Living Lies (22 page)

“A babe magnet?” he repeated with distaste. “Is that who you think I am?” he asked, with a look of concern. “That’s not me, Melanie, I’m not a player.”

“You don’t use this boat to lure women?”

“Today is my first time. How am I doing?”

Melanie laughed. “Failing miserably.”

“I guess I’ll have to try harder,” he said, scooting in next to her. “But honestly, Melanie, you’re the first person I’ve invited on my boat.”

“Is it brand new?” she teased.

“Hmm,” he rubbed his chin and studied her. “You’re dangerous, aren’t you?”

“It’s funny because I was thinking the same thing about you.” Her stomach rumbled, a loud, embarrassing complaint. “I wonder if I’m more or less dangerous when I’m hungry.”

“Well, either way I can’t have you hungry.” Reaching beneath the seats he pulled out a rectangular tabletop and a pole. “I’ll get lunch, and you can set the table, if you don’t mind.” He handed her the tools and grinned.

She surveyed the latches and clips along with the base, fitted with slide-out attachments that connected to the Formica tabletop. Her hands moved quickly as she assembled the structure and secured it to the footing in the floor.

Done, with time to spare, she leaned back and enjoyed the peace.

Her belligerent stomach moaned for attention as the smell of food wafted from the open cabin door.

“I’m coming,” he called, anticipating her impatience. “Hey, nice job.” Adam situated plates and containers across the table. “I’m getting drinks, why don’t you get started? These are the appetizers.” He opened two dishes, one labeled “crab cakes” and the other “spring rolls.”

It was all she could do to wait.

Adam came out with two tall glasses, iced with a deep pink liquid.

“What is that?”

“Strawberry agua fresca and you’re my guinea pig. Do you mind?” He handed her the cold glass.

“I don’t mind,” she said, though she sniffed the sweet-smelling drink before taking her first sip. “It’s good.” She nodded and took a deeper swallow. Her stomach wasn’t distracted by the fluid, it wanted food.

She picked up a crab cake, and although he wasn’t watching, she knew he was tuned in to her reaction.

The toasted buttery crust melted on her tongue. “Oh my God,” she looked into his green eyes, “you have to have one.”

Adam looked, pleased yet not surprised. “Good?”

“Very, but of course you know that.”

He shrugged, “It’s nice to hear.”

Melanie picked up a bite-sized piece and held it up to his mouth. She hadn’t intended the gesture to be arousing but her toes curled the instant her fingers made contact with his lips. She looked up to see him gazing at her with the same reaction.

She held her breath and this time she leaned into him, encircling her arms around his neck and with a somewhat shy movement she kissed him.

“I’ll have to remember crab cakes for you.”

It wasn’t just the appetizers that worked her up, his entire menu was outstanding – tortellini salad, sea bass with lemon and herbs, chicken Florentine and chocolate cherry cake.

His food was an aphrodisiac.

Melanie kissed him like he was the oxygen she needed to breathe. Lost in the power of his touch she wasn’t sure when she’d moved, straddling his lap and holding his face in her hands.

He brushed back a loose strand of hair that had fallen into her face, and that simple gesture was the trigger. It was so Danny that Melanie couldn’t shake the feeling.

Adam’s jaw suddenly felt wrong, too strong and too clean shaven, his neck too thick, his shoulders too broad and too muscular – he felt
wrong
.

She pulled off his lips and lap in one quick movement, like yanking off a Band-aid. Melanie was panting and Adam looked confused. She needed a moment alone to understand what the hell was going on. Off went her Capri pants and white camisole top. Adam’s expression was wide with distress. She felt guilty and embarrassed.

“I’m going for a swim.”

The water was cold and dark, both freezing and burning her lungs. Melanie swam downward, kicking vigorously until she figured she’d used up half of her air. Hanging suspended in a black abyss, her tears blended with the ocean.

Who are you? The person I know wouldn’t have had her legs wrapped around a guy she’d just met. No, she’d be fighting like hell to get her damn job back. Melanie, where are you?

She knew what she had to do.

Focusing on the spot of light that barely penetrated the darkness she kicked upward, following the bubbles that escaped her mouth. The surface was farther than she’d thought. She’d miscalculated her depth and felt her body closing in on her. Her focus remained on the slow-growing circle of light above her head. In a Superman position, arms extended upward her kicking was less energetic, she was tiring but she didn’t know failure.

The water invaded her body, as she screamed in the cold blackness. She felt something wrap around her waist. She fought it, striking at it and trying to swim away, but it pulled her up, fast.

It was Adam. They exploded out of the surface of the water. Coughing and wheezing, she struggled to fill her searing lungs. Adam kept her from bobbing back under and dragged her toward the wooden boat steps.

Effortlessly he lifted her, setting her on the step. The air helped reduce her coughing. Adam was still in the water, resting his forehead against her knees.

His hair was curly wet. She touched the base of his neck, behind his ear, and the spirals coiled gently around her fingers.

“Are you all right?” he asked, looking up from her knees.

“Yes.”

In one fluid movement Adam was standing beside her on the step, reaching down with his open hand to pull her up to her feet.

She shivered and he draped a towel over her shoulders then wrapped his arms protectively around her.

“You scared me,” he said, tightening his embrace. “What the hell was that about?”

She felt the change, from concern to anger.

“I…” she shivered, his bare chest was warm, “I was on my way up.”

“I know.” His lips pressed down on the top of her head. “I had no idea you could hold your breath that long.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What happened?”

