Adored
“Mr. Farrell?”
His head jerked to the doorway. “What?”
The young guy smiled cautiously. “I’m with Zeigler Transport.” He glanced at his
watch. “We should get going. I just heard there’s some debris on the 101. It may delay
us.”
“Adam, thank god you haven’t left yet.” Woody, still in his overcoat, stood on
tiptoes behind the driver to see past his shoulder. “Can I have a word with you before
you take off?”
“We really should go now,” the driver said.
With no other choice, Adam exited her office. Five minutes later, he left the
building.
131
Tina Donahue
Chapter Fifteen
Danni pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead and told herself to concentrate
on cleaning out her desk. She had to be long gone by the time Adam returned from his
trip. What other choice did she have?
Pride demanded she quit no matter the crappy economy or the time and effort
she’d given this place. She didn’t want Adam strong-arming Roger into keeping her as
if she had no talent except for sleeping with the boss. Hell, they were lucky to have her.
Besides, she had asked only one thing of Adam—there would be no BS in their
relationship. No lies. She’d had her fill with every other freaking man in her life and
wanted the truth from him no matter how brutal.
I never intended to hurt you, he said.
A whimper caught in her throat. She believed him, but it didn’t make his lie any
easier to bear or stop her from worrying if there might be others. God, she felt like such
a fool for trusting him so completely. No sexual demand had been too much. How
could it be when you loved a man and craved everything he did? Balling the tissue in
her fist, she threw it across her office.
“You’re still mad,” Sunny said.
Danni dropped her hand and looked up. Framed in her doorway, Sunny held the
frothy bras and panties she’d be modeling in the show. The pastel confections
represented the new line and the end of Danni’s tenure with Painted Ladies and Adam.
Her stomach cramped so fast her voice trembled. “I’m always in a pissy mood when I
have to look for a new job and a life where there aren’t any lying, dishonest or stupid
men.”
“Don’t say that.” Sunny glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone in the outer
office overheard. Given the loud conversations and laughter, the staff was busy with
their own stuff. Closing the door, Sunny pulled a chair next to Danni’s desk and sank
into it, her long legs stretched out in front of her. “I shouldn’t have told you. And,” she
added before Danni could comment, “I wouldn’t have, but you did say Adam had been
acting weird. I knew you were worried he’d been cheating on you. You looked like you
wanted to hurl when I said you were going to be mad at me.”
Danni grabbed another tissue and balled it in her fist. “It never crossed my mind
that he might be cheating on me.” Even if Adam had a secret life with several major
felonies to his credit, Danni knew he wouldn’t screw around. It wasn’t in him. “I
thought he might be getting tired of me.”
“Same thing. Well, it is,” she argued when Danni glared. “And that’s why I told
you what was eating him and how he fought for you with poor Roger.”
132
Adored
Poor Roger? Danni wanted to ask Sunny how she could date the rat but didn’t want
to hurt her feelings. For once, Sunny genuinely seemed to be in love. How deluded and
sad. “I didn’t want Adam fighting for me. I wanted him to be honest.”
“If he had been, you would have told him to take the line and shove it and then you
would have quit. Don’t you think he knew that? He fought hard for you, Danni. From
what I overheard of his and Roger’s conversation, the moment Roger decided to replace
you, Adam fought like a maniac for you.”
“And what if Roger had told Adam to take a hike? Would Adam have kept
pretending he didn’t know anything when I was fired? This may come as a surprise, but
I don’t like being the last to know when I’m about to be fucked, all right?” She threw
the tissue to the right of Sunny’s head. “In Vegas, Adam knew Painted Ladies had
already been acquired and he’d be my new boss. But hey, did I get pissed he didn’t tell
me? Hell no. I understood he wasn’t certain the acquisition would stick, and he didn’t
want me to think I had to sleep with him because he’d be my new boss.”
“If you understood that, why can’t you understand this?”
“Because I’m tired of being lied to, Sunny. Now I’m wondering what else he’s been
keeping from me.”
“Did he tell you he threatened to resign if Roger didn’t back down?”
What? “No.” Danni’s frown deepened. “Neither did you. He really threatened to
resign?”
Sunny nodded.
Danni didn’t know whether to be grateful or insulted. “Roger only agreed to keep
me on because he’s afraid of losing Adam?”
“Do you really care what Roger thinks?”
She lost the rest of her anger in a sigh. “No.” As far as she was concerned, Roger
would always be an inconsequential gnat. “He’s damn lucky I’m here—or was here.”
Sunny fingered the lacy edge of the powder-blue bra. “You said you wonder what
else Adam’s been keeping from you. Has he told you he loves you?”
Danni’s head lowered. Her heart sank faster than she believed possible. She pressed
the heel of her hand to her brow. “No.”
“No? Or not in so many words?”
She swallowed, recalling the DVDs Adam had made of them making love—the
hunger in his eyes during the act, tenderness softening his features as he cradled her
after their climax. They’d both been blissful then. It didn’t mean she had his heart. “If he
loved me, he would have told me.”
