“And just what do you think you know, smarty pants?”
“I know there’s more going on between you and your neighbor than a bit of chocolate tasting, and if there isn’t now it’s only a matter of time.”
Forty-five minutes later, Brandi hobbled down the hallway leading to her front door. She hoped her legs would hold out until she reached the bottle of Tylenol in her medicine cabinet. After she gulped down two with a glass of water, she could crawl to her sofa until the pain reliever worked its magic.
“Stupid Heather and her stupid observations,” she grumbled. So what if she was attracted to Adam. She had no intention of acting on it. They were friends. Until she got Arm Candy out of her spare room and into its own boutique, all she had to offer a man was friendship.
The door next to hers opened and the smell of chocolate hit her just as Adam stepped out. His eyes connected with hers, and her pulse picked up its pace.
“Hey, you,” he said.
As always, the man made her mouth water more than her favorite dark chocolate espresso truffles. He wore a leather bomber jacket with jeans. The black leather gave him an edgy, bad-boy appeal that made the bad girl in her crave him even more.
I’m the boss of me. I control this attraction, hormones or whatever it is. It doesn’t control me. Brandi silently repeated the mantra in her head.
“Hello,” she finally said aloud.
“You coming from boot camp class?”
She glanced down at her sweaty, undoubtedly smelly, body. Isn’t this what she wanted just the other day, for him to see her looking her absolute worst? Then why did she wish she had run into him after she’d showered, run a comb through her hair and added a touch of lip gloss?
“Not boot camp. I added some personal training sessions to make up for the chocolate I’ve committed to eat as part of our deal. It was sheer agony, so I hope it’s worth it.”
Despite her appearance, he seemed to devour her with his eyes. The knowledge he wanted her turned her on even more.
“I’m off to replenish my stash now, and I promise to give you an experience you won’t forget.”
“Looking forward to it.”
She took a step toward her door in hopes of breaking the hold this man seemed to have on her. Then he touched her arm, a question in his eyes.
The fleece barriers of her shirt and jacket were excellent at blocking the elements, but couldn’t stop the delicious shiver shimmying up her arm and all the way down her back.
Brandi didn’t know what he wanted, but every cell in her body was already screaming “yes.” He cleared his throat, and she swallowed hard in anticipation.
“What’s the delivery status of the package we sent to the Lina Todd Foundation?”
“Uh…um…it arrived,” she stammered, before her voice took on what she hoped was a businesslike edge.
So much for believing she’d learned her lesson. They were simply neighbors helping each other out—nothing more. That was all she wanted or needed from Adam Ellison.
She needed to get a handle on herself, Brandi thought. Arm Candy was her priority. Not her love life. Or lack of one.
“Great. When do you plan to finish the other applications?”
“This evening.”
“Great. What time?”
Brandi shook her head. Until she was sure she had her “Adam crazy” hormones under control, she needed to keep her distance. “I can fill them out myself, but I would like you to look them over before I submit them.”
“No problem. Just say when.”
“Well, enjoy your evening.” This time Brandi did make it through her door and closed it behind her.
She kicked off her sneakers just as her phone vibrated on the coffee table. Lynn’s number lit up on the screen. Her friend had taken her seniors on a trip to a photographic exhibit on the history of computers in America at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, so they’d missed their usual chat over lunch.
“How was the field trip?” Brandi plopped down on the couch and rubbed her sore calf with her free hand.
“Just dandy. Kids viewed a fascinating exhibit. They learned lots. A good time was had by all,” Lynn said. “Okay, now that I’ve told you all about my exciting field trip, I want to hear every detail about…”
“Just stop right there,” Brandi cut her friend off. “I’ve seen, heard and talked about my neighbor enough for one day. So if this call is about him, you might as well hang up right now.”
The sound of Lynn’s laughter was the last thing Brandi heard before her friend ended the call with a resounding click.
* * *
Way to go, smooth talker. Adam shook his head as he walked down the hallway.
He’d been mentally reviewing his grocery list when he’d run into his neighbor and the sight of her knocked him off kilter. The brisk January wind had swept through her hair and left it in tousled waves framing a cosmetic-free face still glowing from her workout.
And what did he do?
Ask her about an application.
When all he really wanted to do was kiss her until they both had to come up for air. Then ask her how long did she honestly think they could continue to ignore this thing between them. He wasn’t sure what to call it, but its pull grew stronger with every glance, touch and kiss.
Adam couldn’t help appreciating the irony of his situation with Brandi.
Women usually pursued him, fawning over his every word in hopes of gaining his attention.
Now he was the one in hot pursuit. And not getting very far.
Adam steered his SUV out of the building’s parking garage onto the street. He’d intended to go directly to the specialty market, but decided to make a detour to his friend Zeke’s.
He could use another perspective on the Brandi dilemma, and after their blowup, talking to Kyle was out of the question. Besides, his tennis partner had been missing in action these days, and he needed to find out what was going on with him.
