Tease: Volume 3 Read online

  I grinned against his lips. “Who knew so many of them were even better in the shower?”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’m starving.”

  “Then let’s eat.”

  Dinner was quick and Mitch was delighted to serve us, making all sorts of comments about how a week earlier we didn’t even know each other. He was right. It was amazing how fast Adam had woven himself so firmly into my life. A week ago seemed like a lifetime ago.

  And in another week he’d be getting ready to leave. A blip on the timeline of my life. It was funny how someone could make such a significant impact in such a short time, but it was true. When I thought back on my life I realized all the most important people had done the same thing, whether they stayed in my life or disappeared, they made an immediate and life-altering impact.

  Adam was no different. I didn’t know what it was going to mean down the road, but my life would never be the same now that he’d stepped into it.

  “So Travis sings the blues as well as rock?”

  Adam shrugged. “I guess so. He sings everything as far as I know. His records have all been pretty much straight rock, but when he plays live he’s all over the place.”

  I could still remember the raspy vibration of his voice. It stuck with me, which was saying a lot for his sound. “I can’t wait to hear him again. It should be a fun night…plus I get to see you dance.” I was grinning from the inside out. Even if Adam was a terrible dancer (which I simply could not imagine) it would be fun to grind against him.

  He let out an exasperated sound. “Seeing you dance is the whole reason we’re going out. Talk about foreplay.”

  A light bulb went off in my head. I finally understood Adam and all his super-human restraint. I had it all wrong. It wasn’t self-control, it was self-torture. Foreplay. Teasing he was doing to himself. It was no wonder he was so fantastic at drawing out my pleasure, he was a master at his own game. Adam craved the exquisite torture of foreplay and the drawn-out reward of climax.

  I finally had his number.

  And just like that, I had a whole new level of control.

  Chapter 5

  “Knob Creek on the rocks with a splash of tonic, please.” I leaned against the heavily lacquered bar at the Midnight Blues Club on 7th Street. It was everything I expected from the dark woodwork to the plush black leather seating and the vintage bar (with bartenders dressed to match).

  Jazz music was pumping through the speakers as people started to trickle into the club. A seating area toward the front was already filled with cigar smokers, but the dance floor was nearly empty. Only one other couple was slowly warming up as they lazily swirled around the floor.

  “And some water,” Adam added as he tapped his credit card.

  The bartender added two bottles to the drinks he’d just placed in front of us. While Adam paid, I wandered closer to the dance floor on a mission to find us a quiet spot to claim. Booths were setup all around the dance floor, rising up two levels, so you could watch the band and dancers without obstruction. I picked a table on the second level and flicked the sign around to let others know it was taken.

  “Nice spot.”

  “I like it,” I agreed as I ran my hands over the seat.

  Adam held up his drink, “To a fun day and an equally fun night.”

  I clinked his glass and took a drink. Oh, yes. Tonight was going to be fun. I liked the vibe of the club and couldn’t wait for Travis to take the stage. “So…how’s work? They don’t miss you when you’re gone on these trips?”

  Adam smiled. “Wow. Talk about progress. You actually asked a question.”

  I punched him in the arm. “Stop it or I’ll take my question back.”

  “Oh no you don’t.” He slid over and tucked me into his side.

  I relaxed against his shoulder and drank in his spicy scent. The one that made him wonder why I was smelling him all the time.

  “I usually take my trips between big project stages, so there isn’t much going on while I’m gone.”

  I thought about his mysterious phone call. “You like what you do?”

  He chuckled low in his chest like I’d just asked the craziest thing in the world. “I get to play with, and make, the most wicked cool shit in the world. Uh, yeah…I like what I do.”

  Well now I was more confused than ever. I should just ask him about the call… But no matter how I formed the question in my head, it came out sounding like I was asking him to stay in Calhoun Beach with me. Is there any reason you’d leave your job? Yeah, he wasn’t going to hear it the way I meant it.

  “I guess playing with cars for a living is a dream come true.” I tried instead.

