Harbour Falls (A Harbour Falls Mystery #1)(48)

Adam looked at me like I was an idiot. “Hmm, you could say that.”

His eyes were so intense that I dropped my gaze to focus, instead, on a light smattering of freckles that peppered his right shoulder. I cleared my throat. “Did you hurt somebody?”

I was terrified to hear his answer, so I counted freckles in time with my beating heart. One, two, please say no. Three, four, please say no.

“No, Madeleine, I did not hurt anyone.” Adam paused, and I released a whoosh of air I hadn’t even realized I was holding. “In fact, I can assure you it’s probably none of the things you’re thinking.”



Relief and gratitude washed over me in the knowledge that whatever it was, at least he hadn’t injured—or done worse to—God forbid, some innocent person. Throwing caution to the wind, I wrapped my arms around him, the heat of his bare skin permeating through the thin material of my camisole. “Thank you,” I whispered.

I wasn’t exactly sure why I was thanking Adam. I guessed it was because he had actually answered my questions, and so far it didn’t really sound like he’d done anything too horrific. Maybe what he’d done wasn’t even anything illegal? Or maybe it was something that had been illegal at the time? Then again…

Relieved and lost in thought, I brushed my lips over that peppering of freckles on his shoulder. Adam lay back once again, absently curving my body to his while resting a hand on my hip.

Between butterfly kisses down his shoulder, over his bicep, I decided to press my luck and push for more information. “So Chelsea knew this secret…and she threatened to expose it…if you refused to marry her?”

On my hip his hand flexed. “Uh-huh,” he mumbled wearily.

I really was incredibly intrigued. How had Chelsea uncovered this terrible secret? Had he confided in her? Or had she somehow stumbled upon the damning information?

When no more information was forthcoming, I sat up suddenly. Adam’s hand fell away from my hip. I searched for clues in his perfect features. I willed him with my eyes to share. My mind screamed: What was it?



Adam, perceptive as always, sighed, “Maddy, I’ve already told you more than I’ve ever told anyone. You do understand why I can’t give you any more details, right?”

I shrugged. “It’s not like I’d run and tell the world, Adam. I just told you I wouldn’t write—”

Adam cut me off and sat up. “Why would I even put you—or myself—in a position like that?”

“So it’s a matter of trust?” I accused, stung. “You want me to trust you, but you don’t trust me. At all.”



“Oh, you trust me?” he shot back dubiously. “Because as I recall in Boston, you said you thought you trusted me, but then you refused to even tell me what the f*ck was going on when you found out about a phone call from four f*cking years ago!”

“I did tell you!” I yelled, outraged.

“Only after I chased you down and pried it out of you,” he yelled back.

Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. In a lowered voice, he asked, “So which is it, Maddy? Do you trust me? Or not?”

How had this turned into a conversation about me?



“I trust you, Adam,” I said quietly, casting my eyes down. And I did trust him. To a point.

I continued, “I know you’re just trying to protect us both, but”—our eyes met—“if we are ever going to have a chance, eventually, Adam, you are going to have to trust me enough to tell me the truth. All of it.”

He took my hand and pulled me to him, and then he eased us down into the pillows as he reached up and turned off the bedside lamps.

“Maddy, Maddy. Eventually, huh?” he asked, the playfulness back in his voice. “You’re willing to wait?”

I nestled into him and nodded. “Yes, I can wait, for now. But eventually, yeah.”

His fingers ghosted over the thin strap of my cami, sending a warm shiver through me. Despite being extremely tired, a part of me desperately wanted to stay awake. All the heightened emotions were fueling my desire to feel physically close to Adam. I hooked a leg over him and pressed myself to his firm body, eliciting a surprised, shaky exhale of air from him. Encouraged, I ran my hand down his chest until I reached his abdomen.

Adam placed his hand over mine. “Maddy, don’t start something you aren’t willing to finish,” he said in a husky, low voice.

I really was too exhausted to enjoy much of anything if I continued down this path, literally and figuratively. It had ended up being a trying day, and we were both in dire need of some sleep.



Adam must have sensed my reticence, because he said softly, “We should sleep, for now.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I agreed as I moved my hand back up to rest on the smooth planes of his chest. “Will you stay though?”

I didn’t want to sleep alone, not tonight.

“If it will help you sleep better, of course,” he said.

Propping himself up on an elbow, he leaned over to press his lips to mine. We kissed—oh so slowly and gently—until I was positively dizzy. Pulling back, Adam said in a low voice, “Oh, Maddy, the things I’m going to do to you.”

He caressed my cheek, his hand drifting down to my neck, over the swell of my breasts, a brush of fingers across my stomach, and then lower, lower, until his hand rested dangerously close to… A moan escaped my lips, and I asked breathily, “When?”