Slide (Boosted Hearts Book 3) Read online

  Then she was standing in front of him, close, too damn close.

  “I promise I won’t get in your way.” Her smile was back. “You won’t even know I’m here.”

  This was the Lucy he was used to: confident, sassy, a pain in his ass. She was nothing like the Lucy he’d glimpsed over the last week. He studied her expression, but she gave away nothing. “What’s going on? Why the sudden need to get away from LA?”

  She shrugged. “My brothers are being giant pains in the ass. You know what Hugh can be like.” She turned away, lifted her arms in a stretch then bent forward touching her toes. “Plus, you’re going through Denver,” she mumbled. “I have a friend there I could maybe catch up with.”

  He tore his eyes off her heart-shaped ass and fought back another growl. “I’m not your personal taxi service, and like I said, I don’t want company on this trip.” He crossed his arms. “I’m taking you back.”

  It would throw him off schedule, but better that than being confined to a vehicle with his biggest temptation.

  She opened her mouth, he guessed to argue, but he talked right over her. “You’re not coming, Lucy.” Then he pulled his phone out of his pocket and called John.

  His cousin answered on the second ring. “’Sup?”

  “I’m gonna be a day late.”

  John cursed several times. Loudly. “I need the car here in three days. Fuck.” He was quiet several seconds. “Adam, man. The shop depends on it.”

  “What do you mean the shop depends on it?” John owned a panel shop, which was why he could afford to own a car like the one Lucy was currently leaning against, watching him intently. He turned away, ignoring the tightening in his gut. The car had been wrecked and needed extensive bodywork. His cousin was one of the best around, and did goddamn amazing work.

  “The divorce was a big hit. I had to buy Jocelyn out of the business or sell up. You know this place is my life. I’m mortgaged up to the fucking eyeballs. I need a few more big jobs to give me some breathing room. The Superbird’s my showpiece. I know it’s a big ask, but I need it here in time for the car expo.”

  Fuck. John had worked his ass off to build that business. If he lost it…shit. Not only had his wife fucked around on him, she’d taken him to the cleaners. Adam ran a hand over his face. “I’ll get it there in time.”

  John let out a rough breath. “I owe you.”

  “You have no idea.”

  They said their goodbyes and he turned to the she-devil behind him. The fucking smile was back.

  “Lucy…”

  She threw her arms in the air. “Road trip.” Then she was around the car and in the passenger seat before he could say another damn word.

  Jesus Christ. Taking a fortifying breath, he yanked the door open, and got in behind the wheel. He glanced her way. “We need a few ground rules.”

  She sat back and propped her feet up on the dashboard. “Shoot.”

  Fuck, she looked so damn happy; cheeks flushed again, eyes bright, mouth lush and pink like she’d been worrying her lower lip.

  “Number one: feet stay off the dashboard.” He reached out and grabbed her calf, and instantly wished he hadn’t. He did not need to know that her skin was silky smooth and so damn soft he had to fight the urge not to lean in and lick his way up to the hem of those tiny shorts…fuck, bury his face against the heat between her thighs, inhale her sweet scent…find out if she waxed any other parts of her body. He yanked his hand back and cleared his throat. “Second: no screwing with the stereo, and third: we stop when I say we stop. We’re on a tight schedule and there’s no time for fucking around.”

  Tucking her hair behind her ear, she looked over at him, eyes wide, almost innocent. “Surely there’ll time for a little fucking around?”

  Her eyes were locked on his, and he didn’t miss the mischief behind her words—or the heat. Jesus, he felt them like silk dragging across his balls. Struck dumb, Adam just stared at her. She can’t mean…she wasn’t saying she wanted to…

  “I have a condition of my own,” she added.

  He actually jolted at the sound of her voice. “Yeah? And what’s that?” His voice had dropped lower, broadcasting the need pounding through him.

  “Don’t tell my brothers I’m with you. I’ll text, tell them I’m fine and with a friend so they don’t worry. But I don’t want them to know where I am.”

  “Why?”