I got scared
, was too much truth, so she settled for, “I’m not ready for
this
.”

“You’re going to have to be more explicit.” His arms slackened and the anger had morphed into something else.

Her radar was activated and monitoring every fluctuation in his tone.

“I go back to work this week. And I just can’t start something when the inevitable result is disappointment.”

The quiet was maddening. The boat creaked gently.

“Come to L.A.with me. I leave Monday to close on the building for the restaurant. I can get you back in just over an hour. We can figure something out.”

“I can’t,” she said, instinctively opposed, the hairs standing on the back of her neck. “You’ve obviously have never been in a long-distance relationship.” She didn’t like to use the word “romance” if she could help it.

“No, but…” He looked down at her, “have you?”

“Once.”

Adam sighed and he released his hold.

“Are you still cold?”

She shook her head.

“Adam, can I ask you something?” Their eyes locked. “Just before I dove in, you had a peculiar expression. I was just wondering what you were thinking.”

His slightly embarrassed, regretful smile was attractive. “I thought you were … undressing.”

“Then why the unhappy look?”

“I wasn’t unhappy, I was surprised.” He hung the towel across her shoulders. “I told you, I don’t take sex casually.”

“Oh,” she nodded, comprehending. “You would have turned me down?” The image of her standing in the buff while being rejected made her cringe.

But Adam shook his head. “I wouldn’t have said no.”

Melanie squinted up at him, the sun in her eyes making it impossible to read his face. Her heart sped up and beat hard against her ribs.

“Now I wish that was what you wanted,” he admitted.

“Adam.” Her voice was flat.

He was the first to break away, clearing the dishes and taking them from the table to the cabin.

On the edge of the bench, Adam had folded her clothing. She dressed, the wet bathing suit saturating the dry fabric. Sitting cross-legged she searched the horizon for – nothing, anything, a distraction.

Her empty feeling intensified when Adam sat next to her and stared.

“What happened with the long-distance relationship?”

She felt the downward turn of her lips but couldn’t reverse the bend.

“You were in love with him?”

Melanie hesitated. “Um, yeah, I thought I was. Is that the same thing?”

“I don’t know.”

Melanie sat up straighter, repositioning her legs, nervously tucking them beneath her, agitated from the mention of Danny. She understood that Adam was expecting some sort of explanation and her throat tightened in response.

“I was in college and he was my fantasy guy.”

“Really?” Adam’s eyes widened and his eyebrows raised with interest.

“Really,” she smiled, blushing, a little ashamed of her girliness. But suddenly she wanted to tell him. The gentle, cradle-like movement of the boat plunged her into a sense of nostalgia. She spoke slowly, remembering each detail.

“His name is Danny.” She cleared her throat.

How long has it been since I’ve said his name out loud?

She exhaled softly to settle the jitters. He waited patiently, not moving. His gaze was soothing and finally she found her voice.

“Right before graduation, he broke up with me. He was moving up and I was in the way. But when he got to New York he found himself alone, and Danny was never alone. I was already in D.C., and it seemed like such a short distance to the city. We did the three-hour almost-no-distance thing successfully for about eight months before we both got too busy. We planned train schedules, work schedules but it just fell apart, slowly, so slowly that neither of us noticed. It’s not like we ever officially ended it – it just faded. One day we had our last phone call, our last kiss, our last goodbye. We didn’t even know it was our last, or at least I didn’t.”

Adam wore the appropriate solemn expression, “When was the last time you saw him?”

“Seven or eight years ago. He’s a rugby player and out of the blue I happened to check out his team’s Website. There was a big picture of him with a woman. He looked happy. The team was congratulating them on their upcoming nuptials. There was a bio. She was the daughter of one of the owners, rich and beautiful, and Danny was handsome and talented.” Melanie sighed.
What else was there to say?

“Wow, what’d you do?”

“What could I?” she shrugged. “I went to work. Forty minutes later I was boarding a flight for a job in Chile.”

“Do you still love him?”

Melanie thought for a moment. “No, that was a long time ago, but I’m still cautious because of him.” This was something she’d only recently learned, as recent as the words that had just rolled off her tongue.

Adam nestled closer, his arms tenderly drawing her toward him. His intense emerald eyes were steady as his lips brushed her across her cheek. She untangled herself from his hold, pressing her hands against his broad shoulders. Adam loosened his hold, brushing back a strand of fallen hair and caressing her face.

“I want to take away all of your pain.”

“I’m not in pain.”

She took his hand in hers, it was calloused and scarred, by years of culinary mishaps. But on her skin they’d felt soft and smooth.

“Are you kidding?” He pulled back to get a better look at her expression. “He’s the real reason you’re pushing me away.”

“No,” she shook her head, uncomfortable with the direction of conversation.

“Okay,” he said, shuffling and readjusting his seat further from her. “I guess we should we start heading back,” he said, moving away testily.

“Do we have to?” she asked. “I mean, can’t we talk?”

He looked unsure.

“You must really like L.A.” she tried.

“Why do you want to know, Melanie? You’ve made it clear that
this
isn’t going any further.”

“Because we still have today.”

“Okay, but if I end up kissing you again, we’re out of here.” His laugh wasn’t the same.

She didn’t care what he talked about so long as they were together, even if it was only for a few more hours.

“I chose L.A. because I can’t open a place in San Diego. I signed a contract with Oscar. Los Angeles seems reasonable.”

“Did you always want to be a chef?” she asked, cautiously.

“No, it had never occurred to me. I was all set to play football at Florida State.”