Rescue Me (4 page)

Chapter Four

Erin

Awakening this morning I have never felt more excited about a date. However, lying in bed last night after Adam left my room, I made a promise to myself that I am no longer going to keep my head in the sand about my life. Hell, I’m twenty-seven years old and I am so sick and tired of not being happy. I know it is going to take time for me to be able to trust again. I am a victim of domestic violence and what my ex-husband did to me has left me with the lowest self-esteem imaginable, but after everything he has done to me, I am a survivor. As long as I keep telling myself that, I am going to be okay. I don’t want to be a weak woman anymore; I want to spread my wings and fly. I want to give my heart over to someone, and I want that someone to be Adam Payne.

As I make my way upstairs after cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast, I come to a sudden halt at the top of the stairs. Hearing laughter coming from Sierra’s room, I stop just outside of her door. Tears instantly appear in my eyes as I listen to Adam playing with the girls. Curious as to what they are doing, I peek inside and see the three of them lying on the floor playing cards. The sight before me makes my heart skip a beat and I melt as I watch this man with a heart of gold play with the girls. Seeing the way he is with Sierra, I swear if I didn’t already have some kind of feelings for this man, I would fall in love with him right here and now. I’ve never witnessed anything sexier in my life than watching Adam play with these girls and being a kid himself.

Sierra notices me and her eyes light up like it’s the fourth of July.

“Come play with us, Mommy!” she squeals.

Adam looks up from the cards that are in his hands and scoots over to make room for me on the floor.

“Yes, come play with us, Mommy.”

He looks right at me with a smirk on his face. Rolling my eyes at him, I slowly make my feet move and sit down next to him. The girls giggle and the four of us spend the next two hours playing cards and board games. I can’t remember having this much fun in a very long time. Adam and I have been living under the same roof for three months and even though I have noticed how he is with these two girls, I have never really allowed myself to relax and enjoy being with them. I have been lost in my own little world and trying to avoid my feelings for Adam. God, how could I have been so naïve?

I have no clue where Adam is taking me for our date tonight. After we were done playing with the girls he told me he made arrangements with Luke’s mother Camillia for the girls to spend the night with her and Vincent. Now I am a bundled up mess as I will my legs that feel like concrete to take me to my room to get myself ready. I wish I had the time to look on the damn internet. I am sure there is some way to find ‘get rid of your pre-date jitters.’

Shit, what am I doing?
I chastise myself. I haven’t been on a date in years and even though Adam and I know each other, this is something completely different.

“Oh, fudge,” I mumble as I fall back on my bed after entering my room.

What the hell ever!
says the little witchy side of my brain.
You have a scrumptious man who will be here at any moment to take you on a date, so get your cute little ass up and move it!
So, I get up and get myself dressed. I start to use my flat iron on my hair but instead, I decide to call my sister Shelby who I haven’t talked to in a few days. Grabbing my phone from my purse, I dial her number and put it on speaker as I sit it on the bathroom counter.

“Hey, big sis!” she yells into the phone.

“Hi, Shelby. Are you working?”

“Oh, God. When am I not?”

“You work too much, sis. You need to get out and find someone to take care of you.”

I cringe at my words because we have had this conversation more times than I can count and I know what is coming out of her mouth next.

“Oh, listen to you preach it, girl. You’re going to end up with cobwebs draped all around your pussy because you haven’t used it in years,” she grumbles.

The iron slips from my hand and lands on the floor with a loud thud as I bend over and start laughing so hard that my stomach instantly starts to hurt. I can hear Shelby laughing through the phone as well. After a few long minutes of laughter, the two of us compose ourselves and I start messing with my hair again.

“So what’s going on with you?” Shelby asks.

“Well, I was calling to let you know that I have a date,” I whisper into the phone.

“You WHAT?” she screams. “Please tell me it is with that hunk of a man Adam, or I swear to God I will come up there and kick your ass myself.”

“It is with Adam, and I am so nervous.”

“Why are you nervous, sis? The two of you have done everything except for fu….”

“Shelby! Stop that! And anyway, what do you know about screwing around? Or have you finally given it up to someone?” I tease.

“No, I haven’t given it up to anyone, you dork. You know I don’t have time for a man; how many times do I have to tell you? Oh, hell! Erin, I have to go. Something is happening in the kitchen and I can hear my chef screaming. I love you! You deserve this more than anyone, so go have the time of your life. I want details tomorrow. Bye!”

Even though my little sister doesn’t hear me, I tell her ‘bye’ anyway and as I am finishing up my hair, I close my eyes and pray that she and I can both find happiness.

Confirming in the mirror that I look appealing enough with a pair of dark jeans and a lightweight green sweater, I apply a nude colored lip gloss and run my fingers through my hair one more time. Just as I am slipping into my shoes, the doorbell rings.

“Now who could that be?” I wonder out loud. I make my way down the hall and when I go to open the door, I notice it is Adam on the other side as I see him through one of the sidelights. Confusion sets in as I notice it isn’t locked...so what he is doing ringing the doorbell at his own house? I open the door and I am immediately assaulted with the smell of roses.

“Adam, what is this?”

“I’m here to pick you up for our date.” Leaning in, he brushes his lips over my cheek and takes a step back as he hands me the roses. “These are for you, and you look even more gorgeous than I remember,” he proclaims.

Trying not to laugh because he is standing in his own doorway, I take the roses from him and as they are already in a vase, I turn around and set them on the table. Adam takes hold of my hand as we walk outside; he doesn’t let it go until he opens the door of his truck and helps me get in. As he climbs behind the wheel, I turn to him to ask him where we’re going.

Before I can get the words out of my mouth, he looks and says, “Before you ask where we’re going, don’t, because I want you to sit there and wonder. But one thing I do know, Erin, is you will love it.”

