Secret Kiss

by Melanie Shawn

  Sniffing as she wiped her watery eyes, Jane shook her head. “No. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I decided to come in early and get some work done before”—she hesitated, unsure how she should finish that sentence—“the week got crazy.”

  Nikki stared at her with what Jane had recently started referring to as “therapist x-ray vision.” Since leaving her career as a flight attendant and completing her master’s degree in psychology, Nikki had co-founded Gowan Enterprises. She was putting her knowledge as a licensed therapist towards implementing programs to help youth. Oh, and also psychoanalyzing her friends. That, too.

  A sly grin tilted on Nikki’s mouth. “Uh huh, and that crazy week you speak of wouldn’t have anything to do with a very good-looking, very charming, very intelligent programmer who is starting today…would it?”

  As if on cue, a male voice filled the office. “Hello.”

  Both Nikki’s and Jane’s eyes widened as their mouths fell open. Neither one of the girls said anything; they just stared at each other in shock.

  When the floorboards creaked, Jane shot up like she was toy snake shooting out of a canister after the plastic top had popped open. Luckily, when she reached back to pull the arms of her chair towards her, it went much smoother than when she’d tried to stand the first time. In one swift movement, she was seated safely in her chair. As she settled in, Nikki greeted the new arrival.

  “Hey, Adam.” Nikki stood and waved her hand with such grace and class—two qualities Jane had always wished she’d possessed. “We were just…” Glancing down at Jane, Nikki tilted her head.

  Nikki’s eyes widened and she pursed her lips. Jane knew that her friend had no idea how to explain why the two of them were on the floor without embarrassing Jane.

  “Looking for my contact,” Jane lied through her teeth before she looked Adam’s way for the first time. The instant her eyes met his, her mouth went dry and a lump that could easily rival the winner on her forehead formed in her throat.

  Unlike the jeans, khakis, or sweats and T-shirt she’d seen him in over the past month, Adam was wearing black slacks and a charcoal-grey button-up shirt that looked like it had been tailored to fit his perfect form.

  He looked like a runway model.

  “You wear contacts?” Adam asked, scrunching his brow looking confused.

  Considering the fact that they’d only said two words to each other when they’d sat with Mike and Nikki at Levi and Shelby’s wedding reception, Jane had no idea why he would look so unconvinced that she wore contacts.

  She didn’t, but that wasn’t the point.

  Jane couldn’t bring herself to lie for a third time in less than twenty-four hours. She wasn’t sure if it was like a Beetlejuice or Candyman thing and lying multiple times would cause something horrible to appear. Was there a Liarman? It didn’t matter if there was or not—she remained silent.

  Which was awkward.

  Breaking the sound void, Nikki clapped her hands together. “Okay, well. Jane, I was just stopping by to let you know that Mike got called to an emergency shareholder’s meeting in the Bay Area and we’re headed to Palo Alto. We might also be stopping by San Francisco for a few days, but we’ll be back by Saturday in time for the benefit.”

  What the what?

  Someone could’ve knocked her over with a feather. Her brain was short-circuiting. So many things about Nikki’s statement didn’t compute. There was definitely something fishy going on and it wasn’t Jane’s salmon lunch in the fridge.

  First, she handled both Nikki’s and Mike’s schedules and knew nothing about an “emergency shareholder’s meeting.” It wasn’t like it was impossible that one had actually slipped past Jane, but the probability was highly unlikely.

  Second, Mike and Nikki spent as little time as possible away from Hope Falls. Both of them had traveled so much in their former careers that they were burned out. Between the two of them, they’d probably racked up enough miles to circle the globe at least ten times. Now, all of a sudden, they were staying a few days in San Francisco? During Adam’s first week, no less?

  Which led her to the third and final piece of the, this-doesn’t-add-up jigsaw puzzle. During the “meeting”—which had taken place at Levi and Shelby’s wedding reception—when Mike had convinced Adam to work for them, he’d stated that he would be working directly with Adam. How in the name of David Hasselhoff could that happen if Mike was in Palo Alto and San Francisco?

