Fire Me Up (24 page)

“Looks as if I'm not the sneakier of us,” he tossed back as they parted, sliding a pointed glance at her cooking partner, and ohhhhhkay. This wasn't going to be awkward at all.

Just as long as the kitchen floor crashed open to devour her in one giant gulp.

“Right!” Her cheeks went thermonuclear, and she hauled in a breath that barely made the trip past her windpipe. “You remember I told you I had someone, um, helping me out in the kitchen? Well, this is Adrian. He's a chef at the restaurant at the resort. Adrian, this is my father, Patrick O'Malley.”

“It's nice to meet you,” Adrian said, his voice laced with quiet caution, and her father stepped in to squarely meet his handshake even though Adrian's palm eclipsed his two to one.

“Likewise.” Her father flashed her with a look that read
well, that explains a lot
. Ugh, great. She was as transparent as she felt. Her father's red-gray brows slid upward as he took Adrian in from his scuffed black motorcycle boots to the finger-combed tousle of his hard-edged platinum hair, and Teagan braced for impact.

“Teagan mentioned you've been runnin' the kitchen together the last few weeks,” he said, settling his gaze back on Adrian's. “It looks as if I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

Adrian's head snapped up, as if it was the last thing on earth he'd expected her father to say, and holy crap, that made two of them. “Oh, ah, it's not a problem. I had some time off from the resort.” He skimmed his free hand absently over his cast before locking both arms down at his sides. “I'm just happy to help.”

True to his ingrained charm, her father tipped his head with a boyish grin that defied most of his years. “Well, I'm grateful for it. Without you, I suspect this one would've worked herself into an early grave. As it stands, I'm shocked to my shoes ta see her in the kitchen without any fuss.”

Oh no. Not a chance. She didn't care how relieved she was that her father seemed okay with Adrian in the kitchen.

If they ganged up on her, even playfully, she was toast.

“Excuse me, I don't fuss,” Teagan said, pinning the words with a hearty dose of
we're so not talking about this
. She stepped back toward the stove to give the pot a stir, surprised to find the motion soothing. “And if I work too hard, it's because I learned from the best.”

“Ah, see how she turns it into a compliment so I can't complain? Tricky girl.”

“Mmm. A wise old man once told me you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I'm just taking his lead.”

Her father placed a hand over the center of his plaid flannel shirt, feigning injury despite the glimmer of a smile. “Old man! How you wound me.”

“Oh, come on. I said you were wise,” Teagan pointed out, although her own smile escaped without permission. She tapped the edge of the wooden spoon on the lip of the stockpot, balancing the utensil over a spoon rest on the counter before she turned to give her father an appraising look. “So how come you're out here today? You're supposed to be taking it easy before your appointment with Dr. Riley this afternoon.”

“Bah, taking it easy is boring. Anyway, I was hungry. Thought I'd see what ya had brewin' down here. Looks like my intuition served me well, and not just with the food.”

Her father eyeballed both her and the stockpot on the burner with obvious interest, and her gut knotted. There was no point in delaying the inevitable now that her father had clearly overheard her conversation with Adrian, and truly, the Double Shot's books were running on fumes. Sure, the street fair would take care of the immediate cash flow crisis, but in the long run, they needed more than a quick fix for a slow problem.

“Okay, Da. You're right. But obviously, things around here need to change a little when you come back. Maybe it's time we took a look at how to make those changes work for the better.” Teagan swallowed past the knot tightening in her throat. “I don't want you to get healthy only to come back and burn out again. I want the restaurant to be really successful, like you've always dreamed.”

Before her father could answer or she could scoop in a shaky breath to continue, Adrian's gravelly voice filtered through the quiet of the kitchen.

“I'm going to let you two talk.” He turned to move down the line toward the swinging door to the dining room, and Teagan's protest flew from her mouth before she could even register forming the word.

“No.”

But it was twined around an identical objection, and both she and Adrian halted midstep to stare at her father.

“No. These ideas for changin' things, they've come from both of ya, haven't they?” he asked, but Teagan shook her head. Adrian might've come up with the specifics, but she'd been the one to push for something different in the first place. If her father was going to take exception, it should be with her.

“No, Da. This was all my—”

“Yes.”

