by S. R. Grey
“Oh Lord,” I gulped. “Katie, not to sound insensitive, but the truth is that Ami has some serious mental issues.”
“No kidding,” she said, “I kind of guessed as much.”
But I had to wonder what Ami had been referring to? And why would she involve my agent? She must think Katie is my boss and can tell me what to do. Did Ami really believe I was in “serious danger”? And was it serious enough to warrant a trip out to LA in some convoluted attempt to protect me? It just felt like something was off.
“You didn’t tell her anything, right?” I asked.
“Of course not. But, Maddy, she was really worked up. God only knows who else she’s been in contact with out here.”
There was only one other person Ami knew of from my life in California—my ex-boyfriend, Julian—and I could only hope she’d dare not look him up. I put my head down on the table. “Ugh, what a mess,” I mumbled.
“Oh, honey, don’t worry. I’m the only one out here who knows what you’re doing in Harbour Falls. I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything, especially if she comes back to the office.”
“Thanks,” I said resignedly. What more could I do from here, other than wait to see what Ami’s next move would be?
“Maddy?”
The sudden seriousness in Katie’s voice grabbed my attention. “Yeah?” I responded.
“Be careful up there, you hear me?”
I assured Katie I would try my best to stay safe, even if it wasn’t exactly true. The last thing I needed was a worried agent thinking Ami’s crazy ramblings held validity. After we disconnected, I sat, cell phone in hand, wondering how Ami Dubois-Hensley fit into this whole Harbour Falls Mystery mess. Sure she was unstable, but did she really think I was in some kind of danger? Why else would she want me off the island? Did she have some kind of tie to the case? I couldn’t recall her ever having had any sort of association with Chelsea. But who knew? One thing I was learning, sometimes painfully, was that around here nothing was ever as it seemed.
At around four o’clock in the afternoon, I drove down to the café to visit Helena before Adam got back. “Maddy!” Helena exclaimed when I walked through the door. “I’ve been bored to tears all day. You sure are a sight for sore eyes.”
She came out from behind the coffee bar in the back to greet me, and I met her halfway, where she pulled me into a warm hug. “Adam’s meeting me at six,” I said, stepping back. “But I was hoping we’d have a chance to talk before he gets here.”
Helena gestured to one of the tables. “Here, let’s sit.” She paused. “Oh, did you want anything to drink?”
“No.” I shook my head, while sitting down. “I’m fine.”
“So is something going on with you and Adam,” she asked, slipping into the seat across from me. “That is what you want to talk about, right?”
I had absolutely no intention of divulging even a hint of the many things Adam had shared with me, but I was curious to get her opinion on the things Jennifer had said. And, since she and Nate knew him so well, see if she had any insight into Adam’s feelings for me. After all, Nate was Adam’s closest friend, and he’d confided in him in the past. And sure, I’d be talking with Adam soon enough, but one could never have too much information. Especially when it came to matters of the heart. So I began with, “I don’t know what to think, Helena. I mean, I know how I feel about him, but I’m not sure he feels the same.”
Helena patted my hand reassuringly. “Adam’s interested in you, Maddy. We’ve known him a long time, and he’s different now that you’re in his life. Even when he speaks of you…” She trailed off, considered, and then said, “You just make him happy, even Trina thinks so.”
“I know, but…” My voice faltered.
“What?”
“It’s stupid,” I said, casting my eyes down. “Just some stuff Jennifer Weston said yesterday. I shouldn’t let it bother me, but it does.”
“What did that miserable bitch say to you?”
I needed to talk to someone, at least about the things I could, so I told her some of the things Jennifer had said, mostly the comments about how I was “just a novelty” and how “it would never last.” But I was careful to leave out Jennifer’s angry reaction when I’d mentioned Chelsea’s name.
When I finished, Helena said, “Jennifer is a bitter, unhappy person. She’s been that way for years, and the whole J.T. mess made her even meaner. She enjoys needling people and saying things to purposely hurt them. Don’t let her get to you. Adam is not using you.”
