Chapter 15
Adam
Sunday
I got home from running errands around the city and parked my car in front of the apartment. Vanessa’s car was in same place it was this morning when I left, so I knew she must be home. We were running low on a couple items, and I’d run out to pick them up while she finished setting up her bedroom. I shut off the ignition and sighed, stepping out of the car so I could retrieve the groceries from the trunk.
Loading up my arms as much as possible, I carried as many bags as they could carry and stumbled over to the front door. It swung open easily once I grasped my hand around the handle. Vanessa was sitting on the couch with her camera and disassembling it carefully. The coffee table was littered with all the different pieces all set up carefully in a row.
She looked up when I came inside and smiled over the edge of the couch. “Hey, welcome back! Did you get everything you needed at the store?”
“Sure did,” I responded cautiously, not sure what to make of the scene that I’d walked in on. “Whatcha doing there?”
Vanessa chuckled, her blonde hair cascading down her back like a golden waterfall. “Well, tomorrow is my first day on the job, so I’m cleaning my camera lens. Just gimme one sec, and I’ll be right over there to help you.”
I grunted, hauling the bags over to the pantry, shook my head, and said, “Don’t worry about it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
I set them on the ground and began putting things away onto the shelf. She smiled, wiping the glass of her camera with a special cloth designed for delicate work like that. I unloaded the milk and other groceries I had bought and put them away while she finished with her project.
“How do you feel about Kung Pao chicken?” I asked her suddenly, putting the last remaining item in the pantry.
She looked back at me confused and said, “What do you mean?”
I shrugged, standing up from putting away the rest of the groceries and walked over to the couch where she was sitting. “I was thinking about cooking some for dinner. Do you like Asian food? It’s kind of spicy.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s fine I guess.”
I smiled walking over to the fridge and said, “Good! Then I’ll get started. It’s just as easy to cook for two people as it is for one.”
She chuckled and set her camera down on the coffee table. “I didn’t know you were so into cooking.”
Pulling out a few of the ingredients we’d be needing and the chicken from the freezer, I glanced over at her and shrugged. “I never really thought about it that way, it’s just part of living on your own. Everyone’s got to eat, so I just learned how to make the food worthwhile.”
She nodded, walking over to the counter. “That makes sense. I wish my mom had taught me about this stuff before I went off to college. I had to learn most of it by trial and error.”
I laughed while putting some water on to boil so I could cook some rice, as well. “Me, too. You should have seen my first attempts in the kitchen. I’m lucky no one got poisoned because the food was nearly inedible.”
“Seriously? Because everything I’ve had so far has been delicious.”
“Well, thank you. I appreciate the compliment.”
“We should come up with some kind of meal plan or rotation schedule, so not all the cooking and groceries fall on one person.”
I nodded while continuing my work and started organizing the cooking station. “We could do that. I’m not going to eat any gluten-free, organic crap, though. It has to be real food, that humans eat,” I insisted.
She laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not into any of those fad diets, either.”
“Good.”
I began preparing the chicken by marinating it in some spices and set them in on the counter while Vanessa washed her hands. We chatted about our day and started talking about how I knew Frank Howell in the first place. She set the table for us and even pulled out a pair of candles from the drawer. Her laughter and the pleasant conversation were something I could easily get used to.
It was turning out to be a most enjoyable evening, and the chicken smelled even better than I had hoped. I dished us each up a plate of the chicken and some fried rice and brought them over to the table. She smiled at me as I set them down in front of us.
I picked the fork off the table and stabbed one of the pieces carefully before bringing it to my mouth. The chicken was hot and tangy, with the appropriate amount of spice to give a tasty kick. Vanessa hummed approvingly as she picked up a fork and started digging in as well. “This is good,” she complimented.
I smiled, taking a sip of the water in my glass and said, “Thanks, but I can’t really take credit for it; it was my Aunt Sonya’s recipe.”
“Well, your Aunt Sonya is very talented.”
“Next time I see her, I promise to let her know.”
“Do you mind if I ask you something?
I shrugged, taking another bite of the chicken and looked at her. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Well, I know you and Max are both part of that Men’s Club organization out of Bowling Green,” she started nervously.
“Yeah…”
“And, I think it’s great that you have such a tight-knit group of friends, but how much do you know about them?”
I set down my fork and leaned forward against the table. “Uh, they’re a really nice group of guys that Max and I got involved with our sophomore year. They helped me through some tough times after Linda and I broke up. I owe a lot to them. They’ve been really good to me.”