There had been no answer when he’d called to tell Zeke he was on the way over, but the wrought-iron gates in front of the drive leading to the Holden estate were open.
With its solo McMansion surrounded by two acres of land, the Holden estate was minuscule in comparison to the two stately homes Adam’s father had built on twenty acres of land south of the city.
Adam drove through the open gates. He spotted Zeke’s red BMW X6 Roadster parked in the circular driveway at the front of the house and pulled his Cayenne behind it. He was surprised to see his friend’s prized sports car outside of the garage. Zeke reserved it for dates with women he really wanted to impress. His friend’s day-to-day ride was an Escalade.
Kyle had said a Napoleon complex compelled Zeke, who was only five foot six, to drive the big SUV.
Adam didn’t agree with his brother’s assessment, or his view on Zeke being a hater who was secretly envious because his family’s company didn’t come close to matching the Ellison conglomerate.
Zeke was under constant pressure from his father to grow their company. As the oldest, Adam knew what it felt like to carry that weight and could empathize more than Kyle.
Adam shut off the Cayenne’s engine. He got out of his SUV just as Zeke emerged from the house. Zeke was dressed in his custom suit made by a Hong Kong tailor and reeking of a woodsy cologne his friend insisted drove women wild.
“Hey, man, long time, no see,” Adam said.
Zeke froze and stared at him like the proverbial deer caught in oncoming headlights.
“Been working,” Zeke finally said, averting his gaze. “Uh, sorry about missing our games the last couple of weeks.”
“It’s cool. I know what kind of effort goes into running a company. Just let me know when it’s a good time for you.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Adam got the feeling he was making Zeke uncomfortable, but he shook it off. They’d both been busy lately.
“So how’s the baking going?” Zeke asked. “You haven’t changed your mind about it?”
“No regrets. In fact, I wish I’d done it years ago.”
His answer brought a smile to Zeke’s face, and he slapped Adam on the back. “Best of luck with it, man.”
“Thanks,” Adam replied, both surprised and grateful for his friend’s support. “So who’s the lucky lady this evening?”
Zeke’s smile vanished and his expression regained a cagey edge. “Oh, no one you’d know.”
“You sure? Our world is a small one,” Adam joked. And it was. They’d all grown up alongside each other attending the same private schools, Jack & Jill and ritzy summer camps. Only Adam hadn’t participated in the summer camps with Kyle, Zeke and the rest of the kids in their crowd, instead spending the summer months with his grandparents in France.
Zeke made a point of checking the chunky platinum watch on his wrist. “I’d better be going.”
Adam nodded. “Take it easy, playa.”
“See you around.”
Adam got back into his SUV and followed Zeke’s BMW through the iron gates. He realized he’d just been blown off. But why?
When he arrived at the market, Adam grabbed a handcart near the store’s entrance and headed in the direction of the European chocolate aisle for his preferred Belgian brand. His trip over to Zeke’s had posed more questions than it answered.
Why had his friend been avoiding him? And who was his mystery woman?
Not to mention, Zeke had been zero help on the Brandi front, but Adam had already decided on his next move.
He’d simply give her space.
Space to figure out what he already knew. Distance wouldn’t stem their simmering sexual attraction. It would only fuel it.
Chapter 10
Brandi looked up from her microwaved diet meal to find Lynn standing over her wearing a frown.
“I thought you had lunchroom duty this week,” Brandi said.
“Managed to switch days with Madeline so I could corner you.” Her friend plunked a salad on the table and sat down in the chair across from her. She raised an inquiring brow.
Brandi knew what her friend wanted the scoop on, but there was nothing to tell.
“I’m a patient woman, but it’s been a while now, and you’ve barely mentioned the hunk of dark chocolate living next door to you.”
Brandi rolled her eyes. Restless nights of inhaling chocolate and dreaming about Adam had left her exhausted and crabby. Each night the aroma of chocolate grew stronger and her dreams more explicit. Last night, she’d been tempted to make another middle of the night appearance at his door—only this time to turn her dreams into sheet-sizzling reality.
“I’ve been keeping a low profile,” Brandi said.
Two weeks had passed since she’d found herself on the verge of throwing herself at him in the corridor. Since then Brandi had taken care to avoid Adam. When she’d completed the other microloan applications, she’d slid them under his door with a note attached asking him to look them over.
He’d reviewed the paperwork, made detailed notations and returned it the very same way.
However, her strategy of avoidance had backfired, and at this point, Brandi didn’t know what she ached for more—chocolate or him.
“How long do you think you can keep it up?” Lynn asked, poking at a cherry tomato with her fork. “You can’t steer clear of a next-door neighbor forever.”
“Actually, I’m seeing him after work. He’s narrowed down his top contenders for the competition, and I’m going to his place to taste test them,” she said. “Adam’s completed his part of our bargain, now it’s my turn.”
“Lucky you. James and I almost came to blows over the last slice of his chocolate soufflé cake.”
