Recognition slammed into Adrian. Marie’s hair had been pitch black that night, her make-up Gothic and she was dressed all in black, but it was the same person.
“Oh, God, it was you.”
Fright chased the lust from Marie’s eyes and she shoved away from the door. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She whirled around and stomped toward the kitchen.
Adrian’s trembling fingers refused to obey her commands and she dropped the blouse. How was she going to fix this mess? Why did the one person with the power to destroy her life have to walk in on her indulgence?
Maverick watched Wade rush to Adrian’s side, clutching her hands in his. “What’s going on, Adrian? Why are you so upset?”
She opened her mouth, but no sound emerged and she tugged her hands from Wade’s. Adrian bent over to pick up her blouse and slip it over her head and Maverick’s cock stirred. She struggled to climb into her jeans and even from across the room, he could see the tremble in her hands. What type of pervert was he that despite her distress, the fact that she went commando heated his blood again?
Maverick donned his own clothes to hide the effect her body had on him. Adrian needed support, not a lecherous male trying to get into her pants.
“Adrian?” Wade stepped closer to her, but Adrian avoided his eyes.
“I have to talk to her,” she whispered.
Wade caught her before she reached the door. “It can wait a moment longer. How can we help?”
He hugged her to him and held on when she tried to escape. The deep frown between Wade’s brows returned and his mood looked blacker than midnight under a skillet. In contrast, Wade mumbled soothing words into Adrian’s ear and stroked her hair. If Maverick didn’t know better, he’d think his friend was smitten with their photographer.
Maverick straightened his spine. He didn’t know better. He might have become a tiny bit smitten with the lady himself. So how could he blame Wade for running to the rescue if he ached to do the same? Dammit, what mess had he got himself into now? It was no use deluding himself that he didn’t feel something more than mere lust for the woman. He’d fallen hard and fast for Adrian, and he didn’t have a clue what to do about it.
Adrian squeezed Wade’s shoulder and turned out of his embrace with a weak smile. She strode to the window, her steps staccato-like, and she hugged her arms to her body. With her back to them, she opened the drapes and stared out into the darkness beyond.
She was hurting and Maverick couldn’t fix it unless he knew what was wrong. And fix it he would. Nobody messed with his woman. “Adrian?”
A sigh sounding much rather like a sob escaped through her lips, but she lifted her head. “Remember I told you about my ex-husband walking out on me during a shoot because I told him I’d also had some sex?”
“Yeah?” the men chorused.
“Well, Marie was the person I was with the night before.”
“Marie?” The surprise in Wade’s voice eased Maverick’s guilt at feeling so shocked.
Adrian turned and leaned her backside against the windowsill. “Her hair and clothing were different and she appeared almost Gothic in her choice of make-up, which is why I didn’t recognize her at first. And I never see the one-night stands again, so I don’t pay much attention to detail.”
“A woman?” Maverick queried just to make sure.
Adrian gave a mirthless laugh. “Yes, my one and only experiment with the same gender bit me in the butt twice now.” She dropped her hands to her thighs and pushed up from the window.
She looked tired and Maverick’s heart contracted.
“That’s why I have to go talk to her.”
Too stunned to move, Maverick watched as Adrian walked out of the door. “I’ll be damned.” He dropped onto the chair closest to him. He’d just had incredible sex and learned that his female partner also dabbled in same-sex experiments. His mind boggled, but his cock found the images his mind conjured up very interesting.
Damn, for the second time he questioned his motivations where Adrian was concerned and loathed himself. Adrian was hurting because her past had caught up with her and here he was contemplating the possible scenarios of the two beautiful women indulging in each other. The idea excited him more than it should.
“Well isn’t this something? You think Marie purposely followed Adrian here?” Wade asked, his voice just a bit too breathless.
Maverick cleared his throat. It wouldn’t do for Wade to realize the effect Adrian’s admission had on him. “How would she know about the assignment?”
“I don’t know, but we have to find out.”
Maverick shook his head. “She’d want to sort it out herself.”