  “I told you, I need some space.”

  “You’ve only been home a week.”

  “Please, Adam. That’s all I ask.”

  Goddamn it. He wanted to say no. He wanted to call Hugh or Joe right now and tell them he had Lucy and to come and fucking get her. At least if they knew where she was, the temptation wouldn’t be as bad—no, that was a lie—but it would give him serious motivation to resist her. They were family, but he knew damn well Hugh and Joe wouldn’t want their baby sister alone with him for four days—and nights.

  He couldn’t say no, though. Not when she was looking at him like that. Not when he knew there was something going on with her. Something she’d chosen to keep from her family. And whatever it was, it was big enough to have irrevocably altered something fundamental inside her. He could see it. Knew firsthand what that looked like. Saw it every time he looked in a mirror. There was more to this, to Lucy’s erratic behavior the last week. But if she wasn’t opening up to her brothers, she sure as hell wouldn’t open up to him. And honestly, selfishly, he didn’t know if he wanted her to. If he got any deeper with her, there would be no going back. He was close to drowning as it was. Knowing her deepest and darkest would tip him over the edge. He could give her the space she needed from home, though. No matter how much it fucked him up, he could do that for her.

  He started the car. “Fine. I won’t tell them.” Guilt assaulted him as he pulled out onto the road. He owed both men a lot. Lying to them, even by omission, didn’t sit well. But what could he do?

  “I appreciate it.”

  She sat back, getting comfortable, and he had to drag his eyes away from the flex of her thighs as she moved. The way her breasts lifted and lowered on a deep exhale. How the hell was he going to get through four days of this?

  “So I’ll finally get to meet a member of your family, huh? Excellent.”

  He glanced over at her. “Why am I suddenly worried?”

  She lifted and dropped a shoulder. “I have no idea.”

  Lucy shoved her hand into her pocket, pulled something out, then dragged the heavy mass of dark hair off her neck and tied it back. The action was mesmerizing. He had to remind himself to keep looking at the damn road.

  When she was done, she turned back to him. “Right, I’m freaking starving. Let’s get breakfast.”

  Christ.

  Chapter Seven

  The diner was busy, but the service was fast and the food looked amazing.

  Lucy took a sip of her coffee. “Mmm, good.” The nerves that had been dancing in her belly from the moment she opened her eyes and found Adam staring down at her had finally lessened. Okay, hiding in the car instead of asking outright if she could go was a coward’s move, but she knew it was the right one. No way would he have agreed to take her. He’d made that clear when he’d found her and threatened to take her home. God, she still couldn’t believe she’d managed to fall asleep back there. The music blaring most of the drive should have been enough to keep her awake, but somehow under that sleeping bag, breathing in Adam’s unmistakable scent and with classic rock pumping throught the speakers, she’d felt sort of cocooned. The music made it impossible to think or dwell over what she was doing, and the next thing she knew, it was morning.

  She glanced across the table. Adam looked edgy as hell, feathers more than a little ruffled. He’d eaten his breakfast in silence and was now waiting for her to finish hers. The whole time he’d been fidgeting or playing on his phone or acting like the scenery out the window was just too interesting to be missed.

  He was uncomfortable. She’d gotten he
r way and he wasn’t happy about it. She should probably feel bad about that, but she couldn’t work up the energy, because she knew exactly why he was feeling uncomfortable.

  Now she had to work out how to get him to drop his guard, just a little bit, so she could find a way in. The man was determined to keep her at a distance. He’d even stayed half a yard away from her as they’d walked into the diner. Adam didn’t trust himself with her. She hadn’t missed the not-so-subtle glances, the heat in his eyes, the obvious wood he’d been sporting since he’d found her.

  Forking a mouthful of French toast into her mouth, she moaned. “You sure you don’t want some? Fruit and toast isn’t enough for a man like you.”

  “I’m fine.”

  She moaned again with her next bite and he immediately shifted in his seat. She ducked her head to hide her grin.

