out.
Adam lifted her into his arms and carried her into the dark house. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, not really wanting to talk. She was afraid that if she did this moment would drift away and she’d wake up. Realize this was a beautiful fantasy instead of reality.
She caught a glimpse of his bedroom—king-size bed dominating one side of the room, floor-to-ceiling windows with crisp sheers pulled across them—as he walked into the master bath and set her on her feet. He turned on the lighting over the garden tub and the largest shower she’d ever seen. It was a glass enclosed structure with two showerheads on opposite ends.
She was aware of her state of disarray. A twinge of embarrassment went through her. But then she glanced at Adam, who was equally disheveled.
He caught her glance and drew her closer to him, kissing her once again. She wanted more. She wanted to feel him hot and hard between her legs. She wanted him to lose control again only this time inside her so that she’d carry his mark on her and in her.
He drew back. “I’ll put some clean clothes on the counter.”
She watched him walk away and felt a little colder. She didn’t do sex well. She always associated it with some kind of deeper feelings, and maybe Adam didn’t. Of course he didn’t. He’d said at dinner that he’d never noticed her until today. She wrapped her arms around her waist, feeling small and oh, she didn’t like this feeling.
She removed her clothing quickly and turned on the shower, wanting—no, needing—to get clean and get out of here. What the hell had she been thinking? She had to work with Adam. He was staying in town to help her and she was going to have to sit across from him in meetings and remember the way his mouth had felt on her breasts. The way he had felt in her hand.
She stepped into the shower and lifted her head toward the water, hoping it would wash away the feelings that were overwhelming her. She braced one arm on the wall and tried to find her center.
But her center had always come from that core deep inside her that no one had ever realized was there. And tonight she’d let Adam see it. She knew it was going to be impossible to pretend this hadn’t happened.
The shower door opened and Adam stepped into the cubicle. She glanced up at him, praying that what she felt wasn’t on her face.
He didn’t say anything, just drew her into his arms, holding her naked body against his. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. His scent surrounded her and diminished the panic that had been growing steadily since he’d brought her into the bathroom.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
His deep voice brushed over her, sounding like something straight out of her dreams. Tears burned the back of her eyes, because she had dreamed so many times of him holding her like this.
“I’m not … oh, heck, Adam. I’m not used to getting so intimate so fast.”
He rubbed his hand up and down her back. “Don’t think about that. Whatever’s between us is different.”
For her, she knew that. But she was positive that Adam was used to women falling all over him and she wanted to be distinctive, not part of the pack.
He tipped her head back. “What are you thinking?”
“That I’m an idiot.”
“Gracie …”
“No one’s ever called me a nickname before,” she said, the words slipping out without her permission.
She’d had two serious relationships since she’d left home and neither of them had lasted more than a year. She was afraid suddenly that Adam would be gone as quickly. Not because she needed a man to cling to, but because he was the first person to make her feel like who she was was enough. That she didn’t have to pretend to be someone else. And that really scared her, because she’d never been comfortable in her own skin.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” he asked.
“I’m standing naked in your shower. I think we’ve gone past the point where personal questions are out of bounds.”
“Why do you wear baggy clothes?”
“I … They’re just more comfortable.”
“I thought we agreed there’d be no lies between us.”
“Did we agree to that?”
“Stop stalling.”
She reached for the loofah sponge and put some shower gel on it. “Turn around and I’ll wash your back.”
He arched one eyebrow at her but did as she asked. She scrubbed his back and noticed the scar that ran along the base of his spine. She touched it, wondering where it came from. “I wear the baggy clothes because my body distracts men. Makes them think of sin instead of business.”
“Grace.”
She stepped away from him, retreating to the far corner of the shower, sponging herself. Actually, now that she’d said the words out loud, she knew that she’d revealed too much. She felt more naked than she had on the lounge chair with his mouth between her legs.
“I don’t know who said that to you, but that is not what your body makes me think of.”
She tipped her head to the side, studying him. Trying to gauge the truth in his words. “What do I make you think of, Adam?”
He dropped his gaze from her for a second and then lifted his eyes to hers again. “You make me think of home, Gracie.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that, and it seemed neither did Adam. They each washed their own hair and got out of the shower without saying another word. It scared her to realize that Adam knew some of her deepest secrets, but she knew she also knew one of his. The man who had everything his heart desired was searching for something the same way she was.
Six
The sound of raised voices filtered through her locked office door. Panicked at the thought of getting caught half naked in his arms, she started to push away from him.
But he held her close, wrapping his strong arms around her. “I’ve got you.”
Grace hugged him to her and closed her eyes, reminding herself that this was just loneliness and she hadn’t found the man she’d been secretly dreaming of.
Excerpt from “Adam’s Mistress” by Stephanie Grace
Two weeks later, Grace had managed to keep Adam at arm’s length. Not an easy decision on her part, but she knew that dating him publicly was the absolute worst thing she could do as an administrator. Plus, she was scared.
She would admit it only to herself, but she’d let Adam get much closer in one night that she’d ever intended to. Seeing him every day at the school was a bittersweet thing. After hearing from two concerned parents about the amount of time she was spending with Adam on campus, she was almost afraid to be alone with him.
Afraid
