Five Minute Man: A Contemporary Love Story (13 page)

But her unwelcome visitor managed to smooth her features back into a semi-professional mask and smiled coldly. “You’re new here, so let me give you a piece of helpful advice. The Covendale Valley Historical Society has the backing of some very powerful members of this community who want to ensure that our local history is preserved for future generations. If I were you, I would think twice about engaging in a battle you can’t win.” Eve’s eyes practically glowed. “We care for and protect what is ours.”

A chill ran up and down the length of Holly’s spine as every one of her female senses flared to life. With a scary certainty, she knew they were no longer simply talking about the cottage. Visions of Eve’s hand running along Adam’s bicep with serious familiarity clouded her vision for a moment, but she pushed them back. Anything he had with Eve must be over, right? Because Adam had been spending his evenings and weekends with her, not Eve.

Eve was probably just reluctant to let him go. Holly could understand that. She wouldn’t let Adam go easily, either. 

“Let me make this perfectly clear, so there is no doubt. I am the legal owner of this house and the land surrounding it. I have no intention of applying for any historical recognition whatsoever, nor will I. This is private property. And
I
care for and protect what is
mine
.”

***

“A
re you getting a drink tonight?” Holly asked as the server appeared to take their drink orders. “Because I am definitely getting a drink tonight.”

“Unsweetened red wine for me,” Liz told the young man without opening the beverage menu. “Whatever you have is fine.”

The server turned to Holly. “And you, ma’am?”

Holly pointed to the brightly colored photo image splashed across the cover of the laminated stand-up card. “Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey.”

The waiter didn’t bother looking up from his little pad. He was young, like Brandon, but not nearly as friendly. He looked extremely bored. “Want that with the blackberry lemonade and ginger ale?”

“Whatever. Just make sure it’s a double shot.”

He nodded and left, leaving Liz staring worriedly across the table. “A double? What’s up?”

Holly grimaced. “Remember I told you about that woman I saw with Adam at the Y that night? Well, she showed up on my doorstep today.”

“Eve came to your house?”

Holly stared at her friend in disbelief. She had never told Liz the woman’s name, because she hadn’t known it herself until a few hours ago. “
Eve
? You mean you
know
her?”

Liz grimaced. “Yeah, I know her alright. She is bad news, Holly.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before? Like when I told you what happened? That could have been useful information, Liz.”

“Because I didn’t know then that the woman you saw was Eve, Holly. I didn’t find out until after Adam told me.”

Holly shook her head. This vague fog of confusion was supposed to come after the drink, not before. “Wait. You talked to Adam? When?”

Guilt suffused Liz’s features. “Last Wednesday. He kind of cornered me at the Y to find out why you weren’t talking to him.”

“And you told him?” Holly hissed.

“Well, duh. You were miserable, Holly. I told him why you were upset, the light bulb blinked on, and he explained what really happened. She was going after him, Holly, not the other way around.”

“And you just believed him?” As skeptical as Holly was, Liz was even more so when it came to the kind of bullshit men spewed to save their own asses. More than one dinner conversation had centered around Liz’s personal dating experiences. Some of those tales even found their way into Holly’s storylines occasionally, because truth was so often stranger than fiction.

“I’ll admit, I was a little doubtful at first. But as soon as I realized that Eve was the other woman, I knew he was telling the truth. You should have seen him, Holly. He was every bit as miserable as you were. I had to do something.”

The discussion was suspended as the server reappeared with their drinks and a basket of warm, crusty bread. Holly wasted no time in bringing the straw to her lips, relishing the rush of sweet, smooth alcohol across her tongue. Liz placed her meal order first, then Holly doubled it. In a shocking move, Liz tore off a piece of bread and slathered it with the whipped butter.

“Liz,” Holly said slowly, watching in morbid fascination as Liz savored the forbidden carbs. That, more than anything, told her that Liz was holding back crucial information. “What exactly did you do?”

“Nothing, really,” Liz said, avoiding Holly’s eyes. The very distinct red tint infusing her cheeks suggested otherwise.