  “Where the hell does all that food go?” he snapped suddenly, sounding irritable. “You can’t eat like that all the time.”

  “Fast metabolism. Gotta maintain these curves somehow.”

  His hands were resting on the table and his fingers twitched at her words.

  Was he imagining his hands on her body?

  Adam shot to his feet. “I’ll go pay.”

  The rest of the day was disappointingly uneventful. He drove in brooding silence. The guy wouldn’t even look at her, except one time when she tried to change the radio station to something this century. She liked classic rock as much as the next girl, but not all damn day.

  Lucy blinked the tiredness from her eyes. How long had she been asleep? She glanced at the clock. It was just after nine at night. And going by the sign on the side of the road, they’d hit Silverwood, a smallish town about an hour from Denver. Small, yes, but tonight not so quiet. There were cars everywhere and people lining the streets.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she wanted to scream when she saw it was Daniel. There were other messages and missed calls as well. Why wouldn’t he leave her alone? How many times would she have to tell him she hadn’t lied, and that she wasn’t coming back, before he’d backed the hell off?

  Quickly she turned it off and shoved it back in her pocket, then pointed at one of the overflowing parking lots. “What’s going on?”

  He shrugged and didn’t even bother opening his mouth. God, maybe this hadn’t been such a wise idea. Scratch that, of course what she’d done wasn’t wise, using her big brothers’ best friend for one last wild adventure—a man she was in love with, a man who had pushed her away every time they’d come remotely close. Maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe she’d overestimated her ability to seduce this man, maybe…

  His gaze slid to her knee then higher to her thigh, and higher still, and he licked his lips like he was contemplating a steak dinner—steak was Adam’s favorite—before he turned back to the road. It was dark in the car and he hadn’t even seen her watching him sneak a peek. Had he been looking at her when she slept?

  A delicious shiver traveled through her and she sat straighter in her seat. “Are we stopping here? You look like you could do with a rest.”

  Long, thick, permanently grease-stained fingers flexed around the steering wheel then were dragged through his hair. “Yeah. As good a place as any, I guess.”

  They cruised down the main street, drawing stares. They’d been getting looks everywhere they went. She guessed it was inevitable in a car like this. Finally, he pulled into a hotel. He’d passed several fairly nice ones, but for some unknown reason chose one that looked like a throwback from the seventies.

  The H on the hotel sign was at an odd angle. “Umm…”

  “I need a ground floor room with parking in front.”

  “The car?”

  “The car.” He shoved the door open and, without looking back, headed to reception. He was back a few minutes later, jaw like granite and a scowl that would make her run for the hills if she didn’t already know the guy.

  He climbed back in and drove a little way along to park in front of one of the rooms.

  “Is this your room?”

  He shook his head, and that jaw got harder still. “Our room. There’s some fucking flower festival here this weekend and everything’s booked out. Including this dump.”

  She opened her door and climbed out. “I don’t snore. Promise.” She reached into the backseat and grabbed her bag, doing her best to keep the butterflies in her belly out of her voice. If there was ever an opportune time to make a move, it was tonight.

  Why did her stomach feel like it was doing somersaults? She’d never been embarrassed with guys in the past. She’d always been fairly confident in her looks and her body. But after being with Daniel for six months, then discovering he’d been lying to her all that time and she hadn’t seen it, her self-confidence had taken a hard hit. Then what followed…

  She inwardly gave herself a shake. She wasn’t going there, not on this trip. God, she’d only been on her own for four short months—why did she suddenly feel like a virgin on prom night?

  What if he rejected her again?

  Yeah, that’d make for a fun trip.

  Adam was already at their room, pushing the door open. She followed him in. The place was as dated inside as it was outside. At least it was clean.

  After flinging her bag on the small table by the window, she walked to the bed and plonked down. “This isn’t so bad.”

  Adam was still by the door. He hadn’t moved an inch. His dark eyes slid from her to the bed she was on then back. “No?”

  The butterflies vanished and a hurricane took their place. “There’re no weird stains on the covers. I count that as a win.”

