The direct question brought him to heel and Adam suddenly realized he’d been behaving like a jealous lover. He’d been away from Lincoln County for nearly five days now and all he’d been able to do was think about her. And miss her. At the moment, he was feeling raw all over.
“I’m not making any headway. The seismograph boys are sitting on their hands wasting time and money. I want you to get your things together and fly out and meet me here tomorrow.”
“Me!” she said with a gasp. Gripping the receiver even more tightly, she sank onto the side of the bed. “Why me? I’m a geologist, not a negotiator!”
“The old man doesn’t trust me. He has the idea that we’re out to ruin his land. You’re the scientist. You can put his mind at ease.”
Maureen snorted. “I doubt he’d believe a scientist any more than he would a company man. But I suppose you’re not going to leave me any choice in this matter, are you?”
She sounded none too happy, and Adam knew he hadn’t handled this conversation the way he’d first intended. But as he waited for his aunt to bring Maureen to the phone, all sort of images had passed through his mind. Images of Maureen dancing in another man’s arms hadn’t exactly softened his mood.
“No.”
She let out a long breath as she pictured his strong, handsome face. She wanted to see him so badly it was indecent and even more frightening. “All right. I’ll pack a few things tonight and catch the first available flight in the morning.”
“Don’t wait on a flight! Charter one. You know which pilot our company uses. Call him tonight,” he ordered, then gave her the directions where to meet him once she got to Oklahoma.
“I’ll be there as quickly as I can,” Maureen assured him. “Is that all?”
“No,” he said, then suddenly and unexpectedly his voice grew husky. “I miss you. Like hell.”
Maureen’s eyes squeezed shut as a lump of emotion filled her throat. She hadn’t seen him since the night he told her he loved her. The next morning, he’d left for Oklahoma and she’d had entirely too much time to go over every word, every touch, that had passed between them.
“Maureen? Do you... can you not even admit that you miss me?”
She swallowed and pressed her fingertips against her eyelids. “Of course I miss you,” she whispered in a choked voice. For the past five days and nights, she’d ached to feel his arms around her, to hear his voice and see his smile. But that didn’t make it right or sensible.
The anguish in her voice stabbed Adam’s heart and he knew the time until she was once again by his side would be a living hell.
“But you wished you didn’t miss me. Am I right?” he asked bitterly.
“Adam, please, let’s not get into this now.”
She expected him to argue, but he surprised her by asserting, “You’re right. I can’t say what I want to say without touching you or looking into your eyes.”
“Adam,” she responded with a groan, “I—”
“Don’t say anything else,” he interrupted “We’ll talk tomorrow after you get here.”
“All right,” she agreed as tears began to sting her eyes. “Good night.”
He didn’t return her farewell and she was about to hang up when she heard his strained voice. “I love you, Maureen.”
Too choked to respond, she let the receiver fall back into its cradle, then dropping her face into her hands, she silently wept. She didn’t know how long she sat there on the edge of the bed before she felt a slender arm come around the back of her shoulders.
“Maureen? Has something happened?”
She wiped her eyes and glanced up to see Anna’s anxious face peering down at her. “Oh, Anna,” she whispered miserably, “I’m afraid...I love your brother.”
From his seat in the pickup, Adam watched the black western sky boil like an angry witch’s cauldron. Bolts of lightning stabbed the ground like the giant tines of a pitchfork. On the dashboard of his pickup, the radio crackled with static as the broadcaster urged people in Latimer County to be prepared to take cover from the oncoming storm.
Where in hell was she? Adam asked himself for the hundredth time. It would be totally dark soon and she should have been here more than three hours ago. This wasn’t New Mexico, where electrical storms and deluges of rain were the most likely summer-weather threat This was Oklahoma, where deadly tornadoes could develop in an instant. And from the looks of the sky hanging over the mountaintops this evening, the atmosphere was ripe and ready for a twister.
Fear clawed at his insides as he once again reached for the phone on the seat beside him. Several hours had passed since he’d contacted the airport in Oklahoma City. Her plane had landed late but safely, they’d told him. Since then, he’d dialed her cellular number countless times without getting any sort of connection. He could only assume the weather had knocked out a tower and the signal wasn’t reaching a foot beyond the hood of his truck, much less over the range of mountains he was sitting in.
Cursing under his breath, he punched off the power to the phone and tossed the instrument back onto the seat. He should never have told Maureen to come, he thought miserably. If something happened to her driving on these mountain roads, he wouldn’t want to live.
Rain was hitting her windshield as if someone was sloshing great bucketfuls from the heavens above. With her hands gripping the wheel, Mauren leaned forward and tried to peer past the puny efforts of the wiper blades. On both sides of the highway, the treetops were bending and twisting first one way and then the other, while streaks of lightning lit up the wild sky around her.
Maureen knew she should probably pull over and wait for the rain to ease. But the one stop she’d already made had put her even further behind schedule. No doubt Adam was sitting in his own truck champing at the bit, waiting for her to show up at any moment She had to keep going on this lonely, deserted highway and hope her sense of direction hadn’t failed her.