  “Pretty much. Sometimes the length between conception and production is so long it hurts. Some things will never be practical enough to see in the real world. Every once in a while I feel like I live in a fantasy world instead of the real one.”

  “Now that I understand.”

  He kissed my temple. “Can I ask you a question?”

  I shrugged, “Sure.” There really wasn’t a point to fighting Adam’s questions.

  “You like what you do?”

  I laughed. He was so unexpected sometimes. “Yeah. I love it. I never fit in anywhere until I walked onto campus in college. All of a sudden I felt like I’d found home.”

  “Home is an important place to find.”

  Yes it was. “You said New York used to be home but it wasn’t anymore. Have you found another?”

  My question seemed to throw him. His muscles stiffened just a little and his breathing sped up. “I’m not sure.” He adjusted, sitting up straighter. “I’ve had a lot of things change recently. It’s made me rethink things.”

  “What kind of things?”

  He cleared his throat. “Before I answer, can I ask you something else?”

  I nodded even though I knew I was going to hate whatever he was about to ask. “How did you handle it all?”

  “All of what?” There were several ways I could take his question and I wasn’t about to start talking about anything I didn’t need to.

  Adam studied his glass. “During the stuff with the courts and afterward…who did you turn to? How did you handle all that chaos?”

  Oh. All of that. Part of me seized up, wanting to hide and defend myself from the invasion of my privacy. But part of me desperately wanted to open up to Adam. I’d been holding so much in, dealing with it all on my own. It was relieving to have someone who honestly seemed to care. I knew how rare this was. In ten years the only other person I had let completely into my life was Allison. If I’d finally found someone else I thought I could trust then I needed to trust him.

  I ran my fingers over his. “I’d already spent most of my life alone, Adam. Cybil and Roger were absentee parents at best. I always had Lily, but she was a kid. It was my Uncle Oliver that stepped in. I lived with him until I started college. He’s who I still call when I need an adult in my life.”

  Adam nodded slowly and squeezed my fingers. “I’m glad you have someone.”

  I realized Adam hadn’t gone and dug up all the old articles on me. He could have easily found most of this out on his own if he’d wanted to. But he hadn’t. He’d come to me with his questions. I ran my hand along the stubble on his jaw and kissed him.

  It surprised him. His eyes widened at first, but then closed as he returned my kiss, threading his fingers up into my hair and running his tongue along my lips. Whatever preconceived notions I had about people, I had to throw out that book when it came to Adam. He was different in every possible way. Every way that mattered to me.

  The microphone popped and a guitar was strummed. Travis’s gravelly voice filled the room with a quiet chord. “Let’s dance,” Adam murmured against my lips.

  I nodded. I didn’t care about my past or his future. Questions didn’t matter. All I cared about right then was being with Adam. I wanted to feel his body moving against mine as we got lost in the music.

  A
dam, as expected, was a natural dancer. He held me firmly against him so that all I had to do was follow his lead. I rested my head against his chest and my hand on his shoulder, feeling the movement of his muscles. His breathing was steady and it kept me grounded. I loved the sound of the air in his lungs. It was soothing.

  Travis and his band made the sexiest music. It was almost impossible to avoid swaying my hips, mimicking the seductive moves of the other couples on the floor. We were sweaty and hot after more songs than I could count. “I need a drink,” I sighed, turning from the floor with Adam’s fingers intertwined with mine.

  He sidled up behind me with his arm around my waist and his lips on my bare shoulder as we walked back up to our booth, pressed together. “Fantastic foreplay,” he murmured.

  “Mmmm…” I agreed. Dancing with Adam was like one long night of fantastic fucking. I slid into the booth and had my bottle of water at my lips before I settled into my spot.

  That was when a man I didn’t recognize came running up to our table. “Oh my god. Are you Elizabeth Lawrence?”

  Every hair on my body stood on end. I didn’t get recognized very often, but it did happen from time to time. Usually I could shake it off, convince them that I merely looked like the actress from the famous Hope-Lawrence family. But if he could recognize me, sweaty and glued to Adam on a dance floor, my guess was that this man was no passing fan.

