Five Minute Man: A Contemporary Love Story (4 page)

Holly’s eyes widened, then her cheeks blushed that lovely shade of rose again. He thought he heard her mutter “shit” beneath her breath, but it was so softly done he wasn’t completely sure. She took the folded cloth he offered and rubbed vigorously. “Did I get it?”

She had, but Adam couldn’t resist. “Not quite. Here, let me.” He took the kerchief and made a few gentle strokes across her brow. She stood completely still while she looked at him with those big green doe eyes. It was all he could do not to lean down and kiss the daylights out of her right then and there. He’d never felt the urge to kiss a woman quite so fiercely.

“There,” he said, forcing himself to take a step back before he did something stupid. “That ought to do it.”

“Thanks,” she said softly. Christ, if she didn’t stop looking at him like that, he really
was
going to do something stupid. Like crush that sweet little body up against his to see if his tactile memory was remotely close to the real thing. Of course, this time he’d make sure the contact lasted for more than a millisecond.

“You know, I bet a hundred cars passed since I pulled over, and you’re the only one who stopped to help.”

Adam didn’t know what to say to that, so he wiped the grease and dirt from his hands and said nothing. They stood there for a few moments in silence, but it wasn’t as awkward as it should have been. For some reason, Adam was reluctant to leave and kept wiping at his palm long after the grime was gone, shooting surreptitious glances at the pretty woman as he did so. Dressed casually again, hair loose, face relaxed and natural, she was even prettier than he remembered. Then she opened her mouth to say something and Adam inwardly cringed.
Crap
. Everything was going so good so far. He hoped to hell she wasn’t going to ask him out and ruin it. Or even worse, try to offer him something in recompense for his effort. She was cute and everything, but -

“Thank you.”

He blinked, waiting for her to say something else. She didn’t, and he did a little mental fist pump. “You’re welcome.”

She smiled at him again, then turned and walked around the front of her vehicle to get in. From where he stood, it didn’t look like she was in any particular hurry to leave, either.

“Hey,” he called on a sudden impulse as she placed her hand on the door handle. “What’s your name?”

“Holly. Yours?”

Good, she didn’t offer her last name. That showed intelligence and caution. “Adam. Do you like coffee, Holly?”

She hesitated for a few seconds. Adam didn’t think he breathed during that time. Then she smiled and nodded. “I like coffee.”

Relief flooded through him. Suddenly he felt as nervous as a kid. “Would you like to have some? With me? Now?”
Great
, he winced inwardly.
Way to sound overeager, dumbass
.

Her eyes softened just a little around the edges, her smile was kind. “No,” she said, dashing his hopes for a few thankfully brief seconds. “I have to go home and let my dog out. But how about later, maybe around seven? Ground Zero?”

“Seven’s good,” he said, pleased with her choice. Ground Zero was a nice, clean, well-lit little place with great coffee and a casual, cozy atmosphere. It was the perfect place for a first date. Not that this was a date. More of a pre-date interview. If things went well, they’d see.

“Shall we meet there?”

Holly nodded.  “Sounds good. See you then.”

Only after watching her drive away did he finally let out the breath he’d been holding. So far, so good, but he refused to get his hopes up just yet. He’d been disappointed too many times. Further analysis would be relegated until later that night.

––––––––

“S
o Brandon’s your nephew, huh?” Holly asked, sipping her hazelnut cream. She refused to get her hopes up. So far, Adam was the perfect gentlemen. Besides stopping earlier to change her tire -which earned him quite a few points – he’d asked her out for coffee and was fine with meeting here. He’d been waiting in the parking lot when she’d arrived five minutes early, and held the door open for her. Once inside, he’d asked her what she wanted, then took care of ordering and paying.

She was glad that she’d taken a little extra time with her appearance, choosing form-fitting faded Levi’s that made her butt look good and a soft, forest green sweater that accented her eyes. Especially since he looked so ruggedly handsome in his jeans and white button-down with the collar open at the very top and his sleeves folded back to reveal corded forearms.

