Rescue Me (5 page)

“I can’t help but watch you, Erin. I have never seen anything as exquisite as you. Your beauty is rare both inside and out, and as far as I am concerned, you’re perfect for me.”

OH MY GOD. Is he serious right now? Holy Mother of all things. If I was wearing panties they would be drenched. My mind is not progressing as fast as my heart is so I simply reply, “Thank you.” After what he just said my thank you sounds so pitiful, but lucky for me Adam notices my apprehension and pulls me in just a little closer and kisses the top of my head.

Breaking away from one another, we take our shoes off and roll up our jeans as far as we can get them. Adam again renders me speechless as we climb up into the big barrel where all the grapes are.

“You do know that neither one of us brought a change of clothes, right?” Adam points out. “There is no way in hell we are getting in my truck with this all over us.”

“What?” I shriek.

“I’m kidding!” he chuckles. “I brought both of us a pair of my sweats, but I won’t complain if they’re way too big for you and you ride home with just the towel wrapped around you.”

“You’re joking right? A towel?”

“No, I am not joking,” he says, laughing one of his deep laughs.

I decide I’m going to play along with his little game.

“Well, since I’m not wearing any panties I should probably stick with wearing your clothes, don’t you think?” I respond coolly.

Just as I think I have beaten him at his own game, he clears his throat and he comes back with, “Well neither am I, so towels it is, then.”

Ugh!

We step into the freezing cold grapes that come all the way up to my knees. I give Adam a light shove and he actually loses his balance on the extremely wet and slippery grapes and falls.

He looks up at me with a shocked expression on his face. “You are so going to get it for doing that.”

I am laughing so hard right now that I don’t even feel him grab my leg and pull. I collapse right on top of him and as we both lay there laughing our asses off inside this big barrel of grapes, he surprises me again. I look down at his handsome face and instantly our moods change from laughter to seriousness. The look he is giving me is so intense and genuine that I can’t help myself. My brain finally catches up and I bend down and devour his mouth in one quick move.

I am giving just as good as I am getting, possibly better because this kiss feels so right and so sensual. It is a toe-curling, tummy spiraling, out of control kiss and I can’t stop. I just want to stay lying here in this pile of grapes forever but we are interrupted by someone clearing their throat from up above.

I am now completely embarrassed and dip my head down onto Adam’s chest as he apologizes for our behavior. No words are spoken between the two of us; he lifts me up and places a quick kiss to the top of my head before we start to stomp on the grapes. In our own barrel the only thing you can hear is the perfect sound of our laughter.

“Hey, Erin?”

As soon as I turn around to respond he smashes a handful of mashed up grapes in my face.

“You did not just do that!” I yell as I try and clean the mess off of my face.

“Oh, I think I did, pretty girl and I don’t think there is anything you can do about it,” he says teasingly.

Well we will just see about that! I turn away from him and take the few steps to the ladder. I’m about to climb up when Adam asks, “Where are you going?”

“I have had enough,” I say as furiously as I can.

“What do you mean, you’ve had enough? Are you mad?”

I have to keep my back to him because if he sees the expression on my face he will know I’m kidding. So I shrug my shoulders and when I feel him come up behind me, I know I have him. So I turn around...he doesn’t even see it coming when I smear the grapes I had hidden in the palm of my hand all over his face. The look on his face has me doubling over with laughter. He’s shocked and I can’t help but laugh.

“You think that’s funny?” he exclaims.

“I do.” I wheeze through my laughter.

“Well, let me show you what
isn’t
funny.” In one swift move I am cradled in his arms and his mouth is on mine once again. I could get so addicted to this mouth. He is sucking and nibbling and taking what he wants and I am letting him have it. It’s magical in here and for the first time in my life I feel wanted. God, he simply takes my breath away.

Chapter Five

Adam

Even covered in grapes, Erin is the most gorgeous woman I have ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. The way she looked at me tonight at dinner with her penetrating deep blue eyes almost sent me over the edge along with the way she would talk while twirling her long, blonde hair. I love her hair. Call me crazy but I have dreamt many nights about wrapping my hand around that thick mass. Jesus Christ, just thinking about it had me adjusting my cock so many times during the night that I know once I get home, I am going to have to take matters into my own hands again. That is just what this woman does to me. It’s crazy how the simplest, most innocent things she does stir all these foreign sensations inside of me that I have never felt before.

When she kissed me I about exploded right then and there. I mean, for fuck’s sake, it has only been a few days and I can see a change in her already.

Don’t fuck this up Adam
.

After we finish with the grape stomping, we are escorted to the bathrooms where we can change our clothes and clean up. I knew we would have to change so I planned ahead, and I politely ask the instructor where the bags are that I dropped off earlier in the afternoon.

She brings them out from the back room and hands them to me. I turn and hand one to Erin.

“What’s this?”

“Your change of clothes, woman.”

She lets out a small and soft giggle. “You really did plan everything didn’t you Mr. Payne?” Turning around so I get the best view of that sexy little ass of hers, she saunters into the women’s bathroom.