For the barest sliver of a moment, Adrian's eyes flashed green gray with apology, but then he planted himself at Teagan's side with resolve rolling off his huge frame in waves.

“I don't mean any disrespect, Mr. O'Malley. The Double Shot is your restaurant. But yes. The suggestions for changes came from me, and I stand by them. Just like I stand by your daughter.”

Deafening silence battled with the slam of her heartbeat in her ears as Teagan stood perfectly still between the two men, unable to do anything but breathe. Finally, the corners of her father's mouth twitched upward, displaying the charismatic smile she knew by heart.

“I told ya when I got here, I'll give ya the benefit of the doubt. I'm not makin' any promises, but I'm not fool enough to let pride get in the way of savin' my bar. Now do an old man a favor and fix up a bowl of that chili, would ya? Looks like the three of us have got a lot ta talk about.”

Teagan balanced one filled-to-the-brim grocery bag on each hip while gripping the handle of a smaller one in the opposite palm from her keys, wishing like hell she'd figured out how to knock on Adrian's door
before
she'd arrived on his threshold. Still, she wasn't about to let a little bit of wood and steel keep her from hitting the kitchen. Adrian would probably commandeer the steaks she'd grabbed at Joe's as soon as she got past the doorframe, but that would free her up to mess with the potatoes and maybe even sneak in a glass of wine before they ate. With less than a full week to go now until the street fair, they'd likely be working around the clock getting the last-minute details hammered into place. While she'd originally balked at taking her usual Monday night off, deep down Teagan knew she needed to recharge in order to make it through the grueling work marathon of the upcoming week.

The thought snapped her to attention in front of Adrian's doorframe. When the hell had food and wine and leisurely dinners snuck into her go-'til-you-drop repertoire? This week would surely be gone in the time it took her to blink, and instinct screamed that she had no business doing anything other than prep, prep, and more prep.

Except everyone at the Double Shot had
been
prepping for the last two weeks straight. Even Carly and her staff at La Dolce Vita had pitched in to lend a hand, and with Carly's friend Sloane offering to take up the social media charge, getting the word out past Bealetown and Riverside had suddenly been a snap.

Plus, letting Adrian take care of her, just a little, felt more than deliciously good. It felt right. And Teagan trusted it.

She trusted
him
.

“You gonna just stand there looking pretty, or do you want to come in?” Adrian's rough-around-the-edges voice yanked Teagan on a direct flight back to reality, and she jumped at his sudden appearance in the doorway.

“Oh! You startled me,” she squeaked, and sweet Lord in heaven, would she ever get used to the way that dark, sexy smile slid right beneath her skin?

“Sorry,” he said, pausing to brush a kiss over her mouth as he leaned in to take one of the bags. “I saw you pull up a minute ago and figured you might need a hand.”

“You were waiting for me?” Teagan asked, her belly going warm and tight, and Adrian kissed her again, his smile parting over her surprised sigh.

“What can I say? I missed you.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls who show up on your threshold,” she joked, but Adrian snapped the sass right from her lips.

“Nope. Just you, Red. I only want you.”

“Mmm.” Her mouth parted to return his kiss, and for one long, provocative second, Teagan considered skipping the meal and having Adrian for dinner instead. “Dinner first. You must be hungry.”

With one last nip at her bottom lip, he conceded, turning to toss a smirk over the thick muscles of his shoulder. “Stickler.”

“I prefer to think of it as being disciplined,” she flipped back, cradling the remaining larger bag in the crook of her elbow as she followed Adrian into the now-familiar comfort of his apartment. “Plus, there are steaks in that bag and I'm starving.”

“Jeez, woman. Why didn't you say so?” He moved over the scuffed linoleum in the tiny kitchen, unloading the contents of the bag she'd handed over. “So how did your father's test results look?”

“Pretty good, actually.” Teagan slid the remaining bags to the counter, focusing on the larger one first. “Dr. Riley said there's already been some noticeable difference in his blood sugar levels and his cholesterol has come down significantly. The tests from a couple of days ago are the best ones yet. Just as long as he gets enough rest and keeps eating well, he should be good to try working part-time in a couple of weeks.”

“But you're still worried.” Adrian's words were a statement, and of course, they were spot-on.

