Rebound (Boomerang #2)(75)

She jumps into the passenger seat, pulling the hem of her dress up so she can shut the door, and then she’s right next to me and there’s not a single thought in my head anymore, only relief. Only a massive dose of relief that knocks the wind out of me like I’ve just been punched in the solar plexus.

I back out of her driveway and head to my house.

The drive is short. The only sound is the rev of the Bugatti’s engine as I accelerate onto the freeway, but I’m hyper aware of her. Of the way she smells and the way her fingers drum nervously on her leg. Her ankle seems fine, and it’s one thing. Just one of the millions of things I want to ask her about, and say to her, but I don’t want to rush. I was such an * to her the last two times we were together. I want to treat her right. If there’s any chance at all, I have to treat her the way she deserves to be treated—and she deserves the best. She deserves everything.

We get to my house, both of us still quiet, careful.

Alison steps into my living room like her father did a month ago, except different. She’s calm and steady, nothing like Graham’s aggressive presence, and she doesn’t observe the things in my house either. She moves to the glass doors and stares at the ocean. She stands there and drinks in the view like I would. Like I do.

It takes me ten seconds to realize I could watch her this way forever. Every second with her is a rush and it feels right to have her here. With me.

“I’ve wondered what your view was,” she says, breaking our silence. “I’ve been trying to picture what it is you see from your house.”

“I look exactly where you’re looking, Ali. But I see you.”

Ali glances at me and I see a flash of surprise, then pain, before she looks away. She walks over to the kitchen and picks up the basketball Grey left on the counter. Naturally. Because that’s where basketballs go.

“Is this your brother’s?” she says.

I nod. “Grey.”

“Is he here?” she asks.

I hear the slightest tremble in her voice.

“He’s in San Diego for the weekend.”

Grey’s there for a New Year’s Eve gig. His second time singing on stage. I hate that I can’t be there, but I can’t miss my company party.

Ali’s not looking at me. Now she’s the one, I think. She’s the one who won’t look at my eyes. But I can’t go there again. I’m done hiding. Done with lies and silence and distance. Done with everything that keeps me away from her.

I walk over and take the basketball from her, setting it back on the counter. Then I take her face in my hands and look into her blue eyes.

They’re teary, and the pain I see in them slays me. I put it there by leaving her in Jackson. By yelling at her. I will never do that again.

“I’m sorry, Alison. Forgive me.”

Her words come fast. “It was my fault too. I didn’t know, Adam. I had no idea what my father was doing. I thought he was trying to protect the company. My family. And I told him—”

I bend and catch her words with my mouth, kissing her. “I know,” I say. “It’s okay.” I kiss away the tear on her cheek, and come back to her lips, tasting them over and over. She’s so sweet and soft. I can’t get enough of her. “We’re okay now. It’s over.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Mad?” I lean back. “No way. I’m so happy. I’m so f*cking happy right now, Ali. You have no idea.”

She smiles and her arms circle around my waist. “I think I do.”

“God, Alison. I’ve missed you.” The words tumble out easily. I bury my fingers into her long silky waves and let them go. “It killed me when I thought I lost you. I haven’t stopped thinking about you. I couldn’t get you out of my mind. Not for a minute. Not for a goddamned second.”

Ali lifts up onto her toes so our eyes are even as she listens. She looks into my soul, and I let her. I know that right now, she’s giving herself to me. That I’m doing the same. She’s mine and I’m hers, and I trail off because nothing else matters anymore. Nothing except her.

She feels it, too. She smiles, and then we’re just smiling at each other, a pair of fools, until she laughs.

“Hi, lovely,” she says, and then she kisses me.

I turn into raw need. I pull her into my arms and kiss her back. Her mouth opens to mine, so willing and hungry. She presses her breasts against me and my hands are all over her.

“Yes,” she breathes.

My desire shifts into high gear and I’m blinded to everything that’s not her. The need to be buried deep between her legs is the only thing. I’ve wanted this so long. “Alison, I want to do this slowly, but—”

“Let’s do slowly later,” she says.





Chapter 43



Alison


Adam smiles, and every last bit of me melts. He firms his hands under me and pulls me even tighter against him. He’s so hard it makes me gasp, my body instantly reduced to one pulse point, a sharp ache where our bodies join.

“I don’t know if I can make it to the bedroom,” he says.

“I’m not picky.”

He laughs, but still he carries me through the living room, down a short hallway to a master suite with glossy cocoa-colored walls, slate-blue accents, and a modern leather chair by a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the ocean. The space is sleek and luxurious—so perfectly Adam that it’s like I’ve been here already. Like it’s home.