Wade didn’t look convinced, but after a while he nodded. “I guess you’re right.” He walked to the bar. “It doesn’t mean I have to like it. I could have killed Marie for frightening Adrian.” He poured whiskey into a glass and held the bottle up. “You want something?”
Maverick nodded absently. “I still think I’ve seen Marie before. Every time I lay my eyes on her, my gut tells me something’s not right.” He took the drink from Wade. “Thanks. And I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with her ogling Adrian.”
Wade shrugged. “Until you remember, there’s nothing we can do but wait and see how her talk with Adrian pans out.”
They sipped their drinks in silence and besides the crackling of the fire, not a peep sounded from the rest of the house.
Adrian paused in front of the kitchen door, her hand on the knob. Her feet felt as if they were cast in cement. How could Marie be here? More importantly, what were the odds that the one woman Adrian had chosen to have a one-night stand with would turn up on this assignment, the one geared to set her career back on its path?
So she had sex with her models. It wasn’t as if she were the only photographer doing it. The others didn’t even hide the fact. The only difference was that she was female—and double standards applied. As long as her sexual preferences didn’t interfere with her work, her employers usually couldn’t care less. But that was before Rory chose to up and leave and saddle her with the consequences of his failure to act professionally.
A large chunk of her guilt disappeared and she breathed a little easier. For the first time in more than a year, she was able to lay the bulk of the blame for her disastrous career at the right door—Rory’s. If he hadn’t abandoned the photo-shoot, they would have carried on with both their careers and their marriage as before. He’d insisted they keep an open marriage where sex was concerned because they were away from home so often. The only condition had been that they didn’t have affairs. She wasn’t the one who had broken their agreement. Last she’d heard, he’d married a girl he’d started seeing mere weeks after he’d married Adrian. Satisfied that her conscience was clear, Adrian inhaled and opened the kitchen door.
Marie sat at the table with her chin resting in her hands. At Adrian’s entrance, she quickly looked away, but not before Adrian spotted the telltale streaks of tears on her face. She walked into the kitchen and sat in the chair across the table. “Marie, why are you crying?”
Marie shook her head but refused to look at Adrian.
Adrian folded her arms on the table in front of her. “What are you doing here?”
“Being stupid,” Marie mumbled, her voice thick with emotion.
“You’re anything but stupid and you know it. I just don’t believe in coincidences enough to think you being on this assignment is random.”
“I asked for this assignment to be close to you.” Marie turned her tear-streaked face toward Adrian and shrugged. “I thought we had something special that night.”
How could she answer Marie without adding to the woman’s distress? Their time together had been special, but there was no connection other than the physical. She’d told Marie before they’d done anything that it had to be a one-time deal with no strings attached. They hadn’t even exchanged names.
“How did you find me?”
A blush stole over Marie’s cheeks and Adrian had the feeling she wasn’t going to like the answer. What if the woman had been stalking her for months and she hadn’t realized it? A chill crawled down her spine.
“It was a small town and people talked when your husband walked out of the session because you had sex with someone else. I felt guilty and I finally knew who you were, so I kept my ears open for your next project.”
While it all sounded plausible, there was just one problem with Marie’s story. “This project was never advertised. How did you come to know about it?”
Marie toyed with a strand of her hair, twirling it round and round her finger. She lowered her head. “Word spreads quickly in the industry if there’s a big project coming up.” Adrian stood, filled the percolator and switched it on. This was why she didn’t do relationships. They get too complicated too quickly.
“What made you think we might have more than just one night together? You knew the score before you left the club with me.”
Marie joined Adrian at the percolator and leaned with her hip against the cupboard. “I thought I was fine with it, but after being with you once, it just wasn’t enough.” She shrugged and wiped away the tears streaking down her cheeks.
Adrian felt lousy, but there was no easy way to let Marie down. She just wasn’t into relationships, and even if she was, it couldn’t be with another woman. The testosterone of men acted like a magnet to her senses and she would never be able to do without it. She ran her hand through her hair.
Damn, this is a mess
.
“I like you, but we could never be more than just friends. At least I hope we can be friends. As the only two women here, it would suck if we didn’t get along.”
“You’re not really into women, are you?”
