Waiting for You (12 page)

Chapter 12

A
dam sat at a corner table at Skinny Pete’s, sipping on his beer as he listened to Oliver talking about the second Perelli bust on the beach and how he and Adam were going to be subpoenaed to testify in court. Adam hated that part of his new part time job. He hated red tape and politics. He just wanted to do the action and get the hell outta dodge. Such was the nature of the game.

The bar was exceptionally loud and crowded and thankfully his earlier headache had subsided or he’d be battling a hangover size migraine by now. That made him think of Audrey and her miracle cure. And that just made him think about Audrey.

He was surprised to have seen her at his door earlier, and trying to run away to boot. He was battle ready to butt heads with her again, this time really saying his peace, until he had seen the frame she had left him. The photo of him and his dad about a decade ago. The patriarch had been happy and virile, not like the shadow of a man he had died as. It was a picture of how his dad would have wanted Adam to remember him and the truth was, Adam hadn’t done that memory proud. His thoughts of his dad had usually centered on his ailing years. And they weren’t the photo taking type so there hadn’t really been any photos of them lying around the house, until Audrey had brought it to him.

Now, that small ray of happiness hung in his living room wall – the wall that until that afternoon had been bare. Adam felt his father’s happy presence in the house again and he owed that to Audrey’s thoughtfulness. A peace offering she had said.

It was time to bury the hatchet. They had both made mistakes as kids and had carried the emotions of those errors for far too long. They needed to move on. Be friends she had said.

Adam smirked. He had never had a female friend. This would be new.

Oliver sneezed beside him and brought Adam out of his own thoughts and back to the bar.

“Bless you,” he said automatically.

Before the words were out of his mouth, Oliver sneezed again. Adam opened his mouth to repeat the words on auto-pilot a second time when Oliver sneezed a further two times.

“Don’t expect another
bless you
after a sixth sneeze dude, get that shit under control.”

Oliver smiled as he recovered. “Sorry, it’s this damn change in weather, messes with my sinuses.”

“Oh that’s a pretty picture. Stop being a pansy and pull your shit together. Next thing you know you will be excusing yourself to powder your nose.”

“Fuck you.”

Adam grinned.

“Did you see who’s here?” Oliver prompted and Adam followed his gaze to the other end of the bar where Emma, Audrey and some other ladies stood around the pool tables. At least she hadn’t been lying about girls’ night.

Adam turned to see Oliver watching Emma. “When are you going to just ask her out?” he asked, tipping his head back to down his beer.

“Who?” he responded innocently, his eyes jumping back and forth.

Adam signaled with his head to the hot blonde.

“Emma? Nah we aren’t like that. I just like to rile her up. It’s fun to watch her fluff out her feathers. I’ve known her since grade school; she’s like my little sister.”

“Then why do you hit her with this sexual banter thing you both got going on?”

“Because I know it’s not going anywhere. She thinks I’m a horn dog who has slept with every eligible, and sometimes ineligible, female in Crystal Valley, so I just let her believe that. Sometimes the reputation that this town has stuck on us is a bigger curse than anything else.”

“I hear you on that one bro.”

“It’s just easier to roll with it and laugh it off than try and justify yourself. People will believe what they want to.”

“Amen to that.”

Oliver grinned. “I’m going to get another round, do you want anything?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

Oliver left Adam to take in the ever increasing crowds spilling into the bar. But his gaze came back to rest on Audrey across the room from him. She had on a fitted lace top tucked into a high-waisted flared skirt that hit her mid-thigh. Her heels were stiletto pumps that made her legs look miles long. She was unbelievably amatory and he was tempted to run his hands up her calves, over her thighs and explore the treasures that lay beneath her white skirt. Her hair was wild and wavy around her shoulders which only further added to the vixen’s appeal.

Oliver returned then, sans beer. “Bud, I gotta bail. Duty calls. I got a call at the precinct. B&E which I gotta attend to. Rain check?”

“No sweat. Take it easy.”

Oliver nodded before taking off.

