Take This Man (8 page)

Suddenly
Latisha’s eyes lit up, as she looked past Elyse’s shoulder and waved to someone.
Elyse turned to see a tall curvaceous redhead standing inside the bookstore
entrance.

The
redhead lifted her hand in acknowledgment and headed to the table. When she
reached them, she gave Latisha’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Hi, babe.” She
nodded at the dinosaur book near Latisha’s elbow. “Find something nice for
Lonnie?”

“Yep.
I think he’ll like this.”

“Good.”
Her hand drifted down Latisha’s arm. She looked at Elyse and smiled. “Hi.”

“Tania,
this is a friend from my old neighborhood—Elyse Zemanski.”

“Hey,
how are you?” Tania pulled out a chair and sat down, her brown eyes full of
mischief. “So you knew my girl back in the day, huh? Ooh, I can’t wait to get
all the details.”

“No
details,” Latisha responded, giving the redhead a quelling look. “Elyse, this
is my partner, Tania Talcott.”

It
took a moment for the full meaning of that term to click with Elyse. She hoped
she didn’t look too surprised. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice
to meet
you
,” Tania responded. If the word
partner
wasn’t enough
of a clue to the nature of the women’s relationship, then the expression on
Tania’s face when she looked at Latisha, and the soft but possessive touch on
her arm, surely was.

“What
are you drinking? It looks good.” Tania stood, swinging her purse over her
shoulder. “I’m going to get myself something. Be right back.”

The
other two watched her head up to the counter. When Elyse looked at her friend,
Latisha was smiling.

“So.
Have I shocked you?”

“Shocked?
No,” Elyse said. “I guess a little surprised. I never realized you…”

“Neither
did I,” Latisha admitted cheerily. “At least not back when you and I were
friends.”

“So
how long have you two been…?”

“Almost
two years,” Latisha answered, a sigh in her voice and a dreamy look on her face
that Elyse envied. Latisha lowered her voice. “We’re talking about making it
permanent.”

“That’s
great.” She was happy for her friend, but at the same time thinking,
two
years
. Two years ago Latisha found the love of her life, just as Elyse lost
hers.

Latisha
quirked an eyebrow. “You sure are thinking hard about something. Care to share?”

“I
don’t know, I guess I wish I was as brave as you.”

“I
don’t think I’m especially brave. What do you mean?”

“Well,
you know, being with a woman, and people judging you…”

“Oh,
people might talk about you for a minute, but they’re more interested in their
own lives,” Latisha said. “They forget about you soon enough. As far as judging
goes, last I heard that’s God’s job, no one else’s.”

Even
back in the day, Latisha Hobbs had never been a coward. She lived her own life,
and didn’t let fear rule her.

Elyse
wished she was as fearless. If only she were brave enough to reach for what she
wanted. Without fear of making a mistake. Fear of being hurt.

If
only…

Chapter
Six

Adam
was waiting for her outside at Hanover’s, seated at one the small bistro tables
on the patio.

Elyse’s
steps faltered as soon as she spotted him. She swallowed hard, her mouth
watering at the sight of him. He looked so good sitting there with one arm
resting on the back of his chair, watching the street. A warm tingling started
in her belly and moved to all her erogenous zones. God, he didn’t even need to
touch her to get her started.

Adam’s
eyes widened, and he stood up when he saw her. He was dressed in light khakis,
and a button-down dress shirt. He looked casual, comfortable, and sexy as hell.

It
was a warm August evening, so Elyse wore a pretty summer dress with a sweater
over her shoulders. Her heartbeat quickened as she approached him.

“Hi.”
He seemed a bit shy as he took her hand. “Are you all right sitting out here?”

“Sure.
This is nice.”

It
was a small table with two chairs. Their knees touched beneath it. Electricity
shot through Elyse at the contact, and zeroed right in between her thighs.

Adam’s
face was impassive, but he must have felt something, too. He pushed his chair
back far enough to give their legs a few inches of space and shifted in his
seat. “I wasn’t sure you’d show up.”

“I
wasn’t either,” she admitted. She didn’t tell him she had almost decided not
to. It was her unexpected reunion with Latisha that made her change her mind.
Latisha’s courage made Elyse all the more aware of her own cowardice. It shamed
her into realizing she’d never get free of the past until she faced up to it.
And that meant facing Adam.

His
eyebrows rose. “Because I was an ass yesterday?”

“No.
You weren’t an ass. I was just feeling…I don’t know. Overwhelmed, I guess.” She
picked up her knife and began tracing patterns on the paper placemat. Catching
herself, she set the knife down again.

“But
you’re here.” He took her hand again. “I’m glad.” He paused a moment. “You’re
not sorry about last night?”

Elyse
didn’t even have to think. “No.” She glanced around surreptitiously. A few of
the other tables were occupied, but she and Adam were far enough away to keep
their discussion private. She had no intention of airing their personal
business in public.

“At
least we’ve got that going for us.” Adam kept his voice low, respecting her
desire for privacy. “We’ve always been good together that way.”

“It
doesn’t solve anything,” she told him. Sure, the sex was good. But so what?
They couldn’t spend all their time in bed.

“I
meant what I said this morning,” Adam lowered his head, moving it closer to
hers. “I want more.”

“Hi,
I’m Melissa, and I’ll be your server this evening!” A perky young woman
appeared out of nowhere like a genie, handing them menus and wearing a
professional smile. They jerked back, as though caught in the middle of a kiss.
Their server took their drink orders, recited the specials, and promised to be
back shortly.

As
Melissa moved away, Elyse perused the menu. At a nearby table a young couple
sat, maybe on a first date. The guy looked nervous and a little too eager to
impress the girl, chattering on about his Facebook page while his date sat
quietly, looking slightly bored.

