Chapter Four

“A date? You’ve been back in town for two whole days. How in God’s name did you manage to sweet-talk some local girl into letting you take her out?”

Adam opened the pillbox and carefully took out the half a dozen pills in varying sizes and colors and set them on the counter. “You know me, Mama. I work fast.”

His mom laughed, the chuckle a whole lot weaker than her usual boisterous sound. Everything about her was weaker now. The cancer that she’d hidden for far too long had eaten away at her body, leaving her a shell of the woman he’d grown up with.

Regret bit him, hard and fast. The only reason he knew that she had cancer at all was because her lady friend, Lenora, had called him. He was still pissed the fuck off that he had to hear about it from the woman she was dating rather than his mama herself. Pissed off, but not surprised. He should have been here, making sure she was taking care of herself. He knew damn well that his mama would work herself to the bone to make everyone else around her happy. Combined with her general distrust of doctors, it was a recipe for disaster. If he’d been here, he would have known that something was wrong and insisted she go in and get checked out.

“Oh, dear. I know that look.” She patted his arm. “Stop it. There’s nothing you could have done.”

“Mama—”

“Tell me about this girl. Is she anyone I know?”

Just like that, the discussion was over before it began. They’d have to talk about it at some point, but he wasn’t willing to fight with her—not while she looked like a stiff wind might topple her over. “Jules Rodriguez.”

“Danny’s little cousin?” Her eyes lit up. “She’s got that wonderful coffee shop with all the cats. I go in there once a week with Lenora. That Loki is a darling.” She accepted the tall glass of water he’d filled for her, some censure creeping into her dark eyes. “She’s a nice girl, Adam.”

“I know.” He braced himself for what would come next.

Sure enough, his mama said, “If I thought for a second you were going to hold still long enough to put down roots, I’d keep my thoughts to myself, but you’re as footloose and fancy-free as that father of yours.”

Of all the things she could have said, this one stung the most. Because it was true. He set the pills in front of her. “I’m staying long enough to get you sorted out, Mama. I promise.”

“Oh, honey…” Tears filled her eyes, tears that felt like they were ripping into his very soul. There was a terrible knowledge on her face that he wasn’t ready to face. Not now—maybe not ever. His mom managed a smile. “I love you.”

That was it. There was nothing else he could say. “I love you, too.” He waited through the torturous process of her taking her pills, and then watched her with an eagle eye while she walked back into the living room and her recliner.

She shot him a sharp look. “I’ve been getting around just fine on my own before you got back, Adam Christopher. I don’t need you hovering.”

“In that case, I’ll be going.”

He hesitated by the door and looked at his mama. She used to be larger than life, a formidable woman who stood between him and the rest of the world. And here he was, leaving her again. It didn’t matter that it was for a date instead of the rodeo, or that she was practically kicking him out the door. He should be here.

“Go, Adam.”

As always, she knew what he was thinking without him saying it. He forced a smile. He could be positive if that’s what she wanted, at least until he got some concrete answers. “Do you want me to bring anything back?”

“I’m fine. Go on your date.” She waved him away.

He went, but he could feel her eyes on his back the entire time, and her words rang in his ears. The thought of settling down in one place was enough to have him breaking out in hives. It was a small part of the toxicity that had been Adam as a teenager—the desire to go anywhere but here, to get in a truck and just drive until he met the horizon. He’d failed a lot of people when he left.

Just like his father.

He shook off the thought through sheer force of will and climbed up into his truck. Jules apparently lived over that shop of hers, and so it took him ten minutes from leaving his mama’s house to pulling into the parking lot. Devil’s Falls was like that, though. It took fifteen minutes to drive from one end of the town limits to the other—and that was only because of the twenty-mile-an-hour speed limit and single stoplight.

He got out of his truck and looked up and down Main Street. There were the same two bars down the street, the same diner, the same hardware store, the same everything. Nothing had changed—not even a fresh coat of paint. The only difference between the street now and when he was eighteen was the addition of a Starbucks down by the stoplight and the café in front of him that used to be a pizza joint.

Restlessness hit him, fierce enough to have him clenching his fists. It wouldn’t take much to get back in his truck and keep driving, to search out the nearest rodeo and put in his registration. Everyone in Texas knew him. They’d get him in. He could be on the back of a bull inside of two days. Then maybe he wouldn’t have to think about the circles beneath his mama’s eyes or the worried looks Lenora kept shooting her when she thought neither of them was watching.

No. You promised you’d stay, and that’s what you’re going to do.

Adam paused to take in Cups and Kittens again. It was such a random-ass idea—a coffee shop where people could come and spend time with cats—but it was obvious that it was something Jules felt passionately about. Hell, he’d spent a grand total of twenty minutes with her and he could tell that wasn’t the only thing.