“
Liz
...” Holly warned.

“Oh, alright. I made him buy me a coffee and I told him that if he really wanted to rock your world he needed to be your Five Minute Man. He, of course, had no idea what that meant, so I had to explain it to him. There. Are you happy now?”

Holly gaped at Liz across the table. At her best and only friend. She didn’t say anything. She just pulled her drink closer and continued to draw from the straw, glad she’d asked for a double. Liz kept shooting furtive glances at her, alternately mangling the remaining bread by pulling off bite-sized pieces and sipping her wine.

By the time their meal arrived, they still hadn’t spoken. It was Liz who finally broke the silence. “Are you angry with me?”

Holly exhaled heavily, pushing the now-empty glass off to the side. Her head was buzzing pleasantly and she was feeling a bit more relaxed. “No, I’m not angry with you. Because of you, I had a three night, three day marathon of incredibly hot and wild monkey sex.”

Liz’s eyes widened. Then Holly grinned and they both burst into gales of laughter, drawing stares from some of the surrounding tables. “So I did a good thing?”

“You did a very good thing,” Holly agreed. “Adam is... well, he is the personification of my perfect man.” She shook her head. “In fact, he is too good to be true. I knew there had to be a catch. And she showed up on my front porch today.”

“Eve is something else. But you can’t hold that against Adam. It’s not his fault she’s a psycho hose beast and can’t take no for an answer.”

“Psycho hose beast?” Holly repeated incredulously.

Liz waved her hand dismissively. “I saw it in this really bad 80’s film. Never thought I’d actually use it, but in this case, it fits.”

“Tell me.”

Liz scowled. “Let’s just say that I have a very good reason to hate Eve Sanderson and leave it at that.”

Holly wanted to ask more, but the look of resolve on Liz’s face told her she wouldn’t get much more out of her on the subject. Thankfully, their meals arrived and gave them something else to focus on.

A
dam cursed as the stubborn oil valve gave way and his forearm was covered in the dark, thick liquid. Changing the oil on his truck was child’s play, something he’d done dozens of times, but it was hard to concentrate when he was so damn distracted. It was Tuesday night, and Holly was out with her friend. Would Liz tell Holly about running into him at the Y? About their shocking and revelatory discussion at the coffee shop?

Yeah, she probably would. Liz made no secret of the fact that Holly was more like a sister to her than a friend, and sisters definitely shared that kind of shit. At least his sisters did. Growing up, he’d overheard a lot more girl talk than he’d wanted to. Frank and explicit discussions from makeup to boys and everything in between.

How would Holly react? Would she be upset with Liz for revealing all of that extremely personal (and useful!) information, or would she understand that Liz had only her best interests at heart? Knowing Holly, it was probably the latter. She might be somewhat of a loner, but she was fiercely loyal to those few she’d chosen to allow into her inner circle. A circle that now (hopefully) included him.

Either way, he kind of hoped they did talk about it, get it out in the open. He would have done so himself, but like most guys, he wasn’t good at that kind of sharing shit. He preferred to speak more through actions than words. Undoubtedly, Liz would have a better idea of how to say things to make Holly understand the truth of it. Besides, with his luck, someone might have seen him and Liz together that night and that might somehow make it back to Holly. He didn’t want any more misunderstandings to come between them.

Which brought up the other primary source of his distraction: Eve. He couldn’t get that last phone call out of his head. It had been on his mind all day, wondering exactly what she was up to. He’d thought he’d done a fairly good job of shifting Eve’s focus away from Holly, but one never knew with Eve. She might give the outward impression of not being very smart, but the woman could be quite cunning when she put her mind to it.

The fact that Eve was using the Historical Society was proof of that. Even if she didn’t believe Holly was a rival for his attention, Eve knew that Adam had been more than a little interested in obtaining the gamekeeper’s cottage at one point. In yet another stunningly stupid move – he really seemed to be racking those up lately – he’d mentioned it during their one and only dinner together. Of course, he’d had no idea of what she was capable of then. She’d been asking him about his job, and he’d mentioned that he had a special affinity for doing historical reno’s.

