“It’s a little late for modesty, Buttermilk. There isn’t a square inch of you I didn’t reacquaint myself with last night.”
“Can you please help me find my underwear?”
He reached to the floor on his side of the bed, producing the garments. “I don’t get to keep these as a souvenir?”
She scrambled over and snatched them from his hand. “Very funny.” She pinned the pillow to her chest with her chin and tugged on her underwear. She wasn’t exactly sure why she didn’t want Adam to see her naked right now. Perhaps it was the unforgiving nature of sunlight. Or worse, the unforgiving nature of guilt. “I have to get my dress.”
She cast aside the pillow and hurried out to the living room. Adam followed her. Seeing her dress and shoes cast aside on the floor brought back a flood of memories, the way she had felt when he’d rubbed her cheek with his thumb and placed that impossibly soft kiss on her lips, the heat of his hand on the bare skin of her back, the way he filled her so sublimely. It was all so perfect and all so wrong.
“Hold on two seconds,” he blurted as she wrestled on her dress. He shook his head, smirking as if she were crazy. “For God’s sake, let me do the zipper.”
She turned, but that sense of Adam approaching her from behind, knowing that her stretch of back was exposed to him, sent a zillion goose bumps racing over the surface of her skin.
Zip. He quickly grasped her shoulders and pulled her close, her back to his chest. “Talk to me.” He delivered the words straight to her ear in a low, tone that reverberated in her body. “I can tell that you’re panicked, and I need to know why. I have a feeling it’s about more than a meeting.”
Hearing his voice, her body wanted nothing more than to be naked with him all day, especially when his warm breath brushed the tender spot behind her ear. Her brain, however, was waging a counteroffensive, about to force her to blurt something about needing to leave, which meant her poor heart struggled for itself, stuck in the middle. “I just...” She sucked in a deep breath. How many times had she uttered these words? Surely Adam was tired of them. She sure as hell was.
“You just what? You’re just worried? That what we did last night was wrong?”
She blew out a deep exhalation. “Yes.” There was nothing left to say. He’d boiled it down to its essence.
He turned her around and pulled her into a hug. “I understand.” He rubbed her back reassuringly. “Listen, we both know that this isn’t ideal, but we have nothing to be ashamed about. I wanted you, you wanted me. It’s as simple as that.”
“But your dad. The contract.”
He only reined her in tighter with his arms. “Don’t worry about my dad. He’ll never know a thing.” He kissed her forehead. “Now, let me walk you downstairs and put you in a cab so you aren’t late for your meeting. I’d have had the doorman arrange for a car if I’d known you needed to be out the door so soon.”
Melanie reared back her head, shaking it. He was being so sweet. And so stupid. “What if someone is outside your building? Photographers?”
“I’ll call downstairs and make sure the coast is clear. The doormen are extremely efficient at clearing away the riffraff by now.”
“You call, but I’ll go by myself. It’s safer that way.” Her stomach wobbled. Sneaking around was so far outside her comfort zone.
“What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t escort you downstairs?” He scrubbed the scruff along his jaw with his hand. “Tell you what. I’ll ride with you down to the lobby. I won’t take no for an answer.”
Melanie collected her things while Adam made the call. He threw on a sweatshirt and slid his feet into a pair of running shoes, leaving the laces untied. They stepped onto the elevator, no words between them, but Adam took her hand, rubbing it tenderly with his thumb.
Melanie’s head swam. What were they doing? Was this a one-time thing? These were questions that needed to be asked, but there was no time for answers, at least not this morning. And regardless of the answers, he had to continue with the charade of Julia at least through the gala. How would she handle that emotionally if she and Adam were even entertaining the notion of romance?
Nothing about this insane situation bode well for a genuine, long-lasting relationship anyway. She could see it now, their children asking how she and their father had met. Well, Daddy had a fake girlfriend because Mommy told him it would get him good publicity, and your grandfather didn’t want us to even touch each other, so of course Mommy and Daddy gave in to temptation and had a torrid, secret affair and lied to everyone.