Sitting across from him now, she was glad, too, that she’d chosen the corner booth, because the muted lighting accentuated the sun-bleached caramel highlights in his silky chestnut hair and made her fingers itch to run through it. Two hands on the cup kept her from doing just that. “Bet he’s a handful.”

“He’s a good kid,” Adam said truthfully., thankful she had chosen a safe topic on which he could easily converse. Although he felt none of the usual awkwardness around her that he usually did on an initial date, if that’s what it was. “Smart, too. He’s going to make one hell of an engineer.”

The way his eyes softened just a little and his lips curved slightly suggested that Adam was both close to and fond of his nephew. “You’re very proud of him.”

“Yeah. It’s not his fault he inherited his father’s curse.”

Holly’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “A curse, huh? Is that what you call it?”

He chuckled. It was a deep, low rumbling sound that sent little tingling shivers in some of her more womanly parts. “Yeah. Women throwing themselves at him all the time. Who would want that?”

“Who, indeed,” she hummed, wondering how Adam handled that same cursed affliction. If she looked closely, she could definitely see some family resemblance, but where Brandon’s features were of the picture perfect, movie-star variety, Adam’s were more rugged. His hair was a bit unruly, as if it had been hastily finger-combed as an afterthought. His skin had the sun-kissed look of someone who spent a good deal of time outside. A brief glance downward revealed strong, capable hands and a few calluses.

Of the two, Holly knew which one she preferred.

“What about you? Any nieces or nephews?” he asked, breaking into her mental inspection.

“A couple, but they’re all still pretty young yet. The oldest is in seventh grade, the youngest, about six months.” Thinking of the last time she had seen them - at a family gathering that had turned into more of an intervention - the corners of her mouth curved down slightly.

“You don’t like kids?”

“Hm?” she hummed, her gaze snapping back to his. Clearly he’d been watching close enough to catch the slight frown she hadn’t caught in time. She could add “perceptive” to the mental checklist she was creating in her mind. So far the plus column had a lot more entries than the minus column, which was still shockingly empty. “Oh, no. I love kids. It’s just kind of a sore subject with me.”

“Why is that?” Adam asked. Normally he was not quite so intrusive right out of the starting gates, but he was determined to find something wrong with her. The sooner, the better, too, because the more time he spent with her, the more he was inclined to possibly overlook some of his prerequisites for ascending to the next level (should it become necessary). Once he started settling, he was in trouble.

Holly scratched a non-existent spec from her coffee mug with the tip of her well-manicured but practically short nail. It was a few minutes before she glanced up at him with a rueful smile. “I have four siblings – two older, two younger - each of which is married, actively procreating, and professionally employed.”

Adam shrugged, waiting for the innate alarm built into all single males to sound at the reference to marriage and kids, but it didn’t. Weird. “So?”

She dropped her eyes again, but not before he caught a flash of something raw and vulnerable. “So... I’m thirty, not married, have a dog instead of kids, and work from my home. In my family’s eyes, that equates to bottom of the ninth, down by a boatload, with a full count and our worst hitter just off injured reserve up to bat. In other words, all but hopeless.”

The baseball analogy amused him, a not-so-subtle attempt to infuse humor in a subject that was obviously painful for her. Instead of shying away from it, she took it, dressed it up a little, and put it right back out there. “You paint quite a picture.”

She shrugged, but there was no mistaking the stubborn tilt of her chin or the challenge in her eyes. “No use in sugar coating it. It is what it is.” Then she flashed him a grin. “You seem like a nice enough guy, Adam. You should know what you’re up against.”

Jesus, he liked this woman. “Forewarned is forearmed?”

“Exactly,” she beamed, seemingly pleased that he had caught on so quickly. “As innocent as this is, if my family finds out about you, they’ll hold a family meeting – after the shock wears off, of course. There’s nowhere you’ll be able to hide that they won’t find you. They’ll probably try to bribe you. It won’t be pretty.”

“I take it you don’t go out much.” Adam’s smile grew, reaching his eyes. 

Holly snorted softly. “Not much, no.”

