The Pursuit of Passion (Taylor & Adam)

by Liv Bennett

  She shakes her head and keeps on striding toward the parking lot, despite my hand on her elbow. “I don’t like dancing when I am—”

  I cut her off, “Oh, I didn’t think about it. How about movies?”

  “I have another appointment in an hour.”

  “Have you just come up with it to get rid of me?”

  “No, it’s not an excuse.”

  “I can come with you if it’s work related.”

  She slows down to glance at me. “It’s a hair-dresser appointment.”

  “Please, don’t tell me you’ll get a hair cut. I love your hair long, much longer than this, like you used to have it, at your waist.”

  “Since when do men have a preference for women’s hair?”

  “I like my woman with long hair.”

  She smirks. “Pat doesn’t have long hair.”

  “Pat isn’t my woman.”

  “Neither am I.”

  I was expecting she’d say that, but I’m not furious. She just needs to be shown who she belongs to. “Oh, baby, haven’t I told you? Once you give yourself to me, there’s no going back.” Wrapping my arms around her waist, I pull her against my chest with one quick move and crush my lips onto hers, immediately plunging my tongue deeply into her mouth to claim my territory. Her hands helplessly find their way to my chest, grasping my shirt with her fingers. Her eyes flutter shut and she moans into my mouth as I move my hands down to her hips and cup her tight buttocks, grinding my hips against hers. Then, as suddenly as it came, I tear my lips away from hers and look into her eyes. “I don’t want you dating or sleeping with other men when you’re with me.”

  She nods and stares at me without blinking, most likely still in a daze from my kiss.

  CHAPTER 11 - TAYLOR

  Something has to be said about the days when Adam is absent for his other work. I feel like an angry and jealous mistress, knowing he’s using his talent for another company when he could just do so much more for my company if he’d dedicated his full time to it. For the most part, the days he’s not here are either boring or when the most problems at work tend to break out. No middle point.

  I try to keep myself busy with the reports, but it’s just not enough to fill two entire days. And worse, Adam sends me a text on Tuesday to let me know that he’s not coming to work until Friday, without stating any reason.

  Since I wasn’t expecting to lose precious work time on Thursday, too, I settle in front of my computer and start doing exactly the thing I forbid my employees to do; reading tabloids. I didn’t care about Adam’s relationships after he’d left Pat, but at this point, my curiosity can compete with that of a cat.

  The first hits about Adam are all about the shooting attack a month ago. Somehow, his name is stated in all the news as Pat’s ex-fiancé, as though he’s had no other accomplishments in life. I knew they were together for four years, but I had no idea that they were engaged to be married.

  When I narrow the search to three years prior, I get some jaw-dropping, eye-popping news that I wish I hadn’t come across. Pictures of Adam leaving a night club hand in hand with a Russian catwalk model, or with an eighteen-year-old Grammy-award-nominated singer, or with the long-legged, blonde heiress to a fast-food chain. Nonetheless, the stunning girls by his side seemed incapable of doing anything for the defeated and crushed look he was showing the cameras. If I think carefully about it, he never struck me as the kind of guy who sported a genuine smile, and that defeated look had always been on his face like permanent makeup and it never left him until maybe a year or so after Jack’s death.

  One night, when Jack and I were driving from Jack’s summer home in Malibu to Los Angeles, Jack’s phone rang. Since he was on the steering wheel, I answered it.

  “Who can it be at this hour?” I whispered and hesitantly pressed answer. “Hello?”

  “Can I speak to Jack Edelman?”

  “He’s driving at the moment. Can I give him your message?”

  “I’m Barney, the restaurant manager of Calimar. I’m calling for Adam Garnett. He passed out a few minutes ago. Can Mr. Edelman come and pick him up?”

  “Why, what happened to him?” I shift my eyes from the road to Jack’s face.

  The man on the other side of the phone cleared his throat before replying me. “He consumed too much alcohol.”