  Jane wanted to believe that Nikki and Mike wouldn’t have planned this out in some elaborate matchmaking scheme. In fact, even mentally laying it out like that made her feel like she was dangerously close to having to add “paranoid” to her growing list of not-so-appealing personality traits.

  Stalker, liar, crazy, and paranoid. What was this man—one she’d barely said three sentences to—causing her to become? Not that it was his fault. He had no idea of his effect on her.

  Glancing up at him, she tuned back into the conversation. He and Nikki were discussing the mainframe of the system. His questions were obviously out of Nikki’s depth, and she continued to defer to her husband, saying that Mike would get back to him with the answers before lunch and to e-mail or call Mike at any hour with anything that came up.

  Jane found herself mesmerized by the cadence of Adam’s deep voice. He spoke with the authority of someone who knew what he was doing, but that wasn’t what had lulled her into a trance. No, it was the melodic and sexy way he strung his words together. Like each one belonged to the other.

  She could listen to him talk for the rest of her life and never get tired of it. And her chest rose and fell in a sigh that she prayed wasn’t audible.

  “Right, Jane?” Nikki chirped.

  The sound of her name snapped her out of the spell.

  “Huh?” She had no idea what question had been posed to her.

  Both Nikki and Adam were looking at her expectantly. The smile on Nikki’s face made Jane’s stomach feel like the one and only time she’d gone on the Tower Of Terror at Disneyland. Not good. Not good at all.

  “I said that you don’t have a date for the benefit,” Nikki said matter-of-factly.

  “Oh, no.” Jane nodded before stuttering, “I mean yes… I mean no… I mean yes.” Deep breath. “I don’t have a date.”

  “Great! So it’s settled!” Nikki clapped and then turned to leave. “Call if you two have any questions this week while you’re holding down the fort.”

  “Wait.” Jane stood. “What’s settled?”

  Nikki paused as she reached the door and looked over her shoulder, a twinkle in her eye as she explained, “That Adam will take the extra ticket we have for the benefit and the two of you can go together. See ya guys Friday.”

  The second that parting bombshell was dropped, Nikki was out the door. Leaving her alone with Adam.

  “Nikki,” Jane called after her, but she didn’t stop.

  Confusion was spinning so fast in Jane’s mind that she felt dizzy. What had just happened? Had her boss set her up on a date? Had she unwittingly agreed to it?

  Jane wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but she was fairly certain she could cross “paranoia” off the growing list of her psychoses. The whirlwind that had just blown through the office in the form of Nikki Maguire-Gowan was definitely a setup in a not-so-subtle disguise.

  With her heart pounding, her palms sweating, and her stomach turning, Jane attempted to get control over her body’s responses. She decided it would be a good idea to sit down. She was careful to make sure the chair was firmly beneath her before she lowered herself into it. As she laid her hands flat on the table, she took a deep breath in through her nose.

  How had things in Jane’s life gone from predictable to out of control in such a short period of time?

  “Are you okay?” Concern was etched on Adam’s handsome features.

  Oh, that’s right.

  That’s how.

  Chapter 5

  ‡

  “Yes. I’m fine,” J
ane answered. She then sat up straighter, rolling her shoulders back as she skimmed her hands down her torso, smoothing her shirt.

  The gesture shouldn’t have sent his arousal shooting through the roof, but it did. In fact, it shot it straight to outer space like a rocket. He’d had enough women attempt to seduce him to know what it looked like, and that wasn’t what Jane was doing. Somehow, though, her innocent gesture affected him with far greater results than any intentional one ever had.

  Which was bad. Really bad.

  In part due to his training and in part due to his natural instinct, Adam was fairly skilled at reading a room. But reading this room was like a blind man trying to read braille for the first time.