Brandi shrugged; the dispassionate gesture belied the swarm of butterflies knocking around in her stomach. She gave up the pretense of eating and pushed her barely touched meal aside.
“It’s just…”
She started to confide in her friend, when the history and biology teachers walked into the small lounge and sat down at a table within earshot. The two men were the biggest gossips in the entire school. Their tongues had wagged so much after her near-wedding to Wesley, she thought they would actually fall out of their mouths.
She and Lynn immediately adopted a covert version of normal conversation they used whenever the two busybodies were around. Fortunately, they’d been friends long enough to comprehend the meaning behind the dropped sentences and exaggerated facial expressions.
“You stressed over calories?” Lynn asked.
Calories were her main concern the first time she’d gone over to his place. Now she only hoped to make it through the evening with her panties intact.
Brandi shook her head slowly, and her friend nodded as understanding dawned.
“So you want to?”
“Desperately,” she admitted with a sigh.
“But?”
“I’m this close to getting Arm Candy where I want it,” she said in a voice low enough hopefully only Lynn could hear. “I don’t want to get caught up in you know and lose my focus.”
“Who says you have to get caught up?”
Brandi mouthed the word, “What?”
The buzz of conversation at the next table came to an abrupt halt, but the nosy teachers next to them weren’t eating. Lynn gave them the side eye and then looked at Brandi.
“You done?”
Brandi nodded. They rose from the table, tossed out their picked-over lunches and exited the lounge.
“When is the last time you had fun?” Lynn asked.
Brandi turned the question over in her head, but couldn’t come up with an answer. When was the last time she enjoyed herself? Flashes of purple roses, being handfed cake, long conversations about aspirations and grandmas and kisses sweeter than the finest milk chocolate played through her mind.
The fact Adam was a part of the best moments she’d experienced in a very long time wasn’t lost on her. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was falling in…
No, she was being silly. She couldn’t be. She refused to even think the word.
“I’m not saying you should fall in love.” Her friend said the word instead. “But if I were you, I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to fall into his bed.”
Brandi spent the remaining four hours at work teaching art as the words Adam had said to her the night they met rang in her ears. The same ones he whispered against her ear every night in her dreams.
“Stop trying to resist the irresistible.”
Brandi shook her head hard as if it would exorcise him from her brain. She didn’t know how she was going to do it but somehow she had to get a rein on herself before she saw him again.
* * *
Adam wasn’t sure if his strategy of giving Brandi space had made a difference in her feelings, but it sure as hell was doing a number on him.
He missed looking at her. He missed talking to her. He missed the honey-sweet taste of her lips.
He missed her.
Adam glanced at the microwave clock as he added delicate shards of dark chocolate to the dome of the chocolate sponge cake filled with a creamy bitter chocolate mousse. Brandi would be here soon. He wanted this, as well as the two other cakes he’d prepared for her to sample today, to be perfect.
He didn’t know why; after all, he’d only known her a short while, but a small part of him wanted to impress her nearly as much as he did the competition’s international panel of judges.
“You’re being an idiot,” he said, carefully placing the last sliver of chocolate atop his creatio
n.
Time had only strengthened the woman’s resolve to keep their relationship strictly platonic, and he would be smart to do the same. He needed to focus on winning the competition, not trying to win Brandi Collins.
A knock sounded at the door and his groin tightened at the thought of her on the other side of it. So much for maintaining focus.
He wiped his hand on a tea towel and blew out a breath. She was there to eat cake, he reminded himself. Nothing more.
Adam opened the door and drank in the sight of her. She’d eschewed the beat-up sweats she’d worn on her last visit, in that ineffective attempt to turn him off. Instead, a knee-skimming black skirt showcased her shapely calves while a pink sweater accented luscious curves he longed to take his time exploring—first with his hands, and then with his mouth.
“So what have you got for me this evening?” She slid her tongue over her glossed lips in what was probably an innocent gesture, but it left him rock hard.
“Cakes.” The hoarse word was all he could push past the lump lodged in his throat.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” she asked. He swallowed hard and willed himself not to explode in his pants. “I’ve been exercising like a madwoman,” she continued, “so I plan to enjoy every sinful mouthful.”
“Come in and we’ll get started,” Adam said, grateful for the return of the bass in his voice and that his black chef’s apron helped conceal his aroused state.
He closed his eyes as she walked past him and silently prayed for fortitude. Instead, he caught the alluring scent of her orange-blossom-and-gardenia-infused perfume.
This was going to be a long evening.
“Wow!” He heard her exclaim from the dining room, where he’d already placed the first cake.
A combination of rich mousse and fluffy meringue, it was the lightest of the three cakes he made for her first round of tasting. He’d decorated the chocolate ganache topping with a cluster of chocolate leaves he’d fashioned by brushing the veined side of fresh lemon leaves with a thin layer of chocolate. After the chocolate set, he peeled it away from each leaf and transferred the delicate chocolate foliage to the refrigerator to cool before arranging it on the cake.
Taste for Temptation (Kimani Hotties) Page 10