SYDNEY TOOK A DEEP BREATH, closed her eyes, and allowed the dulcet tones of the alto sax to wash over her. She knew the name of the business Kyle had called, and the revelation, she knew, would send Adam’s investigation into emotional and physical hyperdrive. Without a doubt, plane tickets and heated confrontations were in her immediate future. But she knew they shouldn’t make a move until they consulted Jillian, and she wasn’t due back at the office for an hour. In the meantime, Sydney intended to use the time to deepen the connection between her and Adam by sharing a sexual fantasy she’d never fulfilled with any other man.
She pictured his face, with its incredible light brown eyes, straight nose, full lips and rugged chin. She imagined him as she’d first seen him the day before—shirtless, hot from a hard day’s work, yet as comfortable in low-slung jeans as he’d once been in sleek Italian suits.
Habit caused her to focus first on his physical attributes, but she sighed, accepting that her attraction to him no longer centered on the bulk in the man’s body or the truly unique color of his eyes. This Adam, the fighter, the survivor, the one who’d drummed his chest to protect her and worried about her safety, then used his logic and trust in her intelligence to support her through the somewhat risky interaction with Kyle. This man, the new one—or maybe just the one she finally, truly knew—spurred her to push beyond her few sensual limits to test unexplored territory.
Sure, she’d had phone sex once—with Adam, actually, when she’d been away at a writers’ conference and needed a brand of sexual satisfaction more intense than anything she could accomplish alone. The sex had been thrilling, exciting, new. She’d wanted to relive that experience with Adam, but he didn’t remember. Would never remember. She accepted that now. But it didn’t mean she couldn’t recreate the intimacy—with a fresh twist.
Through the windshield, she watched Adam slam the door shut on Jillian’s Mustang. She’d found the parking space for the Corvette by luck, behind a low stone wall in a park across the street from the Hennessy Group, curtained by a weeping willow that was probably going to do a number on her paint job. Oh, well. It was just a car. What she and Adam would soon share would be worth so much more.
“I wore these clothes to be sexy for you, did you know that? Yeah, I’ll bet Kyle got a thrill, but I didn’t give a damn about him. It’s you I want to make love with, Adam. Just you.”
She wondered if he’d believe her, truly believe her, considering her past. But she’d made a promise to herself to never harbor regrets, and she wasn’t going to start now. Her past made her who she was—a woman unafraid to push her sexuality to the edge, a woman unafraid to explore pleasure in any form that appealed to her. But she was also, until now, a woman who was not afraid to love, but was unprepared and unwilling to love. She cared about her sex partners, had even been friends with a few. But with Adam, all bets were off. She was playing in uncharted territory. And the rush propelled her to see how far this erotic exploration with Adam would take them.
“Are you wondering what I’m doing? I have my eyes closed, because I want to pretend my hands are your hands, that you’re watching me. Close your eyes, Adam. Picture me in your mind.”
Sydney paused. For the first time in recent memory, she questioned her ability to find the right words to evoke the emotions she needed Adam to feel. Her books were one thing. This was life. Love. Her heart. His. Deeper than desire, she wanted him to burn. Pushed beyond passion, she wanted him consumed by the single-minded need to be inside her, one with her, joined with her in body—and, soon, in soul.
ADAM FORCED his lids down over his eyes. He pressed a lever, easing his seat back, then turned up the volume on the radio, loud enough to block out street noise, but not so loud that someone who happened by would hear Sydney’s sweet moans. He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, forcing any apprehension out of his body. No one could see him. And since he couldn’t see her, he chose to believe that no one else could, either. Despite the cars coming in and out of the parking lot behind him, despite the daylight shining through the tinted windows, he and Sydney were alone. Just the two of them. Sharing an intimacy that pushed him into startlingly new sexual territory.
As he waited, with only the sound of Sydney’s sweet breathing adding lyrics to the sexy, instrumental jazz, he allowed himself to forget that she might know the identity of the people who stole his plans and tried to have him killed. He trusted that she withheld the name because once she revealed it, they would likely have to go separate ways, at least for a short time, while he continued the investigation on his own. He wouldn’t allow her to step into real danger on his behalf. And until this chapter of his life was closed, he couldn’t fully explore the possibilities of what he and Sydney could have in the future. How could they when he had no idea what that future might entail?
“Do you have a clear picture in your mind, Adam? My gold blouse is completely unbuttoned. My bra is black and lacy. Mmmm. I’m tracing the cup with my finger, teasing my skin, imagining you’re touching me, arousing me.”
Instinctively, he rolled his fingers into his slick palms. He remembered precisely how Sydney’s breasts molded to his palm, round, soft, yet centered with hard peaks that seemed wired to the heart of her sexual desire. He imagined the feel, the taste, the sweet lavender scent she dusted over her skin, a translucent, perfumed powder dotted with tiny flecks of sparkle, shiny points only visible to a lover.
He heard a tiny click, the rustle of material.
“Oh, yeah. That’s better. I feel so heavy, so hot. The wiretap itches, but I’m going to leave it in place. I don’t want you to miss one bit of this. I’m going to touch my nipples now, baby. Just like you do. Squeezing between your thumb and forefinger, right before you pinch hard. Oh, yeah. Just like that.”
