The Pursuit of Passion (Taylor & Adam)

by Liv Bennett

  A few minutes later, when my bottom starts feeling cold, I start to get to my feet, but he is faster and lifts me up gently. I thank him, trying not to breathe in his face with my acidic breath, and wash my face and brush my teeth, while he stands behind me studying my reflection in the mirror.

  “I’ll go to bed now.” I dry my face with a hand towel. He walks the three steps from the bathroom to my bedroom with me and kisses my cheek. I wish him good night, then close and lock the door behind him, in case he plans to surprise me in the middle of the night.

  I change into Jack’s grey cotton pajamas and slide into the bed with just one thing on my mind. The car accident that took Jack from me forever.

  The next morning, I wake with an ache between my legs. It can be the hard sex from yesterday or my ever-so-punctual period. Yawning, I drag myself out of the bed, grab fresh panties and t-shirt, and head to the bathroom. Listening for any noise, I check my panties for blood and find a large circle of red. Right on time.

  After a quick shower, I tiptoe to the living room, hoping Adam is already gone. He isn’t on the couch, but the sounds and the smell coming from the kitchen tell me he’s discovered the fridge. I run my hand through my wet hair and walk into the kitchen to find Adam cooking scrambled eggs. He’s wearing the same shirt and the pants from last night, only wrinkled.

  “Good morning, beautiful, how are you?” he asks with a sly grin on his face. His eyes sweep over me, making me feel naked, although the t-shirt is long enough to cover my thighs until a little above my knees. “I’ve made breakfast for us.” He pulls out two plates and fills them with scrambled eggs.

  “I’m not hungry.” I reach for the kettle to switch it on. “I’ll just have a cup of tea.”

  “How is your stomach?”

  “It’s fine. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. It was just a one-time incident, I guess.”

  “I hope so.” He rounds the table and spins his arms around my waist. “You scared the life out of me.” Staring down at my lips, he runs the back of his fingers on my cheek, then leans in, and kisses me. He tenderly sucks my bottom lip, without using his tongue. My nipples harden at the sensation of having him close, reminding me that I didn’t put on a bra. As if sensing the stiffness of my nipples, his hand moves from my face down to my collar bone, then rests on my chest, cupping and kneading my breast. I take a step back to free myself from him, but my move won’t save me from his penetrating eyes, which are now ruthlessly roaming over my breasts. I swallow hard. I should have kept Jack’s thick pajamas on.

  “How did you sleep on the couch?” I work on my voice to sound nonchalant and move toward the chairs. But, it’s no use. He won’t let me go so easily, I can tell by the heat in his eyes. He turns around, places the plates on the table, and takes the chair beside me. Rather than digging into the scrambled eggs, he pulls my chair toward him, the screeching sound of the iron on the marble hurting my ears, and then wraps his arms around me.

  “The couch was okay, but I missed you on it.” With that, he smashes his lips back on mine, leaving me no chance to even move. His hands are too intrusive, wandering around my breasts, my back, my hips, everywhere, as though there are more than just two. When his hand slips under the hem of my t-shirt, I squeeze my legs together to block it, but it breaks free and reaches my panties.

  I try to pull my lips back to explain to him about my period, but as soon as his fingers reach my panties and probe the thick pad beneath them, he loosens his grip on my body and lips. “There goes my entry to the Guinness Record Book,” he jokes.

  “Yeah, right.” I pull away and shift myself toward the table.

  “I don’t know what came over me last night. I had condoms in my wallet but never thought of using them.”

  “I noticed that. I wouldn’t get pregnant anyway. I haven’t ovulated for ages.”

  “Uh-huh.” He remains silent for a moment and then turns to his food. He doesn’t speak a word until he clears the two plates. I should have known; there is nothing like female fertility problems to turn down a man’s libido. I’ll make sure to use it next time. When he’s done eating, he collects the plates and washes them. Still no word comes out of his mouth. I fill a cup with hot water, dip a green-tea bag in it, and watch him dry the plates.