  Initially, when he’d walked in, he’d felt like things had been off. Not just because both Nikki and Jane had been on the floor behind the desk. That’d been odd, but that wasn’t what had alerted his senses. There’d been an underlying tension between Nikki and Jane. He didn’t think that it was negative tension, but it had been there nonetheless. He was missing something; he just didn’t know what it was.

  Which was unsettling. Very unsettling.

  There was a distinct tension between him and Jane as well, but that could easily be explained away with the fact that he hadn’t been able to get the raven-haired girl out of his mind for the last month and his thoughts of her weren’t generally of the work-appropriate variety. With Jane’s reaction to his arrival, he had a sneaking suspicion that the tension might not be one-sided.

  She looked like she’d seen a ghost when she’d shot up from the floor like she was spring-loaded. She’d lied about wearing contacts. And she seemed a little…frazzled.

  Which was puzzling. Extremely puzzling.

  “So…” Jane stood, her hands trembling as she tucked a strand of hair that had fallen onto her face behind her ear. “You’ll be working here. It’s a shared space. That’s your desk.” She pointed to the desk that looked identical to hers. “I’ve already added you to our database as full access. If you need anything or have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Thanks.” Adam nodded as he took the two steps over to his new workspace.

  He hadn’t shared an office with anyone since he’d been in the Army. And even then, it had only been for a limited time. Once he’d been assigned more delicate (classified) operations, he had been upgraded to top-level-security office space. He’d appreciated the privacy.

  The only issue Adam had with this new environment was not the lack of privacy. No, the issue was that he’d be so distracted by his new coworker that he might as well be living above the bar, dealing with the noise and spotty Internet connection.

  After setting his computer up, he started working on the base model of the app all versions would stem from. But it was taking twice the time it should have taken. The more he tried to concentrate, the worse his performance was.

  Normally, he was laser-focused. Normally, he lost himself so completely in his work that hours would pass in the blink of an eye. Normally, he wasn’t sitting within five feet of Jane Marshall.

  Hoping caffeine might help him gain some of his focus back, Adam stood and glanced around the open space for a coffee machine. He didn’t immediately see one—or any kind of a breakroom.

  So, turning to Jane, he asked, “Where do you keep the coff—”

  When she lifted her head, her stare slammed into his solar plexus. He was struck speechless when his eyes met hers. The light of the midmorning sun streaming in through the window caught her eyes, and they sparkled unlike anything he’d ever witnessed before. The first time he’d seen her, those eyes had struck him as one of her most enticing qualities. But he never could’ve imagined how they came to life as the streaming sunlight highlighted the glittering golden flecks in her eyes.

  He was mesmerized.

  “I’m sorry. What?” Jane blinked in confusion, and it snapped Adam out of his momentary paralysis.

  “Um, coffee. Do you have a coffee maker?”

  “Oh…” Her mouth pursed and her nose scrunched. “We actually don’t. We have a small kitchenette with a mini fridge and cupboards, but no coffee maker. Mike and Nikki don’t drink the stuff. I do, but a small coffeehouse opened up on the corner around the same time we signed the lease. I usually just run down there, or I call in an order and they run it up. Do you want me to order you something?” She was already picking up her phone to place the order.

  “No, that’s all right. I could use some air. You said it’s on the corner?” he asked as he stood and pushed his chair in.

  “Yep. It’s called Brewed Awakenings.”

  He smiled at the play on words. “Can I get you anything?”

  Her eyes lit up, and she let out a small moan. “Oh my gosh, a large soy latte would be amazing.”

  Adam nodded, trying his best to ignore the way his body responded to her moan. “Comin’ right up.”

  “Wait.”

  He was on his way out the door when she stopped him. He turned and saw her digging through her purse.

  “I know I have a five.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s on me.” He started to walk out again.

  “No.” She shook her head and furrowed her brow. “I can’t let you do that. Just one sec…”

  Adam wasn’t going to take money from her to get the java. He knew that she was technically just his coworker and they were at work, not on a date, but it still felt so wrong.

