More Than Rum (The Maple Leaf Series Book 3) (17 page)

“Good God. Yes, please.”

Hope jumped at the sound of
Adam’s voice and she found him leaning on the threshold of her bedroom door.

He stepped into her room.
“Sorry, but…” he clasped his hands in a plea, “I’ll do anything if you bring
that.” He pointed to the red bra and panties.

“Anything?” Hope pretended to
ponder the possibilities. “Really?”

Adam reached out a tentative
hand then snatched the underwear from her grip. He placed them gently into the
suitcase and began to zip it closed.

“I wasn’t done,” Hope said.

“Yes, you were.” He hauled the
suitcase off the bed and held his hand out for hers. “Come on.”

“Did you talk to Kevin?” She took
his hand and followed him to the stairs.

“Yeah. He and Diana are off the
case.” His voice was a low growl.

“Off the case?” She stopped
following him and let go of his hand. “Why?”

“Big Dicky DiNoble would be my
guess.” When she didn’t come down the stairs behind him, Adam turned around and
looked up at her. “Hey, sticking to you like glue, remember?” He motioned to
the spot beside him.

When she reached him, he took
her hand again. “Kevin and Diana are off the case
officially
,” he said.
“Unofficially, they’re meeting us back at my place. You didn’t think we’d just
give up, did you?”

No, she didn’t, and maybe that
was what scared her.

“That’s the best idea you’ve
got?” Adam shook his head. “No. No way.”

Kevin held his hands out to
either side of him as he leaned against Adam’s workbench in the shop. “It’s our
best shot, Adam.”

“Not happening. Terrible idea.
I want to punch you just for saying it out loud.”

“Okay, okay,” Diana said. “No
one’s punching anyone. Let’s all just calm down.”

Adam didn’t miss Diana’s eye
roll as she looked at a strangely quiet Hope sitting on a stool next to Kevin.

“It’s ridiculous, right, Hope?
Tell them it’s crazy.” Adam needed someone else to be on his side because his
fear grew exponentially the longer Hope remained silent. She had an expression
on her face that told him she was contemplating Kevin’s plan. A plan that
involved using Hope like peanut butter in a fucking mouse trap. He didn’t care
if Daniel ran free. He’d just keep Hope with him all the time, twenty-four
hours a day. He’d never let her out of his sight. That made more sense than
dangling her like raw meat in front of a hungry wolf.

“It is crazy,” Hope began, and
Adam wished she would stop there. He had a definite feeling he wasn’t going to
like what she had to say next. “But it is probably the best way to catch
Daniel. He wants to make me pay—even more so now that I escaped once. I’d be
the biggest reason he’d resurface.”

Adam marched over to her, reminding
himself not to breathe fire. He set his hands on her shoulders. “We’ll flush
him out of his hiding spot some other way. We’ll think of something else.” He
arrowed a glare at Kevin, looking for support but not getting any.

“Diana and I can’t use the
normal channels, dude,” Kevin said. “If we want to get this asshole, we’re
going to have to think outside the box.”

“So let’s think outside the
box, and not put Hope
inside
the box, gift wrap it, and hand it over to
him.” Adam looked back at Hope, his hands still on her shoulders as if he were
holding her in place. He couldn’t stand to think of her going anywhere near that
scumbucket.

She rested her hand on his left
wrist and met his gaze. “I’ll just get Daniel out into the open. You guys will
all be close by.”

“She’s right,” Diana said. “We
just need him to look like he’s going to attack her. We catch him in the act
and it’ll be a lot harder for dirty cops to brush it under the rug.”

“We’ll stop him before he harms
one little hair on Hope’s beautiful head,” Kevin added.

Hope squeezed Adam’s wrist.
“It’ll work. Then we don’t have to worry about him being out there.” She gestured
to the window and the outside.

Adam released Hope’s shoulders
and paced away, stopping in front of Diana. “Isn’t there a loyal female cop we
can get to lure him out?” He wished Diana could do it, but Daniel already knew
she was a police officer.

“I’m sure there is,” Diana
said, “but he wants her.” She pointed to Hope. “He may have started out wanting
just anybody when he accosted her at Black Wolf, but now it’s personal. In his
mind, Hope is the reason he spent some time in jail, and she needs to make up
for that.”

Adam didn’t miss the shiver
that rippled through Hope’s body. He walked over to her and pulled her into a
hug, holding her close against his body, not wanting anything to get between
them. Now that he’d let her into his world, he couldn’t imagine it without her.

“Don’t say shit like that,
Diana.”

