Knowing he couldn’t put the inevitable off any longer, he opened the wooden door.
Jane jumped out of her seat. Rushing towards him, she barely got out, “Thanks so much,” before snatching the cup from his hands.
Adam watched as she took a drink and closed her eyes. The sound that she made as she drank her soy latte shot straight to his groin. When she finished her drink, she moaned as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Damn. His body felt more alive while watching her drink a coffee than it had in… He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d felt like this.
Tilting her head up, Jane’s golden eyes peered up at him as she sighed. “I needed this. Thank you.”
“No problem.” He tried his best to temper the rasp in his voice.
His mind might have known that nothing could happen between him and Jane, but his body had other ideas. Smokin’ hot, sexy ideas of exactly what he wanted to do with her. And it was far from nothing. He needed to power down. Stop the program that was going haywire in his brain.
Shaking off the vivid images of some of the things that absolutely could not happen between them, Adam shifted uncomfortably while she headed back to her desk. Unfortunately, what he saw when she was walking away from him overrode his shutdown system.
There was a large rip that started at the waist of Jane’s slacks and ran all the way down the seat of her pants. The opening it created allowed him to see her black lace panties.
Black. Lace. Panties.
God help him.
Looking at him over her shoulder, she asked, “What?”
Shit. He must’ve made a noise. No doubt it had been a sound of sheer male appreciation.
“Ummm…” Adam needed to tell her that her assets were on display. But he had no idea how to say that.
“Is everything okay?” Concern flashed across her face as she faced him.
Without the distraction of her pale skin peeking through the lace covering her rounded cheeks, he cleared his throat. “You have a tear. In your pants.”
“I do?” she asked, glancing down and inspecting her slacks.
“No, it’s behind.” That was the most delicate way he could think to put it.
When Jane twisted to see what he was talking about, the concern that had been there moments before was replaced with horror. “Oh my God!” She jumped a couple of inches off the ground and gasped as her hand flew to cover the rip.
Adam wanted to assure her that it was fine, that he hadn’t seen anything, but he didn’t get the chance. Because, in a Tasmanian Devil–like whirlwind, she grabbed her purse and flew out the door.
Jane had left the building.
He stood in place for a moment, trying to replay how he could’ve handled that better. When he couldn’t come up with anything, he decided he should use this time to work without the dark-haired distraction. The only problem with that plan was that vicinity was not a part of the distraction equation. Not to mention that he now knew she owned black lace panties.
Yeah. He was screwed.
Chapter 6
‡
“All right. See you then.” Jane disconnected her call with Mike and let out an audible sigh of relief.
As she slumped onto the desk, it hit her that she’d done it. She’d made it the entire week alone with Adam without another embarrassing snafu. Now, Mike and Nikki were back and the pressure was off.
That realization caused her to stand and do a small victory dance at her desk. Thankfully, she was alone in the office, so no one (Adam!) was there to witness it.
After she’d been humiliated on Monday when she’d bared her backside, she had been more than a little tempted to work from home until Mike and Nikki returned. Instead, she’d pulled her big-girl panties up—kept them covered—and gone in to work every day.
During the week, she and Adam had been friendly, but they’d kept the talk to a minimum. And—thankfully—she hadn’t had any more “Lucy” moments.
“Dance party!”
Jane jumped and turned to see Vivien, coffee and pastry bag in hand, shaking her booty in the doorway.
While Jane laughed with nervous energy, her cheeks heated with embarrassment. Not so much because Vivien had walked in on her victory jig, but because of how easily it could’ve been Adam.
“It’s been a long week,” Jane said, trying to explain-slash-dismiss her impromptu boogie episode.
Vivien’s brown eyes widened, and a smile bigger than Texas crossed her face as she said with all kinds of innuendo, “Oooooh, I bet.”
Jane had no desire to address that. So she grabbed her purse and pulled cash out to pay for the drink and tip. “Thanks so much for dropping this off.”
