Bold (10 page)

With the Collins curse handed down from one generation to the next, no one in the small town of Whispering Cove expected Adam or Jacob to be any different—including their own mother—and so far both he and his brother had lived up to those expectations.

As far as Adam was concerned, Madame M had simply pulled the initial J.C.W. out of thin air, because he clearly had the inability to fall in love or commit for any length of time, which in his books meant true happiness.

Despite knowing that, he wasn’t sure why that so-called psychic’s prediction had bothered him so much. Like he’d told Errol, he didn’t believe the woman had any spiritual abilities anyway. Then again, perhaps it was simply because it hit too close to home, and she was suggesting he could have the one thing he knew he couldn’t.

Honestly, he just needed to put her ridiculous prediction behind him and remind himself that she had no idea what she was talking about. Although he couldn’t deny that she did seem to know the nickname his father used to call him before he’d skipped town some fifteen years ago. But Adam had always been athletic—joining every sport going. Everyone knew that about him, and a lot of fathers called their sons “sport”, right?

“Hey, Adam.” The sound of Cheri’s voice pulled his focus, and when he glanced at her and noted the pair of dark, sultry eyes looking him over with genuine interest, it helped lighten his mood and bring his attention back around to the task at hand.

“Cheri,” he greeted, as she sat down in the chair on the other side of the small booth.

She slid her dollar across the table, and from the way she was looking at him, Adam could tell she was interested in a lot more than a simple kiss.

Puckering her lips, she purred like a kitten and said, “This is just to whet your appetite, baby.” She leaned forward, her mouth only inches from his. “Then later, when you’re done here, we can really get down to business because I have a pussy in need of a fireman’s attention.” With that she planted her perfectly painted lips on his.

Adam had kissed Cheri before, and while he thought she was a great kisser, very hot and passionate, this time he felt nothing as her soft lips pressed against his, nor did her sexy little game of firefighter rescuing the kitty excite him either. There was no doubt that she was putting her best efforts forward, but Adam just couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm to give her anything more than a small peck.

Madame M and her asinine prediction clearly rattled him more than he cared to admit.

He began to inch away, but before he could break contact, Cheri gripped his T-shirt to prevent him from moving, and tried to slip her tongue into his mouth. That’s when Trent broke things up.

“Next,” he called out, grinning at Adam as he tapped Cheri on the shoulder.

Adam sat back and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Jesus, that woman was so bold. So brazen. So like the girls he always went for. Which begged the question, why was he suddenly so disinterested?

She gave him a wink and said, “Later, Adam,” before she disappeared.

“Something bothering you?” Trent asked as he leaned against the booth and crossed his legs at the ankles.

“Nope.”

“Cheri looked like she wanted to eat you alive and you seemed a little…distracted.”

“Everything is fine,” he assured Trent, but the dubious look on his friend’s face made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t convincing.

Before he had a chance to press, Adam said, “If we want to make our firefighter demonstration, we’d better get this show on the road.”

Shaking his head, Trent gestured for another woman to have a seat. Then before Adam knew it, the night had slipped by, and over the course of the last few hours he’d kissed so many women he’d lost track of the count.

But no matter how many pretty ladies had planted their mouths on his, and no matter how many had openly invited him back to their place, he still couldn’t get enthused. Finally, after giving his last kiss of the night, he dipped his head to see the stack of money in the box at his feet, pleased to see how much he’d raised for the community center.

He was just about to shout to Trent, who was chatting quietly with Katy, to tell him to close up so he could do a count, when another woman dropped down into the seat across from him. Adam lifted his head to see who it was, and opened his mouth to inform her that his shift was over, but when he caught sight of the beautiful girl sitting across from him, the world around him tilted on its axis and his stomach punched into his throat.

“Adam,” Josie greeted, those big blue eyes of hers staring at him as her mouth turned up in a warm, inviting smile—the same breath-robbing smile she’d given him earlier that day.

“What…what are you doing?” he finally managed to ask once he regained control of his voice.

She casually rolled one shoulder, and slid her dollar across the counter. “Like you, I’m just doing my part to raise money for the new community center.”

“Oh,” he said, and wet his lips. “I guess I just didn’t expect…”

She gave him an easy, playful grin, and everything in the way she looked at him had his body reacting with heated need. His glance raced over her face, taking in her big eyes, full, lush mouth and long blonde hair. Christ, she looked so gorgeous and sensual that it had his cock tightening to the point of pain. He shifted, uncomfortable, as his body reacted to her closeness, not to mention what that sweet jasmine scent of hers was doing to him. As his blood went from simmer to inferno, he cleared his throat and tried to relax.

“Didn’t expect what?” she asked with bright-eyed innocence, except beneath that innocence he thought he spotted something else. Something that looked like desire. White-hot desire, that was. For him.

Oh fuck!

“I don’t know.” Flustered, he raked his hair off his forehead. “Never mind.”

Her mouth curved. “Shall we get on with it then?” Josie asked, her voice playful, teasing, as she leaned forward to poise her mouth open. With the top two buttons on her dress undone, her actions gave him a perfect, unobstructed view of her cleavage. Adam tried not to stare. He really did. But he was a guy, for Christ’s sake!

And a pathetic one at that.

When she toyed with the third button on her dress, Adam nearly swallowed his tongue. With his mouth salivating worse than his brother’s Saint Bernard on a hot summer day, he briefly pinched his eyes shut and worked to get his thoughts focused. But how the hell was he supposed to keep a calm demeanor when Josie, the sweet girl who’d invaded his fantasies for as long as he could remember—a girl who suddenly seemed to be coming on strong—was waiting for him to kiss her?

Adam drew a deep, rejuvenating breath and reminded himself this was all for charity. Just thinking of the kids helped him gain a modicum of composure. Okay, he could do this. He could give her a small peck and then once the night was over he’d go find Cheri, or one of the other women who’d openly invited him home for a late-night rendezvous, and fuck her long and hard and well into the morning until he got Josie out of his system once and for all.

“Adam,” she whispered, “I’m ready.”

When their glances met, sexual energy arced between them and nearly knocked him backward. His dick jumped, his blood pumped faster, and a barrage of emotions tore through him and had his thoughts scattering in a million different directions.

He took a deep breath, but before he could get his head on straight, her warm hands touched his cheeks, igniting a fire deep inside him. That first sweet touch of her lips to his damn near shut down his brain. As tension coiled inside him, she made a small sexy noise, one that had him conjuring up erotic images of their naked bodies coming together, over and over again, and it was all he could do not to climb over that booth and drag her home with him.