  “I’m taking Adriana to Santa Monica. Want to join us?” he asks as he heads to the door to leave. I put the tea cup on the counter and follow him to the door.

  “I didn’t know she was still here.”

  “Oh, god, no. She’d stayed only for three days last time and she came back again two days ago to check up on me. Come with me to lunch. Might be your last chance to meet her for a long time. She’s leaving today.”

  As if I’m deeply fond of her. “Is Pat coming, too?”

  “Jealous, much?” He cocks an eyebrow and leans against the door.

  I shrug. Maybe I am. I don’t know. I realize I still don’t know anything about that dinner he had with Pat right after the shooting, thanks to Adriana’s overenthusiastic initiation. I can imagine Adriana pretending to suddenly feel tired in order to leave the two alone. Oh, wait a minute. Bree was there, too. She can fill me in on what happened during the dinner. Adam is staring at me with a wide grin on his lips. He probably took my brief silence as yes. I don’t miss the beam of satisfaction washing over his features. I shake my head no. “No, I have other plans.”

  “Like what?”

  I love turning the tables, but I won’t start lying about another man just to make him jealous. The sex-with-twenty-six-men joke is enough for a long time. I say the first thing that comes to my mind, “Lunch with Valerie.”

  “I can see what you’ll be talking about.” He grins and pulls me toward his chest, his hands smoothing gently up and down my back. Apparently, my menstruation and my fertility issues haven’t completely taken away his interest in me.

  I press my palms against his chest, both to feel his hard muscles and keep a comfortable distance between us. “I won’t say a word about last night. You should keep it to yourself, too.”

  “I won’t share it with another colleague.” He winks and lowers his head but doesn’t kiss me yet.

  “You can’t share it with anyone. Okay?” I insist, feeling dizzy at having his face so close to mine.

  He brushes his nose against mine, his expression suddenly serious. “But you can talk to Valerie about it if you want to. You actually should, so she stops bugging me to get in the sack with her.”

  “She didn’t do that.” I frown. “Did she?” A snippet of jealousy tugs at my heart. Although I’m well aware of Valerie’s romantic interest in Adam, I’ve never imagined her making a move.

  “Well, a couple of times. But, don’t judge her. Women can’t control themselves around me. You should know it by now.” He moves down and brushes his lips on my throat, sending tingles shooting down my spine. Oh, hell, he’s right.

  “Tomorrow, at four-thirty at Four Seasons and not a minute late.” I dig my nails down into his chest through his t-shirt, and he flinches.

  “Aye, aye, Captain.” Finally, he moves up and lands his lips on mine with a kiss so gentle and smooth I moan. He smiles into my mouth and dips his tongue in for a brief instant, before pulling himself away. “If I don’t leave now, I won’t be able to leave at all.” Walking backwards toward the elevator, he blows me an air kiss and hops inside the cab.

  I wait a few minutes, until my shiver wears off, and then call Valerie to convince her to have lunch with me. Although Adam gave me the green light about sharing the details of last night, there’s no way I’ll share it with her or anyone else. I’ve never liked talking about my sex life, let alone my role playing skills.

  I wave at Valerie when I spot her reading Vogue at a table beside the windows of the café.

  “On the hunt for your next eye-catching dress?” I ask when I sit in the chair across from her.

  “Well, kind of. I’m just collecting ideas for my next date with William.”

  “How wa
s your date on Friday night?”

  Excited, she starts to open her mouth, but the waitress comes to take our orders, interrupting her. As soon as she disappears back into the kitchen, Valerie pulls her chair toward the table, leaning in toward me, and begins speaking with a low voice, “Friday and Saturday. And I’m going to see him tonight, too. I can’t believe it.”

  “Wow, he must be really into you.”

  “A little.” She reveals a naughty grin and winks at me. “Won’t you ask me if we did it?”

  “So, you did it?” After three dates? But, who am I to judge after having Adam score me on our first date.

  She nods, her eyes scanning around briefly.

