NOVA
I agreed to join Adam and Rowan for dinner entirely to avoid Jax, who was clearly drunk when he called asking for a second chance.
Why he’d even dare to demand such a thing given our last encounter?
I don’t know.
But if Jax has one thing, it is the audacity.
Awful man.
Thanks to him, I was forced out of my own home on a day when all I wanted was to decompress in the bathtub with some tea, candles, and scented bubbles.
Instead of relaxing alone, I had to dress in something other than yoga pants, scrape my hair into an edges-snapping bun, and meet a bunch of new people.
Thankfully, the ladies at the farmhouse don’t push me into conversations.
That distance alone endears them to me way more than if they’d tried to prick and pry at me like a patient getting a blood transfusion.
Plus, the food here is amazing.
I inhale the flour tortillas that Sunny Hastings, Darrel Hastings’ wife, made. I try not to eat too much processed wheat in general, but I think I’ve found my Achilles heel.
Laughter breaks out from the kids. I stop inhaling the tortillas long enough to glance around the Hastings’ sprawling backyard.
Rowan is standing in a circle of children. He’s smiling and laughing, clearly having a great time. The other kids seem bright and engaged too.
There are three girls and two boys. One of the boys has glasses and the other has dark hair and a moody expression.
The girls have diverse skin tones, from the youngest—who’s pale like a little cherub to the oldest—who’s got intelligent hazel eyes and tawny-colored skin.
Sazuki’s daughter, Niko, is among them. I found it fascinating to watch how the other kids interact with her. Niko signs, scribbles on her tablet and uses body language to communicate with her friends.
I was surprised to see the kids signing in return.
It made my cold heart thaw a little.
Another burst of laughter explodes from the kids and, at the center of it, is Rowan. He’s telling them a joke. Or so I assume. The more he moves his mouth, the harder they laugh.
The iceberg in my heart turns to a puddle.
I thought he’d be shy and ducking behind his dad when he got to the farmhouse.
And I was very wrong.
Rowan marched into the Hastings’ backyard with the confidence he had the day he barged into Adam’s house. The moment he saw the other kids, he went right up to them and made a place for himself in their tribe.
I’m not surprised that he was accepted so easily. Rowan might have a hard exterior with Adam, but with other people, he has an easy affability. Something about him is magnetic and warm. It invites people to come just a little closer.
I bet Rowan was a heartbreaker back home.
Just like his dad.
“What are you looking at?” Adam whispers.
I almost choke on my tortilla when I realize my boss’s face is close to mine.
I’ve been trying not to look directly at him. An absolutely impossible task given how charismatic and eye-catching he is.
“Rowan seems to be fitting in well,” I mumble, nodding at the kids.
“Oh, yeah.”
“He’s way more friendly than I thought.”
“He mentioned he had a lot of friends back home.”
“I believe it,” I murmur.
The conversation stalls. Mostly because Adam’s eyes are burning into me. The intensity of which reminds me of the hot air that blasts me whenever I step out of his air-conditioned lab and into the summer sun.
I clear my throat, trying not to squirm too much. “The food is good.”
“Yeah.” His voice is subdued.
“Do you need anything else?”
“No.”
I frown. The mood between us is strained.
I know it’s because he wants to ask me about Jax, but he’s holding back since we’re in front of company.
Hopefully, I have a proper escape plan by the time he pops the question. At the moment, my only hope is that the car isn’t moving when he demands info about my ex. I’m not sure I can survive launching out of Lula while Adam’s pushing sixty-five on the highway.
“You want more chai?” he asks, motioning to the mug that Dejonae brewed.
She actually brought two mugs, but Vanya Beckford confiscated one for herself.
I shake my head.
Cheerful conversations are bouncing back and forth around us. I take a break from the painfully awkward exchange between me and Adam and study the people at the table.
The Alistairs.
The Hastings.
The Stintons.
The Mulliezs.
The Sazukis.
To say I’m breaking bread with the one percent of the one percent would be a crude understatement.
Vanya Beckford Mulliez is casually feeding her baby pieces of chicken next to me.
Max Stinton has his hands draped over his wife’s shoulders as he sips a beer.