“I can't help it. I don't know if he'll ever be able to handle a full-time workload along with managing the bar, and so much is riding on this street fair.” Her voice broke, unexpected emotion welling up from deep in her chest. Damn it! She needed to stay strong if she was going to take care of this.

But then Adrian abandoned his spot by the refrigerator to gather her close, and denying how good his arms felt around her would've been like saying air was a perfectly optional luxury.

“Hey.” He dropped his ever-stubbled chin to put his gaze level with hers, and God, how could he look right into her with one dark stare? “I know we've got a lot on the line here. But the street fair is going to work. We'll come up with the money to pay Lonnie off, and then you can work on finding a new cook.”

Teagan nodded, dropping her forehead to the warm, wide plane of his chest as the swirling fear she'd been pushing back all week long took shape on her tongue. “I want to believe that. I really do. But there's so much at stake now. My father could lose the bar. You could go to jail. Lonnie could hurt us all. I just—”

“Teagan, stop.”

The sound of his voice on her name stunned her to silence, and he slid his palm upward to brush her cheek. “You trust me, right?”

Her knees threatened to give out in rapid-fire succession, but the only word she could say was, “Yes.”

“We have a good, solid plan. I swear to you I'm going to do everything I can to make sure it works. Whatever happens on Saturday, we're going to get through it together, okay?”

It sounded great in theory. But... “What if Lonnie calls Big Ed, or worse? Just because he's been quiet lately doesn't mean Lonnie's not a huge threat, especially to you, Adrian. What if . . .” She broke off, traitorous tears burning hot beneath her eyelids. “What if I lose you? Then what?”

Adrian stiffened, his eyes flickering with dark gray intensity that shot through every part of her. “You're not going to lose me.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I love you.”

Teagan's breath rushed out in a hard gasp. “You . . . what?”

But Adrian didn't flinch. “I know it's crazy, but I couldn't care less. All this time, I thought I belonged in the kitchen, and yeah, in a way, part of me does. But none of it matters as much as being with you.”

He pressed against her, so close that his heart pounded a wild, steady rhythm against her chest, and still, he didn't falter. “So whatever it takes to make Lonnie disappear and keep you safe is what I'm going to do. I love you, Red. I belong with you, and I promise you I'll never leave.”

He captured her mouth in a kiss that matched the words, both proprietary and needful, and Teagan gave in to it without thinking twice. She arched up, meeting him stroke for stroke as the kiss became deeper, and all at once, she knew beyond measure that Adrian meant what he'd said.

No matter what happened, he was hers and he'd never leave.

Breaking from his lips to pull him in tighter, Teagan knotted her fingers in Adrian's hair, notching her body against his to whisper in his ear.

“Oh God, I love you, too. I don't ever want to be without you.”

His mouth was back on hers in less than a breath, taking, giving, and taking again until she felt almost drunk with want. Teagan pushed up on the balls of her feet, muscles squeezed tight as she desperately gripped Adrian's shoulders, angling for more. As if she'd broadcast the thought out loud, his hands shot low over the back of her hips, digging into the denim there as he yanked her up onto the counter at her back.

“Oh . . .” Teagan slipped from her haze just long enough to realize that other than to put away the perishables, dinner had become a dim afterthought. “We should . . . aren't you . . .”

“No.” The fingers on Adrian's free hand slid up to skate over her lips, a hard tingle building beneath his touch. “The food can wait. I only want you. Let me take care of you.”

The kiss that came next was so insistent, so punishing and pure that Teagan gave in. Every stroke brought her closer to the next, every slide of their lips, tongues and teeth making her boldly want the one that came after, until she was certain she would shatter from the need building under her skin.

Where Adrian usually took his time, he was now urgent, cupping her neck with hot fingers to keep her locked in close to his body. Teagan met the move with equal want, knotting her legs around his waist to bring them level, face-to-face and body to body. Her hands found the hard stretch of his shoulders, the column of his neck, the soft yet stinging brush of stubble on his jaw, and oh God, she would never have enough.

“You are so fucking beautiful,” he grated, lacing his fingers through her hair to expose her from ear to collarbone. Heating her skin with a line of openmouthed kisses, Adrian lowered himself to the hollow of her shoulder, grazing the edge of his teeth over the wildly sensitive skin there, and Teagan lost her breath on a moan.

