Sterling (8 page)

Adam threw the car in park and sprang into action, hitting the pavement in a full run.

“Adam, wait!” But it was too late.

My hands started shaking as he charged between the buildings and vanished from sight. The car was quiet except the sound of my stampeding heartbeat. Minutes passed.

I popped open the door and I took a few cautious steps towards the corridor, but when I neared the curb I had second thoughts.

Just as I turned on my heel, I was grabbed by an arm. I spun around to face Adam.

“What are you doing out of the ca—”

I slapped him. The sound cut through the air and marked him with my anger in red splotches that formed on his cheek.

“Don’t you EVER leave me alone like that again! You can’t just run off, what if something happened?”

Adam paled. It didn’t occur to me how those words might affect him but I wasn’t thinking rationally. He attempted to pull me towards him but I recoiled, trembling all over. It wasn’t just me, but what if something happened to
him
?

“Adam Razor…if I don’t live and fucking breathe.”

We simultaneously turned to the right and emerging from a black Jeep Commander was a brute of a man—thick and stocky in build, wearing a black beanie hat and a tight white long sleeve shirt that looked like buttercream icing over his bodybuilder frame. His inquisitive eyes glowed from the illumination of the cigarette burning at the end. He pulled in a long drag, eating up the time as the paper crackled.

“Knox…you’re a little off the map aren’t you?”

“Likewise, brother.” The cigarette was tossed to the asphalt and crushed beneath sizeable laced up boots as he blew out the smoke. I didn’t like the way he glared at me so I stepped closer to Adam. Knox folded his arms pushing out those boulders he called muscles.

“Go wait in the car.”

Adam didn’t wait for an argument but escorted me to the car and slammed the door. I watched the two men lock arms and I cracked the manual window just a little so I could eavesdrop.

“I told you I’m out,” Adam stated factually.

“Which brings me back to my previous question—what brings you out here? It’s a pretty big
mother of a fucking
coincidence.” His muscled arm stretched out over the car door and I didn’t see him blink once. Intimidation oozed out of his pores as if it were part of his DNA makeup.

“This is my life Knox. Deal.”

“Sure you don’t want to tell me something? Last chance because I’ll find out.”

Adam’s stance widened. “I’m squeaky clean as you’ll see. No one sent you to find me?”

“Hell no, we got bigger fish in the frying pan.” Knox lowered the tip of his hat so his eyes were hidden. I remained quiet knowing any sound I made would alert them that I could hear what they were saying.

“Pretty girl.” His eyes skated to the car and Adam turned to check on me. “She yours?”

“She’s a friend, I’m helping her out.”

Knox rubbed his hand against his chin pulling in his lower lip. “Do me a favor and cook up that big juicy steak you’re going to put over your cheek when you get home brother. I like it well done. Looks like you’re the one that needs the help.”

Adam softly chuckled and his hand touched the back of his neck. It was his thing, one of those gestures that was intrinsically Adam. “Sounds to me like you haven’t found that someone special.”

Knox sounded like a distant motor when he laughed and he tilted his wide chin up with a smirk. “I like my women naked with their legs wrapped around my neck—now that’s special.” I almost shuddered at the visual. His smile spread tight across those steel jaws. “Relationships are for pussies, I think we’ve established that.”

“Still the same old whore you always were, Knox.” Adam’s tone warmed and despite their banter, I could see they were friends.

“It isn’t the same. You should see the mindfuck they paired me up with.”

I turned in irritation as a small Chevy sputtered out of its parking space. The engine drowned out the conversation and the most critical point. Once the car narrowly missed losing its transmission turning the corner, their voices drifted back.

“Gotta fucking love it.” They laughed in unison and I turned my mouth thinking that this wasn’t the type of friend I imagined Adam pairing up with. But then, there was a lot about Adam I didn’t understand.

“Is this a job, anything I need a heads up on?”

“Sorry brother, you know the rules. Let’s just say this is my…R&R. It’s never too late to come back.”

“You know where I stand on this Knox, there’s no going back. I already got them on my ass and I’ve worked hard to make a life here and stay under the radar. You need to open your eyes to what’s going on.”

“My eyes are wide fucking open. The elusive Trinity files were hacked. Yeah…that’s right. My partner is a royal dick but his skills are impeccable. What I saw would pop your cork, and it sheds a little light on some of the jobs we did.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind hacking into that database? I hope your twisted buddy knows how to cover his tracks or you’ll end up out here with me.”

Knox lacked appeal on his expression as he looked around. “Yeah, this blows.”

“This doesn’t seem like standard—” When the voices abruptly cut off my eyes lifted from the floor of the car. Busted. I cringed as their gaze splintered me.

Knox reached into jeep and pulled out a cigarette, cupping his hand around the end as a flame poked out of a polished silver lighter. The metal clinked and it was tucked safely in his back pocket. The cigarette, on the other hand, stood no chance against his long, life sucking drags. Knox threw a heavy hand over Adam’s shoulder and gave it a firm shake.

“You’re a jackass for not calling. My proctologist keeps in better touch than you do.”

“You know me, never been one for postcards.”

Knox threw another glance in my direction. “To be continued.”

“Knox,” Adam inclined his head. “I was wrong,
we
were wrong.” He glanced over his shoulder at me but this time I didn’t break eye contact.

I was running on empty and Adam gave me a look as if he were daring me to ask who that was. So I decided to rest my eyes and think about Max for a little while.

I stirred when I felt someone hooking their arms beneath my legs—I wanted to open my eyes but I drifted back to sleep.