Darrel Hastings is rubbing his wife’s thigh under the table while debating barbecue sauces with Dejonae.
It’s all so… normal, even though their collective net-worth could buy a small country.
Talk about insane.
“Hey.” Vanya gives me her mega-watt, supermodel smile and I feel like I should pay her for the privilege of being on the opposite end of it.
That baby in her arms is going to be stunning. Hadyn—Vanya’s husband and the guy who’s been refilling her cup before she even asks for more chai—is good-looking too with sultry eyes and an easy smile. Obviously, Vanya’s a crazy beautiful plus-sized model with cheekbones that make me want to weep on behalf of knives everywhere.
Their kid won the genetic lottery.
“I’m not disturbing you, am I?” she asks, bouncing her baby.
I blink. “Oh no. Of course not.”
“Good.” She gives me another magazine-worthy smile and turns to Dawn Stinton to continue their conversation.
I’ve only seen Dawn in passing at the events where both Stinton Auto and Vision Tech projects overlap, but rumors are that her ability to fix cars is on par with Adam’s ability to create inventions.
In fact, all the ladies here are leaders in their respective industries. Movers and shakers. Big bosses.
Strangely enough, they all seem super soft with their husbands.
I watch Kenya Alistair lean her head on her husband’s shoulder as he feeds her a brownie. She gives him an adoring look and he breaks his cold, billionaire expression to crack a besotted smile for her.
It’s disgusting.
And sweet.
And it makes my heart ache.
My eyes move to Adam on instinct and I wonder…
Gah! No wondering.
I shake my head and scold myself. Why are you looking at your boss, Nova? Yes, he’s handsome. Yes, you work well together. But that’s all it is. A work relationship. Stop giving him heart eyes.
Adam sees me staring and slants me that attentive look of his that makes my pulse beat faster.
“You want something?” he asks.
You, the feral cat in my head purrs. I want you, Adam.
Now I know I’m exhausted because I hate cats and it turns out there’s one inside me that wants to sink its claws into my boss.
I slide my chair back and it creaks. “The bathroom.”
Sunny pins her almond-shaped brown eyes at me. “It’s right inside.”
“Thanks,” I mumble.
Pushing away from the table, I pass Sazuki and Dejonae. Dejonae catches my eye and gives me a friendly smile.
I nod in return and head inside.
Everyone’s so warm with each other, but they haven’t been saying much to me. I’m grateful for it. I really am. But it’s weird. They seem like a close-knit bunch with a habit of absorbing newcomers into their group.
I thought they’d be worse than frantic students cramming for an exam, trying to learn everything about me.
Why are they holding back?
I finish with the bathroom, wash my hands and walk slowly down the hall, anything to keep me away from Adam for a bit longer. There’s movement in the kitchen and I peer that way.
An older woman is dancing as she bakes something. She’s wearing two grey pigtails, an embroidered skirt and Belize-themed oven mitts. As she opens the oven, she peers inside and shakes her head.
The smell from the kitchen lures me closer. I don’t have any room in my stomach, not even to cram in a mint, and yet I can’t resist the fragrance of chocolate chip cookies.
“Hey there.” Her eyes sparkle at me when I get closer. Deep wrinkles spread from the edges of her eyes. Her skin is a reddish-brown tone and reminds me of the clay my mother used in her garden.
“Hi.” I nod politely.
“Would you like something, sweetie? Another tortilla? Or some wine?”
“I’m full.” I touch my stomach. “But everything was delicious.”
She grins. “It was nice watching you enjoy the food. I haven’t seen anyone get that excited about tortillas.”
“Oh.” I self-consciously rub the back of my neck.
“If you’d like the recipe, I can give it to you. The way we make tortillas in Belize is a little different than in other parts of the world.”
“I’m not great in the kitchen,” I admit.
That’s the polite version.
The real version goes something like: All I can make is pasta. Anything more complicated is a disaster.
“I heard that you’re the CEO of Vision Tech. How did you manage that at such a young age?”
Flattered, I open my mouth.
The old woman covers her own and makes a shocked sound. “Oh, wait. I’m sorry. I forgot. You don’t have to answer that.”
My eyebrows cinch together.