“Yeah, but Lindsey obviously meant very little to him,” I countered. “He dropped her without a second thought. Who’s to say he doesn’t do the same to me?”
“I told you, that relationship was different from the one you and Adam have.”
I knew she was right, but I was looking for reassurance. After everything Adam had shared with me, I should have been confident that he cared very deeply for me. But the one thing nagging me was that he’d told me only after I’d snooped around and discovered those things.
“Why don’t you talk to him? Just ask him how he feels.”
“I did,” I replied. “We’re supposed to discuss it tonight. That’s why he’s meeting me here.”
Helena smiled triumphantly. “See, just the fact Adam even agreed to have a ‘relationship discussion’ speaks volumes.”
“I suppose.”
“It does, trust me.” Helena lowered her voice to an almost whisper. “And between us, I think you’re helping Adam learn how to love again.”
God, I wanted to believe she was right, especially about the love part. Adam had forgiven me rather easily when he’d discovered my duplicity. Now the ball was in my court to prove to him I could be worthy of his trust and, hopefully, his love.
Helena and I talked for a while longer. She told me she was going to close down the café on Monday for a couple of weeks, so she could go down to Boston and help Trina with wedding preparations. She invited me to join her for the trip, but I declined. With a little prodding though she did get me to commit to spending a day with her and Trina. She said it’d be easy enough since Adam flew to Boston on business all the time. I could just fly down with him, spend the day with the girls, and fly back that night. I told her I’d discuss it with Adam, and if we could coordinate it, then I’d love to come down and spend a day with her and Trina.
When Adam arrived—still dressed for success in his business attire and looking particularly debonair—Helena readied herself to leave. She claimed she needed to run over to the house because Nate was cooking dinner and might burn down the bungalow if she didn’t check on him. I knew she was just giving us time alone, and I appreciated her all the more because of it.
Once Helena was out the door, Adam leaned down and kissed me with far more passion than I was prepared for. Wow! By the time he pulled away and sat down across from me, I finally caught my breath. Adam seemed to be in rare form this evening.
“So,” he began, something naughty sparkling in his blue eyes as he loosened his tie. “Did you have a pleasant afternoon?”
I decided to play along. Smiling, I responded, “Pleasant, Adam?” He chuckled. “Yes, my afternoon was quite pleasant. And how was your meeting on the mainland?”
Adam traced the inside of my forearm with his long fingers. “It sucked,” he said silkily.
“Why was that? The potential client didn’t sign?”
“Oh no, Maddy, he signed. But let’s just say I had other things on my mind.” Adam leaned forward, his voice low and sultry. “Would you like for me to show you some of the things that were occupying my thoughts?”
Would I ever, I thought. Meeting his lust-filled gaze, I offered, “Maybe we should get out of here?”
“Fuck that. Maybe we should lock the door and—” But, before he could finish, the café door swung open. Adam, his back to the door, groaned in aggravation.
Jennifer Weston darkened the threshold, holding the door ajar with her hip. “Oh, what pe
rfect timing,” she exclaimed. Was that smugness in her tone? “I just brought a visitor over, and he cannot wait to see you, Fitch.”
Adam shifted in his chair to face the café entrance, his expression none-too-pleased. Uh oh. Jennifer continued, undeterred by my lack of response, “In fact, it’s someone who is quite worried about your well-being up here on this lovely island.”
Adam shot me a look, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. I shrugged, having no clue what Ms. Miserable was going on about. Just then, Jennifer made a grand gesture of pushing the door open as wide as it could go, thus allowing the mystery passenger she’d ferried over from the mainland to step into the café.
A tall man with a strong physique stopped just inside the entrance—hair the color of caramel and, as usual, in need of a cut, deep brown eyes that I hadn’t seen in months.
Oh…my…God. My words caught in my throat, but I somehow squeaked out, “Julian?”
Chapter 17
Julian’s eyes moved from me, nervously, to Adam and then back to me. “Maddy, what the hell is going on here?”