  He dumped his bag on the floor. “I’ll go lock up the car.” Then he was gone.

  She sat there staring after him. What was she doing? What if this all backfired and her brothers found out? She could screw everything up for Adam. The last thing she wanted was to hurt him. She just wanted to jump his damn bones and move on. But the way he looked at her—the conflict, the torment on his face—she was seriously starting to rethink her plan.

  The door opened again and he strode in. “Taking a shower.”

  The bathroom door shut behind him a second later and she collapsed back on the bed.

  Crap.

  This was a huge mistake.

  ~ * ~

  Adam wiped the condensation from the bathroom mirror and stared at his reflection.

  He ground his teeth. Beyond that flimsy door was the only woman he’d ever wanted. The one he would crawl over broken glass just for a damn kiss, and he couldn’t touch her. Shit, he shouldn’t even be looking at her. He didn’t know why she’d hidden in his backseat, why she insisted on coming with him…

  He pushed away from the vanity and shoved his hands through his wet hair.

  Bullshit.

  No, he didn’t know what drove her to it, but he knew exactly why she’d chosen to come with him. The woman wasn’t exactly being subtle. Lucy Colton wanted him. His dream and worst nightmare all rolled into one. Now he had to walk out there and pretend that just having her in the same room wasn’t tearing him to fucking shreds, that resisting everything that was Lucy was no big deal. Maybe even be cruel to her, the woman he wanted to get down on his knees and worship, in an attempt to save them both a shitload of pain.

  He wasn’t too proud to admit that if he ever had Lucy where he wanted her—out of his fantasies and in his arms—he would never recover when she walked away, and she would. Once she worked out how messed up he was. The demons that hounded him every damn night…

  He turned back to the mirror. That face. Shit, sometimes he hated looking at himself. There was so much of his mother. His eyes, his mouth, his cheekbones, the color of his hair. He used that face to get what he wanted, needed. The twisted irony was it was his face, so much like his mother’s, that helped him forget her when he pretended for those minutes and hours that he had a stranger in his bed that she had never existed. That the pain she’d suffered, the way she died, was somebody
else’s truth, somebody else’s life.

  Inside, though, he was his father through and through: an unreliable, selfish asshole. His father hadn’t deserved his mother, just like Adam would never deserve Lucy.

  Shaky fingers lifted, automatically going to the feather he’d had tattooed on his neck a week after he’d buried her. An angel’s feather. No one had been sweeter or more fragile than Sheila Grady, and he knew without a doubt she was an angel in heaven now. He rested his hands on the vanity, fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white, pain radiating up his forearms. He also knew she’d be pissed at him, the way he was living his life.

  She would have loved Lucy.

  Shaking his head, he stepped back. Couldn’t fucking bear to look at himself anymore.

  It was too late. He was what he was, and nothing could change that—no matter how much he wished otherwise.

  Dropping his towel, he turned to grab his bag, only realizing in that moment that he’d left it in the room. He shoved his jeans on commando. His shirt smelled like sixteen hours of overheated, stressed out male and definitely wasn’t going back on. After yanking the door open, he strode out, spotted his bag, and headed for it, purposely not glancing in Lucy’s direction. Still, he was fully aware of her, of every damn thing. She was still on the bed, but instead of lying back like she had been, she was sitting on the edge. His gaze travelled over to her like his eyes had a mind of their own. Her legs were up and crossed in front of her, elbows resting on her knees.

  She lifted her gaze from her twined fingers and drew in a sharp breath when she saw him. That little sound, innocent as it was, slid over him. Jesus Christ. He couldn’t take much more of this. Digging around in his bag, he quickly found a shirt and tugged it on.

  “Adam?”

  “Yeah.” He occupied himself with applying a double layer of deodorant. He hadn’t intended to look back at her, but when she didn’t answer right away his curiosity got the better of him. As soon as his eyes landed on her, he immediately wished they hadn’t. Her lower lip was kind of puffy and bright red. She’d been biting it while he was in the shower. Her eyes looked kind of red…