She pins her lips shut and offers me a nervous smile.
Weird.
I fiddle with my watch and take a seat around the counter. My intuition is screaming at me that there’s something I’m missing.
“Mama Moira, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Is… there some kind of rumor going around about me?”
She looks genuinely shocked. “What? What rumor?”
“It’s just that,” I gesture to the deck that we can see through the balcony doors, “everyone is acting strangely. They seem to be avoiding speaking to me.”
“Honey, isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Me?” I balk.
“Give me a minute.” She patters to the door. I watch the conversation stop and every eye turn attentively to her when she gets close.
She motions to her daughter.
Sunny Hastings leaves her husband’s side and follows her mother into the house.
Standing side-by-side, I can see the family resemblance. Although Sunny isn’t wearing her mother’s indigenous clothes and is much taller, she’s got a similar reddish-brown skin tone. Her hair is long, black and shiny and I could picture her rocking pig tails.
Sunny looks surprised to see me sitting in the kitchen. “What’s going on?”
“Nova wanted to know why everyone is being quiet around her.” Mama Moira plants a hand on her hip. “Sunny, didn’t you tell us our guest wanted to be left alone tonight?”
Sunny groans. “Mom.”
“Well? It’s the truth.”
“It’s okay.” I gesture to Darrel Hastings’ wife. “I’d like to know what happened. Who told you to leave me alone?”
Sunny chews on her bottom lip. “Adam said you’d been dealing with a lot today and that you were tired. He also said it was his idea to drag you here, even though you’d had a rough day. He asked if we could hold back on the usual interrogation.”
“Hold back?”
“I didn’t think anything strange of it when I saw you,” Mama Moira fills in. “You look like a quiet, private lady.”
I have no idea if that’s a compliment or not.
Fiddling with the salt container, I murmur, “So… Adam asked you to keep your distance from me?”
“Just for today,” Sunny rushes to clarify. “He wanted you to be comfortable and not get too overwhelmed.”
My head snaps up and I glance at Adam through the glass doors. The string lights are hanging low around the back deck. They cast a gentle glow on his head. He’s smiling at something Vanya is saying to him, his grin wide and endearing.
“Are you mad?” Sunny asks, cringing.
I can’t quite figure out my feelings.
“He shouldn’t have made you guys feel awkward around me,” I say finally. “Now you all think that I’m rude and unapproachable.”
“That’s not what we think at all,” Sunny says earnestly. “We understand that being around us for the first time can be… a lot. If we can’t offer you peace and quiet, the least we can offer you is space.”
She chews on her bottom lip and watches me with big brown eyes. I can tell that Sunny is truly distressed by the thought that I might be mad at them or mad at Adam.
Climbing to my feet, I offer my hand to her. “I apologize.”
“Nova.”
“I don’t make a habit of coming into people’s homes and making demands of them. Adam shouldn’t have done that either.”
“We’re a family here,” Sunny argues. “If you can’t ask family for what you need, then who can you ask?”
“I’ll speak to Adam,” I continue stiffly. “So he doesn’t do that again.”
“Sweetie, you’re overthinking this. I don’t believe your young man wanted to make you look bad. I think this was his way of protecting you.”
My stomach flutters. I fight Mama Moira’s words anyway. “He overdid it.”
“It’s better to over-do treating someone well than to be lackluster. Remember, relationships aren’t always cut and dry. It’s about understanding each other—”
“Mama, they’re not in a relationship,” Sunny hisses.
“They’re not?” Mama Moira gasps. “He’s doing all that for her and he hasn’t even asked her to be his girlfriend? What on earth?”
I smile at her exasperation.
Mama Moira whips her hand in the air. “Forget what I just said. Rake him through the coals, sweetie. He needs to learn.”
I laugh softly.
She winks at me.
“Mom, something smells like it’s burning,” Sunny points out.
“Oh, my cookies!”
While her mom flounders back to the oven, Sunny loops her arm through mine and steers me toward the deck.
She dips her head close. “We’re good, right?”
“We’re good,” I answer.
But me and Adam?
That’s another story.