Adam picked up his jacket and headed to the door himself. He wasn’t one to drink alone in a bar and he really didn’t want to stick around staring at Audrey in that outfit. It was sure to lead to another sleepless, stiff-dicked night and he wasn’t up for that either. May as well quit while he was ahead.

He was almost out the door when he turned back to take one last glance at her, subjecting his martyr self to his punishment. That’s when he saw the apprehension on her face when some guy was in her personal space.

His blood coagulated in his veins. Fuck.

****

Audrey was having a decent time out with the girls up until No-Neck Bobby and his friends decided to crash their girls’ only night. The girls had been polite enough in telling them to buzz off and most of them had complied and returned to their perch at the bar. Not this Neanderthal. Nope, he was persistent and he was after Audrey. For the life of her, she could not remember the self-defense class on how to approach an attacker head on. There were so many people in the bar and having an audience was making her nervous. She knew that the women around her would gang up and club this guy with their heels if it came to it but Audrey really didn’t want a scene.

“Come on, sweet cheeks,” he leered, the stench of beer and pretzels wafting out his mouth and likely every pore of his skin. He reeked. “A girl like you,” he flicked her bouncy hair and Audrey began to tremble, the anger and trepidation sinking in. “Just one dance, I will make it so fun.”

“No, thank you,” she repeated firmly for about the third time to this buffoon. Her voice sounded calm and reasonable but on the inside she was freaked out. Too many haunting memories kept her frozen to her spot. “I’m not interested in dancing.”

He started to get agitated now and reached for Audrey’s wrist and squeezed. She tried to pull her arm free but the guy was bigger and stronger and held fast, inching closer to her. “Let me go.” Fear started to set in as the familiar dread engulfed her.

“You’re dancing with me to—”

“The lady said no.” The voice behind her was deep and menacing and had it been aimed at her, she may have shriveled away. She turned and took in Adam, towering over the thick necked moron. He looked mean and pissed off, definitely not someone to cross.

“Get your hands off her right now.” He said the words slowly and through gritted teeth and Audrey actually started to fear for this fool.

“Get lost, asshole. This isn’t your business.”

“Release her now or I will break your hand before you get your next word out.”

The guy laughed but released Audrey’s arm. In the next instant, he hurled his fist at Adam, who surprisingly blocked before the guy’s other fist swung to strike him. He missed Adam’s face and the next thing Audrey knew, Adam had him bent over, the guy’s wrist pulled back in the crook of Adam’s elbow. She heard a small crack and the guy howled.

“I warned you,” Adam sneered at him. “If I see you hassling another woman in here again, I will break your ankles. Understood?”

The guy nodded as Adam straightened them both and released him. The offender walked away, cradling his wrist, his face red in agony.

Adam turned to her, placing his hands on the balls of her shoulder. “Are you ok?” His green eyes turned a dark emerald as he searched her face, his gaze concerned.

Audrey nodded, too shocked and mostly speechless to actually utter anything coherent. She vaguely felt the electricity of his touch seep through her skin but her world was moving in slow motion.

Emma and the other women came over from the bar and encircled her. Audrey nodded to everyone and assured them she was fine yet she was anything but fine really. How had Adam done that, completely immobilized the guy in less than ten seconds? She was feeling too shaken to enjoy the rest of the evening though and she was just about to tell them she was going to go home when she realized, crap, she had carpooled with Emma. She didn’t want to spoil their night so she would have to suck it up and endure it ‘til they were ready to leave.

Adam came to her then, through the throng of women. “You look like you need to escape,” he whispered against her ear, his breath warm against her skin.

“Is it that obvious?”

He smiled a tight smile, the tension still evident in his jaw. Audrey suspected that violence wasn’t something he was completely comfortable with. More like a necessary evil. She appreciated that; she wouldn’t have been assured knowing he got a kick out of this sort of thing. “Did you bring your car?”

She shook her head no.

“Come on, I’ll take you home.”

“You don’t have to do that, it’s such an imposition.” She started to protest.

“Audrey, I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it. Come on, I’m taking you home, get your things.”