  “Seriously, I insist. It’s the least I can do, neighbor.”

  Jane’s head shot up. Neither of them had mentioned the fact that they lived across the street from each other.

  “Oh, I, um… That’s right… I did see you this morning.” A blush rose up her face.

  He couldn’t help but think it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. “Yep.”

  For a brief moment, he thought about pointing out that he’d actually had his first sighting of her last night, but he rethought that plan. For some reason, the subject seemed to be embarrassing her, and although he found it ridiculously adorable—actually, because he found it ridiculously adorable—he decided to drop it.

  After a few beats, she smiled a little sheepishly. “Thanks.”

  He grinned back and walked out the door. Fast. Stepping out into the cool mountain air, he forced his breathing to slow in hopes that his heartbeat would follow. That girl, the one who had already hijacked his mind, was quickly making her way under his skin. She wasn’t just climbing over the firewall he’d built; she was walking right through it as if it didn’t exist. He needed to figure out how to protect himself. Now.

  Plus, he was done with any kind of romance. Jane wasn’t someone he would pursue even if he were looking for a relationship, because she was obviously an all or nothing girl. He’d already given his all. Been there and done that. With Alexis, he’d fallen under a spell. That spell that had cost him everything. His job. His best friend. The secure, safe, predictable life he’d spent his adult years building.

  With Alexis, he’d been young and inexperienced so falling as fast and as hard as he had really hadn’t scared him. He’d gone with it and been happy to take the ride.

  But now, he was older. Wiser. And the way he felt around Jane scared the shit out of him. There was no way he was heading down that road again.

  As he stepped through the door of Brewed Awakenings, he was met with the delicious aroma of coffee beans and fresh pastries. He noticed two attractive women he’d seen around town and at his cousin’s bar.

  “Hi, Adam.” The redhead waved with a friendly smile. “We heard that you were starting today. What can we get for you?”

  Adam was still having a hard time getting used to small-town living. He’d grown up in a suburb of Detroit. Then he’d been in the service for ten years before settling in Langley, Virginia. So this everyone-knowing-everyone’s-business was all new for him.

  “Can I get a large soy latte and a large black coffee?”

  “Sure thing.”

&nb
sp; Adam glanced around the small coffee shop. The décor was not at all what he expected from a coffeehouse. It was vintage. There were black and white pictures of old Hollywood movies and stars. There was a large black chandelier hanging in the center of the room.

  The women worked together, so his order was up quickly. After paying, he made sure to smile in a friendly way.

  “Thanks…” He paused, feeling a little awkward that they knew his name but he didn’t know theirs.

  The brunette spoke up and motioned to the redhead. “I’m Audrey, and this is my sister, Vivien.”

  “Nice to meet you.” His smile grew larger. Then, lifting the cups he was holding, he said, “I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

  “Looking forward to it.” Vivien winked and waved.

  Her sister rolled her eyes as an amused expression spread across her face.

  Stepping back into the bright mountain day, Adam tried to pinpoint what was different about his interactions with Audrey and Vivien versus his interactions with Jane. All three women were objectively equally attractive. They were all friendly. Vivien was even flirty. But from the moment he’d seen Jane, something had been different.

  He’d always had a very analytical mind, and it was working overtime to figure out exactly what the difference was while he made the short walk down the block to the office. When he reached the door, he realized his pulse was beating faster at the fact that Jane was on the other side of it.

  Adam took a deep breath to collect himself and looked down the street. The office was located just off Main Street. There were several small businesses on both sides of the street, and the fire station was on the corner opposite Brewed Awakenings. The street looked like it could be on a postcard titled “Small-Town America,” complete with an American flag waving in front of the firehouse and a golden retriever lying beneath it.

  Could this place be real? Were there genuinely good people left in this world? Shaking his head, he knew that only time would answer those questions.