“Did you tell him how you feel?”
She couldn’t. It would make everything too real and intense. She could get hurt.
Hell, she was hurt and freaking tired of it. “I have to look for a new job. Network. Call
in some old favors.”
“If that’s what you want.”
133
Tina Donahue
Danni laughed and stopped abruptly at how hysterical she sounded. What she
wanted was to be completely certain, one thousand percent assured, and knew it wasn’t
remotely possible when it came to love. God, she was screwed. A tear slipped down her
cheek.
“Aw baby,” Sunny said in her softest voice, “give it time. It’ll get better.”
Danni shook her head. Things didn’t get better on their own. She had to make them
better. She could stay and risk her heart, or she could leave and have some lasting peace
because she’d never allow herself to get involved with another man. Not after what
she’d shared with Adam. More tears slipped from her eyes. Before she became a
blubbering mess, she grabbed her cell phone.
“Danni, who are you calling?”
“My future,” she mumbled.
* * * * *
Squeezing his pen, Adam tried to focus on the presentation Tom Greene gave in the
conference room of His Woman’s Pleasure. Adam had been there since he left his
hotel—four long hours ago. Would this never end?
Greene pointed to the next chart. “As you can see, our projections for—”
“Sorry,” Adam interrupted as his cell phone rang again. He stood. The executives
seated around the table looked at him. “I have to take this,” he said. “It’s important.” It
might be Danni.
He left the room and moved past the reception area into a deserted hall. His hand
shook as he pulled the phone from his pocket. Surely Danni wasn’t calling him to say
she quit and didn’t want to see him again. She hadn’t actually threatened it when she
confronted him this morning, but he’d seen the look in her eyes. He knew once a man
betrayed her trust, she didn’t give the dumb bastard another chance. Only this time she
had to. How could she deny what they’d shared? He wouldn’t let her. Dammit, he
owned her. And she owned him. He opened the phone and brought it to his ear without
checking the number. “Danni?”
Static hissed briefly. “No, it’s Roger.”
Adam swore beneath his breath. “Are you calling about Danni?” Did she quit? Did
he let her quit? The fucking prick.
“Hardly,” Roger said in an icy voice. “I’m at the Seattle meeting, remember?
Besides, we settled all that with her. She stays so you stay.”
“Fuck that,” Adam hissed. “She stays because of her talent.”
“I never said she was untalented, Adam. I think the world of her talent. I just don’t
like her salary. As I’ve said a dozen or more times, she’s fucking expensive to the
company.”
“She deserves a raise.”
134
Adored
“No. And I mean it. It’s bad enough we’re not replacing her with Kenneski who’s
three times cheaper, as you well know.”
“Kenneski doesn’t have a sixteenth of the talent Danni has, as you well know.”
“Which is why I wanted you to develop the girl.”
“Bullshit. You wanted me to make Kenneski’s decisions for her. With Danni, I don’t
have to. She’s fucking perfect.”
“I’ll try to remember that when I’m going over the profits. Now, did you remember
to give Greene my projections on the Rave line?”
They were in Adam’s briefcase, unopened and forgotten. “Yeah.”
“Good.” After a moment’s silence, Roger asked, “How’s it going?”
Lousy. “Great,” he lied again. “I’ll send you an update tonight.” Adam closed his
phone and thought about calling Danni. At just that moment, Greene’s young secretary,
Meghan, hurried toward him. “Adam.” Her sweet, scared voice shook. “Mr. Greene
and the others are asking for you in the conference room.”
The meeting broke up at eight p.m. “Hey, Adam,” Greene said as he adjusted his
tie, “we’re heading out to Spago. You can ride with me.”
“No.” Adam grabbed his briefcase. “I’m going back to the hotel to crash.”
“But—”
“I’ll grab a bite there. See you in the morning.” He shook hands with the rest of the
group and headed for his hotel.
Forty-five minutes later the cab dropped him in front of the Beverly Landmark
Resort. Making his way through the lobby to the bank of elevators, he kept turning his
cell phone in his hand, aching to call Danni, worrying about what he might say and
whether she’d listen or believe. Guys had done nothing but fuck her over in the past.
He’d known that. He knew better than to lie and yet he had. Idiot. What if there was no
way to fix this? Sighing deeply, he stabbed the “up” button fifteen times before the
damn elevator arrived.
He moved inside and slumped against the wall. Nearly a minute passed before the
doors closed. It brought him back to the elevator ride he and Danni took in Vegas. How
vulnerable she’d looked. How embarrassed. At the time, he’d wanted to haul her into
his arms, kiss her senseless and enjoy her ‘til he collapsed.
He should have told her he loved her. If she’d known when she discovered his lie
then maybe she would still trust him. Maybe not. Shit. He dropped his cell phone in his
pocket and ran his hand down his face. The elevator stopped. Glancing up, Adam saw
it was his floor.
Halfway down the hall to his room, he heard one of the elevators ding. It brought
back other memories of Vegas. Watching her move down the hallway away from him.
Stopping her from leaving. Telling her how he’d wanted her from the moment they
135