That is, until I was thumped in the head by something solid. My cheek was pressed against a cold, wooden door.

Adam was struggling to turn the key in a lock while carrying me.

I stiffened my back so that he would drop me. Honestly, I wasn’t used to being carried around like that.

“Wait, put me down.”

“Shhh, go back to sleep hon.”

The key turned and Adam cradled me tighter.

Through tangled lashes I saw his handsome face, that soft ruffled hair and brows that dipped low like a shadow. It felt good to be held. Adam made me feel safe, something no man had ever done.

There was a glimmer of fire in those bottomless eyes. “Woman, don’t you move a single muscle.”

“What about my hands?” I mumbled as my eyes closed.

“I guess you’ll have to keep your hands to yourself. Think you can manage?”

Verses the alternative of electrocuting my best friend? You bet.

My head lolled back on his broad shoulder until I felt the cool press of the comforter beneath my body. I was floating on a cloud. The flip-flops were removed from my feet one at a time and something exquisitely soft brushed across my legs.

Warm breath tickled my face and the bed depressed in two spots. But it wasn’t breath, it was the wind. I was standing on the shore on a moonlit night. The wind called so very close to my ear, but the water was warm and inviting as I moved forward.

“You awake?”

“Mmhmm”

“I’m going to let you sleep tonight.”

“Mmm.”

“You hear me?”

I grunted. The wind was noisy and needed to put a sock in it. I just wanted the silent waters.

“Tomorrow you’re telling me everything. All of this secrecy ends. It’s time that you learn to trust me Zoë, can you do that?”

My body slipped deeper into the dark and inviting waters, feeling the warmth run up my legs and smother me.

“Zoë?”

Waves were lapping over my mouth, brushing my lips with promises. I could feel Adam all around me.

“Did you hear me? Tomorrow.”

“Okay.” I promised, and completely submersed into the darkness.

Chapter 7

The next morning I stretched my muscles into consciousness.
My bones, however, creaked in protest.

Adam stood over me; legs apart, arms folded (shirtless I might add) with the most satisfactory smile I’d ever seen. Yep, this was definitely going to be the day we had the talk.

His body was kept in exquisite shape—toned and strong, but not muscular. He acquired strength from the pull-up bar on the back porch and endurance from his morning runs. And when I say runs, I don’t mean jogs. I once caught Adam on the trail and that man was hauling ass, giving those sneakers a run for their money.

Without a shirt, I could see the V cut in his lower belly. A jagged scar on his side caught my eye where one of his hands rested.

“Get dressed,” he said scratching one of his pecs. He was freshly showered and still flushed from his run.

I pulled the sheet over my head and grumbled, “You first.”

While Adam was anxious to know the details of my attack—blood and gore would have to wait until after bacon and eggs.

Adam ripped the sheet down. “Get up out of that bed or I’ll drag you out.”

“I want to sleep in.”

My body nearly catapulted off the edge when Adam sailed over and collapsed beside me.

“Sounds like a plan. What shall we talk about?”

I ripped the sheet over him and stormed into the bathroom where I showered up and dug through my bag of clothes. He could be a real pain in the ass when he wanted.

Unfortunately, my old clothes no longer fit my taller frame. I slid into a pair of distressed jeans and a red sleeveless blouse, applying a thin layer of peach scented lotion to my skin. I combed out the tangles of my long, dark hair and gathered it up, neatly pinning it back. My hips were narrow and less hourglass, but there was enough there to keep my jeans from slipping too low. My shoulders were broader than before, and my arms slender and tone, even though I never worked out. What stood out the most were my green eyes framed against midnight lashes.

“Five minutes, almost done,” Adam called out from the kitchen as I sat down to a very lovely table setting.

The silverware rested on cloth napkins beside the colored plates. He even scooped out the apricot preserve and put it in a pretty crystal dish. Nice touch.

“What’s the occasion?” I called out, staring at the handpicked wildflowers in the vase with an arched brow.

He ignored me, whistling a made up tune.

Adam strolled in barefoot with a black shirt neatly tucked in a pair of tan slacks.

“I like the pants,” I said as he set a glass of juice on the table. “I was beginning to think you were having a love affair with Calvin Klein.”

He looked nice, very put together. Even jazzed it up with a smart leather belt.

“We agreed to see other people.”

Adam set down a bowl of strawberries and slid an omelet appeared on my plate.

“Many women would see you as the holy grail if you didn’t hide yourself in a wilderness retreat. Good looks, good food, so-so sense of humor.”

Adam turned back to the stove clearing his throat.

I didn’t bother to wait before diving in. “This is so delicious,” I said with a full mouth.

“It’s nice to have someone to cook for.”

A ladybug crawled across the table from the flowers and spread her wings threatening to leave. When Adam took his seat, I figured she was enchanted and decided to sit for a spell.

I turned my neck at the sound of birds stirring up a frenzy outside by the feeder. “You were up early.”

But Adam didn’t want to talk. Not yet, perhaps not wanting to spoil the breakfast he put so much effort in preparing.

When we finished, nothing was left but a half a strip of bacon sitting on a plate between us. I reached for it when the plate disappeared, hovering out of reach.

“Don’t make me put the hurt on you,
give
.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a girl eat as much as you. I don’t know where you put it.”

True. I hadn’t gained a single ounce since day the day we met and he fed me very well.

“You trying to tell me I’m a pig?”

“Just observing your overzealous appetite,” he grinned.

I waved my fork in the air and narrowed my eyes. “I’ve got a fork and I’m not afraid to use it.”

“Well then, I’ve got a glow stick and I’m not afraid to use it.”