“Just keeping it real,” she
said. “I don’t like scaring Hope, but honey, you need to understand the threat
that’s happening here. You are not only on Daniel’s list, but you’re on
DiNoble’s radar too. Not a good place to be.”

“The exact opposite of good,”
Kevin said.

Adam let out a growl and
tightened his grip on Hope when she tried to back away.

“It’s okay, guys.” Her voice
was muffled against his chest, and she slid her hands between them, pushing on
his stomach to gain some space.

He reluctantly gave it to her.

“I can do this. I
need
to do this.” She cupped Adam’s cheek. “Look, you and I… are we starting
something here?”

“I’d like to think so.” Didn’t
she think the same thing?

“The only way to give us a
chance is to climb any and all obstacles. Daniel is an obstacle.”

“The gal has a point,” Diana
said, earning herself a perturbed glare from Adam.

“I just don’t want you to get
hurt.” He traced Hope’s jaw with his index finger, taking in the slight
bruising on her cheek Daniel had caused yesterday.

“She already did enough damage
to that prick to get away,” Kevin said. “I don’t think we even need to worry
about Hope defending herself.”

“Still…” Adam looked up the
stairs leading to his apartment. “Let me teach you a few moves in my gym. Moves
that will bring that douche to his knees.”

“Great idea, Adam,” Diana said.
“You keeping an eye on Hope will give us a chance to plan out our end of this.”
She gestured between Kevin and herself.

“Rendezvous at Black Wolf
Tavern tonight?” Hope suggested.

Everyone agreed and Diana and
Kevin left.

“Are you sure about this,
Hope?” Adam asked. “We have other options.”

“Like what?”

“Like I could abduct you myself,
and we could fly off to Hawaii or something.”
Yeah, what was wrong with that
plan? Hot sun. Beautiful beaches.

“Are you just trying to get me
in a bikini?” She put her hands on her hips.

“Maybe. It was worth a shot.”
He shrugged.

“I think we should hold on to
that idea.” She reached up on her toes and brushed his lips with hers. Softly,
gently, yet somehow that kiss managed to whip everything inside him into a
frenzy. “I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii.”

“I imagine we could have some
fun there together.” Adam wrapped his arms around her waist and wondered why in
the hell he’d wasted so much time. Time feeling guilty over the lost lives of
his squad members. Time feeling sorry for himself. Time feeling afraid he
wouldn’t have what Hope needed in a man.

Wendie had been right. He had
to live for his Marine buddies. He had to allow himself to feel worthy of
Hope’s company. He had to be the man a woman like Hope needed and wanted.

A man she might even come to
love.

****

“Okay, Rocky, let’s head
upstairs and get you properly trained.” Adam crossed his gym and stood in front
of an old-school boom box. “First rule of kicking ass is to have the right
soundtrack.” He put in a cassette tape—yes, a cassette tape.

“Lovely antique you’ve got
there.” Hope waved a hand at the boom box. “Is it running off fourteen D batteries
or…?”

“Quiet down.” He crossed his
arms as he looked at her. “Are you going to be a difficult student?”

“Maybe.”

“Cute.” He hit play, and the
gym was filled with LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out.”

“Maybe you can teach me to
breakdance later too,” she teased.

He shook his head. “No. Later
we’ll be watching
The Goonies
and playing Atari.”

Hope barked out a laugh. “Oh, I
like this side of you, Adam.”

“Remember it, because you asked
for defense training, which is serious business. I’ve got to channel my Marine.
He’s a moody son-of-a-bitch, but he’ll make a fighting machine out of you.”

“Bring it on.” She gathered her
hair into a ponytail, just a few soft wisps about her face, and rolled up the
sleeves of her T-shirt. “So kick to the groin is always a good one, right?”

“It is,” Adam said, “but you
have to get pretty close to make it really count. Your best bet is to run if
you can.”

“That sounds like being a
weenie.” Hope frowned, though she remembered in vivid detail how her foot felt
sinking into Daniel’s face when she was trying to get away from him.

“Maybe, but better to be an
unharmed weenie, wouldn’t you say?”

“Good point.” She bounced on
the balls of her feet, swaying from side to side with her hands up. “But show
me something badass anyway.”

“You’re too cute to be a
badass.”

“Cute like a rabid squirrel.
Besides, I already kicked Daniel’s ass once.” She bared her teeth and charged
at Adam.

Easily, he grabbed her around
the waist and picked her up. Her legs kept moving as if running and her arms
flailed about.

“Hey, not fair!”

