Last Night's Kiss (15 page)

It was only after she’d driven to her house and was safely inside that her knees gave way. She leaned against the door for support. Taking deep breaths, she tried to quiet her heart. She’d wanted to jump out of the theater chair and into Adam’s arms when he mentioned the picnic. Both of them knew they weren’t talking about eating. They were talking about the result of the picnic, their time in bed together.

Rosa lifted her head and looked at the loft. Visual images of the two of them poured into her memory. Her body suffused with heat as if some internal furnace had suddenly come to life.

Forcing her eyes away, she told herself Adam was playing with her head. She wasn’t going to let that happen. She hoped she’d never see him again. But she knew that wasn’t going to happen. She was invited to Bailey’s party.

The party! Thoughts of the photos suddenly struck her. In her haste to get away from Adam, she’d left them in his truck.

“Damn,” she cursed, stamping her foot. She needed those to complete the photo book she planned to give to Bailey for his birthday. And she was running out of time to get it done.

She was going to have to go and get them. And that meant seeing Adam again.

Today had proven to Adam that initial instincts were the best judge of a person’s character. He should have trusted his first impression and steered clear of Rosa Clayton. But he’d felt drawn to her. Adam hadn’t had to go riding after her on the ridge that day. He could have made sure she was safe from a discreet distance. He didn’t need to pack a picnic breakfast and take it with him.

There were so many things he didn’t have to do, but it was too late. He couldn’t undo what was done. Just as he couldn’t go back and keep Maureen from going on that assignment. He couldn’t undo the judge’s decision regarding custody. He had to live with the consequences. Just as he had to live with knowing that Rosa Clayton had claimed his heart.

He’d also captured part of hers. He’d seen it in the photos she left on the seat of his truck. The truth was visual. As was her attempt to keep him from seeing them. Adam drove up her driveway, not even letting himself think why he didn’t allow her scheme to work.

She’d called Medea and asked her to retrieve the envelope and leave it on the back porch. Rosa planned to come and get it after dark. Medea had to go into town and volunteered to drop it off. However, Adam had seen Medea taking it from the cab and wondered what she was doing. It didn’t take much for the housekeeper to tell him the story. Anger initially spurred his action. He refused to let Rosa skirt around him. She wasn’t going to stay in the Valley and avoid him. This last week had been miserable. Seeing her at the drugstore had jolted his heart. As he turned into her driveway, he realized he wanted to see her again. He wanted to wake up next to her in the morning.

Rosa opened the door when she saw the lights. She would be expecting Medea. The smile on her face evaporated when Adam stepped down from the truck. She took a step back inside the door, then stood her ground.

“Where’s Medea?” she asked.

“I’m filling in for her,” he told her. “But don’t think she volunteered your call without a lot of coaxing.”

He sucked in a breath. God, Rosa was beautiful. Her hair hung past her shoulders. She’d changed clothes and wore a T-shirt that hung past her knees. Adam wondered if she was wearing anything under it.

“You brought my photos?” Rosa reached for the package.

Adam had every intention of handing it to her and leaving. He lifted the envelope, then remembered what was inside. As her hand closed around it, his tightened and she tugged. She looked up at him. Adam’s free arm went around her waist and he pulled her into contact with his body. Instantly he was hot.

Hot for her.

Dropping his grasp on the envelope, he circled her waist and took her mouth. He felt her surprise, which lasted an instant before he heard the package fall to the floor and felt her hands slowly moving up his arms.

“You’re driving me crazy,” he said, lifting his mouth. He kissed her again. “I can’t go through this summer with you walking away each time you see me.”

He kept kissing her. Between each word he repositioned his mouth. He couldn’t get enough of her. He wanted to consume her, kiss every inch of her.

“You don’t like me,” she whispered against his mouth.

“I know,” he groaned.

“I’m beautiful.”

“Too beautiful,” he whispered.

He went on pressing his mouth to hers. She
was
too beautiful, but her beauty penetrated beyond her skin. It was on the inside, too, deep down in places where no one could see. He knew that from the way she worked with his father. Bailey couldn’t hold a conversation in which her name didn’t come up.

Adam didn’t wake on any day without thinking of her, remembering her sitting in the big chair in the great room. His heart hammered whenever he came across her or saw that red car parked somewhere in town.

His arms tightened around her, his mouth devouring hers. He wanted her, all of her. He wanted to be inside her, feeling the wild sensations that rioted through him each time he saw her. He wanted her legs wrapped around him, the feel of smooth skin rocking against his own. He wanted to listen to her soft sighs as he ravished her body. And hear the final climax as their mutual satisfaction echoed about the room.

He was very close to doing that. His hands roamed freely over her and he now knew there was nothing under the T-shirt but more of Rosa. Not a bump, a snap, or a panty line marred the smooth exploration of his hands. The knowledge aroused him more than he already was. His body grew tighter, harder, his emotions drawing hot blood from his toes and pouring it into his loins.

He couldn’t wait to slip his hands under Rosa’s shirt, smoothly lift it up her body and over her head. He wanted to see that body again, the even color tone that ran from her ankles to her hairline. The sexy way she moved. He wanted to taste her, kiss her, explore her region by region. And take his time doing it.

Rosa turned in his arms. Her body aligned with his and it nearly undid him. He moaned against her mouth, a sound of pure pleasure as she brushed against his hardness. As tall as she was, Adam lifted her feet off the floor. Her arms tightened around his neck as he carried her to the sofa.

“Upstairs,” she whispered as her feet touched the floor. “I need a bed.”

Adam heard the need in her voice and nearly ran them up the steps. The moment they reached the bedroom he pulled her into his arms. They hadn’t switched on the lights upstairs. Light from below filtered up, shadowing her features as if she were the female lead in a movie-set love scene. Her eyes were dreamy, lids half closed. Adam kissed her mouth, drawing her close to him, feeling the two of them merge shoulders to knees.

