Need You Now (Martha's Way Series Book 2) (31 page)

There
was
a beat of silence, as if she was processing the weight of his words. “Where
were you last night? You didn’t come to rehearsal dinner.”

“I flew to Italy Thursday after we
talked to your family.”

Another
silence.

He shoved his hands into his
pockets. “I
had to do some damage control after
Souza’s piece, so I gave an interview to a local station there. It will be
aired in a couple of days.”

“When did you come back?”

“Around two
this morning.”

“How do you feel? I mean, are you
okay?”

The concern in her voi
ce made his heart clench. He stroked a finger along her
cheekbone,
then
tucked a
loose strand of hair behind her ear for the sheer pleasure of touching her.
“I’m fine.” He leaned in. “I want you home with me.”

She stepped out of his grasp and
walked in sil
ence. She stopped next to various shades
of Chrysanthemum plants. From the distance she studied him. “I saw it in your
eyes that night. I will never forget that.”

“Liliana.”

She held up a hand. “You never want
to say it, do you?”

Adam released a deep breat
h. And she let out a soft chuckle.

“I can’t
,
Adam. As
much as I want you and me, I can’t.”

Pain poured out in her voice like a
river. And it hurt because he didn’t want to be the reason for her heartache.
He took a step closer. She took a step back. An ove
rwhelming
silence dominated the space between them. She was a woman who needed to hear
those words. She believed in them. Everything in her life was about love. Her
family, her friends, Even her damn brothers.

“I see it in your eyes,” she
repeated. “I fee
l it when you hold me.”

“Isn’t that enough?”

She
smiled,
a sad smile. “I wish it was, but
you see I never want to have doubts. I have no problem telling the world how I
feel about you.” She held his gaze. “I need the same from you.” She shook her
head. “An
d you’re not there, Adam. I want it all. I’m
greedy like that.”

Another long awkward silence fell
between them. The autumn breeze filled the trees with a rustling murmur and
swept the dried, crispy leaves across his path. Lily shivered, let out a deep
brea
th,
then
walked
past him into the warmth of the inn.

Hours later, well after the speech,
toast, and all the things that newlyweds did to celebrate their love, Adam
loosened his tie, sat back and watched Lily dance her ass off
on
the floor
doing the conga
line. She moved as if she was
connecting to the song, swaying her sexy curves left and right, as the rhythm
carried her feet across the dance floor. One of Jason’s friends Adam had met
and actually liked until now, jumped behind her and held on to her wais
t like it was his lifeline. Lily turned, made eye contact
with the bastard and laughed. Adam winced. This was going to be a long fucking
night.

Since their conversation in the
garden, she had gone out of her way to avoid him, and it was driving him nuts.
H
e downed the last drop of the scotch in front of
him, and pushed
his chair back. What was that, h
is third
now? He couldn’t remember. The alcohol wasn’t doing its job, he wasn’t numb.

He glanced at the dance floor
again, the music switched to
Moves like
Jag
ger
by
Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine. Lily kept on dancing. That same asshole
wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her against him close enough to
feel his junk. She turned to face the asshole, placed a gentle but firm hand on
his shoulder and
put some distance between them,
setting some boundary.

Too fucking
late.
Adam removed his jacket and slung it over the back of the
chair. He rolled up his sleeves. The fucker now had his hand on her lower back.
That same spot he’d kissed many times in the
last
year. The bastard said something to her and she laughed again. Yeah, someone
needed to wipe that smirk off this guy’s pretty face. As for Lily, evidently
she’d forgotten they were still engaged. She was still wearing the damn ring,
for Christ’s sake.
Total disrespect.

Adam paddled through the crowd and
headed straight toward Miss Happy Feet and Sir Touch-A-Lot. Halfway there, he
passed his parents and Lily’s parents dancing and laughing. Lily’s father was
doing some fancy dance move with his mother while his father and
her mother applauded.
One big, fucking happy family.

“Adam, darling,” his mother called
after him, breathless.

He stopped, gaze on Lily. The dude
was still trying to cop a feel.

“Lily’s parents are wonderful.” His
mother continued smiling. “We are going to
have
dinner with them next time we’re in New York.”

“Great,” he said, not really caring
his voice showed he had no desire to hold a conversation with his parents and
in-laws at this time. As the music switched to
Cupid Shuffle
by CUPID, the asshole spun L
ily so she ended right in front of him. Adam swore under
his breath. He spotted her brothers, dancing away like major goofballs. Neither
one tried to step in and stopped this asshole from manhandling their sister.

“What’s wrong, son?” His father
followed h
is gaze and chuckled. He was already moving
to the right, to the left. Adam stepped away to avoid being kicked.

“I have to go.” He kept moving.