On Monday, when Adam had insisted he pay for her drink, Jane had agreed because she hadn’t wanted to make things awkward. But since then, she’d been coming in an hour before he did and had a standing order with the Brewed Awakenings crew to deliver her coffee and bagel.
It wasn’t that Jane hadn’t appreciated the gesture. It was simply that she’d always been fiercely independent. Since she could remember, she’d never relied on anyone for anything. In middle school, during a particularly hard year socially, her papa and nana had insisted that she see a therapist. At the time, she’d hated it. It had felt like one more thing that showed how different she was.
But, looking back, she saw it from a different perspective. The therapist had suggested that she had abandonment, trust, and intimacy issues due to her parents’ deaths. At twelve years old, she’d thought intimacy meant sex and had therefore thought her therapist had a few screws loose, considering she hadn’t even had her first kiss at the time. With the passing of time, she’d understood that he meant she kept people at arm’s length. She didn’t let them get too close because she was scared they would leave, just like her parents did.
“How do you get any work done?” Vivien asked as she gestured towards Adam’s desk, which was a few feet from Jane’s, snapping her out of her inner thoughts.
I don’t.
Instead of answering, Jane just smiled and shrugged.
Vivien leaned towards her and lowered her voice. “He doesn’t talk much, does he?”
Jane shrugged again.
Not one to be deterred by a non-answer, Vivien pushed forward. “Audrey and I have been trying to get him to talk, but it’s like pulling teeth.”
Jane tilted her head and furrowed her brow. She couldn’t imagine Audrey trying to get him to talk.
“Well, I’ve been trying to get him to talk. Audrey’s just been…Audrey.”
The girls laughed.
Over the past few months, Jane had gotten to know the Sable sisters, who owned Brewed Awakenings, fairly well. There was Audrey, Grace, Ava and Vivien—all named after Hollywood icons.
All the girls were nice, but besides that, they were nothing alike. Vivien was much more outgoing than her sisters. It didn’t surprise Jane at all when Audrey had told her that, while they’d been growing up, Vivien’s nickname was “troublemaker.”
“All right. Well, I better get back.” Vivien waved, and just as she reached the door, she turned and said, “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you, are you going to the benefit tomorrow night?”
“Yes.” Jane’s heart felt like it was Riverdancing in her chest.
The benefit. She still wasn’t clear on what she’d agreed to when Nikki had brought it up in front of Adam before she’d left town. With every day that had passed, Jane’s anxiousness had grown tenfold.
At the beginning of the week, she’d planned on clearing up whatever misunderstanding she’d been a part of. But that hadn’t happened. Instead, she’d avoided the subject, and every other subject, completely. Mainly for the purpose of self-preservation. When situations were out of her comfort zone, Jane tended to retract into a shell like a turtle.
“Awesome! Audrey and I are going with a couple of guys from the station. Do you want to come with us? Eli asked specifically if you were going.” Viv
ien wagged her eyebrows up and down comically.
“Oh, I, um… I actually… I don’t think…” Jane was still sputtering out her response when Adam walked in with Mike and Nikki.
The Hallelujah chorus rang out in Jane’s mind.
Vivien said quick hellos to the group and then winked at Jane. “Think about it and let me know.” Then she was out the door.
“Think about what?” Nikki asked as she came over to give Jane a hug hello while Mike and Adam were huddled at Adam’s desk, going over upgrades that needed to be made on their system.
“Nothing,” Jane blurted out as she awkwardly wrapped her arms around Nikki.
This town was chock-full of huggers. Jane’s grandparents had always been affectionate, but no one else in her life had. When she’d first moved to Hope Falls, it had been quite an adjustment.
The checker at the grocery store had hugged her to welcome her to town. Sue Ann Perkins, who owned Sue Ann’s Café, had hugged her the first week she was here because she’d said that Jane looked like she’d “needed it.” Then, the first time she attended a Book Club meeting—or, as Nikki called it, a Wine and Gossip meeting—she’d been hugged by every woman there. And there were a lot. Amanda, Lauren, Samantha, and Karina, who’ve all been friends since they were kids. Plus Nikki’s sister, Amy, and her sisters-in-law, Tessa and Lily.