When it’s time to leave, there are tears, hugs, and promises to meet again—all by the children. Rowan has to be torn away from his new friends, who wave at him like he’s going off to war.
I didn’t get to talk to Adam during the dinner and it looks like I won’t get a chance on the car ride home thanks to Rowan’s chattiness.
He’s riding on a high after that visit, which tells me he’s an extrovert. His batteries seem to have been charged after spending time with others, while I’m even more drained than before.
“Micheal’s cool,” Rowan says excitedly, referring to Sunny and Darrel’s oldest son. “He says we can go skateboarding at the park next week.”
“You know how to skate?” Adam asks. His muscles bulge as he turns the wheel. I can’t help but notice how casually sexy he looks driving in the dusk.
“No, but I can learn.”
I try to restrain the smile, but it’s hard. Rowan’s overconfidence is adorable.
“I saw you signing with Niko,” Adam says, glancing in the rear-view mirror. “Did she teach you something?”
“Yeah.” Rowan lifts his hands to make a gesture. “Poop.” And then he breaks out into loud guffaws.
I exchange a look with Adam.
Not only does Rowan seem more upbeat today, he seems like an entirely new kid. Something tells me that it’s not only because of his new friends. I bet Adam opening up to him caused a breakthrough.
“Plus, I found out a secret,” Rowan whispers.
“What?” I ask, intrigued by the lives of the kids.
“You can’t tell anybody, okay?” Rowan insists.
“We promise,” Adam says.
“I think Bailey likes Elizabeth.”
Adam gasps loudly. Then he smirks. “Who’s Bailey and who’s Elizabeth?”
“Bailey’s the little boy with the blue eyes and glasses. He’s Sunny’s youngest son.” I yawn and then cover my mouth to stifle it. “Elizabeth is Max and Dawn Stinton’s daughter. She’s the one with the hazel eyes and pigtails.”
“Ah.” A crease appears above Adam’s eyebrows. “How do you know all that?”
“I observed.” It’s one of my favorite things to do. Watch people and how they interact with each other. Humans show who they really are when they think no one’s looking. It’s led to many interesting revelations.
Adam bobs his head, impressed. “Which one is Alistair’s daughter?”
“The youngest. Belle. Pretty brown eyes. Gap-tooth smile.”
“You’re scary.”
“You have no idea,” I murmur.
Adam laughs and flicks the indicator.
I sit straight up. “Adam, that’s not the way to my apartment.”
“Do you want to go back home?” Adam arches an eyebrow. “What if Jax is still there waiting for you?”
Oh-ho.
I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole.
Sinking back into my chair, I stare straight ahead. “It’s not what you think.”
“How do you know what I think? Did you invent a machine that can read minds while I wasn’t looking?”
“If I did, I’d slap a patent on it so fast, your head would spin.”
Adam doesn’t find it funny.
I think it’s hilarious, but I don’t laugh because it doesn’t feel like the time.
“I’m taking you to my house,” Adam says firmly. “I won’t be able to sleep a wink tonight thinking that guy might try to bother you when I leave.”
“He might try to bother me tomorrow. What are you going to do then?” I point out.
“I don’t know, Nova. Maybe I’ll ask you to move in.”
I fumble for words, but they’re all jumbled up in my brain and I can’t think of anything smart to say in reply.
Adam glances at me and he looks so painfully handsome that my brain glitches even harder.
Dancing around this line is becoming exhausting. It’s hard being with Adam all day. Hard not wanting to curl up in his side and fall asleep. Hard maintaining the professional distance I know we need in order to work together.
Not that I’ll have to worry about it after a few weeks.
I stare straight ahead. “Once the month is up and I’ve handed my duties over to someone new, you won’t have to worry about me so much.”
Adam’s broad shoulders stiffen. He looks like a slab of perfectly chiseled stone as he stares straight ahead.
My eyes snap back to the highway. I hold my breath, waiting for him to respond.
But he doesn’t.
At least not to comment on what I’ve said about leaving.
“You’re staying over tonight. And about the rest…” He clenches his jaw. “We’ll figure out the rest when we get to it.”
Adam’s shirt is way too big for me and, at the very same time, it’s way too short. The hem of his T-shirt cuts off at my upper thigh.