She’d seemed so interested, said how she’d always been fascinated by local history, that her wealthy, powerful father was on the board of the Covendale Valley Historical Society. So he’d told her about the cottage, about its history, how he’d been so disappointed that he’d been outbid.

How the hell was he supposed to know that bit of seemingly innocuous information would come back to bite him on the ass?

Eve obviously thought that the cottage was a way to worm her way back into his life. What she didn’t seem to understand is that nothing she said or did would make that happen. One night had been more than enough, and he was still paying for it.

The question was, what should he do about it? Should he attempt to talk to Eve? That particular route had never been successful in the past; Eve only heard what she wanted to hear. But he felt like he should be doing something. Left unchecked, this situation had potential disaster written all over it.

His thoughts went back to Holly, which seemed to happen every few minutes or so. Damn, but he had it bad. She was everything he’d ever dreamed of in a woman. Smart, sassy, funny, talented, and she brought him close to seeing God every time they had sex. She was capable and fiercely independent, except when it came to him. She willingly let him dominate her, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Christ
. The way she melted against him, looked up at him with those big green eyes filled with so much hope and trust and - dare he think it? – love.

It seemed far too soon to even contemplate such a possibility, but there it was. Whether it really was or not remained to be seen, but the potential was there, stronger than it had been in any other relationship he’d ever been in.

It was exactly for that reason that he wanted to keep Eve as far away from her as possible. Holly should not have to suffer because he’d made some bad choices long before they’d ever even met. And if he was being really honest with himself, he wanted to
be
the man she thought he was when she looked at him like that. The one who would do anything to protect her and keep her safe from likes of psychologically unbalanced women like Eve Sanderson.

***

B
y Thursday, Adam was more than ready to spend the rest of the night with Holly. His arms (and various other parts of his anatomy) literally ached, and not because he had spent the last two days redoing the stonework around a floor-to-ceiling fireplace dating back nearly two hundred years. No, this pain was born solely of the agonizing want and need to drown in the magical touch of one smart-mouthed little brunette. He gripped the phone in his hand, the words more disappointing than he could have imagined.

“I’m sorry, Adam,” Holly said, sounding as weary as he’d ever heard her. “I’m going to have to cancel our dinner tonight.” She explained how she’d come out of the grocery store to find not one, but two flat tires. “I got a tow, but they don’t have the right sized tires in stock. They are checking some of their other locations right now, but I’m going to be stuck here for a while yet.”

It had been three fucking days since he last saw her. He’d be damned if he’d let it get to four. “Where are you?”

“Covendale Tire and Auto.”

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

“Adam, you don’t have to –“ she started to say, but he disconnected before she could finish. He absolutely
did
have to. Holly needed him.

Forgoing the shave, Adam jumped in the shower to rinse off the day’s dirt and sweat before pulling on some clean jeans and a shirt. He made it to the garage in record time.

Holly was in the waiting room, worrying her bottom lip and staring blankly at the television mounted on the wall. His heart sped up at the very sight of her. Even in old jeans and a worn college hoodie, she was quite possibly the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. The fact that she looked so young and vulnerable only enhanced the effect.

She turned then, and the look on her face when she spotted literally took his breath away. No woman had ever looked at him like that. Like he was the fucking sun after a week of rain. It was an effort not to sprint across the space and crush her to him.

“Adam,” she said, “you didn’t have to come all the way down here.” At least, that’s what her mouth said. Her eyes told a completely different story.

“I wanted to,” he said, surprised at how normal his voice sounded. “I promised you a dinner, remember?”

“Actually, I promised to cook you dinner,” she corrected with an embarrassed smile. “Except here I am, and your dinner is being held in a refrigerated storage room at the grocery store.”

He shrugged. She could hand him a bag of chips from the vending machine and he’d be happy. “So? We’ll eat out tonight.”

“I really wanted to cook for you,” she pouted.