Chapter 28
flowed but Krista was understandably tired and bailed out to bed with the promise that she’d have more energy tomorrow. Shane and Adam were clearing the kitchen while Evie checked her emails and caught up with things back home, having logged on to Shane and Krista’s Wi-Fi.
The baby monitor crackled and Stefan’s cries filled the room.
“It might be one of those nights,” Shane groaned to Adam, flicking soapsuds off his hands before drying them and going to the baby.
Adam threw him a sympathetic look. “Be strong, buddy.”
“You’ll learn what it’s like one day.”
Evie caught Adam’s expression of complete and utter no way and felt a little jab of disappointment. Didn’t Adam want children?
And should she really be thinking such things about him at this stage? Was it wise to imagine him in her future when she barely knew his past? And was it really possible to fall so completely in love with someone so soon?
Evie watched Adam take over from where Shane had left off, dipping his hands in the hot soapy water. He looked so at home in the kitchen. Out in the bush, Evie cooked but Adam always did the washing up.
“You’re an expert,” she said, moving to wrap her arms around his waist. She kissed his back. “I love you.”
Adam stilled, the words she hadn’t meant to say quite yet hanging between them.
“You love me because of my proven talent for washing up?”
She laughed. “That, and other things.”
He was quiet for a few moments, placing the dish cloth over the tap to dry out. He wiped his hands and turned, linking his arms around her waist. “It could be the heat making you feel such things.”
“The heat makes me sweat. It doesn’t make me fall in love.”
He opened his mouth, but she placed her finger on his lips to stop him from speaking. “You want to persuade me otherwise,” she said. “But my love is my love, Adam. You don’t have a say in who I give it to.”
“And you’re giving it to me?”
She nodded. “I’m going for a shower.”
And she left him by the sink exactly how she wanted to leave him, thinking about her.
Krista had made up for them backed onto one corner of the garden and had its own en suite bathroom. Evie stepped out of the shower and, thanks to the air con unit humming gently on the ceiling, enjoyed the rarity of being able to fully dry her skin. It made her forget how hot and sticky the night would be outside.
She didn’t know what had made her tell Adam she loved him, but it had felt right. She’d wanted him to be completely open with him, as if not telling him constituted a lie.
Adam wasn’t in the bedroom when she came out of the bathroom. Assuming he’d be in the garden, she went to look for him, moving quietly through the kitchen barefoot. The crackle of the baby monitor stopped her. Shane and Krista were both in with Stefan, their soft voices mingling with soothing baby shushes.
“He’s in way over his head,” she heard Krista whisper. Evie wasn’t one to eavesdrop, but whispers often meant secrets, and her ears couldn’t help but prick up, paranoid and curious. Who was in over his head? Was it Adam?
“Talk about bad decisions,” Krista continued.
“Mikey knows what he’s doing,” Shane said.
“If you ask me, Mikey hasn’t known what he’s been doing since he retired.”
Evie stopped listening. She didn’t know who this old pensioner Mikey was, but it wasn’t anything to do with her or Adam. Guilty and ashamed for listening in on a private conversation, she continued to the garden and found Adam sitting in the dark on a deck chair, gazing at the stars.
She slipped into his lap. “I’m going to bed. Are you coming?”
“Now there’s an invitation.” He ran his hand along her body, stopping to cup her breast, the heat from his fingers seeping through the thin cotton of her nightie. He might not have said he loved her back, but she knew he did. She could feel it and for now, that would be enough.
to their bedroom and took a shower.
She loved him.
And it scared him. Scared him so much that he didn’t want to think about what it all meant. Not now. Not here. He dried off, wrapped a towel around his hips and stepped back into the bedroom where Evie was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for him.
“There’s a problem,” she said, and his heart stopped beating. He waited for her to speak first. To tell him what that problem might be. Had she joined up more dots? Adam forced himself to keep quiet, not wanting to admit to anything before she’d spoken. He’d only make a mess of it otherwise, fumbling through the truth and looking like an even bigger liar. At the waterfall, he had a plan for what he was going to tell her, and in his head, it all flowed smoothly, earnestly. Truthfully.
“A very big problem,” Evie continued, then began to bounce gently on the bed. The slightest movement causing it to creak very, very noisily. “They’ll hear us.”
Adam’s face cracked into a wide grateful smile. He leaned toward her and picked her up, his towel dropping to his feet. “I have a solution.” He pressed her against the wall, kissing her mouth and neck. “Have you ever done it standing up?”
Evie shook her head, but showed her eagerness by wrapping her legs and arms tighter around him. He positioned her against his erection. She was already very wet.
“This could work,” she said, her breath catching.
He set her on her feet and snapped on a condom, then held her in position again, their tongues touching tip to tip as he slowly impaled her against the bedroom wall. He went in deep. A sharp intake of breath escaped her.
He withdrew immediately. “Did I hurt you?”
“No, no.” She sighed. “You feel good. Too good.”
Adam’s grin was slow and wicked. He held Evie tight and slowly entered her again, finding their rhythm. He thrust hard, muffling her moans with hot, greedy kisses and a heart-aching passion that made his legs shake. They came quickly, simultaneously, in each other’s arms.
“I’m sorry I rushed you,” he whispered.
“You didn’t.” Evie kissed his shoulder. “How many women have you had like this?”