It had been more than a little overwhelming at the time, but now, she was used to it.
Leaning back to look at her, Nikki whispered conspiratorially, “How were things here? Any new developments?”
Yeah, Adam saw London, Adam saw France, Adam saw my underpants.
Muting the children’s song that’d been playing on repeat in her mind for the last week, Jane answered Nikki’s question. “Yes. Those donations from Carter Limited and Panda Mobile came in. Between those and Stanton Logistics, we are at over eighty percent of our yearly fundraising goal.”
Nikki’s eyes narrowed and she blew out a puff of breath with a small “hmmph.” “You’re no fun.”
As proud of herself as Jane was for having answered the question without actually answering it, she was equally apprehensive when she saw the challenge her non-answer had caused in Nikki’s eyes.
Nikki was amazing. Fun-loving. Spontaneous. Full of life and love. And she was perfect for Mike. From the moment Jane had met the feisty blonde, she knew that her boss had more than met his match.
But Jane wasn’t Nikki. In fact, she related much more to Nikki’s quiet, bookworm sister, Amy. Sometimes, Nikki’s behavior made Jane nervous. Not that the outspoken blonde had ever done anything to embarrass Jane. She hadn’t. Still, she was kind of always scared she would.
“Have you heard from Carter?” Mike asked while he scrolled through his iPad.
“Yes. I was just telling Nikki that both Carter and Panda Mobile came through. I sent you the updated projections and allocations sheet.” Jane had gotten word that the donations had been deposited last night around eleven, so she’d immediately updated the financials and sent a copy to both Nikki and Mike.
As much as she loved working for—or, as they would say, with—the two of them, it was a little frustrating that neither of them liked to check their e-mails, texts, or voicemails. But it was a small price to pay for getting to do work she believed in with such amazing people.
“Great.” Mike nodded and then hugged Jane.
That was something that was still odd. She might have gotten used to the strangers she barely knew in town hugging her, but it was curious to her that Mike, who she’d worked with for eight years—with no hugging—had started the practice.
“What would we do without you?” he asked.
Nikki sang her praises. “We’d have to hire four people, and even then, they couldn’t do what Jane does.”
Jane swelled with emotion at her kind words. It was also nice to work for people who appreciated her.
“Okay.” Nikki clapped her hands together. “Well, we’re off. See you guys tomorrow night.”
“You’re leaving again?!” Jane hadn’t meant for the shock to be so evident in her question.
“Yeah. Eric called a family meeting, so we’re headed over there, and after that we’re going to meet with the city council to discuss funding for the after-school program at Mountain Ridge.”
Right. Jane knew about that meeting. Not the family one, but the city council meeting. It had totally slipped her mind though.
That seemed to be a trend as of late.
Nikki waved as she and Mike made their way out the door, and once again, Jane found herself alone with the man who was causing her mind—not to mention other areas of her body—to be slippery.
*
Adam didn’t miss the fact that Jane’s face had also fallen when Mike and Nikki had left this morning after popping in to say hello. He’d spent the last few hours trying not to take it personally, but he was. The past week, he attempted to keep his reaction to Jane hidden. They’d probably only said ten words per day to each other, and that included “good morning” and “see you tomorrow.” The other five were usually spent on “excuse me” if he needed to get by her desk and “thanks” when she gave him work-related information.
There was no small talk. No niceties. No friendly banter.
He knew that, on his part, the reason was that he liked Jane too much. Keeping their interaction to a bare minimum was pure self-preservation. But he feared she might not see things that way. Looking back, he could see that he might have come off as a jerk.
And who wants to work with a jerk?
Or live across the street from one, for that matter.
Since he’d moved in a week ago, his at-home “Jane” sightings were few and far between, and it wasn’t a coincidence. He’d been using the back door when he went out for his morning runs and kept the garage door closed while he worked out.