Just as I was about to ask my ex the same question, Adam turned back to me, the legs of his chair scraping harshly against the wooden floor of the café as he pushed it away. Standing, his eyes burned into me, a mixture of fury and disbelief. Without speaking a single word or waiting for any kind of an explanation, Adam turned his back on me.
Heading over to where Julian and Jennifer were standing, he paused momentarily but then walked past them without a word. Both Julian and Jennifer moved aside to give Adam a wide berth. Yes, an angry Adam was not to be toyed with. That much was certain.
After Adam left, Julian’s expression changed to one of confusion, while Jennifer just looked victorious. “You’re a fucking bitch,” I yelled, directing my comment at Jennifer as I rose from my chair.
I could no longer control my own anger. She had set this up somehow. I was sure of it.
But how? I had no clue, yet. But I was going to get to the bottom of it once I had a chance to talk with Julian—alone. But first I’d deal with Jennifer.
“No, Fitch,” she hissed. “From the priceless look on Ward’s pretty face, I’d say you are the fucking bitch, Bitch.”
“You did this,” I accused, stepping closer to where she stood near the door.
Julian, who I’d almost forgotten was there, interrupted, “Is anybody planning on telling me what the hell is going on?”
Jennifer spun on her heels. “You should ask Fitch since I have to go.” She giggled maniacally, reaching for the door handle. Crazy bitch. “It looks like you two have a lot of catching up to do.”
With that she was gone, leaving Julian staring at me with a look of befuddlement. What a mess. I stepped back and sank into my chair, defeated. This was just too much. Instead of having a discussion with Adam to define what was going on between us, I was stuck here with my ex-boyfriend. And based on Adam’s reaction, it was starting to look as if we might never be having that relationship discussion.
Julian came over to where I sat. “Maddy, what’s going on? Are you all right?”
His voice held nothing but genuine concern, making it even more likely he was being used as a pawn by someone. Jennifer? Ami? She is in Los Angeles, I thought.
I sighed. “Julian, what are you doing here?”
He slid into the chair across from me, the one Adam had been sitting in. “Your friend from up here tracked me down.” Ami, I thought. “She told me you were here. She said you’re in danger.” His voice dropped. “Maddy, we may not be together anymore, but I’ll always be here for you. If you need help getting out of here, I’ll do whatever I can to help. If that guy is—”
“Julian,” I interrupted, “I’m not in any danger.” Small lie.
I explained how Ami was unstable and had obviously overreacted for whatever reason. With the nagging fear that—maybe—she did know something, and I really was in some kind of peril, I tried to convince Julian I was fine. I explained I was just here working on a book.
Naturally he didn’t buy it.
“Really, Maddy?” He looked at me skeptically. “Are you here working on a novel…or working on that guy who just left?”
Both, I thought but answered, “I’m working on my next novel. That’s all.”
Julian still didn’t look as if he believed me, but he nodded nonetheless. Quietly he said, “I can go back over to the mainland tonight if that’d be better for you.”
Although I knew it would be better, based on Adam’s behavior, I couldn’t just dismiss Julian after he’d traveled all this way just to make sure I was OK. Besides, I was certain Jennifer had left for the night, so he’d have no way back anyway.
“No. You can sleep at my place tonight. The ferry will be here tomorrow morning. You can go back then.” His eyes questioned mine, and to avoid any confusion, I hastily added, “I have a really comfy sofa. You can sleep there.”
We left the café, and by the time we’d reached my cottage, I felt so bad about the whole situation that I insisted I stay on the sofa and Julian take the bed. It took awhile for him to agree, but he finally acquiesced. I quickly showed him around upstairs, grabbed a pair of pajamas from the dresser, and left Julian to his own devices in my bedroom. Hurriedly I made my way back downstairs.
After enough time had elapsed for Julian to fall asleep, I dialed Adam’s cell phone. It went straight to voicemail, so I left a message, asking him to “please call me as soon as possible” so we could talk.
Once I shrugged out of my clothes, I slipped on the comfortable, oversized flannel pajamas I’d brought down from upstairs. With little cartoon dogs and cats all over them, they were the unsexiest ones I owned, making them a perfect choice in case Julian wandered downstairs for something. Encouraging him was the last thing I wanted to do. Drowsy, I turned out the lamp and lay back on the sofa. With a throw pillow beneath my head and a quilt thrown over my body, sleep came quickly.
