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Five minutes later, they left the town limits of Devil’s Falls in the rearview mirror. He took them out to one of the spots that had been his favorite as a teenager. He and his friends had spent more nights than he could count out on the edge of this field, drinking and bullshitting and passing out in the beds of their trucks. He shut off the engine and stared at the stars while the engine ticked. “He’s not worth it.”
“Hmm?” She scooted over and burrowed under his arm to lean against his side.
“Grant. He’s not worth it. You’re so far out of his league, it’s not even funny.” Out of both our leagues.
A soft snore was his only response. Despite everything, he smiled. She really was something else. He’d never put much thought into the kind of woman he’d eventually settle down with—or into settling down in general. But he could almost picture it with Jules. Life would never be boring, that was for damn sure.
As if on cue, the restlessness in his blood kicked up a notch, like an itch he could never quite scratch, reminding him that he’d been in the same place for two weeks, longer than he’d spent in one town in twelve years. If his mom…
No, it’s time to face the truth. It’s not an if. It’s a when. If the cancer doesn’t take her, old age will at some point.
When his mom died…
Adam pulled Jules more tightly against him and rested his chin on the top of her head. He could barely stand to think the thought. How the hell would he be able to spend time in Devil’s Falls when every time he turned around, he’d be assaulted with memories of her and have to experience the loss all over again? It had been unbearable after John died. With his mom it would be so much worse.
Even if she lived to the ripe old age of a hundred, the open road was too tempting a siren call for him to ignore for long. He needed the horizon stretching out before him, the thrill of the next bull ride promising an adrenaline rush like no other.
The closest he’d come to it outside the rodeo was the woman in his arms, and hell if that didn’t make him a dick for using her to quell his thrill-seeking nature. It couldn’t last, though. Nothing had kept him in one place for long before, and he didn’t imagine anything would in the future.
No, he wasn’t staying. He couldn’t.Chapter FourteenJules woke up wonderfully warm…and certain that some small animal had crawled into her mouth and died. She shifted, not quite willing to leave the safe circle of Adam’s arms—because she’d know that spicy scent anywhere.
“Morning.”
She looked up, finding him far too close to risk opening her mouth. There was no help for it. She slithered out of his hold and to the other side of the bench seat. Eyeing the distance between them, she decided caution was the better part of valor and held her hand in front of her mouth. “Morning.”
His eyebrows crept up. “What are you doing?”
Being an idiot, apparently. Considering what she remembered of the night before, he shouldn’t be surprised. “Morning breath.”
If anything, he looked even more amused. “Here.” He opened the glove compartment and pulled out a bottle of water, a tiny toothbrush, and a travel-size tube of toothpaste.
She was so shocked, she dropped her hand. “You carry around a toothbrush setup in your truck?”
“As you said…morning breath. It’s always good to have a backup ready if I’m not in a hotel room for whatever reason.” He passed them over and waited while she considered. “If you’re one of those people who are weird about toothbrushes—”
“No, it’s fine.” Considering where both their mouths had been on each other in the last week, sharing a toothbrush shouldn’t be a big deal. It just felt kind of…domestic. Intimate.
Or maybe she was so hungover, she was thinking crazy thoughts.
Jules climbed out of the truck and went to work, brushing away until her mouth felt minty clean and there wasn’t a trace of morning breath left. Then she waited while Adam did the same. It gave her the opportunity to really remember how much of a hot mess she’d been the night before. Regret soured her stomach—or maybe that was the purple nurples. “I think I’m dying.”
He spit. “Nah, you’re just feeling the effects of too much alcohol in too little time.” He gave her some serious side eye. “Not going to lie—you were in rare form last night.”
“Sorry.” She should have just gone with the moonlight picnic. There was probably good food involved, and there definitely had to have been sex on the books. Instead she’d gotten drunk and made a fool of herself in front of half the town. Talk about making a scene. I’m surprised I haven’t already gotten a call from Jamie—or worse, Mom. She didn’t even want to look at her phone in case she was wrong.