Adam
set his menu aside. Elyse glanced at him.

“You
know what you’re getting?”

“What
I always get here. The Buffalo chicken wrap.” He folded his arms, his decision
made.

Elyse
smiled. He’d always been that way. Whenever he found something he liked, he
stuck with it. No changes.

Except
when it came to her.

Her
smiled vanished, and the words on her menu melted into a blur. But her voice
was calm enough when she remarked, “Still like the spicy stuff, I see.”

“Mm-hmm.”
She knew he didn’t want to discuss food now. He was waiting for her to respond
his earlier remark, the one he made before their server arrived.

Perspiration
filmed Elyse’s upper lip. The intensity of his stare had her heart thumping.
Adam shifted closer, and their knees bumped again. Her pussy creamed
immediately in response.

Now
was the time. To fish or cut bait. Piss or get off the pot. To finally have the
guts to tell the truth and go for what she wanted.

“I
want more, too,” she murmured. She didn’t care if it was right or smart, didn’t
care about anything.

Adam’s
eyes widened, then narrowed as he reached for her hand. Heat flared in his dark
eyes.

“I
don’t know how long I’ll be in Summit,” she told him. “Maybe a week or so, it’s
up to Jason. But for however long it is, I want to be with you.”

The
fire in Adam’s eyes cooled, and his mouth tightened into a grim line. “Why is
it up to Jason?”

“He’s
the reason I came back.” Elyse didn’t want to spoil things by arguing, but she
wasn’t going to let him give her shit about Jason. “I can’t get into all of it
right now. It’s complicated.”

A
muscle jumped in Adam’s jaw. “It must be, for him to set you up in the most
expensive place in town.”

Okay.
Now he was completely out of line. Was he jealous? Elyse wanted to laugh at the
thought. Where did he get off, anyway? If it hadn’t been for him, she would
never have
met
Jason.

“Would
you feel better if he’d gotten me a room at the New Moon?” she asked.

The
New Moon
. The
cheap motel the three of them had gone to that night.

The
silence was deafening. “Maybe this was a bad idea after all,” Elyse muttered.

“No.”
Adam answered quickly, decisively. His face was dark with embarrassment. “No,
it’s not. I want to be with you. For as long as you can give me.”

She
nodded, acknowledging his words, but wondered if it was too late. Maybe even
sex was too complicated. The past kept coming back to bite them in the ass.

“We
can only do this if we agree to let things happen from this moment. Let
everything else go. Everything from before…” Her words trailed off. Elyse
looked at the man seated across from her. “Can you do that?”
Could she?
“We’re
not going to talk about the past,” she went on. “There is no past.”

Adam
pressed her hand and nodded. “Let’s get out of here.”

Her
pulse spiked. They rose at the same time, unable to break their stare.

Their
server materialized again, her smile slipping as they stepped away from the
table. “Oh…are you—”

“Thank
you, Melissa,” Adam told her, placing some bills on the table and handing her a
twenty. “But we won’t be staying.”

“Okay,
well…thank you?”

“Where
are we going?” Elyse murmured, loving the feeling of being tucked against Adam’s
side, his arm holding her tight. “The hotel?”

“Too
far.” He spoke into her hair. “My place.”

Her
pussy contracted at the husky sound of his voice. He wanted her. When they
talked, it all went wrong, but one touch of his hand and she was wet for him.
This
was how they connected.

But
it was only for a week. They could pull it off for a week.

As
she and Adam walked past a table with three women, one of them looked longingly
at Adam, and then at Elyse.
You lucky bitch
.

Elyse
put her arm around Adam’s waist. Yes. Yes, she was.

****

They
got as far as the parking lot before Adam dragged her into his arms for a kiss.
Crushing her against the passenger’s door of the truck, he nudged her belly
with his rock-hard erection. Elyse dug her fingers into his shoulders to keep
her wobbly legs from sliding out from under her.

His
velvety tongue stroked hers—he tasted sweet and minty. Her own tongue played
inside his mouth to catch more of the flavor. In a fog of lust, she rocked her
body against his cock, teasing him. The heat in her belly was now a bonfire
showering her with sparks. Her lips, breasts, and pussy were all aflame.

Someone
cleared his throat nearby, and Elyse fell back to reality with a thump. An
older couple passed nearby, the man glaring at them with disapproval, the woman
trying to hide a smile. She flashed Elyse a wink over Adam’s shoulder.

Adam
pulled away with a groan. He opened her door and practically tossed her inside.
In a blink, he was in his seat, giving her a searing look. Then his shoulders
shook with laughter. “You’re always getting me in trouble in public.”

“It’s
your fault,” she told him, her hand creeping to his thigh.

“Oh,
right.
My
fault.” His large hand mimicked hers, resting on her thigh and
gliding under her dress. She purred and adjusted her legs, opening to give him
better access. His fingers skimmed lightly along her skin—now prickling with
goosebumps. Meanwhile, Elyse stroked the bulge in his pants lightly, teasing
him with her thumb.

Her
breath slowed as he played at the juncture of her thighs, toying with the
elastic of her panties. Her clit tingled, she was so close. She grasped Adam’s
fullness in her hand and he hissed. Then he snatched his hand away and removed
hers, placing it safely on her seat.

Elyse
moaned in frustration. “No fair.”

“Too
many people here.” He spoke through gritted teeth. He turned the key, started
the ignition. “My place.”

She
pouted, even though she knew he was right. Shifting on her seat, she suppressed
a groan. Her pussy was so wet and her clit so tender, it was agony to move.

He
glanced at her as they pulled out of the lot. “You all right?”

“No,”
she muttered. “I’m dying. Hurry, get us there.” She pressed her thighs
together, but that just made her more aware of the throbbing.