Adam opened his mouth to pull in a deep, ragged breath. His erection strangled against his jeans and trickles of sweat danced down his spine. He opened his eyes long enough to check the air conditioner in the car, which, surprisingly, was still in working order. He listened, enthralled, as Sydney teased and plucked her sensitive flesh and related every nuance, every tendril of sexual excitement in a provocative play-by-play. Then she licked her fingers, wet her nipples and described with sensual detail how his mouth, as she imagined it, felt against her skin.
By the time she’d slipped her hands into her panties, Adam thought he’d lose his mind. He lowered the volume on Jillian’s radio, glad no one but he could hear her moans of pleasure. He glanced outside the car. No one was around. When he thought he’d go mad with wanting, he noticed the binoculars he’d tossed on the passenger seat. He grabbed them and, with desperate precision, scanned the area around the offices until he caught a telltale flash of shiny red.
“I’m so close, Adam, so close.”
He grinned. She was close all right—close enough for him to dash across the street and see to it that she didn’t complete the job he should be doing. He turned off the car, locked and pocketed the keys, then snuck across the street to approach her vehicle from behind.
She nearly jumped out of her bare skin when he pulled open her unlocked door. A sweet flush pinkened her flesh, from the tips of her naked breasts to the inside of her parted thighs.
“Adam!”
He knelt down and pulled the car door as close to his body as he could. Slowly, he snaked a hand up her leg, his fingers searching for the hot moistness she’d so carefully described over the wiretap.
“You’re a very bad girl, Sydney.”
Her eyes lit up at the compliment. “Bad enough to make you want me?”
He slipped his fingers beyond the tiny triangle of her panties, already off center, already wet. “I want you, Sydney.”
“For how long?”
Forever. But how could he make such a commitment, now, in the heat of lust, in the face of dizzying passion? None of the sexual chemistry between them changed the fact that he still had little to offer her beyond the sex, beyond the pleasure. But with a woman like her at his side 24/7, would he care?
He slid one finger inside her, watched her mold her body flush against the curved leather seat while the sensations shot over her. “For as long as it takes,” he answered, pressing a second finger inside, stretching her, feeling the warm wetness of her flesh wrap possessively around his hand. “Will it take long?”
She grabbed the steering wheel, her arms tight as her body clenched around his skillful touch. He found her center and wasted no time in bringing her to the brink.
Her moans pleased him, her surrender to his power washed all his own need from his mind. He wanted only to hear her come. Wild and furious.
He wrapped his lips around her breast, then finished the job she’d started. Her cries echoed in his ears, her heat bathed him with pure, sexual release. When her breathing finally steadied and her gaze regained its focus, he wordlessly helped her dress.
She remained oddly silent. Only once she’d regained a semblance of normalcy did she meet his gaze and ask, “So, was that apt payback?”
“You don’t owe me anything, Sydney. I owe you.”
She shook her head, her gaze cast down. She didn’t answer for a long minute and her silence prickled the hair along the back of his neck.
“Sydney?”
When she faced him again, her wicked smile had returned. But before he could gauge if the humor lit all the way to her eyes, she glanced aside to fiddle with her purse.
“Give a girl a minute to get herself together, okay?”
Perplexed, Adam stood and stared while she fixed her makeup, then decided to take a brief walk around the car. He’d either said something or done something to upset her, but he couldn’t imagine what. He shook his head, figuring when she wanted him to know, she’d tell him. Sydney wasn’t the type to play mind games, and what they’d shared had been intensely intimate. Maybe she’d finally bit off more than she could chew in the sex department, a thought that surged his pride more than he’d ever verbally admit.
She turned over the engine and rolled down her window.
“I’m going to move the car across the street. Wanna lift?”
Her sly smile had returned, along with that sassy glow that seemed to light her entire face. God, she was beautiful. And generous. And brave. And, at least for the moment, she was all his.
“I can walk. I want to make sure I locked Jillian’s car correctly.”
She put the car in Reverse and carefully backed out from the hiding place beneath the tree. “Suit yourself.”
She eased the Corvette slowly over the dirt road, then waited for traffic to ease before she shot across the street. For a split second, he wondered if she’d considered leaving him. He didn’t know why, but the suspicion sneaked out from somewhere deep in his gut, forcing him to frown for the first time since he’d run off with Sydney. Then he realized that even a bad girl like her wouldn’t abandon him at this moment—when she knew the name of the person who’d tried to kill him.
He jogged across the street, rechecked the security of the Mustang, then strode to where she waited, leaning with her saucy backside against the driver’s-side door of her car.
He suspected he should say something about their sexual adventure, but what? She’d already retreated from conversation once. Best to stick to the matter at hand for now.
“Did you get the name? Do you know who set me up?”
She nodded. “You’re not going to like this information.”
His chest tightened. “Can’t be worse than not knowing at all. Besides, your little trick with the wiretap has made me one happy man. It’s going to take something big to tear that down.”
Her smile faded. “Then you’d better hold on tight, Adam. Kyle’s call was to Malcolm and Associates in Baltimore.”
