Need You for Mine (Heroes of St. Helena)(56)
“No, I just never wear it.” Its slim-cut and belted waist had always felt like too much, but when she’d put it on this morning it had felt just right. “And the last time you said facts are facts, it was to convince me I wouldn’t be seeing you today.”
“I didn’t think you’d be wearing this dress when I agreed to fill in.” He planted his palms flat on the wall above her head. His eyes? Those were firmly on her mouth. “And you should wear it more often. It goes well with Honeysuckle.” His lashes lifted. “You wearing Honeysuckle, sunshine?”
“Are you still just interested in being friends, Smoky?” she asked. “Because I have a lot of friends, and they aren’t privy to what I have on underneath.”
“They’re not your boyfriend,” he said playfully, but she wasn’t feeling playful at all. She was suddenly feeling confused and a little scared over how his words sent butterflies racing in her stomach.
“And you walked out of my place last night, so you can see why I want to clarify things.”
“I said a lot last night,” Adam said.
“You did.” There was also a lot that went unsaid, and that was what had the butterflies flapping their wings against her ribcage. “Like you weren’t going to kiss me today.”
He hesitated. “I thought I needed space, to clear my head.”
“And now?”
“The only time my head seems to be clear is when I’m with you. Like this.”
Still holding her caged between the wall and his mighty fine body, he stared down at her for what felt like an eternity, as if unsure about what he wanted to do. And while he was thinking about how he wanted to play this moment, Harper wondered just how long she could go without oxygen before passing out.
“Stay for dinner, Harper.”
She blinked. Twice in fact because a Let’s get naked later invitation or There’s a party in my pants, wanna come would have been less shocking. An invite to dinner was not what she was expecting. At all. And it confused her as much as it thrilled her. “Are you asking me on a date?”
“A date would be the two of us alone and, unfortunately, I’m still on the clock until Daugherty gets here, which means I come with seven other guys.” A little of the thrill faded. “But I’m cooking tonight and I would love for you to stay and have dinner. With me.”
Harper swallowed the hurt rising in her throat. “And seven other guys?”
“Who will all love you and give me a hard time for bringing a girl to dinner, which has never happened before. The girl thing, not them giving me a hard time,” he stumbled, and if Harper didn’t know any better, she’d think Adam “Five-Alarm” Baudouin was nervous too.
“Is this because you want to see my Honeysuckle or because you want to be my friend?”
He studied her for a long moment and Harper felt her heart race. Not just from the fact that she could smell the summer heat on his skin, but from nerves. She had to know why he was asking. Otherwise her mind wandered down a path that always led to disappointment and heartache.
And her heart was tired of aching.
“Can’t it be both?” he asked, his voice a low rumble, his blue eyes locked on hers. Open, genuine, uncertain—and filled with heat. He wanted her, it was right there—and Harper couldn’t seem to look away. “Can’t it be as simple as I want to spend time with you?”
“So Baudouin hears secret weekly strip poker party at one of the big Victorians near the college campus and, boom, he’s gone. Goes charging in the house like some kind of self-appointed savior for sorority girls everywhere,” Sam said, smacking his palms against the table for effect.
Not that he needed to. Every guy on duty was gathered around the kitchen, hanging on every word of the Adam-inspired story—even though Harper was pretty sure they’d all either been there or heard it a thousand times before. The only one who looked as if he wanted it to end was Adam, who stood by the stove tending to dinner.
“Sorority and strip poker?” Harper said, picking up her glass of lemonade and sending Adam a reassuring smile over the rim. “I’d even go in to check it out.”
Adam returned that smile, only his had a touch of embarrassment to it, which added a touch of adorable to the sexy. “See, guys, just doing what anyone would do. My job,” he said, magically appearing at her side to fill up her lemonade.
He was good. Charming, smooth, and never missing a beat. Even when the guys were razzing him. That was how it had been ever since she’d taken her students home and walked back in the station. They’d been surrounded by a group of people, but the way he’d looked at her, tended to her every need, made it feel as if they were the only two people there.
“Maybe, but not even two seconds go by and panties come flying out the window,” McGuire added. He stood next to Adam at the counter, slicing vegetables for the salad. He set down a tomato to give the story his full attention. “Lace and silk and all kinds of catcalls erupted.”
“You weren’t even on the crew yet, freshman. In fact, none of you were even there,” the resident panty-whisperer said, sending Harper a wink as he stuffed cheese and homemade pesto into each piece of chicken. “Otherwise you’d know I only went in alone because I was the first to arrive, and it was a false alarm.”