Adrian cringed inwardly but shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
Marie caught her bottom lip between her teeth and sighed. “I think I knew, but I was so afraid to let a chance of happiness pass me by, and I wanted so badly for you to be the one.” She offered Adrian a watery smile. “But it would be nice if we could be friends.”
Adrian wiped imaginary sweat from her brow and squeezed Marie’s arm. “Thank God for small miracles.”
Marie giggled and the tension slowly seeped out of the room. Adrian plucked a mug from the cupboard and held it toward Marie. “You want some?”
“No thanks, I won’t sleep a wink if I have coffee now.”
Sleep wouldn’t come easy tonight so she might as well indulge in a little caffeine to ease her rattled nerves. She still had to face the men in the lounge. “I better go to the men and explain why I left them so abruptly.” She gave Marie’s arm another squeeze. “Sorry for not being what you thought I’d be.”
Marie shook her head. “In a way, you are better than I had imagined.” This time the sunshine was back in her smile and a little bit of the bubbly personality resurfaced. “Yes, I do believe I’d very much like you as a friend.”
“Great.” Adrian headed toward the door. “See you in the morning.”
Once the kitchen door banged shut behind her, Adrian leaned against the wall. In the space of a couple of days, her life had once again gone to hell in a hand-basket. Despite Marie’s insistence that she was fine with just being friends, Adrian couldn’t shake the feeling that Marie was still hiding something. She inhaled deeply and forced the tension in her shoulders to relax. Maybe she was becoming paranoid—imagining things just because Maverick had planted the seed of doubt. Whatever the case, if she continued enjoying the men, they’d have to be very careful to avoid situations like tonight where Marie could walk in on them at any moment. She moved away from the wall and walked to the lounge.
The men relaxed in front of the fire, each clutching a glass in their hands. Over the music system, Sade accused her lover of being a smooth operator while the crackling logs chimed in to add to the beat. They hadn’t turned on any lights and Adrian chose the chair closest to the fire.
“Sorted?” Wade asked as she sat and pulled her feet under her.
“I hope so.”
They sat in silence for a while—Adrian sipping her coffee and the men their drinks. The tension slowly seeped out of her body in the companionable silence, and Adrian relaxed. Returning her empty mug to the side table, she snuggled deeper into the folds of the chair and stared into the flames.
Chapter Eight
Adrian directed the beam of the flashlight into the trunk of the car. Satisfied she hadn’t left behind a vital piece of equipment, she quietly shut the door and tiptoed to the driver’s side. The men would be along shortly, but she didn’t want to wake them yet.
Her last recollection of the previous night was the sensation of being carried to her room and tucked in like she was a child. When her alarm had sounded this morning, she was fully dressed in her bed with a tender pussy and aching breasts as evidence of her indulgence.
She smiled. It had been far too long since she’d woken with this cat-stole-the-cream feeling. This morning she was invigorated and full of energy. The photos she’d taken so far were fantastic and her models the epitome of professional in front of the camera. What more could a photographer ask? Not even her insecurity about Marie being able to keep an open mind could put a damper on her enthusiasm.
Turning the headlights of the car on, she backed out of the carport and headed up the road.
The track she’d explored the previous day proved much harder to find in the dark, and she spent precious time searching for the turnoff. Once she started on the track, she was committed to it until she’d reached the plateau where she planned to take the photos.
It took longer than she anticipated to reach her destination and the sun lightened the sky by the time she’d finished setting up the tripods and cameras. Minutes later, riders appeared on the horizon and she set to work. With the photos in silhouette taken, she moved to close-ups of the men.
When Wade’s serious face filled the viewfinder, Adrian appreciated the steady stance of the tripod. Her hands trembled as memories of the same face in the throes of passion kept intruding on her thoughts. He dismounted and tipped his hat at her. Damn, he was sex on legs and turned her insides to a puddle of want.
She wanted to run her palm over the smoothness of his cheek and bury her face in the warm, musky smell against his chest. Her legs turned to jelly at the thought and she straightened her spine. Today they’d work—tonight they’d play. And in two days they were out of her life.