She nodded quietly, poking idly at the dinner on her plate. “Yeah…”
My eyebrows puckered and I reached over to touch her hand. I didn’t like seeing her upset, and there was clearly something bothering her. “What’s wrong?” I asked her softly.
“I just have a funny feeling about it, that’s all. Ever since I got hired at Frank Howell, two people have told me I need to be careful. I have a friend that works there, Meghan, and she was really nervous.”
“Maybe she just doesn’t know enough about it,” I suggested. “Who was the other person?”
Vanessa shifted uncomfortably in her seat, unwilling to make eye contact with me, and whispered, “Max.”
Whoa.
My thoughts went back to the incident at the Christmas party with Brandon Fletcher. When I tried to speak with him about it, Max had just shrugged it off like it was no big deal. He made it clear that since Brandon was one of the guys now, we had to stick up for one another.
Maybe he knows something that I don’t.
“Max?” I asked her in surprise, raising an eyebrow in alarm.
She nodded, looking away embarrassed, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“No, Vanessa. Hey, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. It just caught me off guard, that’s all. What did he say?”
She laughed. “The same thing Meghan did: that I need to be careful.”
“That is weird,” I agreed.
She bit her lip and pouted, sitting back deeper in her seat as she asked. “Are you upset?”
“Not at all. I met this guy at our Christmas party who gave me a really bad vibe, too. That’s never happened to me before, so maybe there something to it. Overall though, I still think they’re a wonderful group of guys.”
“So, you don’t think I should be worried?”
I shook my head, but I was beginning to have my doubts. “No, I wouldn’t have sent you to Frank if I didn’t think he was on the up and up. He’s a cool guy; we used to go drinking together on the weekends. I’ve even played tennis with him a couple times. If at any point you feel uncomfortable, just come and talk to me, and we’ll take care of it together.”
She relaxed slightly and rolled her wrist so that we were holding hands. “Thanks.”
We sat there for a moment, gazing into one another’s eyes, and it felt like we were back in that perfect little bubble with just the two of us. It was warm and familiar, like coming home. I forgot about everything else that was going on outside. I felt my heart skip a beat when her eyes met mine, and I wet my lips to say something, but she looked away, embarrassed.
“Here, let me take your plate, and I’ll go wash the dishes,” she offered with a smile. She stood up and began to clear the table, but an irrational sensation took over me, and I didn’t want her to leave. I wanted to hold on to that moment with her a little longer.
I was completely unprepared for the flood of emotions that accompanied her close proximity, and as she reached over to pick it up off the table, I gently grabbed her hand. I leaned down, my tie loosened and cuff unbuttoned with a pair of green eyes looking down at her.
Vanessa looked at me in confusion but didn’t pull away. “Adam, what are you… ”
Slowly, I stood to face her and pulled her close so that our bodies were almost touching. She gasped slightly, and I could hear a shift in her breathing as Vanessa responded positively by placing her hands against my chest and biting her bottom lip. The look she was giving me was something I never wanted to forget, and like the connection I felt before, something I could not explain: pure desire.
My body reacted before I realized what was happening, and I kissed her softly on the lips. She leaned into the kiss and slipped her arms around my waist, escalating the depth and passion of the way our bodies fit together. Vanessa’s lips were soft and parted slightly, so I took a chance and dipped my tongue inside. I wasn’t sure how she’d respond, but I was delighted when she slipped her hand beneath my shirt and pressed her skin against me. Soon our tongues were dancing together in a delightful fight for power.
The front of my pants was getting tight in response to my growing erection, and I broke the kiss to look at her. We were both gasping as I leaned my forehead against hers and whispered huskily, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“Don’t you dare apologize,” she interrupted, kissing me forcefully on the mouth and biting my bottom lip. Her lips were like a drug I could not seem to get enough of. Kissing her hungrily on the mouth, I backed us flush against the wall.
I groaned as she hitched her leg up around my thigh and opened herself toward me. My hands slid down to caress the side of her leg and pull her even closer. “God, I want you.”
She chuckled through some ragged breathing of her own. “I want you, too.”
I shook my head, looking away from her even as my hands held her body close against me. “You don’t understand. If we do this, I will not be able to stop. It will not be a one-time thing for me,” I warned her honestly. “You’re too soft, too kissable… I’d want to take you in my bed and ravish you over and over again.
Vanessa smiled, rocking her hips against my erection, and whispered, “Good.”
The second the words had left her lips, mine were on them. Kissing, sucking and loving every sigh of pleasure that escaped this goddesses mouth. She was mine.
Thank God.