  “Want me to ask you how it was, too?” I joke, feeling like high school again, digging for details that might be useful for my first time.

  “Just one word; exhausting.” She giggles.

  The waitress comes back with our orders. The sight of the chicken soup makes my mouth water. I spoon a mouth full of chicken and potato pieces and let it warm my body.

  “Did you hear from your gynecologist about the blood work?” Valerie asks.

  “Yeah, I did.” My appetite slips away, and I barely chew the piece of chicken before swallowing it down. “I’m having hormonal issues that’ll probably turn into some serious infertility problems.”

  She puts her fork on the table and clasps her hands together. “Oh, I’m sorry, honey.”

  I shrug, unable to talk about it, and let my eyes trail the flower pattern on the table cloth. Strange, how the seriousness of this issue didn’t take me down when I was with Adam. Now that I’m reminded of my possible future without the prospect of having my own children, I feel depressed and tired, as if it was bugging me all night long.

  “You know what you should do about it?”

  I raise my eyes to look at Valerie. Her expression is solid and serious. With those glasses she’s wearing, seriousness is her natural look. But it’s more intense now and makes me curious as to what she might have to say. Maybe a natural remedy or a famous doctor in L.A., or a friend who has been through the same problem and managed to conceive and give birth to her own child?

  “What?” I ask when she doesn’t speak for a moment.

  “You should get your pussy eaten to get blood flow back to the pelvic area,” she says and bursts into laughter.

  Shocked at her blatant manner, I look around to see if anyone heard her. “Will you keep quite, please?”

  “You should give it a try. Even if it doesn’t cure your problem, it’ll give you something to look forward to. More—”

  I raise my hand to cut her off.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll be good.” She grins and turns to her salad bowl but keeps on watching me above her glasses. “What’s your gynecologist saying about it? Is it treatable?”

  “I hope so. I’ll have to make another appointment to discuss the treatment.”

  “Do you really want kids? I thought you didn’t want another man after Jack.” At last, she’s serious again.

  “I don’t need a man to have kids. What are sperm banks for?”

  Another smile curves up her lips. “Good point. But, raising a child as a single parent isn’t a bed of roses. My mother suffered a lot and gave up many things for me. Growing up, I always wondered how it’d be like to have a father around and, needless to say, I was very jealous of the other kids for their fathers. I guess it’s even harder for boys to grow up without a father.”

  I inhale a deep breath of frustration. My mother died when I was five, but I had my aunt and her husband to take care of me and my sister. So, I can’t really imagine how difficult it must have been for Valerie to have only one parent caring for her. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s just… I lost Jack and I don’t want to lose the chance to have a child, either. I’ll have to think it thoroughly.”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure out something that’s right for you.”

  We eat in silence for a while and then Valerie calls the waitress to order strawberry short cake and ice cream for both of us. When the waitress comes back with our desert plates, Valerie swallows a spoonful of cake and says, “I hear you and Adam are on the next stage.”

  I glance at her, alarmed. Did she see us? There is no way she can know about last night. “Who told you that?” I ask, working on my voice to sound amused and not startled.

  “Bree told me she saw you, two, kissing.”

  Anger flows through me and I begin drumming my fingers on the table. Since when is Bree spreading rumors about Adam and me? What else did she say? “Did she really say that?” I try to gain time.

  She nods. “And?”

  “And what? There was nothing special about the kiss. It was a brief one, no tongue, nothing. He kissed me just before I was leaving his apartment on the day of the discharge from the hospital.”

  “I don’t believe Adam let you go with only that.”

  “What else can he do?” I shrug it off. Her inquisitive attitude is making me uncomfortable. Maybe if she hadn’t asked me anything, I would have talked about the dinner last night, but now I feel I’d rather keep it to myself.

  “Whatever. If you don’t want to talk about it, fine.” She focuses her attention back on the cake and doesn’t say a word until she finishes eating. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m over him. You can have him if you want to.”

  I snort. “Thank you for your kind permission.”