SYDNEY WATCHED the disbelief, confusion and betrayal play over Adam’s face like a grotesque mask, molded from clay in varying shades of beige, then pink, then red.
“Malcolm? Are you sure?”
She nodded. “The caller ID doesn’t lie. Of course, we don’t know who specifically at Malcolm that he spoke to. It might not have been Marcus himself.”
Adam took a few steps backward, his hands dangling at his sides, his head shaking on repeatedly, as if “no” was the only thought he could process. Marcus Malcolm had been Adam’s mentor in the architectural business. Marcus had shown Adam the ropes of the business, taught him to play golf, encouraged him to reach for the stars in his design goals.
Adam had spoken about the man just yesterday, with the type of glowing terms few men used to described another, particularly one who became a competitor. But, according to Adam, Marcus had called shortly after he’d returned home from rehab, had offered to help him get back on his feet. Adam had turned him down, but now Sydney wondered if old loyalty caused the older man to make such a generous offer…or had it been guilt?
“I can’t believe Malcolm would be involved,” he said finally, his eyes hard, his voice harder.
“I’m not saying he was.” Purely out of instinct, she raised her hands in front of her. “Don’t shoot the messenger, Adam. All we know is that Kyle called someone at that firm.”
He turned toward the Mustang, then stopped. Marching back, he tossed her the keys and headed toward the office.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to Homosassa first. Then to Baltimore.”
“Without me?”
She’d made an assumption based entirely on his hasty departure, but her words stopped him dead. When he turned, the look on his face verified her suspicion. He meant to confront his old boss and he meant to do it alone.
“No more cloak-and-dagger for you, Sydney. Someone from that firm tried to have me killed. I won’t involve you.”
“I’m already involved.”
“We both heard what Kyle said. As long as you lay low, no one is going after you. You might want to warn your attorney, though.”
Sydney laughed. “My attorney used to be a county judge. Before that, he played fullback for the Buccaneers. His firm is the largest in the city. Besides, if anyone tries to find the plans at his office, they won’t. They don’t exist. But you, you exist. And I won’t let you walk into this alone.”
“You don’t have any say in the matter.” Adam turned on his heel and shot through the door to the Hennessy Group office without a backward glance.
Sydney froze, not so much wounded as shocked.
He was kidding, right? He didn’t seriously think she was going to let him call a cab to haul his sorry, sexy ass all the way back to the farm and then book a flight to Baltimore to confront his mentor alone, did he? Without her? Was her bad-girl persona completely lost on the man?
Duh.
Sydney stalked inside just as he punched numbers into the receptionist’s phone. Without hesitating, she flattened the button on the receiver and disconnected the call.
“Sydney.”
Her name was said in warning, but she refused to back down, despite the tick that had developed in his ruggedly square jaw.
“Adam.”
She matched his tone, then upped the tension with a smile.
“This isn’t a joke. This is my future.”
“Technically, no. It’s your past. I’m your future.”
With tight lips, he put the phone down, grabbed her elbow and pulled her to a quiet corner of the empty reception area.
“Don’t do this, Sydney. Not now.”
“Do what?”
Her feigned innocence made a vein throb at his left temple.
“Make decisions about us until I’ve sorted out this mess.”
She laid her hand softly on his shoulder. “That’s fine. I totally understand that you need to put this to rest. But there’s no reason you have to do it without me.”
She placed a finger over his mouth before he could go on again about the danger.
“Just because I go with you to Baltimore doesn’t mean I have to go with you when you confront Malcolm,” she clarified. “I want to be nearby, though. I need to be. Like I should have been a year ago.”
Slowly, her honest confession worked past his anger. She watched the tension in his shoulders drip down out of his hands, which he wrapped around her. Pulling her close, he buried his nose in her hair, nuzzling. The gesture nearly toppled her—so sweet, so simple, so brimming with loving emotion, she thought she might cry.
“You’re a brave woman, Sydney Colburn.”
She shook her head. Her knees wobbled, and for the first time since she’d concocted her scheme to lure Adam back into her life, she wondered if she had the intestinal fortitude to carry her through the rough spots, the scary spots. Like now, facing down what could be real love without running or flinching or showing any sign of the fear ravaging through her veins.
“Not so brave,” she answered. “More like stubborn.”
“I can’t argue that.”
She knocked him in the shoulder with a fist, knowing she couldn’t argue, either, and not knowing what else to say. The emotions of the afternoon ran such a wide gamut, she figured she’d best slip into a safe operating mode until she worked out exactly what she was feeling, what she was thinking. Did they really have a future? Did she really love him?
“What say you check in with the receptionist and see if Jillian is back,” she suggested. “She could give us some advice on how to best handle this turn of events. I’ll use my cell phone and make plane reservations. When do you want to leave?”
“As soon as we can.”
Adam glanced over at the door, and Sydney could see the longing. He wanted to fly to Baltimore now, face down his past. So he could finally plan a real future?
Sydney headed out the door, back to the cell phone which she’d left in the car. As soon as we can. Sounded like a plan to her. The sooner Adam unraveled the mystery of his past, the sooner she’d have his undivided attention regarding matters of the heart.