“Lowlife scumbags don’t play
fair, killer.” He set her down. “I don’t mean this as an insult, but you
probably did the damage you did to Daniel because he wasn’t expecting you to
fight back. You don’t look like a fighter. You look… you look like…”

“A wimp?” Hope lowered her
shoulders. “I know. Years of people telling you you’re
nice
causes you
to give off a vibe that says ‘I mean you no harm. I won’t fight back. Walk all
over me.’ That kind of sucks.”

“But you can also use that in
your favor,” Adam said. “The element of surprise is a good tool.” He lowered
the music a little. “Okay, let’s get serious here. Put your hands like this.”
He held his own hands up in front of him and she mirrored his movements.
“Always protect your face. Especially when you have such a pretty one. Bend
your knees. Don’t lock them up. That way you can shift positions quickly and
keep your balance.”

Hope followed his instructions,
and although she didn’t mind watching his body move as he showed her the self-defense
moves, she hated that there was a need for him to do so. Shouldn’t a woman be
safe in a small town in Vermont? Shouldn’t places like Danton and St. Jamesbury
be free of the problems big cities had? Shouldn’t apprehended criminals be
tried, sentenced, and shown to an uncomfortable jail cell for a good period of
time?

Grinding her teeth, Hope
focused on Adam as he said, “You want to avoid using your knuckles to hit
someone. The flesh there is thin and you’re liable to do more damage to you
than to him.”

He took her hand and pressed
against the heel of her palm with his fingers. “Right here is what you want to
use. Jam this up under someone’s nose and you could break it. Under a chin and
you’ve made some teeth rattle, maybe even a tongue got bitten.” He backed up a
step. “And don’t forget your knees, as you mentioned. They are good weapons too
if you’re close to your attacker.” He took her hands and put them on the back
of his head. “Pull my head down and bring your knee up. Slowly, please.”

“You don’t want a headache
later?” She pinched the back of his neck.

“No. I have other plans for
later.” He peeked up at her and grinned. “Now pull my head down, knee up.”

She did so, nice and slow.

“See how in this position
everything is lined up. You’ve put my head right in the path of your knee and
your hands are holding me in place. If you push down with your hands as your
knee is connecting with my face, you’ve made a nice little sandwich that is
going to hurt. Hopefully, it’ll hurt enough to send the dickhead stumbling back
and give you time to get away.”

“What if I can’t get into this
position?” Hope asked. “What if my arms aren’t free?”

“You mean like this?” Adam
stepped behind her, lassoed her with his arms, and squeezed.

“Well, yeah, but scarier. I
don’t want to get out of
your
hold.” She snuggled her back against his
front and loved the needy groan that escaped from his throat.

“I forgot what we’re supposed
to be doing here. What happened?”

“This happened.” She ground her
ass against his already aroused parts and let out her own moan this time. Now
that she’d made love with Adam, she wanted his body mixed up with hers. Often.
Around the clock if possible.  

“Sweet Jesus,” he hissed into
her ear. “I want you so much.”

“Finish showing me how to get
out of this first.”

“Yes, ma’am. Right. Okay.” He
shook his head as if coming out of an erotic dream. “Here, switch places with
me.”

They rotated spots and Hope put
her arms around him, pinning his arms to his sides. He leaned his head back so
it gently touched her forehead.

“See how my head can reach
yours? All you have to do is snap it back much faster than I did and connect.
It may hurt your head a little, but your attacker won’t be able to hold on. His
instinct will tell him to bring his hands to the nasty hurt you just delivered
to his head. Once you’re loose, you have two options.” He peeled her arms off
him and turned to face her. “One is to run. Don’t feel shame in that. It’s the
smartest thing to do. If running isn’t possible, while he’s holding his head,
you can rush in, grab it, push and slam with the knee like we did before. Do it
hard enough and he’ll be on the ground.”

“This all sounds doable… as
long as I don’t freeze up. That’s what happened outside Black Wolf. It all
happened so fast. My mind didn’t have time to think of a plan. When I think
about it now, I see that I could have probably done some damage. He had me
pinned to the wall, but I still had options.”

“And as long as you have
options, you have a chance. You may have frozen up that first time at the
tavern, but as you said, the second time, you kicked his ass, because you’d had
time to think about what you would have done differently from the first time,
right?”

Hope nodded. She supposed that
were true. Of course, the second time she was in Daniel’s company she had known
he was buddies with a mob boss. She had been more motivated than ever to
protect herself against him. What would her reaction be when she encountered
him a third time?

It looked like she’d be finding
out.