Adam tried to lock eyes with her, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. She was burrowing into his past again and it was only a matter of time before she’d see how paper-thin Adam’s life really was. “You’re the first. Believe me, I’ve done things with you that I never thought possible.” He set her down and placed a hand against the wall either side of her head, encasing her. “Did you enjoy it?”
She nodded, but her post-sex glow turned serious. This was serious. He tilted her chin up toward him. “This love thing you’ve got going for me, is it real?”
“Yes,” she said, moving away from him. “I’m afraid it is.”
a long time after Evie had fallen asleep. He’d been too afraid before to think about what her love meant but now, as she breathed gently by his side, he found the courage. He’d never experienced giving or receiving such love, but the cliché that you knew the real thing when it hit between the eyes was true. He knew Evie loved him, just as he knew he loved her. He could dissect and analyze it for a hundred days—a hundred years—but he knew in his heart he loved her.
But would she still love him when he told her the truth?
And what would happen if she didn’t?
A nasty taste of uncertainty filled his mouth. He tried to swallow it down, but he simply didn’t know which way it would go. Slowly, he realized it wasn’t so much her love that scared him, but his love for her. What if it all went wrong? There was a high chance she’d never want to see him again. A chance she’d hate him. His stomach tightened. That was the worst of it. He wasn’t ready for her hate.
Not when he was enjoying her love so much that he wondered how he would exist without it.
the next morning.
But Krista wasn’t letting Adam drink it in peace, not when she had a few things to get off her chest.
“What a mess to get into, Mikey.”
They were alone. Shane and Evie were out in the garden with Stefan and Krista was angry. Adam had been expecting it.
“She’s in love with you!” she hissed. “How do you think she’s going to feel when she finds out?”
“Jesus, Krista, give me a break. Don’t you think I know all this?” Adam was already having a hard time processing everything from last night, his brain not equipped for such intensity, such uncertainty. “It’s just . . . She’s . . .” He let his hands fall helplessly to his sides. “All I know is that for the first time in forever, I’ve met someone real. I’ve never met anyone like her before, Kris. I don’t know where it’s all going—probably nowhere—but I’m happy. Until I’d met Evie, I’d forgotten what it was like.”
But he could tell by Krista’s expression that she wasn’t convinced a declaration like this would be enough to sort out the huge fucking mess he’d created.
Krista frowned. “Is continuing to lie to her some kind of test?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. I hadn’t planned it to be a test.” But had Adam been waiting to tell Evie the truth until he knew she loved him enough to stay?
Krista placed a hand gently on his shoulder. “Just be careful, Mikey. What if Evie gets so pissed off at you, she runs to the nearest newspaper? Or starts another Twitter war? What if she’s like—”
“Saskia?” Adam shook his head. “Evie’s nothing like Saskia. They’re totally opposite.”
“But what if she sees her chance to get rich?”
“She’s not like that.”
Then Adam told Krista about Evie’s father. After reading the internet articles he’d found on Noel Barker, Adam was certain a man like him wouldn’t hesitate to use his daughter’s connection to the Adams-Williams scandal to resurrect his fading career—especially as Saskia would be so willing to help with publicity.
“This just gets better and better.” Krista folded her arms and sighed. “And what if Evie—”
“—Lashes out at me like she did to her dad all those years ago?” Adam rubbed his eyes until they hurt. Evie was a grown woman now. Strong and independent, and she had enough on him to get a lot more than Saskia’s bounty. She could even—
No!
Adam knew Evie. He loved her and she loved him.
“She might dump my sorry ass, but she won’t sell me out. And, I’ll tell her everything tomorrow. I swear.”
“Well, you’d better, Mikey.” The phone in the other room started to ring and Krista turned to go. “Evie deserves to know what she’ll be dealing with, whether you like it or not. It’s just not fair. She’s not part of the game.”
“I know.”
While Krista took her call, Adam stared out of the window. Evie was sat in the paddling pool with Stefan.
Shane came in from the garden, peeling off a wet T-shirt. “I can’t tell who’s having more fun, Evie or Stefan.” He came to stand next to Adam and they both watched as Evie made the baby squeal with delight. “She’s nice, mate.”
Adam nodded. Evie was gorgeous and fun, caring and kind. The hottest thing ever in bed. “Yeah.”
“Krista’s had a go at you,” Shane said.
“You think?”
“You look like I feel after she’s had a go at me.”
Adam watched Evie throw a ball in the air. “Your scary wife’s got a point, and I’m sorry for putting you in a position where you’ve had to lie.”
“Other than pretending your watch is actually my dad’s and pretending he’s dead, and calling you a different name and, you know, making out we had your bank cards arrive in our post, we’ve not had to lie much at all.”
Adam sighed, remembering all the stupid lies he’d told Evie since they’d first started traveling together. He felt like such a fool. “It’s just . . . damn, I don’t know what it is.”
“It’s you not having a crystal ball. You can’t see where this is all going to end so you’ve got no finish line in sight.” Shane turned to him. “I know why you brought Evie here.”
Adam winced. “I wanted back up.” Like Shane, he’d already figured out the pathetic truth himself. “I wanted your approval.”
“Sure, mate. I get it. You love her and you want some spectator support.” Shane slapped a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Now, do you want me to approve your prom dress too or are you gonna grow a pair and tell her how you feel?”