  “Oh, I see. Thank you for calling us. We’ll be there in half an hour to pick him up.” Pressing the end button, I recited what the restaurant manager had told me. Rather than getting upset, Jack’s face twisted with worry. “This is the third time this month you’ll be collecting him from clubs.”

  “Yeah, I know. He’s going through very hard times after the breakup with Pat,” Jack said.

  “Pat is the same, but she doesn’t find comfort in alcohol. Besides, he inflicted this upon himself. He ended a perfectly fine relationship. And for what? To score an endless number of women who happen to cross his way?”

  “It’s not the way you think. He’s really in pain. And, please, don’t speak badly about him again. He’s like a brother to me. You should acknowledge him as such,” Jack said. That was probably the only time he raised his voice when speaking to me.

  Stunned and hurt by the tone of his voice, I kept quiet the entire ride until we arrived at the restaurant and I stayed in my seat while Jack hurried inside the building. A man helped Jack to get Adam in the back seat. How much had Adam drunk to wind up being hauled to the car by two men?

  Unfortunately, I had to help Jack carry Adam to his apartment. He wasn’t just stone-heavy, but smelled the stomach-churning combination of smoke, alcohol, and cologne, too. Once Adam was safely on his bed, I left Jack to deal with preparing him for sleep, like a father would do to his toddler son. I couldn’t stomach the sight and escaped to the bathroom to wash my hands and face to get rid of Adam’s smell on me.

  “You need to quit doing this to yourself,” I heard Jack’s soft voice. “You’re ruining your life.”

  I wiped my hands off on the towel, and tiptoed to the bedroom door, but didn’t enter.

  “My life is already ruined without her.” Adam’s voice came out almost as a whisper. He’d left Pat with no clear motive so he couldn’t be talking about Pat, could he?

  I neared the doorway to get a better view of Adam. He was resting his head on a pile of pillows and crying like a child. Whoever that woman was, she must have played him like a fish on a line to make him cry like this. Seeing the tears that poured from his eyes softened my feelings for him and even made me feel compassion for his pain.

  At that time, I thought another woman he couldn’t have, maybe a married one, must be the cause for his heartbreak. Now, a tiny voice in my head is whispering that the woman who ruined Adam’s life might be me. Jack looked like he knew who Adam was talking about. What kind of strange bond was it that held the two men together, even though one was in love with the other one’s wife?

  Of course, I could be dead wrong about the woman being me. And if I re-think it, I hope that woman isn’t me or things between Adam and me will get way too complicated for my weak mind and even weaker heart to deal with.

  Bree’s knock on the open door pulls me back to reality. She’s wearing a coat and clutching her purse. Is it already five?

  “Are you coming?” she asks, her patented cheery smile surfacing on her lips.

  “Uh, where?”

  “To my birthday party. I sent an email to everyone about the party tonight. Everyone, except for Valerie, will be there. Are you coming?”

  I hate night clubs and everything about crowded, unventilated, and loud rooms. “Sorry, I have another plan for tonight. But, I got you a little something.” I grab a small Tiffany box from the top drawer and stand up to hand it to her.

  “Are you proposing to me?” she asks, smiling. “I’m not gay, but I may change my mind depending on the size of the diamond.”

  I chuckle and give her the box. “Open it.”

  She carefully pulls the white ribbon and
opens the lid. Her beaming face and open mouth tell me she likes the golden necklace in the box. “Oh, my God. Taylor, this is gorgeous.”

  “Want me to help you put it on?”

  “Please.” She takes the thin, golden chain out of the box and places it in my palm.

  “Did Valerie say why she’s not going?” I ask, while fixing the necklace around her neck.

  “No, but she looked a little down. I asked if she was all right, but she said she was fine. I didn’t want to dwell on it and bother her.”

  When the necklace is safe around her neck, she runs her fingers on it and then gives me a tight hug. “That’s the prettiest jewelry I have.”

  “Am I forgiven for not coming to your party?”

  “Of course.” With a newly found closeness, she embraces me for several seconds long, before she waves at me and leaves.

  Wondering what upset Valerie, I walk to her office. She didn’t answer my first knock, but from the loud keyboard punches I can guess she’s angry, so I turn the doorknob and enter.