Solitude was something he understood very well; it was the reason behind it that interested him. Dare he hope that she, like him, was past all the superficial bullshit with the dating scene? Because nothing else made any sense to him. She was adorable, witty, smart, and didn’t take herself too seriously. What the hell was he missing?

“Why not?”

***

H
olly sat back, an enigmatic smile on her face. Adam was so easy to talk to, to be around. She’d already broken her first cardinal rule - talking about herself and her family issues. Generally speaking, there was no faster way to end an evening. And yet he was still here, looking unfazed and even slightly amused. Most guys would have left skid marks within seconds of hearing words like “marriage” and “kids” from an aging woman well on her way to spinsterhood that they’d just met over coffee. Granted, it was some really great coffee, but still.

What the hell
, she decided. She already liked this guy way more than she should at this point in the game. Best to break out the big guns now and save herself a lot of pain and heartache later. As soon as he found out how she paid her bills, there’d be skid marks for sure.

“You seem like a pretty astute kind of guy, Adam.” He inclined his head in acceptance of the compliment. “What do you think I do for a living?”

One brow raised. God, that was sexy. She’d never been able to pull that off, though she had once practiced for several hours with a hand-held mirror and a flashlight in her closet when she was younger and first became aware of the phenomenon.

“Is this a test?” he quipped. “Am I being graded?”

Her lips quirked. “More like a game show, really. Think of it as a chance to win fabulous prizes or go home empty handed.”

“Empty handed? Really? Most shows have at least a consolation prize.”

“I guess I could spring for one of those day-old scones over there for being a good sport.”

“And the fabulous prizes?”

“I’m still working on that part.”

He grinned, the look in his eyes suggesting what he would pick for a prize if she asked him his opinion. She didn’t. Just the fact that he seemed interested was enough for her, no fishing expedition needed.

“Do I get a phone-a-friend? Ask the audience?“

Holly felt her lips quirking again. He was teasing her, and not in a mean or mocking way. She liked it. A lot. “No.”

“Oh, well in that case, let’s see.” He sat back, crossed his arms, then brought one hand up to his mouth in a classic “thinker” pose.

Of course he was already pretty sure he knew what she did for a living, but this was an opportunity to impress her a little. Normally he didn’t go for that kind of thing, but he was enjoying himself too much not to play along.

“You seem very organized and intelligent. Well-spoken. I’m guessing you went to college?” She nodded, amused. “Fairly confident despite your self-mockery. You live alone, which shows competence and independence. You’ve already admitted you don’t date much, and I don’t get the impression you’re much of a party girl, so I’m guessing you went for something safe, respectable and relatively quantifiable, like mathematics or science.”

He paused. “No, wait – something with computers. A programmer, or an analyst perhaps. How am I doing so far?”

Her eyes twinkled, but she said nothing.

He put both arms on the table and leaned forward, looking right into her eyes. “But that’s not the real you,” he said, his voice softer than before. “You
could
do that, and be very good at it, but you’d hate it. It’s not who you are.”

Her eyes widened a little, her lips parted in surprise. Her attention was absolute, focused only on him, and he liked the feeling.

“No, there’s too much passion in your eyes. Too much mischief to do anything so tedious. Given the clues you’ve already provided, it would have to be something more creative than that. Something -” he paused for effect, leaning forward even more, dropping his voice even lower, “... not so respectable.”

He saw her swallow. The smile still played about her lips, but she was less sure than she had been. A bit of anxiety showed in the tenseness of her shoulders. He had her now. His voice was barely audible. “You’re a Dominatrix, aren’t you?”

For a moment, her eyes got really huge. Then she laughed. Not a polite chuckle, either, but a real, hearty genuine laugh that had her shoulders shaking and filled his chest with sunlight, made him feel like he really had just won a great prize.

“Come on,” he winked, “you can tell me. What do you have under that sweater? Leather bustier? Lace corset? Whips? Chains?”

It made her laugh even harder until she had tears coming out of her eyes and she was gasping for breath. Jesus, he loved a woman who could laugh like that. And the fact that he was the reason behind it? Even better.

“Oh, God, Adam,” she said when she could speak again, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed so hard. Thank you for that.”