Was he intentionally avoiding her? Yes. Was it for a good reason? Hell, yes.
The one other time he’d seen her had proved to be a borderline-lethal blow. He’d come home with takeout from Sue Ann’s Café on Wednesday night to discover that Jane was pulling weeds in her garden. She’d been wearing a tank top that showcased curves he’d had no idea she possessed thanks to the loose-fitting clothes she normally wore. Her hair had been up in a ponytail, revealing the slender slope of her neck, which had made his mouth water with the need to run his lips and tongue over the soft, supple, exposed skin. But the real kicker had come in the form of jean shorts. Yep. Good old-fashioned cut-off jean shorts had delivered the one, two punch.
Jane had to be around five foot two. So when he’d seen her long, physics-defying legs, he’d felt like the cartoon wolf with his mouth open, tongue hanging and eyes bulging out of his head. It hadn’t just been the legs, which were epic. It had also been the way her jean shorts molded to the rounded swell of her full hips and ass.
She had pinup curves on a petite frame.
And if he didn’t stop thinking about that, even his desk wasn’t going to be able to hide his appreciation for them.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jane stretch her hands out in front of herself and yawn. He knew without even checking the clock that it must be right around noon. Every day around this time, Jane would yawn, stretch, roll her head from side to side, and blink her eyes several times before walking to the kitchenette and grabbing the lunch she’d brought for the day.
Seeing his opportunity, he figured that now would be a good time to make up for his behavior this week. Even if it killed him. Which it might have if one could die from blue balls.
“I’m going to Sue Ann’s for lunch. Would you like to come?” As soon as he said the words, he wished he could take them back. He’d never been particularly smooth, but that had sounded exceptionally lame.
Jane’s hazel eyes widened. “Oh, um… I, um… I brought my lunch. But thanks.”
Adam knew he should drop it. He’d done his due diligence and extended an olive branch. She didn’t want to go. End of
story.
Yet he still found himself insisting with a smile, “Come on. It’s my treat. It’s the least I can do for you putting up with me this week.”
Her brow furrowed as she shook her head. “Putting up with you? I didn’t… I mean…you weren’t… It was fine.”
His grin grew wider. She was just so damn cute. “Thank you, but I haven’t been the best office mate. I was kind of an ass. I can get that way when I work.”
He did have a tendency to lose himself in his work, but that had nothing to do with his behavior the past five days. Nope, that wasn’t the reason he’d been surly and withdrawn. The girl who was currently dismissing his lunch invitation held that distinction.
“Um…” Her cheeks flushed as she licked her lips.
Adam had to swallow the groan of appreciation that rose from his chest. “Please?” He smiled, knowing full well he was flashing the dimples that were a trait that ran in the Dorsey men.
Use what ya got, right?
Taking in a shaky breath, Jane nodded uncertainly. “Okay.”
As she gathered her purse, a thought occurred to him: the attraction he was feeling might not be one-sided. Growing up, Adam had sort of been a dorky kid, and as a teenager, his life had kind of gone off the rails when he’d been placed in foster care. Girls hadn’t been his priority—not that any had been knocking his door down. In fact, he hadn’t even had his first girlfriend until his senior year of high school.
Once he’d joined the military and started working out, things changed. For a couple of years, he’d enjoyed the attention his new physique provided. But then he’d met Alexis and every other woman in the world had disappeared from his radar.
Even during the few years he’d played the field in his late teens and early twenties, he hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it. Not like Levi, who seemed like he had been born to be a modern-day Casanova. Adam had always been the quiet one. In his head. Analytical. Not exactly panty-dropping material.
“Ready.” Jane’s eyes were dilated and her face was even more flushed.
Or maybe it was, Adam thought as they made their way outside, into the warm summer day. The leaves rustled, and the slight breeze was the perfect companion to the eighty-degree heat.
Secret Kiss Page 5