The moment Adam saw her headlights sweep across the wide, graveled turnoff, he clapped his hat down on his head and jumped out into the pouring rain.
Maureen jammed on her brakes and he was inside the cab before she could kill the engine.
“Where in hell have you been, woman?” he shouted. “Do you realize I’ve been here for four hours?”
Rain was running off his hat in rivulets and soaking into the plush fabric of the bench seat. His shoulders were soaked and drops of water clung to his cheeks and lips. His green eyes were glazed and Maureen thought he looked like an angry storm all unto himself.
“I’m well aware that I’m late,” she said calmly.
“Late! This isn’t what I call late! It’s—indecent! Do you have any idea what’s been going through my mind? I—”
“Are you blind?” she interrupted hotly. His anger was like a rush of gasoline on her smoldering nerves. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a bit of a storm out there. I couldn’t exactly drive the normal speed limit. Or maybe you don’t care if I break...” Her words trailed off as his gaze narrowed dangerously on the seat belt strap running between her breasts. “What’s the matter? Adam, what are you doing?”
Suddenly, he loomed over her, his fingers tripping the safety lock on the belt. With blazing eyes, he tossed the black strap out of the way and his voice rose above the din of the rain. “I don’t ever want to see you wearing one of these damn things again! Ever! Do you hear me?”
He was like a crazy man and she didn’t know why. Totally bewildered by his behavior, she stared at him. “Have you gone mad? I’ve been driving through winding roads in the pouring rain. Roads, I might add, that I’ve never traveled before in my life, and you tell me I shouldn’t be wearing my seat belt! Adam, I—”
Before she could say another word, he jerked her into his arms. With his face buried in the crook of her neck, he groaned, “Oh, God, Maureen., forgive me for yelling at you. I was so damned frightened. I knew you should’ve been here hours ago and I could only imagine—I’ve been out of my min
d with worry.” Tremors shook his arms and she could feel his heart pounding wildly against her cheek. Maureen closed her eyes, stunned by the depth of his fear for her safety.
“I’m sorry, Adam. I didn’t mean to worry you, but I’ve been in a storm ever since the pilot crossed over into Texas. I tried your cellular phone several times, but I couldn’t even get a ring. My only choice was to keep driving.”
He eased her head back from his chest and his hand trembled as he reached up and smoothed her tangled hair off her forehead. “I know—I know. It doesn’t matter anymore. You’re here and you’re safe.”
With a needy groan low in his throat, his hands slipped to her face. Maureen’s heart lurched into a wild gallop as he smothered her cheeks and forehead, nose and chin with kisses. By the time he turned his attention to her lips, she was clinging to him, frantic for the intimate taste of his mouth.
His kiss was desperate and all-consuming. Maureen was gasping for breath and shaking like a leaf when he finally dragged his lips from hers and buried his face in the long curtain of her hair.
“Promise me, Maureen, promise me you’ll never drive in weather like this again. I don’t care if I am waiting for you! And promise me you’ll never put on another seat belt!”
She reared her head back far enough to study his face. Anguish filled his green eyes and something far more tender. Something she didn’t yet want to believe.
“Adam, you’re not making sense. You make this big issue of wanting me to be safe and then—”
“If you can’t promise me, I’ll get a damn hatchet and hack them out of every vehicle you climb into!”
His harsh warning filled her with fury. “You’re not going to do...”
Her words lodged in her throat as the memory of the day she first met Adam suddenly flashed through her mind. He’d refused to wear his seat belt and she’d argued with him about trying to act like a bullheaded tough guy. As a result, he’d been flung from the Jeep. He could have been killed. But thankfully he’d come away from the accident with only a broken ankle.
“Adam,” she began again, “you wouldn’t wear your seat belt down in South America. Why?”
His eyes drifted to the rain pelting against the windshield. “I hate the things.”
“Why?” she persisted.
He looked back at her and she inwardly cringed at the dark, desolate shadows in his eyes. “Because they’re death traps!”
Maureen knew he wasn’t simply repeating the standard argument against seat belts. Something had happened to make him feel this deeply, and she had to find out what it was.
Slowly, she reached up and cradled her palm against his jaw. “Tell me,” she urged quietly.
“No.”
“You made me tell you about Elizabeth. I didn’t want to, but I did.” And she had, she realized, because she loved him. Because something inside of her had needed to share the pain with him.
For long moments, Adam’s eyes delved into hers and then he let out a long, weary breath. “Someone I knew died in a car accident.”
Maureen gently shook her head. “I’ve been acquainted with several people who lost their lives in car accidents. Their deaths only made me more aware of the need for buckling up.”
Agony twisted his features. “But this was...different. This was my fiancée.”
Maureen didn’t know if her shocked gasp was on the inside or out. “Your fiancée?” she echoed. “You were going to be married?”
His face clouded over as he nodded. “Susan was my high school sweetheart. By the time we reached college, we were planning on getting married. I was going to get my degree in engineering and go into the gas and oil business. She was studying to be an elementary teacher. She loved kids and wanted us to have several.”