Instantly, he removed her clothes. The T-shirt slipped with ease up her torso, leaving her naked. For a moment he watched her heaving breasts, moons that begged him to touch them. Lowering his mouth, he obliged. He felt her head fall back as if she were giving him both room and permission to continue.

Adam’s mouth covered the dark circle of her nipple and Rosa arched in his arms, her body instinctively yearning for his touch. Adam’s body strained against his clothing. He wanted them naked. He wanted to feel her skin next to his.

Her hands found his waist and undid his belt. He felt her slender fingers at his waist. Slipping her splayed hands inside his waistband, he felt the soft scratch of her nails over sensitive skin. Her hands went lower, pushing the pants down slowly until her palms cupped his buttocks. He thought he’d come right then and there.

Grabbing for her hands, he pulled them away from him, but kept them trapped in his grasp. He pulled back a second. They looked at each other, breathing but not speaking. Guiding her hands, he let her remove his pants. Then he sat on the bed, pulling her into his arms and removing the remainder of her clothes.

She was beautiful, more so than he remembered. He understood how her image jumped off the pages of a magazine. She was sexy, sensual, and moved with an elegance that was every man’s sexual fantasy, including his. He kissed her belly, his tongue jutting out and tasting the warmth of her scented skin.

Lying back, he pulled her with him. She laughed as the two of them became entwined in each other. He flipped her over and parted her legs. Entering her was like nothing he could compare. The experience was totally and unexpectedly new. And something he wanted to do over and over again.

His rhythm changed at that moment. Intensity spurred him on. Rosa’s legs encircled him, drawing him into her. She met his thrusts with those of her own. For Adam in that instant, something changed within him. He more than wanted this woman. He needed her. He needed her for more than sex. He needed her humor, her anger, her love.

Their bodies merged, released, connected. Pleasure coursed through him, heated with the chroma of volcanic lava. Then he felt the wave, the coming of his climax. He warded it off, straining, holding, continuing, wanting to make sure Rosa understood the pleasure she was giving him and in kind returning it. The strength built within him. He heard her sounds, mingled with his own. Animalistic grunts filled the room as their bodies seemed to catch fire, light the room, and work toward an inevitable explosion.

Then it happened. He heard her name, shouted as if it were torn from a dying animal, and realized the sound had come from him. Moments later he heard her scream and together they fell spent on the coverlet. Adam didn’t want to break the connection between them. For the first time in his life he thought he’d found the one person who completed him.

He held her, falling to his side and pulling her with him. His heart pounded in his chest and he knew nothing would ever satisfy him like she did. And he wanted her with him, forever.

The Angus was no surprise to Rosa. As its name indicated, it was a beef restaurant. The decor was rustic, log walls, huge paintings of Angus cattle gracing them. The chandeliers were reproductions of longhorns with bulbs positioned in them. There were a few booths along the back, remnants of a long ago time before the place was updated to include white tablecloths and bud roses. There was no doubt that the food had always been superb.

Rosa smiled and acknowledged strangers as she was led to the table where Thomasina and Vida sat waiting. She was used to both the silence her appearance often caused and the low whispers and covert stares she sometimes received. Today it was the whispers first, then silence when she stopped to say hello to someone she’d met earlier. After a brief exchange, she went on to her waiting party sitting near the center of the room.

Tommie looked in awe of her entrance. Her mouth nearly hung open. Rosa could see the young girl wished she’d get the same kind of reception. Little did she know what a burden it could be. Rosa often wanted to be anonymous, part of the group, not set apart by some status. She had to be strong enough to ignore the way people looked at her. It was a learned trait and it did separate her. So she adapted, walking a line between being thought arrogant and stuck-up if she ignored the stares and friendly and approachable if she didn’t. She’d learned the hard way that getting too close to the public could mean someone harmed her.

“We ordered,” Vida said when Rosa was seated. “I got a salad for you.” A waiter seemed to have followed the maitre d’. Immediately he set a glass of lemonade in front of her.

“No steak?” She laid her sunglasses on the table and adjusted her purse strap over the back of her chair.

“And a steak,” Vida conceded. “Medium well.”

Rosa smiled. She was watching her weight. It was ingrained in her after so many years of refusing pizza, sugared drinks, mashed potatoes, and anything fried.

“Well, Thomasina, has Vida told you anything about becoming a model?”

“She told me how she got to be one.”

Vida had gone the traditional route. She’d sent a letter and photo to several agencies. When she got no response, she attended an open call and got a job and an agent. From then on she worked. Not always at the best jobs, but eventually she made it to the top.

“My method was different,” Rosa began. “I fell into modeling.”

“Fell?” Tommie asked. “How?”

“I’d just graduated from college. I was an engineering major and planned to get a job as soon as the summer ended.”

“Really?” Tommie said on a long breath, obviously impressed. “Engineering. You must be really smart.”

“Roads, bridges, concrete structures,” Vida supplied. “Our Rosa has a lot of talents. She used to explain things to us about the structures where we were photographed. Of course, we didn’t understand a word she said.”

“Anyway,” Rosa went on, “that summer I went to Italy. It was a graduation present from my family. I’d studied the language and they knew I longed to go. While coming out from under a bridge that was very well constructed and looked as if it had been there for centuries, I happened upon a designer who wanted to know what I was doing under his bridge.”

“He owned the bridge?”

“It was on his property. I didn’t realize I’d strayed onto an estate. There was no gate. I was driving along and stopped when I saw it. Instead of throwing me off the place, he invited me to lunch and afterward asked if he could take a few pictures of me.”