The “Cupid Shuffle” was in full
swing. Adam dipped, leaned back once or twice to avoid crashing into a dancer
or
two as he crossed the dance floor. Jason, Blake,
and their wives were leading the whole mess. He shook his head in dismay. Some
songs paired with a specific wedding dance should be prohibited at weddings.
The “Cupid Shuffle” topped the list.

He reached Li
ly just as she took two steps to the left and crashed right
into the wall of his chest. Her eyes widened and her lips formed into an
O
. He caught her wrist and started
to drag her off the dance floor. Adam secretly admitted that was very
caveman-like, but
he didn’t care.

“What are you doing?” She planted
her feet firm on the floor, her lips pressed into a thin, angry line.

“I’m taking you away from sticky
fingers.”

Sir Touch-A-Lot walked up a little
too close to Lily. Adam’s shoulder accidentally checked h
im. He would have liked to pop him too, but this was one of
his closest friends’ wedding after all. So he played nice.
Sort of.

“Hey man, we’re dancing,” Sir
Touch-A-Lot said.

Adam pinned him with a look.
“That’s my fiancée you’ve been groping the whole ni
ght.
She’s also very pregnant with our child.” The asshole looked at Lily for
confirmation. She grinned. Asshole backed off. Adam gestured her to the empty
table. “Come on.”

“Why are we going there?”

“To talk.”

“I’m not walking off this dance
floor.” She s
tood firm, hands on hips, challenging
him. “Unless you’re ready to tell me you’re in love with me.” She held his
gaze. “Are you?”

Adam raked a hand through his hair.

“I thought so.” She smiled at him.

He couldn’t read her. The
vulnerability he caught earli
er was now gone. A
server approached them with one flute in the tray. Lily snagged it and gulped
it down and thanked the server by using his first name. Bryan, the handsome
waiter, beamed at her. Everything now made sense. She was drunk, and pregnant
with
his child. Adam silently counted to one hundred
very quickly to stop his head from blowing off.

“Are you drunk?” He watched her
frown and realized his voice sounded more accusatory than he intended.

“This was seltzer water. See?” She
tip-toed close to his
face and blew warm, minty
breath on his face. No trace of alcohol and the move was erotic as hell. “Geez,
Adam, I tend to be on the responsible side, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Oh man, she made him feel like an
asshole for doubting her. He shoved his ha
nds in his
pockets. “I’m sorry, Liliana. You just look like you’re having a good time.”

“Actually, I am, and I don’t need
to be drunk to have fun. Don’t you know me at all?”

Her honey eyes shot him
a you
’re-an-idiot
kind of look. Since he had nothing of
substance to
say, he stayed quiet. To his surprise, she slung her arms around his neck and
pressed against him.

“This is the only way you get to
talk or touch me. So dance.”

He put his hands on her hips.
“You’re still my fiancée.”

Something crossed her
face but once again, it was quickly masked. The mood of the
music changed to something slower. Adam wrapped his arms around her. Her chest
rose against him. Sparks flying, emotions building.

“This is our first dance,” she
said. Her face buried in his neck
so deep that her
lips brushed against his skin.

He was sure they’ve danced before
but at the moment with her so
close,
her scent
filling his lungs with every breath he took, his mind became fuzzy. More and
more of her became a part of him. He couldn’t thin
k
straight. “Is it?”

“It is,” she breathed on his neck.

His gut tightened. How had he never
danced with her before? Adam jerked her closer, and pressed his lips to her
temple. “Then no more talk. We dance.”

* * * *

Lily could feel his hands touching
her
waist as the rhythm of the song played. Her mind
in tune with his hot breath against her neck, he stepped forward and back, she
followed. The tempo of their bodies was as trance inducing as the moist,
intoxicating air their sensual bodies emitted toward on
e another.

“Do you feel that?” he
asked,
his voice
deep and husky.

This was not merely a dance. His
body firmly pressed against hers was communicating his deepest feelings,
wordlessly telling her he loved her. She nodded, rested her head on his
shoulder an
d closed her eyes, losing herself to the
intense heat that radiated between them. At that moment, she became oblivious
of the world a
round them and lost herself in
Adam’s
arms. They continued to move like that until Lily lost track of where her body
stoppe
d and where Adam’s began.

“Liliana.”

“Hmm.”

“The music stopped.”

Still dazed, she slowly opened her
eyes. They stood on the dance floor alone with Adam’s arms still wrapped around
her. She caught the amused stares of Keely and Claire. Lily squeezed her
eyes shut. Once again, she’d lost herself under the Adam
spell. The man was addictive.

She sighed and stepped away from
him in an attempt to minimize their body he
at, but he
jerked her back up
to his chest. Before she could say anything, he tilted his
head
down and kissed her, sending
a
shiver down
her spine.

“I need you home with me,” he said,
gravelly against her lips. “You belong there. You’re everywhere.”

She looked up into his face,
emotions on full display “I was only there for two weeks.”