When Adam Met Evie

by Giulia Skye

  “I think you’re right.” Adam wiped his brow. “Man, it’s hot,” he said, shuffling the toe of his new flip-flop in the sun-parched earth.

  Evie could tell he was still trying to shake off whatever he’d been thinking about during the drive, but it was stinking hot here, and irritably so. She could feel her own skin sizzle in the heat. By the coast they’d had a sea breeze, but here there was nothing, the air stifling and hot from the ground up.

  Doubt wafted over her. The gray nomads had been right. There was heat and there was heat, then there was Kimberley heat. There was a reason no one else was here, and the closer they got to November, the hotter it would get. “Maybe traveling at this time of year wasn’t the best decision after all.”

  “You want to abort mission already?”

  “No. Do you?

  “No. I’m still game.”

  After being so quiet this morning, Adam’s eagerness and enthusiasm surprised her and it also eased her uncertainty. “At least we have the place to ourselves,” she said. “In high season, you have to book weeks, if not months, in advance to get a pitch here. This heat is extreme but it’s definitely nothing I’ve experienced before, and that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?”

  “It sure is, and you don’t have to persuade me. This is great! We’ll just have to adapt our schedule. Hike at dawn or dusk and plan our drives during the middle part of the day. It’s no big deal.”

  She studied him curiously, remembering his earlier mood. “What’s made you so happy? You looked miserable just now, like you did this morning.”

  His grin faltered but he didn’t deny it. “Just ignore me when I get like that. It’s nothing personal.”

  But there was obviously something bothering him, and that bitter tone in his voice when he’d mentioned his father earlier had been similar to the other night when she’d asked him if he’d had fun catching up with Canada. “Problems back home?”

  He took his sunglasses off, rubbed his right eye with the back of his hand. “Yeah, kinda.” He sighed. “Just family stuff, work stuff. Crap like that. I’m in need of some R and R. I’ve had a crazy year.”

  Oh, she could relate to that. Her life had been all sorts of crazy when she and Zac had split up, all sorts of strange when she’d been boxing up their flat, saying goodbye to her past life.

  “Rest and relaxation.” She held his gaze and smiled. “It looks like you’ve come to the right place, then.”

  CHAPTER 18

  When the sun got lower in the sky, Evie and Adam walked the three-and-a-half kilometer track from the campground to the gorge. They could see it rising out of the ground, a massive wall of stone. A brown falcon circled high above them, its wings spread and gliding. As they got nearer to the gorge, the cacophony of birdsong echoed, bouncing off the rocky walls. They hiked over what looked like a wide river, dried up and sandy, the water having receded to just a shallow pool, emerald green and full of freshwater crocodiles basking in the late afternoon sun.

  Evie knew they were mostly harmless but kept her distance anyway. She twirled on the spot to take in her magnificent surroundings. Tall colorful rocks. Ancient stones breathing out the passing of an incomprehensible amount of time. “It’s beautiful here.”

  She could see Adam was moved too. She ambled along the sandy ground to where he stood in a recess carved into the base of the gorge by the extreme Kimberley elements, a cool cave away from the sun.

  “So,” he said, running his hand along the stone wall of the gorge, studying the rivulets made by centuries upon centuries of rain. “Three hundred and fifty million years ago, this whole area was under a tropical sea.”

  “A Devonian reef.” She looked up, imagining prehistoric sharks swimming above her head. “It stretches to Tunnel Creek and Geikie Gorge.”

  “Which are places on that list of yours.”

  She knew he’d studied her list and had been reading her guidebook. “When I asked you to drive me through the Kimberleys, I imagined you sitting on a rock looking bored while I explored.”

  “No, I wanna see it, too.”

  “I’m glad.” She was about to ask if he’d regretted whizzing up the west coast from Perth but sensed this would lead them back to the reason he’d come to Australia—a reason he clearly didn’t want to talk about. Not that she expected him to. Not everyone talked about their personal lives as easily as she did, and his personal business back home had nothing to do with her. He didn’t strike her as a person who needed company as much her. “The worst thing about traveling by myself are the times I see something amazing and I turn around to share it with someone, but there’s no one there.”

  Sitting under the cave-like shelter on a rock half buried in sand, Evie told Adam about the snooty pufferfish she’d come across during the low tide walk in Broome. “A sad state of affairs that I felt snubbed by a fish no bigger than a plum.”

  “You were homesick.” He sat next to her. “And you’re one of those horrific people-persons I can’t quite understand.”

  She laughed. “You don’t like people?”

  “I like some.” He looked across at her. “I’m just very particular about the company I keep.”

  She ignored the flutter. It would only lead her on to thinking about that interesting seduction concept again. She stood and noticed the sun had begun to dip behind the top of the gorge. “Let’s come back at dawn and see what the colors are like then.”

  They strolled around one last time, and when they saw the first bats flying against the early evening sky, they began their walk back to camp. Following the wide dusty path that skirted the wall of the gorge, Evie watched the rocks changing color to a deep orange pink. Embers radiating the day’s heat.

  “Have you always wanted to travel?” Adam asked, out of the blue.