Upon exiting the men’s room, I am standing there waiting for Erin to come out and I notice a gift shop through a set of doors on the other side of the building. Tossing my bag over my shoulder, I make my way into the store to purchase a bottle of wine I remember Erin saying was her favorite at dinner.

Just as I return, she emerges from the restroom and I stop dead in my tracks at the sight of her wearing my clothes. Holy fuck, I have never seen her look as edible as she does right now. She is torturing me and she doesn’t even realize it.

“What did you get?” she asks, pointing to the bag in my hand.

“I saw the gift shop over there and they have the wine that you liked, so I bought you some.”

“You did? Oh, Adam! Thank you so much, I loved that wine. I was just thinking as I was cleaning up that this is such a perfect night that I don’t want it to end.”

She looks away and a flush of red sweeps across her face as if she is embarrassed to tell me what she was thinking.

“You don’t have to look away from me, Erin. Please, tell me what you were thinking?” She seems to contemplate for a few seconds and then she gazes into my eyes. “Well, I was thinking that we could go home and have a fire outside. Since you bought this wine we can have that, too.”

I don’t give her long to stand there and wonder what my answer will be. “I couldn’t have come up with a better idea myself if I would have tried,” I assure her, placing the wine in my bag and slinging my arm around her shoulders as we start the leisurely walk back to my truck.

“I wanted to ask you a question,” I say as we get halfway to the parking area.

“Okay. Sure.”

I nudge her slightly because she sounds a little apprehensive with her response. “Tell me about growing up with your grandparents. I want to know who made you the astonishing woman that you are.”

“Really? You want to know about my grandparents?”

She acts so surprised. I stop walking for a minute and turn her towards me. “Erin, I want to know everything about you, so yes, I want to know about your grandparents.”

“I haven’t talked about them in so long. I miss them so much,” she says wistfully. “As you know, my parents were both killed in a car accident when I was four and Shelby was two. I remember a few things about them, but really not a lot except for the fact that my mom loved daisies and my dad would bring them to her all the time.”

She pauses for a second. “Well, anyway, it was tough at first because my grandparents were older and Shelby and I were both so young, but they were great. We were loved and we never went without a thing. When I got older, my grandmother used to tell me how much I reminded her of my mother. She said I always put everyone else before myself the same way my mom did. I don’t know. I always used to look after Shelby and take her with me everywhere I would go. Shelby and I stayed very close, even when I left for college. For the first year I came home almost every weekend, but then I met Joel. I was so into him that I started coming home less, and Shelby and I grew apart for several years.” “Really, why do you want to know all this?” she asks, shaking her head.

I stop us and look deep into her eyes. “I told you. I want to know everything about you Erin, and I mean everything. I want to know you here-” I say, kissing her forehead. “I want to know you here-” I add, kissing down the side of her neck. “And I want to know you here,” I finish, bringing my lips within an inch of hers. “I admire your strength so much, Erin. Please don’t ever doubt that.”

She takes in a sharp breath and I wonder what she is thinking right now. I hope this night was as perfect for her as I wanted it to be.

I hate to take my arm from around her but I know that I have to in order to get my keys, so I pull myself away. Erin shudders a bit as if she is cold.

“Here, put this on,” I tell her, handing her one of my work sweatshirts that I retrieve from the back seat. She slips it over her head and knowing that just about every inch of her is covered in my clothes makes my dick twitch in my jeans. But there is so much more to this courageous woman than an incredible body. I want to know every part of this woman right down to the mind sitting behind those deep blue eyes of hers. She’s remarkable and all I want to do is spend the rest of the night letting her know.

I help Erin get into my truck, then I climb in. When I turn to reach into the back seat to grab my phone out of my bag, Erin lets out a soft scream and throws herself up against the side of the door. She starts crying hysterically and I have no clue what is going on.

“Erin, what is going on? You’re scaring me here,” I say, turning to her with concern. When she doesn’t answer me right away I instantly go into panic mode. I have no clue what happened. She was fine a minute ago and now she is shaking and bawling uncontrollably. Undoing my seatbelt, I hop out of the truck and sprint to her side. I pull open the door and she looks up at me with bloodshot eyes. I hurriedly take a step back as I see fear and anger all over her face.

“Erin, sweetheart, I don’t know what is happening here, but whatever it is, let me help you. Please.”

As if a light bulb has gone off in her head I see her demeanor change from fear to humiliation. Slowly I make my way to her and place my hands on her thighs. She slightly winces from my touch.

“Erin? It’s me, Adam. Whatever happened, I am not going to hurt you. Let’s just get home, okay? If you want to talk about it we can, and if not, then that’s okay, too.”

Without saying a word, she retreats back into her seat, withdrawing my hands from her legs. I make my way back around and settle myself into my seat, wondering what could have set her off as I pull out and drive us towards home. I have no clue what to do or what to say and with Shayne and Luke being gone, the only other person I feel comfortable talking to is Antonio. I glance at the clock on my dash and see that it is still fairly early, and I pray like hell that he is home.