Audrey smiled inwardly at his bossy ways. She knew she would be safe with Adam. Well physically safe anyways. Her emotional and hormonal well-being was still in question.

She stepped off her bar stool and said her goodbyes to the girls. Emma insisted she would take her home but Audrey didn’t want to be the wet blanket to their evening. She would just go home and eat a tub of ice cream in equivalence to her feelings like a normal girl.

She reached Adam and he guided her out the bar ahead of him, his large hand on the small of her back, making sure he could see her and anyone trying anything funny with her.

The air outside was cool and crisp from the drizzle earlier in the day. It was still early evening and the sky was varied shades of purple and orange. Audrey wished she had her camera. Moments like this needed to be captured and preserved.

She searched the parking lot for Adam’s truck but came up empty.

“Where did you park?” she asked, searching the surrounding lot.

Adam led the way to a Harley Davidson motorcycle. He removed the helmet off the seat and handed it to her.

She stared at it. “Adam, I’m not exactly dressed for this.”

“Audrey,” he touched her shoulder again and this time the light weight zinged all through her body from the tips of her cherry red toenails all the way up to the fine hairs on her neck. “You need to shake off this night. That guy was a creep and I can see from the expression on your face that you’re still thinking about it.”

She cast her gaze downward, not wanting him to see her fear, not wanting him to put the pieces together and see her broken past. She was a strong independent woman, dammit.

“Do you trust me?”

Before she even realized it, she was nodding yes and the smile he gave her blew her away. It was the first fully charged, genuine smile she had seen from Adam Parker since she had gotten back to Crystal Valley and damn it was lethal.

Audrey tucked her skirt between her legs as she managed to straddle and sit on the bike. Her high heels were uncomfortable on the small foot rests but she managed to balance herself on. She put the helmet over her head and struggled with the straps. Adam took it from her hands and gently fastened it on for her. The graze of his knuckles on her chin sent shivers up her spine. His eyes gleamed dark and intent.

“I have a confession to make,” she blurted. “I’m a virgin.”

Adam chuckled softly. “Sweetheart, we sorted that out for you awhile back remember.”

Audrey laughed nervously. “No, that’s not what I meant. I-I’ve never been on a motorcycle before.”

Adam’s lips turned up in a half smile. “Well honey, I’ll be sure to take it real slow and gentle with you. Revv your engine just a little bit and only thrust on the throttle when you’re ready, ok?”

His words had her heart hammering in her chest and lust swimming through the best parts of her.

Adam winked and she gulped as he mounted the bike and kicked away the kick stand. He walked the bike out to the road and she realized she had to hold on to something. She was terrified but in a thrilling way. She figured she had no other choice but to wrap her arms around him, it would be the safest thing to do. That’s the only reason she snaked her arms around Adam and clung to his solid abdomen. That’s what she told herself. God he had an amazing body. She squeezed her legs together, pressing herself against his thighs. For her own safety of course. She didn’t want to fall off. He gunned the engine and they took off down the road, in the opposite direction to her house.

“Where are we going?” she shouted over the loud rumbling.

He turned and grinned at her, the excitement flashing in his green eyes. “On an adventure.”

He turned back to the road and Audrey took in the sights. The sun was completely gone now but the full moon was out and illuminated all the most beautiful sights. He took her on a few winding out crops and back roads ‘til she recognized they were riding up to the top of the valley. The wind whipped through her hair and she slowly began to relax. The rumbling between her legs had her feeling excited for more than just the adventure. It reminded her how sexually deprived she had been. She was definitely going to have to end her night with her battery operated friend.

A half hour later, Adam had parked at the top of the valley, soaking in the view of the city below and the vast expanse of ocean beyond. This was where their town got their name from. From up here, the water below glistened like crystals in the moonlight. In the sun it twinkled more so.

“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered. “I’ve never seen it at night.”

“I’m glad I was your first.” He smiled and turned to go back the way they came. Audrey was left wondering if he was talking about the view, the motorcycle ride or her actual first time. Whichever he meant, she was glad he was her first, too.