Harbour Falls (A Harbour Falls Mystery #1)(39)

“Ten minutes?”

“See you then,” I said flippantly, before hitting end.

I waited until I heard his Porsche pulling into my driveway to get up from the kitchen chair I’d settled into. Whoa, steady there, I thought as I held tightly to the edge of the table for a few extra seconds. The alcohol I’d consumed had caught up to me, and I was definitely feeling it.

Tottering in my heels, I negotiated my way to the front door. Once I made it there without incident, I fluffed out my hair, bit down on my lips to give them some color, and pushed up my corset to further enhance my already-prominent cleavage. Let him see just what he’ll be missing once I kick him to the curb.

But when I opened the door, I was met with a breathtakingly gorgeous—albeit slightly blurry—Adam. Dressed in a deep blue pullover that complemented the color of his eyes and faded jeans that hugged him in all the right ways, he was quite a vision of handsomeness. “Wow! You look hot,” I blurted and then mentally slapped myself for complimenting him when I was supposed to be mad.



Adam chuckled, and I caught him steal a glance at my ample cleavage. Score one for me.

“Coming in, Adam?” I giggled, throwing his words from the night on the runway back at him, while leaning against the doorframe for support.

Adam eyed me curiously, brow furrowed, “Have you been drinking, Madeleine?”

“Aw, just a little,” I pshawed. I grabbed his hand and tugged. “Come on in to my humble abode. Or should I say your humble abode.”

Adam allowed me the illusion that I was dragging him across the floor and into the living room, but in reality he was helping me keep my balance. “Maybe you should lose the heels,” he said when I almost tripped.

“Trying to get me out of my clothes already, Adam?” I teased, swaying.

“Come here, Maddy,” he said gently as he led me to the sofa, where I promptly fell back into the cushions. He knelt down on the floor in front of me, while wrapping a hand around one of my heels. “Lift,” he prodded.

Sighing, I complied, and Adam unzipped my boot. “So I had a little too much to drink,” I protested. “It’s your fault anyway.”

Dropping the boot to the floor, he wrapped his hand around my other ankle as his oh-so-blue eyes met mine. “My fault?” he asked, nonplussed as he unzipped the other boot. “Why’s that?”

I held up my index finger. “One, you’re late.”

“Only fifteen minutes, and I apologized.” The second boot dropped to the floor.

“That was only the first reason,” I said, waving my finger and raising a second. “Number two, and this is a big one.” Adam cocked an eyebrow. “I saw you driving by with another woman.”



Adam laughed—and damn if he didn’t look more gorgeous than ever. This man was maddening. But I forged on. “Who was she, Adam?”

He curled his hand around my calf, smiling. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“It’s not funny,” I huffed. “And I’m not jealous.”

“You are,” he said as he rubbed my calf gently. “But you have no reason to be. That was my sister in the car. She was supposed to come in tomorrow, but she came up from Boston early.”

“That was Trina?” I squeaked out, realization dawning on me that she was the person Jennifer had brought over today. Oops.

“Who did you think it was?” Adam asked, unmistakable amusement lacing his tone.

“Oh, I don’t know. Nobody, really…” I trailed off.

Not only did I have no intention of sharing my misinterpretations with him, but his hands were wrapped around both my calves now, and whatever he was doing with his fingers felt amazing.

“Yeah, sure.” A smile played at the corners of his mouth.

“It’s not important anyway,” I said as I relaxed back into the sofa. “We should just pick out a movie and forget about it.”

“We should but first”—Adam swiftly pulled me into his lap—“we should do this.” His lips crashed down on mine, and I maneuvered my legs to either side of his.

Soft and warm those tender kisses were until they turned ravaging. Desperate, hungry, I couldn’t get enough of Adam. And caught off guard, he responded.

With his fingers tracing the laces on the back of my corset, Adam broke away long enough to breathe out, “This is very hot.” His hands trailed down to curve around my bottom. “God, Maddy, do you know how much I want you?”

In response I let out a stifled moan and grinded myself down against him. Please, don’t stop. And though I could feel his body didn’t want to, Adam hesitated.



I sighed in frustration, and he moved his hands to the sides of my face. “What is it? What are you thinking?”

I shrugged. “Why’d we stop?”

He kissed me softly, and against my lips, he said, “If we keep going, I might not be able to stop.” He pulled back and our eyes met. “It’s just… Maddy, I know you want more than—”

“Adam,” I broke in, “I don’t have any expectations. I mean, I do, but…”

I didn’t know what I wanted, not really. And that was the problem. Yes, I wanted Adam. But not like this. Not under the influence of alcohol, although my buzz was wearing off. But Adam was correct; I’d regret a hasty action.