I peer at the sweatpants he lent me. They keep slipping down my hips, even when I pull the draw string tight. But there’s no way I’m going outside without any pants on.
Taking out the drawstring in the sweatpants, I use it as a belt and tie it securely so it won’t fall.
There.
I glance at the mirror and rub my head. I’ve been wearing a bun all day. Honestly, it’s starting to give me a headache, but I refuse to remove my ponytail and let my hair roar out like a lion’s mane. Even if I’m wearing an oversized T-shirt and too-big sweatpants, I still have an image to maintain.
Easing the bathroom door open, I tiptoe out.
“Adam?”
I don’t see him in the living room. Shuffling down the hallway, I stop when I hear movement coming from the guestroom. Adam is putting Rowan to bed.
My lips curl up as I watch Adam tenderly set the blanket over Rowan and run a hand over his head.
“Night, bud.”
Rowan snores in response.
Adam turns and sees me in the doorway. I freeze when his eyes darken at the sight of me. It reminds me of that heated moment in the hallway. Am I imagining the attraction in his gaze? Is it just a trick of the light?
When he comes closer, the expression is gone, replaced by a mischievous smirk. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in casual clothes before. You look cute.”
“Don’t insult me.”
“I’m not.” His eyes slide over me again. “I mean it.”
I nervously play with my ‘belt’, needing to do something with my hands other than grab Adam by his shirt and plant my mouth on him.
It’s been an incredibly long day.
The longest day of my life, honestly.
I started it out waking up in Adam’s couch and now I’m back here, about to do the same thing. It’s like I’m stuck in a loop of bad decisions.
Maybe it’s a sign. Maybe you should just go with what you’re feeling.
The thought slams into me out of nowhere and I flick it away like Dejonae flicked the bug off Kenya’s salad. You’re not welcome here, Bad Decision Nova.
Adam gestures down the hall. “Are you ready to go to sleep?”
“Why are you pointing that way?”
“Because you’re sleeping in my bed.”
I stumble back. “What?”
“I’ll take the couch.” That mischievous smile of his rises just an inch more.
My eyes shoot away. “Oh.”
I wait for him to tease me about the misunderstanding, but he doesn’t.
“Goodnight, Nova.” Adam walks to the living room.
I stand there like an idiot for a second and then I go after him. “Adam, I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”
“If it’s about work, you’re going to be in trouble.” Adam checks his watch. “You need to learn how to clock off, Nova.”
“It’s not about work. It’s about what you told everyone today at the barbecue.”
“What I told them?” His eyebrows cinch together.
“About leaving me alone and not asking me questions.”
“Oh that,” he says casually.
“Oh that?” I mock his tone and fold my arms over my chest.
“I asked them not to give you the third degree. Did you want to be pummeled with questions today?”
“No,” I sputter. “But still, you shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you made me look like an entitled, prissy brat.”
“Nova, you could never look like a brat.” He steps closer. “No one with your intelligence, kindness or big heart could pull it off. Besides, if Sunny and the rest of them didn’t like you, they wouldn’t have agreed. They’d have asked me not to come.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Oh, I do know that. You think anyone can tell those women what to do?” Adam arches a brow.
He has a point.
Still, I’m not ready to let it go. “You can’t keep going behind my back and doing stuff for me.” I point a finger in his face. “It’s not right.”
“Then I’ll keep being wrong,” he says stubbornly.
“Adam.”
“Nova, when did you start dating Jax?”
I shut my mouth immediately. Throwing my arms over my head, I pretend to yawn. “It’s getting late. I should go to bed now.”
A strong hand grips my wrist and keeps me from running. “No,” Adam says, his eyes darkening. “I answered your question. You answer mine.”
I shudder at the firmness in his tone. “Why does it matter?”
“You’re so intimidated by this guy that you’d rather drag yourself to a social event than stay at home and risk dealing with him. That tells me a whole lot about him. And it’s nothing good.”
I point my gaze on the ground.
Adam’s voice drops to a scary whisper. “Did he hurt you?”
“No. No, he didn’t. He’s just… persistent. And shrewd. I knew I wouldn’t have the energy to deal with him tonight.”