  She’d noticed he didn’t often ask questions or start conversations, and if he did, it was usually a sign he was relaxed.

  “I’ve always liked the idea of it,” she said. “I guess I never thought I’d have the confidence to go by myself—and in my twenties, there were always other things I wanted more. Like money and a career and … well, other things.”

  Evie trailed her hand along the tips of bushes as she walked alongside the chalky cliff face. She hadn’t allowed herself to reflect on those other things for a while, but now in the quiet of the evening, she drifted into that parallel universe of hers, the one in which she’d gotten pregnant and had managed to achieve a baby, a family.

  “So you quit your job to travel,” Adam said. “What happens when you go back home?”

  Daydreams of sitting in toddler groups vanished and Evie jolted back to the present, remembering she was still in the middle of a conversation; still walking the deserted path back to the deserted campground several thousands of miles from home. “It shouldn’t take me long to find another job,” she said. “I’ll move back in with my mum initially, commute into London. It’s not that far.”

  This section of the walk was lined with trees growing out diagonally from the base of the limestone cliff. Gnarls and indentations caused by the extremes of climate adorned the rock face. She studied the geological formations above her. With sights like this, it was hard to imagine what life would be like when she returned home.

  Evie considered what Adam had said on that outcrop about men and women remaining friends after a break up. Had she wanted to stay friends with Zac because deep down, she’d imagined they’d get back together when she returned home? She thought glumly how Adam was possibly half right.

  Okay, so she wasn’t in love with Zac anymore, but the old saying was true. Old habits did die hard, and what was she going to do about that unwavering bottom-line desire, that ultimate goal of having the children she still wanted?

  Which meant she’d have to start from scratch to find that man she wanted to love, and where would she even begin to find someone decent, ho
nest and reliable? She didn’t want internet dating, nightclubs and endless first dates. The grim prospect fatigued her.

  “You okay?”

  Evie looked up and saw Adam waiting for her farther up the trail, his hands on his hips. He looked carved and hard, like the rocks behind him and he was watching her with that intense gaze of his that made her want to … to … simply jump his bones.

  Well, if all internet dating sites guaranteed men like Adam, she’d be first in line.

  “I’m just hot,” she said, falling into step beside him. Hot for you.

  She’d been thinking about that dickhead again. Adam could tell by that little furrow that had formed on her brow. As they continued to walk back to the campground, Adam wondered what made women such suckers for men who weren’t worth their attention.

  His father’s infidelities hadn’t provided him with the best outlook on relationships, but Adam saw happy couples all the time—he’d be seeing Shane and Krista soon—so he knew a relationship between a man and a woman could be … normal. Even though he’d never experienced a truly-madly-deeply kind of love himself, there was something about it that had always made him suspicious. It sounded too all-consuming, too … risky. What if it all went wrong? What if it turned into one of those humongously complicated emotional disasters?

  Adam was lucky that love had never entered the equation between him and Saskia—a public, legal and highly expensive disaster was more than enough. He remembered the time she’d come home drunk off vodka-martinis and came into the bedroom they were supposedly sharing, wearing nothing but red high heels.

  “You want me, Michael,” she’d said. She’d clocked his body’s reaction to her nakedness bulging against the zip of his combats.

  She’d stalked toward him.

  He’d stripped—then pulled his running gear out of the drawer. “Go find someone else to play with, Saskia.”

  He’d dodged the first high heel but hadn’t been so lucky with the second. It had struck him on the ear and the sting had been hard to shake off. Harder still when he’d come back an hour later and found his personal stuff—his medals, photographs, keepsakes—strewn on the floor. A visual representation of what he’d gotten himself into.

  Well, he was getting himself out now. He’d walked away from it and wasn’t going back, no matter how many bounties Saskia put on his head. No matter how many defamation suits she brandished. No matter what his father said or did. Michael Adams was tired of being owned.

  Beside him, he noticed Evie reading the dark pink sky. “Daylight’s fading fast,” she said.

  He looked up. “There should be enough.” His gazed moved to the formations in the cliff face, deep dark holes gouged out of the soft rock. “We’ll be at the campground soon.” There was a sudden flap of wings and several screeches as bats flew out of the rocks above them with a high-pitched whee.

  But the screeching had come from Evie and she was now pressed against his body, burying her face into his ribs.

  “I don’t trust bats!” she wailed.

  He laughed. “What’s not to trust?”

  “Their little faces with their pig noses. Are they birds or mice?”

  “Er … bats, I believe.” Another cloud flapped past. Adam carried her away from the area, her breasts squashed against his chest as he held her. Or was she holding him? It was hard to tell. She’d wrapped her legs tight around his waist, clinging on like a koala. More bats swooshed out of their rocky resting places above them. She buried her head into his neck and squeezed harder.

  “They’re just bats,” he said, still laughing. Adam held her until they had all dispersed, flittering off in search of their evening meal. Evie raised her head, and as she peered into the sky at the dark fluttering shapes, he gazed at the smooth line of her neck, rapidly becoming aware that he was holding her butt.

