assumed qualified as a
date was never a good idea. Besides, she could do this.

She could.

Hope jammed her hands into her
gloves, shouldered her purse as if it were an assault rifle, and put her hand
on the door handle. All she had to do was pull and she’d be on her way.

One, two, three…

Something knocked on her window,
and a scream ripped from her throat. When she looked out the window, Adam stood
there with his hands up in the universal I-mean-you-no-harm gesture. He waited
a few seconds then pulled on the door handle from the outside. Of course the
door didn’t open, because she was locked up like a bank vault.

“Hope, are you okay?” Adam’s
voice was muffled, but the concern on his face had her hitting the unlock
button. He opened the door and with a hand on it and the frame of the car, he leaned
in. He opened his mouth but hesitated, looking back at the tavern then at her
again. “Are you freaking out?”

She covered her face with her
hands and nodded. “I’m such a loser.”

Big, strong fingers closed
around her hand and gently tugged until her face was uncovered. “Not a loser.
Not even close.” He rubbed his jaw for a moment, giving Hope something else to
concentrate on, like how tasty his mouth looked. “How about a new plan?”

“I thought we weren’t making
plans,” she said.

“This is true.” He drummed his
fingers on the door. “Okay. My
instincts
say perhaps you’d rather I go
into the bar and get our dinners to go. We could meet at my place and eat
there. How does that sound?”

Hope sifted out a slow breath.
“That would be great. You don’t mind?”

“Not at all.”

“Thanks. I made it into the bar
earlier, but it was light out and work was on my mind. I didn’t have time to
get all anxious, I guess.” She shrugged. “The darkness is… I don’t know…
scary.”

“You don’t have to explain how
you’re feeling to me,” Adam said. “I’ve been there.” He gave her a warm smile,
but it didn’t reach all the way to his beautiful eyes. “It’s going to take me a
few to get our food. Why don’t you go get Olive and bring her over too?”

“Another wonderful idea.” She
poked around in her purse for her keys.

“I’m full of wonderful ideas
tonight.”

“Really? What kind of ideas?”
Hope studied the short beard covering his jaw, and she had ideas too. She
wanted to feel that beard rub against her sensitive skin. Like, all over.

“You’ll have to wait and see.”
With that, he closed her door and motioned with his hand for her to be on her
way. He swiveled on his booted feet then jogged to the front door of the
tavern.

See?
It was easy. Anyone
could waltz up to the door, open it, and go inside the bar. Why couldn’t she?

I will.
Just not
tonight. Tonight she was going to grab her doggie and go to a hot guy’s
apartment for what she hoped was
not
a repeat of last night. Two “no
thanks” in a row would ruin her. No question.

She started her Jeep after
seeing that Adam had made it inside the bar and headed home. When she went
inside, her mother immediately appeared in the kitchen.

“What’s the matter, sugar? Did
something happen again at that bar? Are you okay?”

“Whoa, Mom. Everything’s fine.
Just a change of plans. Olive’s coming with me.” Hope stepped around her
bathrobe-clad mother and made a kissy noise.

“She’s out cold in front of the
fireplace,” Joy said. “Besides, you can’t take a dog to a bar.”

“I’m not. I’m taking her to
Adam’s.”

“I see. Do you think that’s a
good idea?” Joy crossed her arms and gave Hope the Stannard Stare.

“It’s better than not being
able to get out of my Jeep in the parking lot of the tavern, don’t you think?”

Instantly, her mother’s eyes
softened. “Oh, sugar.” She pulled Hope into a very pink, very fluffy hug then
backed up. Fixing Hope’s hair, she said, “It’s going to take some time.”

“Apparently.” She stepped
around her mother and found Olive curled into a tight ball on the little
braided rug in front of the fireplace. When she kneeled by the pup, Olive
raised her head, her eyes blinking sleepily. “Hey, girl. You want to go on a
field trip?”

Somehow those words must have
translated in the dog’s brain as
Let’s go have the most fun time ever
,
because Olive popped up on all fours, her black and white tail nearly wagging
right off her ass. She let out a few playful yaps and pushed her nose into
Hope’s hands.

“I guess that’s a yes,” Joy said.
“Leave me high and dry. Rotten dog.”

“I thought you two were kindred
spirits. What happened to that?” Hope picked up the puppy and snuggled her
close.

“We are… unless she finds
something better to do.” Joy waved a hand. “Although we were glued to each other’s
hips today while you were at Jake’s. I mean Black Wolf Tavern. Jake’s Black
Wolf Tavern.” Her cheeks were as pink as her robe. “Oh, hell, you know what I
mean.”

“Yeah, I think I do.” Hope
pointed at her mother. “Maybe you ought to head over to Jake’s tavern tonight.”

Joy huffed and blustered, tied
and untied her robe, and mumbled something unintelligible.

“What’s that?” Hope cupped a
hand over her ear. “Did you say you’d love to go over there?”

“Shut up, sugar.” Her mother
gave her a little shove. “Don’t you have someone waiting for you?” She bustled
to the mudroom and retrieved Olive’s leash, a chew toy, and a bone. “Here you
go. Now get out. I have a date with the television.”

“You could have a date with—”
Hope found her lips pinched closed by Joy’s index finger and thumb.

“Don’t. I’m too old. That ship
has sailed.”

“Oh, but look.” Hope gestured
to the space on the floor between them. “Here’s a handy rowboat. You could
catch up to the ship easily.”

Joy pushed her blonde curly
hair out of her face and shook her head. “I wouldn’t know what to do on a
date.”

“Neither would Jake. It would
be perfect.”

“I’ll think about it. Now go.”
Joy opened the door and a blast of January wind rushed in. “Stay warm, but be
smart. Don’t take any shit.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She waved Olive’s
paw. “Say bye to Grammy.”