Adam’s finger dips under my chin and I prepare myself for an instant wildfire. But he only tilts my head up and scours my eyes as if he’s a human lie detector.
As we stand there, prickles of awareness froth in my stomach. My breath betrays me, catching like a thorn at my throat. The heat in Adam’s gaze and the warmth of his touch isn’t helping matters. The longer he stares at me, the harder my heart starts thumping.
Is it me or is this more than a boss being concerned about his employee? I’m so confused. For the past seven years, Adam has been nothing but professional.
Kind, yes.
Caring, yes.
But over-all, it’s always been clear that I am nothing but a prized worker bee, filling his honeycomb to the brim.
Ever since I handed in my resignation, his gaze has started to change. So has his touch. The pressure is different. Firmer. Lingering. Even his voice, rather than simply teasing and mischievous, has a ring of heat. Like lava flowing just under the surface, erupting in every low whisper and with every smolder of those deep, brown eyes.
He steps a little closer.
Tilts my head back a little further.
His body heat envelops me, coiling tightly around me like a cobra, a trap, tempting me to come closer.
Kiss him. Kiss him.
My mind and body are racing.
I need space.
Forcing slow, deep breaths, I step back and resist the impulse. If it were just mere animal attraction between me and Adam, I could probably risk devouring those two extra steps between us and giving into the need that’s throbbing in my core.
But I can’t.
Adam knows me in ways that no one else does. There’s something much deeper between us than I could ever express.
I don’t want to go near that cliff because the moment I dive off…
Wiggling my arm out of his grip, I shoot Adam a narrow-eyed look and gesture between us. “Don’t try to whammy me, Adam. It’s not going to work.”
“Whammy you?”
I can’t escape his mesmerizing gaze nor can I escape his grip as he reaches for me to keep me in place. There’s no hiding how I tremble when he gently strokes a circle in my wrist. Does he even realize he’s doing it? Does he realize what he does to me? His touch is so light, but it’s like fire. Every inch of my skin tingles.
“All I’m doing is asking a question, Nova.”
No, all he’s doing is confusing me. My gaze drops to his hands, big and broad. Manly. Veins slide up his arms before disappearing beneath the short sleeves of his T-shirt. I draw a line up to his eyes, fringed by thick lashes, dark as the night sky on a new moon. They highlight the sharp angles of his face, his square jaw.
Below that, the stubble on his jaw line and the strong muscles of his throat promise their own kind of delicious pleasure.
I can’t stop looking at him.
Transfixed.
Held captive.
I’m helpless as his dark brown eyes probe mine again.
Snap out of it, Nova.
“I’m not going to give you any more information about Jax.” I fire the words off my tongue, hoping to hide how my pulse is leaping. “You are not obligated to know about my dating life. This,” I point between us, “is still an employer-employee relationship.”
“Oh, definitely,” he says.
I scrunch my nose at him. “Are you mocking me?”
“No, Nova. I just know that every time I get even a centimeter closer to you, you explode like a pufferfish and throw these little prickles at me.”
“Are you calling me a pufferfish?”
“But here’s the thing,” the easy grin slides off Adam’s face, replaced by something painfully swoon-worthy and sincere.
Oh crap. The effusive, playful Adam I can handle. The flirty, back-me-into-walls Adam is tricky yet manageable. But the tender, heart-throb version is seriously dangerous to my well-being.
Adam drags me closer until I bump into his chest. He draws one hand over my face, brushing my cheek. A soft, feathery caress that makes my breath hitch.
“I will never stop looking out for you,” he promises in a deep, dark voice. “Whether you’re in Vision Tech or in another company or on Mars. I will never not be there when you need me. I will never stop bothering you about eating on time and I’ll never stop complaining about how much of a workaholic you are. And if there’s ever a jerk who intimidates you and makes it so you can’t even relax in your own home, I will always be there to give you a place of refuge.”
Heat climbs up my skin, starting from my head and working its way down to my stomach. He’s pulling me in, reeling me like a fish thrashing on a hook. The more I fight, the further the hook sinks in.
Maybe I should have taken my chances with Jax.
Because standing here, with my boss being this gorgeous and caring, is a completely different kind of danger.