  His dick perked up, and before he could set her down and put some distance between them, her mouth was on his. Evie pressed his lips open, and he didn’t get a chance to warn her about what she’d be getting herself into with him. Her tongue met his and he couldn’t think, couldn’t speak. Couldn’t even remember what his real name was let alone care. The reins on his discipline snapped. His tongue plunged farther into her mouth, matching her frenzied pace. He couldn’t get enough of her. She couldn’t get enough of him.

  She tasted of mint and sun lotion, salt and sweat. Silky complications and heedless desires. He pushed her against the rocks, and her legs wrapped back around his waist again. She found the hard line of him and bucked her hips just where they both needed it most.

  Evie moaned into his mouth. He tasted her, teasing her bottom lip with his teeth. Any second now, they’d pull away, embarrassed. They barely knew each other. They were many days, and nights, away from Darwin. This would change everything. Any second now, she’d come to her senses and push him away. Wait, she’d say. This is all wrong. But she pulled him closer, cupping his face like a chalice, sipping, nipping, the heat of her soft lips slamming low to his stomach. Yeah, any second now …

  Her tongue moved over his, a silk sheet slipping off skin. Fissions of pleasure shot to the stiff tip of his penis. Another moan escaped her and he swallowed it down with his own, seeking out more.

  Yeah, any second now …

  But Evie wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down or backing out. Adam squeezed her butt with one hand, her breast with the other. She ground her crotch against his, her body tightening, gripping, and—fuck—only seconds had passed and already he could feel himself about to come.

  EX-OLYMPIAN BREAKS NEW WORLD RECORD

  Awareness kicked in. He was a disaster waiting to happen. He broke away. Better to quit than to fail. “I’m sorry.” He placed her firmly on the ground then held her at arm’s length. “We can’t do this.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Oh, yes. Yes, we can!

  Evie reached for Adam—she’d persuade him with her mouth, her body—but he slipped through her fingers, leaving her to burn on the very rocks he’d just thrust her against.

  Back turned, he hung his head. “Fuck,” she heard him say, the word an ice-cold bucket of rejection that left her gasping, dripping with the dregs of desire, and clueless as to what to do next.

  Humiliation sliced through her. This was awful. She wanted to call a cab home, like when boozy nights turn sour. It had been a stupid, stupid idea to pretend she was scared of bats, but after pondering her past and dreading a future of internet dating, she’d grabbed the opportunity to throw herself at him.

  But she’d only hoped for—expected—flirting. Perhaps another near kiss to cement suspicions of an attraction between them. Evie hadn’t expected to be lifted off her feet, his hands gripping her bum. And she hadn’t thought he’d treat her to another bone-melting stare, a stare that she swore would be enough to make her come if only he held it long enough. Which just went to show how desperate she was. Desperate and frustrated, stewing in the heat with no release. She hadn’t been able to resist. What had she been thinking?

  Evie squeezed her eyes shut, the prickle of tears like spiteful little pokes at her confidence. She was crap at kissing. Awful at sex. Absolutely terrible at anything to do with procreation.

  “Evie.”

  Adam’s stern voice cut through her self-crucifixion. She opened her eyes and saw him standing before her. The spiteful little pokes turned into jabs of anger. Evie pushed herself off the rock. “You wanted that as much as I did.”

  “It was a mistake.”

  “No, Adam. It wasn’t.” He’d been hard against her, his hands on her body, his mouth on hers. She hadn’t imagined his desire! “Tell me why you stopped.”

  He looked tortured. She could see it now. He wasn’t embarrassed or repulsed, no sign of disgust on his face. Feeling frustrated, she suddenly wanted to stab him with something to make him feel guilty. “Am I not good enough for you? Not pretty
enough? Not sexy enough like your fucking gym bunnies?”

  “Don’t you dare start thinking like that.”

  Evie was surprised to realize she wasn’t. Not really. Not now he was looking so sad and lonely. She’d been wrong to assume this was about her. Whatever had made him stop was his problem, not hers. “I asked you the other night if there was someone else.”

  “There isn’t.”

  “That crazy year of yours. Did it involve a woman?”

  “Yes. But not in the way you’re thinking.”

  “Were you sexually involved?”

  “No. God, no. It was a horrible business venture. And it’s over.” Adam blew out a harsh breath and dropped his head. There was a long pause. “But sex. I’m …”

  Oh no. He was going to tell her he had an STD. Chlamydia? HIV? Fuck.

  “I’m rusty. I’m clumsy.”

  Oh.

  She studied him, more confused than ever before. His face glowed orange with the setting sun, the shadows emphasizing the lines on his face. Was this Adonis of a man telling her he was nervous? “You were neither clumsy nor rusty just now.”

  Finally, he looked her in the eye. “It’s been a long time for me.”

  “And you think I do this sort of thing every day of the week?” Adam stepped toward her, standing so close she could feel the tips of his toes against hers. Evie looked down at their feet, then noticed the bulge in his shorts. He was still aroused. Very much so. She tried to make sense of what was going on. Did he want her or not? “I’ve only ever been with Zac.” And everything had been simple and easy with him. “Zac and I, we—”

  Adam placed a finger on her lips. “This is one time I really, really don’t want to hear about him.”

  She tried to smile but was too scared, working out if she could handle what she’d just started. “So what happens now?”