We finally pull into the garage, but before I can even get the truck into park Erin is jumping down and running into the house. I sit there for several long minutes before reaching back and getting my phone. Swiping my finger across the screen, I dial Antonio’s number.

“Adam Payne! How the fuck are you, man?”

“I was doing okay up until about a half hour ago.” 

“What the hell man, is everything all right? Is it Luke and Shayne?” he asks with a slight edge of panic.

“Yeah, sorry, man. They’re fine. No one is hurt or anything, I just needed someone to talk to.”

“Well, lay it on me, man. What’s up?”

“I had a date tonight with Erin,” I say as all the memories of our perfect night come flashing back.

“I heard that. Mom told me she was keeping the girls. So why the hell are you on the phone with me at eleven o’clock at night and not with her?”

“That’s why I’m calling. You see, everything was going fine. Better than fine, it was perfect and I finally thought I was breaking through to her. I have never seen her laugh so much as she did tonight, but then when we went to leave, she lost it, man. She just... fuck. She just started bawling and I have no fucking clue why!”

“Jesus, dude. I don’t know what to say, man. Where is she now?”

I run my hands through my hair and let out a deep breath. “The minute we pulled into the garage she jumped out of the truck and ran into the house like she couldn’t get away from me fast enough. I have no clue what set her off or what to say or do next. I don’t expect you to have all the answers, Antonio. I just needed someone to talk to because as of right now I am nervous as hell to even walk into my own house.”

“Man, just go in there and make sure she is all right. Let her know if she wants to talk about it, you are there and if she doesn’t, just give her the time and the space she needs. Hell, I have no clue about this kind of stuff but I know how much you care about her, Adam, so that’s the best I got for ya, my friend.”

“You got it man, and thanks for listening.”

“Any time, pal and keep me posted, would you?”

“You got it. Later, man.”

Retrieving my bag from the back seat, I hit the button to close the garage door and enter the house. The house is completely dark so I just toss my stuff on the table, but as I go to pass Erin’s bedroom, her door is slightly ajar. I peer inside and notice she is lying on top of the covers with her clothes still on. Pushing the door open and stepping into her room, I grab a blanket that is folded up on a chair and place it over her. I can just barely see a glimpse of her face in the moonlight shining in through the windows, so I reach out and gently push the hair back away from her face.

Even though her eyes are red and swollen and her cheeks are streaked black with mascara, she is still the most exquisite woman I have ever seen. It breaks me to not be able to battle the demons of her past or whatever it is that made her take twenty steps backward.

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

It feels like I’ve drunk twenty damn cups of coffee this morning as I beat the ever-loving shit out of my punching bag. I’m going on very little sleep. After I placed the blanket over Erin last night, I just couldn’t get myself to walk away. I sat in the chair in her room and watched over her like a stalker. I know she feels something for me and I will be damned if I will give up on her.

Even if nothing happens between the two of us, I care too much about her to keep letting her beat herself up like this. So as I stand here pounding away at my bag until my arms start to burn, I try to think of a way to make her understand. I can’t help but bellow my frustration out as loud as I can because whatever the fuck I am doing to try and convince this woman that she has everything I need is FUCKING NOT WORKING!

As I lift my leg up to take one final kick, out of the corner of my eye I catch Erin standing at the bottom of the stairs.

“Adam.”

Aww hell, her voice sounds like she could start crying any minute. I deliver my last kick and then spin and face her. I mentally punch myself upside the head to try and knock some sense into myself when I look at her. She is wearing those damn tight running pants and a tank top.
Focus on her face, Adam, and listen to what she has to say!

“Good morning, Erin.” I stride over to stand in front of her. She looks down at the floor and then back up to me. Even though I’m covered in sweat, when I see the hurt in her eyes and the pain written all over her face, all I want to do is bring her into my arms and take it all away.

“First of all, I want to apologize for my behavior, Adam. You did nothing wrong, and I am so sorry for ruining our perfect evening.” She pauses. “I owe you more than an apology. I owe you an explanation and…and oh, God. This is so hard.”

She takes a step back and sits down on the bottom step of the stairs. I sit down next to her and we both stay silent for a few minutes. I don’t know what it is she wants to say to me, but I have to do whatever it takes to make her understand I am here for her.

“I don’t want to push you into anything you are not ready for, Erin. I want you to understand that before you say anything more.”

She takes a deep breath. “Okay.” she whispers. “The thing is, I am ready. I am so ready to take this next step with you. But I do owe you an explanation, so I just need you to sit here and listen to what I have to say before you say anything, because trust me, Adam...this is harder for me to say than it’s going to be for you to hear.”

Simply nodding my response, I sit there and listen to a story that makes me want to tear apart her ex-husband and fucking kill him.

“One night Joel and I were driving in the car and we started arguing. I don’t even remember what it was about anymore. Joel was driving and the next thing I knew he backhanded me so hard across the face that my head hit the window.”