He paused as his features hardened with bitter regret. Maureen waited for him to go on.
“We had everything planned—our whole lives to look forward to. But it never happened. She was driving home late one evening through the mountains. A highway she’d driven hundreds of times before, but it had been raining and the asphalt was slick. The car skidded on a curve and slid over the edge. If she hadn’t been strapped inside, she might have had a chance. As it was...well, now you can see how I feel.”
Yes, Maureen could now see a lot of things she hadn’t understood before. “You must have felt like the whole world had been knocked out from under you.”
“For a long time, I didn’t care about anything,” he admitted. “And then once I saw I had no choice but to go on living, I decided the best thing I could do was never again set myself up for that kind of loss.”
Maureen’s heart ached as she imagined the grief and pain he must have endured. And ached, too, because he’d gone all these years without getting over his fiancée’s death.
“So you decided to close off your heart to all women.”
Looking away from her, he scrubbed both hands over his face. “It was easier just to have girlfriends.”
“And let everyone believe you’d simply turned into a playboy.”
“I guess I did turn into one,” he murmured, then turned his head and caught her gaze with his. “Until I met you.”
She groaned with torment and quickly twisted away from the raw hunger on his face.
“Adam, you’ve carried the memory of this woman around with you all this time. It’s...hard for me to believe you can let her go now. Because of me.”
Before Maureen could guess his intentions, she was back in his arms, and his cheek was pressed to hers as he whispered huskily, “That’s because what I feel for you is stronger than anything I suffered over Susan. It’s strong enough to make me see I have to have you in my life. I don’t have any choice in the matter.”
Maureen desperately wanted to believe him. If she thought he truly loved her, maybe she could find the courage to try to have the family she’d always wanted. But right now, she could only see that he’d been a terribly wounded man and she wasn’t at all sure she was woman enough to heal him.
She pulled away from him and scooted back behind the steering wheel. “The rain is letting up. We can’t stay here all night on the side of the highway.”
He stared at her with complete dismay. “That’s all you have to say?”
She made herself reach for the key in the ignition. “What would you have me say?” she asked miserably.
His fingers closed tightly around her upper arm. Hardly able to breathe, she raised her eyes and looked at him in the darkness of the cab. Tension danced between them like the bolts of electricity lighting up the distant sky.
“That you love me and need me. That nothing matters but us. That you’ll make love to me here and now!”
The ferocity of his voice stunned her as much as what he was saying. Her hand fell from the ignition at the same time as his name broke from her lips like a sob. He reached for her and dragged her across to his side of the seat where she went willingly into his arms.
His hands dived into her tangled hair and cradled the back of her head as he spoke against her lips. “You do want me. Tell me!”
“Yes.”
That one word was all he needed to propel him into action. His lips crushed down on hers while his hands slid beneath the hem of her blouse and pressed against the warm flesh of her back.
To have him touching her, kissing her, was the only thing that eased the fire in her body, the ache in her heart. She’d wanted him for so long and had fought with herself just as long not to give in to the desire he fueled in her. But now she’d grown so weary, so raw and ragged from fighting that all she wanted was to forget and lose herself in his hard body.
In the back of her mind, she realized they were listing sideways, and moments later she felt her back against the seat. Adam lifted his head and watched her face as he undid the buttons of her blouse, then his head dipped and his tongue marked a moist path over the exposed flesh of her breasts.
Gripped by white-hot desire, she was helpless to stop their reckless p
lunge. She hadn’t kissed him nearly enough, smelled the erotic male scent of his skin or felt his hard body enough to satisfy the hunger inside her. She wasn’t sure she would ever get enough of him.
And then, just as his hand found the throbbing juncture between her thighs, his head jerked up. Maureen’s eyes flew open to see the gleam of headlights sweeping through the dark interior of the cab.
Muttering several curse words, Adam pulled her blouse back together over her naked breasts.
“Has someone stopped?” she asked in a voice still husky with desire.
“No,” he growled as he moved away from her. “But we have.”
She fumbled with her clothing as she straightened in the seat and her head began to swirl with the realization of just how close they’d come to making love. And this time, Adam had put an end to it!
Her heated face flaming, she jerked open the door and climbed down to the ground. Rain was still falling but at a much lighter rate. It soaked her hair and her cotton shirt as she fumbled with the last of the buttons and drew in several deep breaths of fresh air.
“Maureen, what in hell are you doing?”
She glanced over her shoulder to see that he’d joined her outside. “Trying get away from you,” she answered in a desperate voice.
“Why?”
She whirled around to face him. “Because I can’t trust myself with you anymore! I almost made love to you here on the side of the highway! You make me crazy! Crazy!”
Seeing it was going to take more than a few words to calm her, he took her by the shoulder. “Come on. We’ve got to get out of this rain and leave this place.”
“Where? We’re out in the middle of nowhere!”
“There’s a company trailer at the rig site. It’s a few miles east of here. We can stay there tonight. It’s closer than driving back to town.”
“No! I’m not staying anywhere with you tonight.”
Millionaire on Her Doorstep Page 14