  Adam put his arm around my shoulder. His jaw flexed and his position was clearly protective as he settled closer to me. I placed a hand on his thigh, connecting us, and took a deep breath. “How can I help you?” I didn’t think I could play off the mistaken identity card tonight. This fan seemed too sure.

  “Oh my god. You are. Aren’t you? Can I take a picture with you? My sister is never going to believe this. Or my wife. We loved One More to Love. I can’t believe there wasn’t a second season.”

  I dug my nails into Adam’s leg. “Thank you.” I did not want to take a picture with this fan, but I also didn’t want to cause a scene.

  One More to Love had been the final straw before I sued my parents. I didn’t want to do the show and I didn’t want to be an actress, but they’d forced me. The official story was that the show was canned for low ratings, despite a rather intense cult following of teens and pre-teens.

  The real story was, of course, that I had quietly quit the show and was getting ready to sue my parents. But all of that had always stayed nicely under-wrap. Funny how certain things never made their way into the spotlight while others were dragged out and presented.

  And by funny, I meant ridiculous.

  “We’re trying to have a date here…” Adam spoke up and I realized I had two problems on my hands. A fan I didn’t want rehashing a life I hated, and a lover who wanted to protect me at any cost, despite not having all the details.

  The man looked stunned to realize there was anyone else at the table. Apparently he only had eyes for me. “Dude. I’m just asking for a picture.”

  “And I’m just asking you to let us have a nice night alone.”

  The fan turned his eyes back to me, dismissing Adam. “Please? Just a quick pic?”

  It was never a quick picture. Tomorrow morning it would be on the internet. If I was lucky it would pass around a few social media accounts and die as old news. But I wasn’t much for luck. “I’m sorry but I’m no longer an actress and I don’t pose for pictures anymore. But,” I held up my finger when his face fell, “I would be happy to give you an autograph.”

  A tentative smile spread across his face along with a slight nod. “Alright. That would be fantastic. Thank you.”

  I’d found that if I offered something it usually appeased people. My old signature scrawled across a cocktail napkin wasn’t nearly as interesting to the internet as my photograph. A sighting of the missing and estranged Lawrence daughter? Now that was news. But my autograph? Not so much.

  I flagged down the cocktail waitress and asked for a pen. The girl was so young she probably had no idea who I was as long as my crazed fan didn’t mention my mother. Everyone between the ages of fourteen and forty knew Cybil. “What’s your name?”

  “Kevin.” He leaned on the table, a little too close for my comfort, or for Adam’s. He tightened his arm around my shoulder and I could practically hear him growling.

  “Are you visiting Calhoun Beach?” I asked politely as I wrote his name at the top of the napkin.

  “Yeah. Guys golfing weekend.”

  I paused at the end of ‘Elizabeth’ and repeated Lawrence to myself three times before I put the tip of the pen against the white of the napkin. It had been so long since I’d signed that name…

  “Calhoun Beach has some great courses. I’m sure you’ll have fun.” Adam’s voice was a strange combination of blunt and polite. I had a feeling Kevin was about thirty seconds away from meeting Adam’s fist.

  “Here you go, Kevin. Enjoy your trip. Now if you don’t mind, I really am on a date.”

  Kevin took the napkin and beamed a smile at me. “I’m so sorry for interrupting. Thank you so much.”

  The moment he was out of earshot Adam grumbled, “I’m so sorry I didn’t kick your stupid ass.”

  The waitress giggled as she took back her pen. “I guess that means I shouldn’t ask for your autograph, too?”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you a fan of washed-up pseudo-celebrities?”

  She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. “I’d answer if I knew what that meant. Can I get you two anything else while I’m here?”

  “No,” Adam answered so abruptly it surprised me. “We’re leaving now.”