************

As we slow down on the country road, I glance over and see a big smile across Adam’s face. Turning my attention back to where we’re going, I can’t believe my eyes when I see the beauty before me. This has been a huge dream of mine for as long as I can remember.

“Oh my God, Adam! You remembered.”

“Of course I remembered. You told me how excited you were about seeing a vineyard when we were driving here from Texas.”

“This is beautiful, Adam,” I try to say calmly, but deep down inside I am screaming and saying,
get me out of this damn truck!

“You ready?” Adam ask as he opens my door with a little bit of humor in his voice. He is up to something; I can tell by the expression on his face.

“What do you have planned, Adam?” I ask skeptically. He closes my door and hits his key fob to lock the truck. I can’t help but feel the warmth that spreads throughout my body as he puts his arm around my shoulders and whispers in my ear.

“I hope you’re not fond of those jeans you have on.”

Suddenly I stop dead in my tracks and he leans his head back and laughs as I give him the dirtiest look.

“Get your little blonde head out of the gutter, woman,” Adam smirks as he quirks his eyebrows.

I look up to him with a mischievous expression. “Now you’re really pressing your luck, Adam, because my head was not in the gutter.”

He quickly pulls me into him and draws me as near to him as he possibly can. “Yes, it was,” he challenges me.

I raise my eyebrows as if to challenge him back, but we both bust out laughing, hard. Adam leans down and kisses my cheek lightly, then turns us around. My eyes take in what I am sure is going to be one of the best nights I have ever had.

We walk toward the back of the building where they have tables spread all across the lawn. Every table is set up with candles and they are all far enough apart to give everyone the privacy they need. After Adam gives the hostess his name, she takes us to a table situated at the end of a row close to a part of the vineyard. Adam pulls out my chair for me and I take my seat. Just as he sits down across from me, the waiter appears with a few bottles of wine for us to try.

“What kind would you like to taste first?” Adam asks.

I hesitate for a few seconds. “I would love to try the Riesling, please.”

“Excellent choice, ma’am,” the waiter declares before turning to Adam. “And you, sir?”

Adam tells him he will have the same. I lean back in my chair and look at the horizon. The clouds have an exquisite shade of gray and the sun has the most vibrant hues of pinks and orange. It’s simply breathtaking.

Adam speaks and brings my attention back to him. “I am not sure if I love you all dressed up like you were at the wedding or if I love this look of you all casual tonight.”

I gaze into his vibrant green eyes. I want so badly to believe that he is telling me the truth. He brings his arm across the table and tucks a few stray hairs behind my ear.

“One thing I do know is that I love your hair straight like this. I’m captivated by you, Erin. Your beauty is ravishing.”

Oh, dear Lord. What do I say to that? It’s at that moment the waiter brings our wine. Adam takes a small taste and nods at the waiter declaring his approval. The waiter pours the wine into my glass, and as I take a sip and feel its crispness making its way down my throat, I know I am going to need a lot more wine to make it through the rest of this night.

“So are you enjoying yourself so far?”

“I am. Michigan is absolutely breathtaking and this view is spectacular. I love the way all the colors change on the trees here. It’s so different from Texas,” I say with as much enthusiasm as I can. I can feel the wine start to make its way through my body and my nerves are starting to calm.

“This was one of my mom’s favorite places to be, especially this time of year,” he says solemnly. “She loved fall. She loved coming out here and having cider and pie with her friends and watching the autumn leaves.”

I leave him to his memories of his mother for just a few minutes and then I reach across the table and place my hand over the top of his. “Your mom was one of the kindest women I have ever met, and she loved both you and Shayne so much.”

“She did. I just wish she could be here right now to see how happy Shayne is and to fuss over Lucy. But my mom will always be with me wherever I go, and I know she is watching over us.”

He visibly shakes off his sadness and we continue our meal. After dinner we’re both stuffed. The waiter brings more wine and Adam declines, but I am ever so eager to try more so with my glass of wine in hand, we start off on a short tour of the vineyard. With Adam at my side, we approach what must be the highlight of the night because as I see what lies ahead of us and what we’re about to do, I actually shriek and lightly punch Adam in the arm.

“No way, Adam!” I shout as I look up at the words written across the top of the old rustic barn: GRAPE STOMPING AND STORE ENTRANCE.

“Yes, way.” He slings his arm around my shoulders.

“Fine...But,” I add, shaking my finger back and forth at him, “When you’re the one who falls smack on your ass while we are in that big tub smashing those grapes, don’t act like a big baby because I am going to kick your ass at this.” 

“Oh, we’ll see about that, sweet cheeks.”

With a puff and a prayer of kicking his ass, I turn around and strut. If he wants to keep calling me sweet cheeks, I’ll put a little extra sway in my hips. I have never had this much fun in my entire life. Not once did Joel do anything like this for me. Sure we went on dates, but it was your usual dinner and a movie. When Adam remembered me telling him how much I wanted to visit a vineyard, I was almost rendered speechless. There is something about him that makes me feel so safe. Deep down I know that he would never do anything to hurt me, and as long as I keep telling myself that then every day I have to believe that I will become a little bit stronger.

We enter the building where we will be stomping on grapes. I am going to do everything I can to kick Adam’s ass and not ruin my favorite pair of jeans. While the instructor is explaining to us what to do, I can’t help but glance up at Adam. When I do, he is looking directly at me with so much passion in his eyes that I suddenly feel myself blush. Quickly looking away from him, my eyes start skimming the room when all of a sudden I feel him come up behind me and wrap his arms around me. He’s so close I can feel his warm breath at the base of my neck. A shiver runs up my spine as he leans down to whisper in my ear.