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I laughed. “No.”
“Then come on, tiny feisty chick that has my friend tied up in knots, let’s go burn this sappy shit out of our brains.” She turned on her heel and then stopped short, one perfect eyebrow raised. “What’s said in the ladies’ room—”
I put my fist over my heart. “To the grave.”
“Amen.”
When we went back out, my eyes immediately searched for Adam, but I didn’t see him. I went to the bar for a beer and had just wrapped a napkin around a fresh bottle when I saw him rise from a booth. He wasn’t alone. Three other guys were with him, and when they walked away, his expression was dark.
Until I approached him. And it erased.
Familiar little bells chimed somewhere in the recesses of my mind. “Adam?”
He pulled me close and clinked his bottle with mine, but there was a jittery preoccupation about him now. “Faith?”
“What’s wrong?”
He frowned at me. “Why?”
“You know why.” When his brows drew closer, I jutted my chin in the direction he’d come from. “Who were you talking to that got you all broody?”
He shook his head, glancing off at the crowd, but I was learning his tells again. And that was one. “Look at me.”
He took a deep breath and made a big show of staring at me. “I’m looking at you.”
“I’m not joking, Adam,” I said, all humor gone. “You said to trust you today, and I did, even though that was sketchy as hell. Now you’re about to bust out of your own skin after some secret meeting. Be honest with me,” I added under my breath, tugging on his shirt. “No more lies.”
His expression slowly turned serious, almost bleak, as he looked at me, and a flash of fear went up my spine. “Just some guys from my past,” he said, running a finger along my cheek. “They have a need to mess with me. Get under my skin.” He winced. “It’s just who they are.”
“Then why are you talking to them?”
“Babe, it’s fine,” he said. “I told them to leave me alone.” He rubbed at his eyes. “I’m sorry, they just—they make me want to be anywhere else but here.”
I wanted to tell him to leave CJ alone, too, but I didn’t. He didn’t need me emasculating him. I already wished I hadn’t said anything to CJ about it, but I was caught up in the moment and that ship sailed. Hopefully, they could work out their own shit.
I looked as deeply into his eyes as I could, wanting to see all of him. Hoping he could see all of me.
A slow song filled the room and I backed up a few steps. “Then let’s go anywhere else,” I said. “But first, I’m pretty sure you promised me a dance.”
His expression turned mischievous, a look on him that never ceased to squeeze at my heart. It reminded me of the boy he once was. “Did I, though?”
“I mean...” I turned in a circle, scoping out the room. “I guess I can see if I get any other takers—”
“Don’t even play with me, Miss McMasters,” he said, making me yelp as he picked me up, carrying me to the little wooden dance floor. I laughed as he set me back on my feet, pulling me tightly against him we moved as one. “I’m the only one holding you tonight.”
“Promise?” I asked on a whisper as his lips moved over my ear.
“Always.”
God, I wanted to believe that.
We swayed to a song of sorrow while I let myself feel nothing but joy. For once, this might be working out. His hard body felt so right against mine. His hands pressed low on my back and high in my hair. It couldn’t feel better than this.
“You look fearless tonight,” he said as the song rolled through its chorus. “You know that?”
I threw my head back, pushing away the fear of before. “I feel fearless tonight.” I kicked out a foot. “It’s the boots.”
He chuckled low. “Baby girl, let me tell you something about those boots...”