  “But—”

  “What? You want to hang out and see if the entire bar wanders over for an autograph?” His eyes were dark and hooded. Protective. That was when I realized every muscle in his body was tensed. His shoulders were bunched and there was a twitch in his forearm that was equal parts frightening and sexy. While I was annoyed and feeling more than a little vulnerable, Adam had become downright pissed off. Or maybe it was worried.

  “We’re leaving.” Adam slid out of the booth and held out his hand. He wrapped his much larger fingers around mine like they might somehow slip away. He seemed more than a little bit worried one enthusiastic fan was about to become many. Like we were moments away from being mobbed.

  Even stranger, this didn’t seem unusual to Adam. I got the sense he knew exactly what to do in situations like this. He was making the same defensive moves and taking the same preventative steps my bodyguard would have in the same situation. Odd.

  As I stood up, Adam nodded at Travis who saluted him with a pic between his fingers. Then he started muscling his way through the crowd toward the door as fast as he could. Normally Adam was quiet and polite, but there was a passion that vibrated under his skin—and it was backed up by a powerful body. Adam was most definitely not the kind of guy I ever wanted to piss off. The quiet guys were often the most dangerous when they were provoked.

  And the most mysterious. As I tucked myself into the safety of his back I wondered about all the things I’d been avoiding. I’d purposely sidestepped as much information as possible about his past. I was starting to regret that. He deserved more from me.

  Unfortunately, Adam’s instinct to get me out of there had been dead on. As we were about to step down from the bank of booths surrounding the dance floor, Kevin stumbled into me with his phone up in the air, the flash flickering over and over as he took an endless string of pictures. “C’mon! Just one…” he said as he leaned into me and grinned.

  Adam was in front of me in a heartbeat. Kevin shrieked in pain as Adam wrestled the phone out of his hands, twisted his wrist, and pushed him to the floor. “The lady said no.”

  I didn’t see where the phone slid off to. It was buried somewhere in the gathering crowd of onlookers. I crossed my fingers that none of his shots came out clear and ducked my head so that no other eager onlookers could get a full shot of my face.

  I wanted to disappea
r into the shadows or melt into the floor and vanish. The old life I wanted to forget was colliding with the fantasy I had for my future. And they were obliterating each other.

  The entire club came to a standstill, some watching us, others just unsure of what was happening. The music stopped and Travis leapt off the stage when he realized it was Adam causing the commotion.

  “Adam?” I tried to reach for him but Travis got there first.

  “Let’s take this outside, ok?”

  Adam ignored us both. Kevin was howling in pain and Adam wasn’t letting up. His face was set and his pupils were dilated to the point his eyes nearly looked black.

  “Adam? Let the man’s hand go.” Travis said slowly and clearly.

  I stepped forward, my hair over one shoulder and my hand cupping my mouth, and touched Adam’s arm. “Let’s go.”

  His eyes locked onto mine and it took several heartbeats, but the fog of anger in his eyes began to clear. He finally released Kevin’s wrist and to my relief, stalked silently outside, the crowd parting to let him through. I knew what possession and envy looked like. The look in Adam’s eyes was neither of those things. I’d never seen a man defend someone he cared about in real life, but I knew instinctively that was what Adam had just done for me.

  My ears rang with a high-pitched buzz as we stepped out into the quiet streets of Calhoun Beach. Adam didn’t stop when we stepped outside. He kept moving down the sidewalk.

  “What in the hell was that?” Travis barked at Adam.

  He stopped and paced back up the sidewalk with his hands in his hair before letting out a frustrated growl.

  This was all my fault. Somehow, this was all my fault. If I’d left Adam alone that night at the bar at Seychelles, or if I’d kept to my plan, we wouldn’t have been in the club and none of this would have happened.

  “What is going on?” Travis asked me after he gave up on Adam.

  I started and stopped several times trying to figure out what Travis actually needed to know, if he needed to know anything. He stepped closer to me and lowered his voice. “I’m only asking because this isn’t like him. Adam only gets physical when he has to. I’ve seen him punch, like, one guy ever.”