Judging from that kiss, she was passionate about quite a few things. Just thinking about it calmed the impulse to get the hell out of town. He could do this. The distraction Jules offered pretty much guaranteed he could do this.

It’s just a matter of figuring out how far you want to take it.

Now that was a dumb thing to think. He knew exactly how far he wanted to go with Jules Rodriguez.

All the goddamn way.

Adam shook his head, damning himself to hell for the kind of thoughts that type of thing brought up. Her wrapping those long legs around his waist, her mouth on his, her making helpless little noises while he… “Get a hold of yourself. You’re not sleeping with the woman. You’re taking her on a date.” She was a good girl—and Daniel’s cousin.

But she wants to be bad.

He ignored the voice inside him and marched around back to the door where she’d told him to meet her. He barely got his hand up to knock when it was flung open, revealing a breathless Jules. She must have run down the narrow stairs behind her, because her cheeks were flushed and her chest rose and fell hard enough that it looked like her breasts were in danger of spilling free.

Adam nearly swallowed his tongue. “What in the hell are you wearing?”

She looked panicked. “Oh, this little thing?” She pulled at the bottom of her tied-up tank top, belying her attempt at being casual. Not that he was complaining, exactly, but the shorts were several precious inches shorter than the ones she’d worn the other night—so short that the pockets peeked out in the front and he was pretty damn sure if she turned around, he’d be able to see the bottom curve of her ass.

She looked like some country-music video piece of tail.

The only thing that was the same was the well-worn boots on her feet. Jules pushed her mass of dark hair off her face and frowned. “Is something wrong? You said we were going out to burgers, so I didn’t dress up and—”

Fuck, she was killing him. “It’s fine.” But the slice of stomach and length of her long legs and the cleavage that her low-cut tank top revealed…they were making it hard to remember that he was supposed to keep his hands to himself when they weren’t in public trying to make a spectacle of themselves. It’s still Jules beneath the clothes—what little of them there are. Right. He just had to remember that, and—

Adam’s thoughts screeched to a halt as she turned around and bent over to pick up her purse on the bottom stair. He’d been right about the shorts playing peekaboo with her ass. He gripped the doorframe, unable to tear his gaze away from the place where her mile-long legs met the curve of her ass. The shorts didn’t reveal as much as he’d expected, but somehow that only made them more erotic. He wanted to set his teeth to that curve and then lick his way around…

Stop it. For fuck’s sake, if you don’t, you’re going to maul her right here in her doorway.

He forced himself to take a step back, and then another one. She hadn’t signed on for hot and sweaty sex, and he had to remember that. This wasn’t about him and his nearly unbearable desire for her—as unexpected as it was inconvenient. This was about doing her a favor.

Right. Keep telling yourself that. You wanted a distraction, now don’t going complaining that you got what you asked for—in spades.

She locked the door behind her and turned with a smile. “I feel ridiculous. Do I look ridiculous?”

He had to clear his throat twice to answer. “No.”

“Are you okay?” Just like that, her smile disappeared, and her face fell. “Oh God, you’re lying, aren’t you? I look like a two-bit hooker.” She pulled on the bottom of her shorts. “I’m going to go change. This was such a bad idea. Maybe we should just call the whole thing off.”

“Sugar, stop.” He grabbed her wrist, changing her course so that her momentum brought her slamming into his chest. “You look great.”

“You’re really sweet for lying, but—”

“Jules, stop talking.” He pressed his free hand to the small of her back, bringing her flush against him. Her mouth opened in a little O of surprise when she pressed against where he was rock hard. “You feel that?” As if there was any chance of her missing it with them this close. Adam waited for her to nod. “You did that to me. I see you in those little shorts and all I can think of is getting a handful of your ass as I lift you up and thrust against where you’re warm and soft and wet for me.”

She blinked. “Oh.”

It was hard to get himself leashed, harder than it should have been, but he finally managed to take a step back and put some distance between them. “Any questions?”

“Just one.” She licked her lips. “Can you teach me to do that?”

He opened the passenger door for her. “Do what?”

“Dirty talk.” She hopped up into the seat, giving him another devastating flash of her ass.

He shut the door, buying some time as he walked around the front of the truck and climbed inside. Unfortunately, he hadn’t gotten himself back under control by that point. “You want me to teach you to dirty talk.”

“It’s just…” She waved a hand at him. She’d recovered a whole hell of a lot faster than he had. Adam was almost insulted by how unaffected she seemed. Jules must have finally got her thoughts in order, because she finished, “It’s really, really hot. And naughty, though I’m not sure if calling it naughty completely cancels out the hotness factor.”

Hearing the word “naughty” on her lips was almost enough to have him pulling over so he could start lesson one. Instead, he gripped the steering wheel and focused on driving. “Yeah, sugar. I can teach you to talk dirty.”

Though he was already starting to regret agreeing to this in the first place.