  “How is everything going?” I ask.

  She doesn’t lift her head from behind her computer to look at me, but she can’t hide her pale face and red eyes from me. “Busy as usual,” she answers with a shrug.

  “Bree told me you’re not going to her party.”

  “Bad news travel fast, huh?”

  I smile briefly. “I’m not going, either.” I walk ahead and settle in an armchair before her desk.

  She rests her head on her chair and clasps her hands together on her belly. “Too loud music?”

  “And, too many people,” I reply.

  She nods, but her eyes are miles away.

  “What is it?”

  “Nothing.” She pauses a moment. “It’s just William hasn’t called yet. Last time we talked, he told me he’d call me today to plan our weekend.”

  “Maybe he didn’t get around to it. You know how busy it can get at work.”

  She sighs, revealing a tired smile. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Of course I am. And, the last time I checked, the day hasn’t finished yet.”

  She reaches for the cellular phone beside the computer. “If he doesn’t call by six I’ll call him.”

  “No, you won’t. Seriously.” I pull the phone out of her hand and place it where it was. “Let him enjoy the thrill of pursuing you.”

  “I should ask Adam how much he’s enjoyed that thrill for the last couple of years.”

  I arch an eyebrow at her observation. “It’s worked, hasn’t it?”

  Her jaw drops open, and I replay in my mind what I’ve just said, to check whether I’ve said too much. She inclines forward, squinting, and places her elbows on the desk. “Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?”

  I wish I could keep the things between Adam and me only to myself, but given the big mouth Bree has, it’s better Valerie hears it from me.

  “Come on. Spill the beans,” she pleads.

  “We went out on a date.” But, no way I’ll tell her about the rest.

  “Where did he take you? What did you wear?”

  “To a Japanese restaurant.” She doesn’t need to know that it’s the most expensive Japanese in town. “A black slack suit.”

  “Arghh, you should have told me. I’d have taken you out shopping.” She palms her phone again. “Why isn’t he calling me?” she yells at the phone with a mocking anger on her face. “I bought a super sexy, grey, strapless, mini Marc Jacobs for him. Which, by the way, cost half of my salary.”

  Red hair, brown eyes, pale skin, and a grey, mini dress. Sounds like a dangerous combination. Slowly, I get on my feet and walk back toward the door. “Promise me you won’t call him.”

  She inhales a long, deep breath before she yells, “I promise.”

  ***

  I admit I’m looking forward to Friday, to finally seeing Adam again. My entire body is on alert with excitement and the thought of being in the same building with Adam. If he was with me right now I’d force him to kiss me again just the way he kissed me on Monday evening after that dinner with the client. I couldn’t find the courage to get a haircut and just ended up with having a scalp treatment and manicure.

  I’m curious as to how Adam will ask me out this time. That is if he’ll ask me out at all.

  A tiny, depressing voice reminds me that he hasn’t contacted me all these days since Monday, except for some work-related emails. He was supposed to be in Las Vegas to meet the clients for the other enterprise he’s working for. Between the contracts, the infamous lunch buffets at Mirage, and the night clubs, he might have easily forgotten about my existence.

  I enter the anteroom Bree uses as her office at eight-thirty sharp. Bree always arrives before me, but now, she isn’t at her desk, neither is her jacket or her purse. I hang my own purse and jacket on the hanger in my office and call her on her cell. I have to know if she keeps Adam’s card for a date in her locked drawer in order to hand it to me in person. She doesn’t answer so I leave her a voice mail, asking her to come back to her desk ASAP.

  Fidgeting with my fingers, I skim through my emails that are mostly related to Mr. Hawkins’s project that I want to take over. The majority of the committee members find it too risky and aren’t shy about showing their opposition. I guess it’s my duty to read their reasons, but it’s so hard to focus on reading while my mind keeps wandering back to Adam.

  I look over at Bree’s still-empty desk, tapping my finger on the keyboard.