Adam’s deep brown eyes lock on mine.
My lungs start closing up. Desire makes my skin feel tight like I threw it in the wash and it shrank several sizes.
Adam runs his fingers up to my ear. “You ready to go to bed now or do you still want to stand here arguing with me?”
My heart explodes in my chest.
Is he asking me to go to bed with him?
Is that really happening?
I open my mouth, but only a croaked sound escapes.
Get it together, Nova!
Unfortunately, inside my brain is the equivalent of a disaster zone, complete with men running around in lab coats screaming about the end of the world.
My complicated feelings for Adam are oozing out of their restraints and with each soft touch of his thumb on my face, I feel like I’m about to combust and take the whole house down with me.
Gathering all my strength, I step back and pull at the ponytail holder keeping my bun together. The distance helps to cool me down so I can think without the molten shock of body heat that was there a moment ago. “Why do I feel like I completely lost that argument?”
He chuckles.
I slant him a glare.
“Is your head okay?” he asks. “I noticed you’ve been fussing with it since the farmhouse.”
“It’s fine. I just put the ponytail in tight.”
Adam squints at my bun. “Why don’t you let your hair down?”
The laughter that escapes me is a flustered sound. “See, that right there tells me you don’t understand curly hair. If I yank this ponytail out right now, my hair is not going to fall to my shoulders. It’s going to keep pointing right up at the ceiling.”
“At least it’ll feel better.”
“Looking appropriate is worth more than feeling better, Adam.”
He shakes his head. “Sit down, Nova.”
I watch as he walks over to the couch and takes a seat. When Adam sees that I haven’t moved, he gestures to the floor. “Sit.”
“In front of you?”
“Yes.”
“Between your legs?”
Unmistakeable heat passes through his eyes and then it’s gone, replaced by a tired smile. “Yes.”
“That’s not—”
“Appropriate. I know. But sleeping over at your boss’s house isn’t appropriate either,” he points out.
“That’s what I tried to tell you.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Sit.”
With a huff, I march over to him. “I’m going to sue you for misconduct.”
“Go ahead.” Adam sets a pillow on the floor and widens his legs so I can sit between them.
Settling between his thighs feels way too intimate and I hold myself stiffly.
When I sense Adam going for my hair clip, I immediately latch my hands around his wrist to stop him. “What are you doing?”
“Did you get a follow-up from the lawyers about the plagiarism case?” Adam asks.
I shift into work-mode on a snap. “The other company wants to settle out of court, but since they dragged our name through the mud, I’m thinking of playing dirty.”
Adam tugs on my clip, making the stretch bigger and swooping it over my bun until my hair is free. “Won’t a lawsuit be another thing on your plate to worry about? Why not just settle?”
“Settling won’t teach them a lesson,” I murmur. At least I hope I say those words. What actually left my mouth could be closer to gibberish. But can you blame me? The feeling of a tight ponytail coming out is akin to throwing off a wired bra after a long day.
As comfortable as it is, I can feel my hair expanding. I reach up to scoop it back into one piece when Adam’s hands slide over my scalp. The sound that escapes my lips would be embarrassing if the massage didn’t feel so damn amazing.
“Oh my g—do not stop.”
Adam presses his fingers harder. “Does that feel good?”
“Better than good.”
“Over here?”
“Please.”
He makes a choked sound. “Please?”
“And thank you.”
Forget being inappropriate. My scalp is screaming like a teenager at a BTS concert.
Adam slows his massage and I almost start crying.
“Why are you torturing me?” I garble.
He speaks softly, “Nova, all I want to do is make your life better. And if you can’t relax when you’re with me, then I haven’t done a good enough job.”
“Good…” I struggle to come up with a real sentence. “You’re doing a good job.”
“Then take a few steps back. You don’t have to be so on edge. When it comes to me and you, I won’t ever cross the line unless you want to.”
Unless I want to?
His words would have snapped me awake, but his massage is just too relaxing.
I fight to keep my eyes open. “Adam?”
“Mm?”
“What would happen if I said I want to?”
His massage stops abruptly.
But it’s already unwound me enough that I close my eyes and give into sleep.