At some point in the middle of the night, I woke up abruptly, certain I’d heard footsteps close by. “Julian?” I whispered, allowing my eyes to adjust to the shapes and shadows in the room, illuminated only by slivers of moonlight pouring in through half-closed blinds.
“Not your ex-boyfriend,” a voice purred from close by, startling me.
I shot upright and pulled my legs up to my chest, but then the shape at the foot of the sofa came into focus. “Adam,” I ventured. “W-w-what are you doing in here?”
Stepping around the arm of the sofa, he sat down beside me. My heart began to race in both fear—and anticipation—of what was coming next. I noticed Adam had changed clothes; he now wore all black—black leather jacket, black low-hanging jeans, black T-shirt that clung enticingly to the lean muscles of his chest. He looked dark and dangerous. And, I hated to admit, sexy as hell.
“Shhhh.” Adam’s tone was low and mocking. “You don’t want to wake up your houseguest, now do you? After all, your ex-lover probably wouldn’t approve of my being here.”
“He was more than a lover, Adam,” I snapped, glancing to the staircase. It was clear Adam knew exactly who Julian was, so I added, “How did you know who he was anyway?”
My uninvited guest chuckled as he shucked off his jacket, the scent of leather…and Adam…wafting my way. “I certainly hope you don’t allow just any guy who happens upon the island to sleep in your bed,” he chided.
“Seriously, Adam,” I said. “How did you know?”
“Maddy, Maddy, so naïve,” he tsked, draping an arm casually on the back of the sofa. “Do you really think I wouldn’t have thoroughly checked out your previous, uh, suitors?”
A flare of anger blazed through me. Was there anything Adam didn’t know about my life? Irritated, I hissed, “What are you doing here? I know I locked the doors, so how’d you even get in?”
He held out a keychain with several keys attached. “Madeleine, do you really need to ask?” He jangled the keys softly. “Nothing on this island is off-limits to me.”
/> I swallowed hard, the implication of his statement not lost on me. As if to punctuate his meaning, Adam stood, kicked off his shoes and pulled his shirt over his head. His sculpted bare chest, bathed in silvery moonlight, held my eye. At least until he casually threw his shirt to the floor, flipped open the top button on his jeans, and then dropped back down to the sofa in a crouch.
I gasped as he crawled up the sofa toward me, trapping me in a cage created by his arms. I curled my knees tighter to my chest, but he reached out and adjusted each one—none too gently—to either side of his body. With one arm, muscles taut, holding him up, and his other hand on my knee, he whispered, “So Madeleine, who invited your friend to my island?”
“Not me,” I answered, biting my lip, my eyes drawn to his flexing chest muscles as he lowered himself until our bodies were pressed together. “It was Ami,” I continued. “Uh, she’s in Los Angeles. She told him I was in danger,” I breathed out, excitement mounting as Adam trailed soft, warm kisses along my jaw and down my neck while I was speaking.
“Ami, huh?” he mumbled distractedly against my skin. “In California, eh? Crazy girl.”
This was a side of Adam I’d not yet seen, and though it frightened me, it also thrilled me. I knew I should make him stop, make him go—after all, what right did he have to break into this place?—but I couldn’t do it. The danger, the wrongness of it all with Julian just up the stairs. I had to admit, those things excited me.
I ran my hands along Adam’s bare skin, up his back, to his broad shoulders. God, I felt so small beneath him. He lifted up just enough to begin unbuttoning my pajama top—from the bottom up. Warm fingers grazed the skin of my abdomen, lighting tiny fires in their wake. Adam seemed more fixated on getting my clothes off than in discussing why Ami might be in LA. And at this point, so was I.
“How chivalrous of… Julian, is it?” Adam didn’t wait for an answer, though his fingers stilled at the second button from the top. “How chivalrous of Julian to rush all the way out here to my island to rescue you.”