  “Come on.” She narrows her eyes and fixes them on me with a questioning expression on her face. “Are you hiding something from me? I thought we were friends.”

  How can she guess that I’m hiding something? Am I so easy to read?

  She shakes her head several times and points her spoon toward me. “Look, I’m all for you going out on dates. Be it with Adam or the next Brad Pitt. You can’t live like a nun for the rest of your life.”

  “I think I’ll get there eventually. But, enough about me. Tell me more about William.”

  She looks content with my choice of the topic. “I was desperately in love with him throughout high school, but he was dating a cheerleader and never so much as looked at me. And now he’s crazy about me. I’m still in awe about how things turn out to be.”

  “Sounds like a story you’ll tell to your grandchildren.”

  Valerie laughs heartily. “I’m crossing my fingers for it. Hey, tomorrow I’ll have lunch with him. Why don’t you eat with us so you can see how adorable he is?”

  “Tomorrow is difficult. I have a meeting in the afternoon. I’ll just grab a sandwich and prepare for the meeting in my office.”

  “What meeting?”

  “Remember that country club I told you about?”

  “Which one?” She frowns. “Oh, that. Are you still after it?”

  “Yeah, I really want it. I’m taking Adam to the meeting to discuss the construction details.”

  “Does Adam know how large the territory is? Maybe you should talk to him first about the risks you’re taking by jumping into such a big project. We don’t have enough experience to handle constructions that size.”

  We might not have the experience for big-sized projects, but we’ll never have it if we don’t start at some point. And, risks are always part of running a business. If I learned anything from Jack’s business attitude it was his ‘no risk, no gain’ motto. However, Valerie is intent on objecting to my plans for taking the company to the next level, talking only about it being too risky.

  “If you’re worried about the company’s future, I’d rather retire today than put the company in danger,” I say, hoping she won’t make more comments on it. Funny how I want her to drop anything she wants to talk about. Why can’t she just gush about her new boyfriend?

  She shrugs and goes on eating. “I’m going shopping after lunch. Want to come?”

  If I don’t go shopping with her, I’ll be stuck with watching the re-runs of How I Met Your Mother for the entire afternoon and evening. Worse yet, I’m afraid I’ll start feeling
guilty and depressed about my depraved actions with Adam. At least, shopping will make me get some exercise. “Yeah, sure. If you can’t find something you like, you can always borrow some of my clothes.”

  “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t think you have the super-sexy, mini dress I have in mind.”

  Oh, you have no idea what kind of clothes I keep in my closet.

  I pay the check and follow Valerie into an endless number of luxury stores in Beverly Hills, feeling glad that I have something to take my mind off of the wild sex I had yesterday with Adam.

  CHAPTER 10 - ADAM

  Adriana will never give up on her dream of having me and Pat get married. She’s invited Pat to the lunch at Santa Monica. It seems Pat shares the same dream with Adriana, because she’s wearing a low-cut, red, mini dress revealing her beautiful curves, and finds excuses to run her hands on my forearm. I force myself not to jerk away when she touches me. Her glances are full of intimacy and temptation, and she blushes every time Adriana brings up the good old times when Pat and I were happily together.

  “Are my eyes fooling me or do you look genuinely happy today?” Pat asks me on the first opportunity of being alone, after Adriana excuses herself for the restroom.

  I shrug and shake my head no.

  “Come on, Adam. It’s me. I know you inside and out. Are you seeing someone else?”

  Shit, not that question. I don’t want to lie to her, but the truth will hurt her more than my dishonesty. “It’s related to something at work. How about you? Don’t tell me you haven’t met any good-looking guy in Nashville.”

  She drops her eyes to the table and starts fidgeting with her fingers. “I guess I turned blind to other men.”

  I put my head between my hands, keeping on staring at her, and run my fingers through my hair. She’s my reflection. She feels the same for me, as I feel for Taylor. She hasn’t let anyone else into her life because of the tiny chance that maybe she’ll get back to me. Just like I’ve been keeping myself women-free for Taylor. What kind of shit life is this?