been heading toward the end for months. Yes, it was a shame she’d given the relationship more time than it deserved, but she didn’t have to give it, or him, another thought.
Still, even though he hadn’t crushed her heart, there unfortunately was still something about getting dumped for a not-even-old-enough-to-legally-drink Playboy-centerfold type that was pretty damaging to the ego. Damn. Her heart didn’t need a boost, but her trampled self-esteem definitely did.
She considered calling Kellie, who she knew would happily spend the evening wallowing in an “I can’t believe that ass dumped such a great girl” Greg-bashing party, but that wasn’t what her bruised ego craved. And a rented movie and Thai takeout wouldn’t do the trick, either.
No, her wounded pride demanded that she feel desirable. Wanted. Attractive. Sexy.
And she knew exactly the man for the job.
5
ADAM SAT BEHIND the computer at Picture This and typed in order number after order number, slowly working his way through the stack of invoices piled on Nick’s desk. For every big party, such as a wedding, at least four hundred proofs were taken. Each proof was numbered and from them various-size prints and albums were made up for the bride and groom, their families and friends. Based on the number of invoices and orders in the in-box, Nick’s business was booming. Weddings, anniversary parties, christenings, bar mitzvahs, sweet sixteens, graduations, private sittings-with more jobs being booked every day.
He’d just completed another invoice when a light tapping sound had him looking up and he stilled-except for his heart, which seemed to stumble over itself.
Mallory stood outside the front glass door, which Adam had locked when Nick left an hour earlier. He jumped to his feet and strode quickly across the tiled floor.
“Hi,” he said, pulling the door inward. “C’mon in.” His smile faded when he saw her pale face and what looked like red-rimmed eyes. “You okay?”
“Yes,” she said, brushing past him to enter. His body tensed at that brief contact and he pretended he hadn’t felt it. Or caught a whiff of her light, flowery fragrance. Gritting his teeth, he kept his back to her and spent a few extra seconds relocking the door, telling himself to get a grip. He shouldn’t be so thrown off balance just because she’d stopped by. Probably she just wanted some more prints made of her photos. For what’s-his-name.
But when he turned around, she threw him off kilter again. She stood less than two feet away, looking at him with an expression he couldn’t read, but one that set his blood on fire. And then she blew him right out of the water by stepping forward, pressing herself against him and tunneling her fingers through his hair. Then she lifted up on her toes, pulled his head toward hers and kissed him. Like she meant it.
If all the blood hadn’t instantly drained from his head to settle in his groin, most likely he would have wondered what had brought this on. But anything that involved thinking was going to have to wait. His arms went around her, pulling her closer, tighter against him, and he deepened the kiss she’d initiated.
She tasted exactly as he remembered. Delicious. Warm, sweet and seductive. Like melted chocolate. And felt exactly the same in his arms. Soft and curvy and feminine. A perfect fit. The erotic sensation of her tongue rubbing against his drove everything from his mind except for one single word that pounded through him with growing urgency.
But before he could act upon it, she shifted gears again by breaking off their kiss. Splaying her hands against his chest, right over the spot where his heart was frantically trying to play catch-up, she leaned back in the circle of his arms. He noted with some satisfaction that her breathing sounded as labored as his. And she looked as bamboozled as he felt.
Surely some words were called for, but with his liquefied brain still engulfed in a steamy fog of lust, speech was beyond him.
Her palms glided over his chest, shooting another arrow of fiery want directly downward. His hands, which rested on her hips and kept her firmly anchored against him, involuntarily tightened.
“Figured as much,” she said in a voice that sounded like rough velvet.
There was no doubt what she meant-that the heat they’d just generated came as no surprise to her-but damn, he was impressed she could form a coherent sentence. He wasn’t there yet, so he just nodded. At least he thought he nodded. He meant to.
“I was afraid you might have already left. I’m glad you were still here.”
He swallowed twice and managed to find his voice. “Yeah. Me, too.” Damn glad.
But then his gaze searched her face, confirming what he’d thought he’d seen before she’d deep-fried all his synapses. His gut clenched at the sight of her red-rimmed, slightly swollen eyes and coherency returned with a thump. “You’ve been crying.”
“How do you know that?”
He lifted one hand and gently brushed a fingertip under her eye. “Through a wondrous process called ‘sight.’” And given the way she’d greeted him, there was no doubt in his mind that whatever was wrong had to do with her boyfriend. “What happened?”
She gently pushed against his chest and he let her go, watching in silence while she put several feet between them and drew a deep breath. Then she offered him a half smile that didn’t touch her eyes. “You told me that if things didn’t work out with Greg, I should give you a call. Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I’d stop by instead.”
Just as he’d thought. A breakup with the boyfriend. While he couldn’t deny part of him was glad, he hated to see the evidence that she’d cried. And even as his heart pounded with anticipation, his common sense issued a stern warning to proceed with caution. Clearly she’d had a fight with what’s-his-name. While Adam was glad she’d turned to him and he was happy to offer his friendship, he didn’t relish getting caught in the crossfire and left bleeding should she and the boyfriend make up.
After firmly telling his heart-and his fully aroused hormones-to chill out, he reached out and took her hand then led her toward the corner waiting area where a sofa, two comfy chairs and a coffee table were located. “Let’s sit down for a minute.” After she’d settled herself on the sofa, he pulled up one of the chairs to sit facing her. “Okay, tell me what happened.”
She stared at her hands, which plucked at the handle of her purse. “Do you know the three words you most don’t want to hear while you’re making love?” When he shook his head, she looked up and said, “Honey, I’m home.”
A spurt of white-hot fury roared through Adam. The damn bastard had
Well, yeah, he’d been stupid-but out of fear. He sure as hell hadn’t cheated on her. How could any guy who had Mallory in his bed want anyone else?
Reaching out, he clasped both her hands and squeezed. “I’m sorry something so hurtful happened to you, sweetheart.”
“Thanks.” She blew out slow breath. “It was a pretty shocking-and unappealing-sight, let me tell you. And the woman he was with…” She made an exclamation of disgust. “Give me a break. She’s a twenty-year-old lawyer wannabe with badly bleached hair and a boob job that looks as if she used Velcro to stick two cantaloupes to her chest. They’re
He brushed the pads of his thumbs over the soft backs of her hands. “I’ll take my chances.”
A sound that resembled a growl rumbled in her throat and she abruptly stood. Her hands slid from his and she paced in front of him. “I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say things weren’t going all that well between me and Greg for the last few months. I blamed most of it on our hectic schedules, although I was coming to realize that we didn’t have as much in common as I’d originally thought. And that those differences were really…
