The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(27)

Adam stared at her for a long moment, and then his arms dropped and he took a step back. His face became a polite mask. “Of course. I’m sure Liam can take over.”

He pressed the button to release the elevator and then pressed fifteen. The elevator still continued on its way down. Adam cursed. “Sorry. It won’t go back up until it hits the lobby. I’ll get out then. You should be fine to get back to the office. Just tell Grace you need someone else, and she’ll reassign you. Let her know I’m taking the rest of the day off.”

He’d shut down, his normally animated face a complete blank. Despite her momentary fear, her heart ached because somehow she’d done this to him. She was always saying or doing the wrong thing. Awkward. She was awkward, and no amount of meaning well seemed to make up for it. The last few years had been easier for the simple fact that she’d lived them inside her head where she wrote the dialogue and the plot, and the good guys won and the awkward girl got the guys.

“Damn it, Serena. I’m giving you what you want. Stop crying. It’s killing me.” Adam stared at her but kept his hands in his pockets.

They were almost to the ground floor. Almost free. And she wouldn’t see him again. She knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt. If she let the elevator doors close behind Adam Miles, he wouldn’t smile or flirt or laugh her way again. He would avoid her, and she would never know what she’d done. He would be one more man who didn’t like her, and she wouldn’t know why.

She pushed the stop button and turned on him. The situation was f*cked up, and she really couldn’t make it worse. “What did I do?”

Adam’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean?”

“I made you mad. I’d like to know what I did.”

“I wasn’t mad,” Adam protested. “Well, maybe a little because it seemed like you preferred Jake. And then I realized you were scared of me, and I can’t fight that. You have the right to feel safe. If someone else can do that for you, then I have to step away.” He sighed, his body relaxing. “Serena, I was mad because I made reservations at a really nice restaurant. I planned your whole day around getting to spend a couple of hours alone with you. I was trying, apparently in a ham-handed way, to seduce you.”

“You were?” God. The very thought made her head spin.

He flushed a little. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. You’re not the first woman to turn me down. I suspect you won’t be the last. Jake thinks I come on too strong. I don’t mean to. I just tend to know what I want. I’m impatient. I didn’t mean to scare you. I apologize. I promise Liam will do a good job. He won’t throw himself at you. Of course, he’ll also take you to Hooters for lunch, but he’s a safe bet.”

Suddenly, though, she didn’t want safe. She wanted him. “Are you trying to seduce me because you think it will make me easier to control?”

Adam laughed, but it was a bitter little thing. “No. I’m trying to seduce you because I’ve had a hard-on since you walked into my office yesterday. I’ve been plotting and planning all day. When I slept in that chair last night, I decided to wine and dine you. I was going to make dinner for you tonight. Another thing you won’t get from Liam, might I add.”

She didn’t want Liam. She wanted Adam and Jake. She’d spent two years with her head buried in the sand. Hell, it had been longer than that. Most of her life she’d simply let things happen to her. What would it feel like to take what she wanted? If she went in with a clear head, knowing it would end, maybe she could keep her heart whole.

She moved close to Adam. “You still like me?”

Adam sighed. “Serena, what is this about? How could I not like you? You’re sweet and smart and funny. You’re entirely lovable, baby.”

That did it. Serena went on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

Adam took a startled step back. “Serena?”

God. Had she made a mistake? “I’m sorry.”

He reached out and grabbed her, hauling her close. “You better be sure. You better think about this before you make a move on me.” His lips curved up in the most deliciously decadent smile, but it was the tenderness in his eyes that pulled at her heart. “Don’t tease a man who’s already falling for you.”

“Adam,” she hated the insecurity in her voice. “I’m not dumb. I know I’m not some great catch.”

He gripped her hips and pulled her close, letting her feel every inch of his cock. Hard. Thick. Deliciously long. She had to swallow. She had to force herself to take a breath.

“Baby, if you don’t stop talking about yourself that way, I’m going to have to talk to Jake about punishment. Neither one of us will allow you to denigrate yourself. You’re gorgeous and sexy as hell, and I can’t wait to sink my dick in you. But I intend to be a gentleman for the time being because I don’t want you to use me.”

“Use you?”

“For sex.”

Sex? Yeah, she wanted to use him for sex. What else was he talking about? “You don’t want to have sex?”

He chuckled, his hands moving around her hips, skirting her ass. “Oh, I want the sex, but I don’t want to get dumped by the smart, successful author because she sees me as a ridiculously hot piece of ass. I want you to get to know me. I want you to like me.”