Joy waved back then closed the
door when Hope jogged to her Jeep.

After what seemed like a longer
drive than it really was, Hope and Olive arrived at Adam’s. His two trucks were
parked side-by-side in his driveway and lights were on in Wendie’s apartment as
well as in Adam’s. If things went south, maybe she could hit Wendie up for a
glass of wine and some girl talk.

Things will not go south.

She repeated these words in her
mind as she lifted Olive out of the Jeep and went up the stairs to the door
Adam was holding open. He’d seen her. No chance of turning back. No second
guessing.

“Hey,” he said.

How could one word sound so
sexy coming out of his mouth? Oh yeah, it was coming out of his mouth.

“Hi.” She walked past him into
his apartment, and he shut the door.

He’d taken his boots off and
the sight of him in his green thermal shirt, blue jeans, and thick woolen socks
instantly made Hope comfortable. The fact that the sleeves of the thermal shirt
were pulled up to expose two lovely male forearms didn’t hurt either.

Adam held those perfect arms
out and wiggled his fingers. “Hand the pup over.”

Olive was half out of Hope’s
grip as the dog squirmed and reached paws out to Adam. The puppy fidgeted so
much Hope almost dropped her, but Adam caught Olive easily.

“Do dogs land on all fours or
is that just cats?” Hope asked.

“Something tells me this little
one is not coordinated enough yet to land gracefully.” Adam stroked Olive’s
back as the pup settled into the crook of his arm and pressed her tiny head
into his chest.

“But she’s got snuggling
mastered,” Hope said.

He took his index finger and
scratched the fur between her ears. “She makes it look easy.” Adam shifted the
puppy so his left hand was free. “Let me take your coat.”

Hope shrugged out of her heavy
ski jacket and handed it to him. She slid off her boots and watched as Adam
hung her jacket on a peg next to his own coat. Okay, she may have watched the
way his jeans molded to that super fine ass of his too. Would she get to see
that super fine ass tonight?

Don’t get ahead of yourself,
sister.

They hadn’t even eaten dinner
yet. Still plenty of night to go before taking anything to the next level, but
it was as if simply being in his apartment again had turned up her horniness
dial as far as it would go.

“Some wine?” Adam asked, still
cradling one happy puppy in his arm. He rubbed her black and white belly, and
Olive batted her paws at his hand.

“Sure.”

“Red moscato?” He walked into
the kitchen and held out a bottle for her inspection.

“That’s my favorite wine.”

“Is it now?” He gave her a
little grin that had her wanting him naked again.

Down, girl.

He poured two glasses and slid
one toward her. He lifted his own glass and held it out as Olive let out squeals
because he stopped rubbing.

Might I make those noises
later?

God, she hoped not. She didn’t
think they’d be as cute coming from her.

“What shall we drink to?” he
asked.

Hope thought for a moment then
held her glass up as well. “To instincts.”

Again, a smile turned up his
lips, making his sexiness downright lethal. He brought his glass to his lips
and took a hearty sip.

Hope did the same, wishing for
the wine to take effect quickly and get rid of her nervousness. She reminded
herself she had to be in charge here. Be in charge and not scare him away at
the same time. Now that was the riddle right there. Where was the line between
getting what you wanted and not coming on too strong? It was a delicate balance
for sure, and she was far from an expert in these matters. She should have
asked Sage for a crash course.

Too late now.

Another sip of wine went down
smoothly as Adam led her to the dining room table where a gorgeous arrangement
of multi-colored tulips sat in the middle.

“Tulips,” she said. “Also my
favorite.”

“Interesting,” was all Adam
said as he pulled out her chair and gestured for her to sit. Looking down at
Olive, he said, “Okay, pooch, I’m dumping you on the couch. Get comfortable.”

He poured the dog down the back
of the couch, and she landed on the seat cushion with a little bounce. Sniffing
around in a circle as if on the trail of something important, Olive finally
settled into a tight ball, let out a huff, and closed her eyes.

“She’ll be out in no time,”
Adam said as he walked back to the table and took the seat across from Hope.

“My mother’s been tiring her
out. I’m not sure if I got Olive for me or my mom.”

“What made you want a dog?” He
opened the Black Wolf Tavern bag on the table and took out their dinners.

“I don’t know.” Hope shrugged.
Because
I’m lonely.
Too pathetic to say out loud. “The house is quiet since Sage
moved out.”

Adam nodded, motioning to the
space around him. “This place is like a tomb most of the time. I mean, there’s
quiet and then there’s
quiet.
”

“You got that right.”

Was it possible he was lonely
too? A man would never admit that, but she could see it in his eyes. She didn’t
want him to be lonely. She wanted to do something about that.

If he’ll let me…

“Shall we see what Jake cooked
up for us?”

“Yes,” Hope said. “I’m starving.”

Adam leveled his hazel gaze on
her and suddenly it was tropical in his apartment. “Me too.”

How fast could she chow down and
still be considered a lady? Seriously. She hoped there wasn’t steak in her
take-out container. She did not want to spend time cutting and chewing.

Not when there was kissing and
touching to do.  

****

Why hadn’t he insisted on soup
from Jake? Soup could be swallowed. Easily. Quickly. They could slurp it up
with a straw and be done. Dinner was like this big mountain between him and
having his hands all over Hope.

Go slow, man.

As soon as he saw her climbing
the stairs to his apartment with Olive he wanted—no,
needed
—to get her
out of her clothes and into his arms as soon as possible. He had to be sensible
though. Marching her to his bedroom and stripping her down to her skin was far
too irreverent for a respectable woman like Hope. He had to take his time and
show her he was worth her effort.