“Now. Please, now,” she rasped, unable to throw her thoughts into anything more cohesive. But the demand between her thighs refused to loosen, every touch threatening to drive her crazier than the one before it.

To her absolute surprise, Adrian complied, lowering her from the counter in one swift pull. She was conscious of her legs beneath her, movement down the hallway, the early-evening shadows starting to color his bedroom through the blinds, but her mind could only focus on one true thing.

Adrian's eyes glinted, green gray and full of desire, as he stared right into her, and Teagan wanted nothing more than to let him have her, to let him care for her and really love her.

She knew he would never leave.

Wordlessly, Teagan covered the small space between them, stopping only when she was less than an arm's length away. Adrian reached for her, but she pressed a palm to his chest, her hair tumbling freely over her shoulders as she shook her head. Her heart pounded against her breastbone, but it didn't stay her movements. Teagan reached across her hips, grasping the thin hem of her T-shirt to lift the cotton over her head and toss it to the floor. Her boots and jeans followed, and she didn't linger for even a second as she removed the swath of white lace from her breasts or her panties from her hips.

“I'm yours, Adrian. Don't make me wait.”

He stepped in toward her, guiding her back toward the bed until her legs hit the soft fall of sheets still in disarray from the night before. Teagan lay back, pulling Adrian with her, and the friction of his clothes on her bare, aching skin shot a spear of heat right to her core. He braced his frame over hers just long enough to kiss her once before descending the plumb line of her body, parting her knees with the width of his shoulders as he pulled her flush with the edge of the bed and knelt down on the floor. Hooking his fingers beneath her hips, Adrian held her against the mattress, sliding his tongue along the length of her inner thigh before hitting home.

“Oh
God
.” The words erupted from Teagan's throat on a ragged cry, and she grabbed at the loose skein of bedsheets at her side. But Adrian didn't hold back, exploring her center with bold, sure strokes. His pleasured exhale sent a bolt of warmth over her core as he guided the cradle of her hips into a slow and steady tilt that quickly had her on the brink of release.

Without breaking the rhythm of his movements, Adrian shifted just slightly to let his thumb glide over her folds and linger, and the combination of his mouth and hands—both working where she so desperately needed them—pushed her right over the edge. Teagan's orgasm crashed all the way over her, and Adrian worked her through every breathless wave. Finally, he slowed his contact with her oversensitive skin, just enough to let her come back to her body before shucking his clothes with decisive intent.

Teagan moved back over the bed, surrounding herself in the heady cinnamon scent of Adrian's skin on the dark blue sheets. Her breath hitched and pulled at her lungs, going even tighter in her chest as Adrian angled himself against her. Nudging her thighs apart again, he divided the midline of her body, pausing for the briefest of moments to roll on a condom before covering her chest with his. The muscles in Adrian's shoulders went taut as he bent to gather her bottom lip between his own, brushing her mouth with the wicked tip of his tongue before pulling back to look at her.

“I'm yours right back, Red. I want you so much.”

Teagan's lips curled into a smile, and nothing in her life had ever felt so vital or so flawless.

“Then take me,” she said.

He thrust forward at the same time Teagan lowered her hand to the spot where they were so nearly joined, circling her fingers around the full length of his cock to coax him closer still. Her hand rose and fell in a sinful rhythm as she slanted her hips under his, the lust-blown ache Adrian had just eased already rebuilding between her legs. But he wasted no time answering it, thrusting hard against her palm before sinking into her heat with a groan.

“Ah, God. So hot.” The waning sunlight filtering through the room outlined the sheer intensity on Adrian's face as he buried himself deep in her body. Teagan's knees listed even wider apart, wordlessly begging him to fill her again and again. Pressing forward to clasp them together from shoulder to thighs, Adrian quickened the rhythm of his hips, pinning her to the mattress with each powerful thrust.

“Yes.
Yes
.” Teagan slid both palms to the tight space between her own hips and the bed, pushing herself upward to meet Adrian's unrelenting movements. The added contact turned her ripples of pleasure into a shock wave, and oh God, how had she ever thought she'd be able to hold anything back from him?

“Adrian, please. I—”