  “Come on, girl; come to your desk if you want to keep your job,” I whisper to myself. I wait five more minutes before calling her again and slam down the receiver when the answering machine picks up.

  Breathing through my nostrils, I jump to my feet to go check her desk. It’s strangely empty. Hasn’t she come to work at all today? I don’t remember her telling me she was taking the day off. Sitting on her desk, I dial Valerie’s secretary at HR.

  “Good morning, Ms. Edelman. Bree has called in sick. Apparently something she ate at the night club last night was contaminated.”

  Oh, yes. How did I forget about her birthday party? Contaminated food? Make it a terrible hangover. But, I should give her that much. “Did anyone else call in sick?”

  “Adam won’t be coming either. Stomach flu.”

  “Adam has to come. Today is Friday.” I shouldn’t have vocalized my thoughts. “We have the weekly meeting in the afternoon,” I say, trying to hide my disappointment.

  “Shall I schedule it for next week?”

  “No, thanks.” I hang up without saying another word and grab the framed picture of Bree with her older sister. The two women—rather girls, considering they’re both under twenty-five—look actually pretty with their long, blonde hair and tanned skin.

  Bree and Adam aren’t coming. Is this just a coincidence?

  Even though Bree is very chit-chatty, I’ve never heard her talking about a boyfriend. Suddenly, I remember Bree’s words when she was admiring Adam’s muscles in his bedroom the day he’d come back from hospital and the intimate way she threw herself onto Adam after the surgery at the hospital.

  Adam and she wouldn’t be hanging out together, would they? It doesn’t sound impossible. Thanks to the invitation cards Adam has been leaving me for the last two and a half years, he and Bree have developed a rather close relationship. What if that harmless kidding-around stuff and well-intended physical contact created a sexual tension between the two? I wouldn’t be surprised if Adam lost the thrill of pursuit after I gave in to him on Saturday and has started to consider scoring other women. And, I doubt Bree will find a man better than Adam in every sense.

  I shouldn’t be bothered if it is actually the case. Who am I to stand in their way of a relationship? But, something about this union bothers me to no end. Something I couldn’t put my finger on. Okay, I’m really anxious to get Adam’s invitation card today, but that’s just because I’ve grown accustomed to them. Not because I have feel
ings for him or something.

  No. I feel nothing for him. Zero, zilch, nada.

  I drop the picture back to its place and walk back to my office. Those angry emails from the board members will be my savior until lunch time. Then, the meeting will distract me enough to get through the rest of the afternoon.

  I scroll down to find the original email that prompted the heated discussion. Much to my surprise, it’s from Valerie. She is all but against the Hawkins project. One by one, I read her arguments that merely revolve around how our company isn’t yet ready for a project of that size.

  She’s probably right, but it’s my company. Jack’s legacy to me. I’d never do something to put it in danger, but I won’t stop it from growing and spreading out, either. This new project is a big move, sure, but will also bring us to the league of the big players. As long as I have Adam in the project, we’ll nail it, just as Mr. Hawkins envisions it.

  I try and read the following emails but quickly lose interest as my mind keeps coming back to Adam and Bree. Heck, even their names match. I can see the curly font their names are written in for the invitation card to their wedding reception.

  Who am I kidding? I’m jealous as hell and will die if I can’t find out whether they spent the night together or not.

  So, I grab my cell and dial Adam’s number. I don’t care if he doesn’t answer since I have his home phone number, too. Another great advantage of being the boss.

  He answers on the first ring, “Taylor?”

  “Yes, hi. How are you? I’ve just heard you were sick. Just wanted to check out how you are doing.”

  “I can’t say I feel okay. Must be food poisoning.” He pauses and breaths to the phone. “Why do you want to know? Will you come and suck out the poison?”

  I’m caught off-guard. I should have known the nurse thing would come up sooner or later. “Be careful with your words. You’re talking to your boss. You don’t want to have a sexual-harassment record in your file, do you?” I work to speak matter-of-factly, but I’m not actually mad. His flirting is a clear sign that Bree isn’t with him. Even so, I can’t be sure whether she spent the night with him or not.