Reason and Romance (River Valley Book 1) (9 page)

“Oh, I know what I’m doing,” she said.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Grant muttered. “Heads up. They’re coming.”

Justin returned with people. Quentin was hanging onto Alex’s shoulder, stumbling and laughing. Alex was far quieter, but he didn’t seem drunk. Mandy was nowhere to be seen, and Adrian nursed the irrational hope that she’d somehow tripped into a dumpster.

“Look at the shape she’s in,” Justin whispered, but she could still hear him. “We’ve got to get her home. Someone has to drive Cates too.”

Quentin just laughed. “She can come home with me anytime.”

Grant rolled his eyes. “Fuck off, Q. Someone has to drive you too. You’re wasted.”

A sullen Bri Latimer attached herself to the group. The smile she wore could only be described as a sneer. “Why do we have to worry about Cates?” she said. “Just let one of his loser friends take care of him.”

Travis’s blue eyes opened wide. “Hey! I don’t like you!”

Grant cut in before Bri could fire back a retort. “Never mind,” he said brusquely. “I’ll take Cates, but someone has to drive his car. Justin, you do it and I’ll drop you off after. Quentin, you can go with Bri—”

“I’ll help Bri out,” Vaughn Mackintosh said. She had seemingly popped out of nowhere. “Don’t worry about Quentin or his car. We’ll get him home.” Her smiling gaze fell upon Adrian. “Alex, why don’t you take Adrian home? You guys live together.”

There was such mischief in her eyes that Adrian stirred uneasily. Someone should be protesting this plan because she didn’t want to go home with Alex.

Alex shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll take her. Let’s go.”

It was actually Justin who helped her to Alex’s car. He put a hand on the back of her head to make sure she didn’t hit her head while getting in. He put on the seatbelt for her, and if Bri hadn’t dragged him off, he might even have climbed inside the car.

“You’ve got yourself an admirer,” Alex murmured as he started the engine. “How many drinks did you have anyway?”

She closed her eyes against the street lights. “Does it matter?”

“I didn’t think you were the drinking type.”

“Why?”

She had her eyes closed, but she could still hear the smile in his voice. “I had the distinct impression you were a prude, Adrian.”

“Oh, there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

Such as the fact that Jason had dumped her. Or that she was the daughter of a woman who’d cheated on her husband and left her kids to fend for themselves. Or that she was so, so desperately lonely she couldn’t stand it anymore.

Jason had helped with that loneliness part, though. He’d held her close and sometimes when they had sex, she could lose herself. No more feeling, no more thinking. She could just let everything go, so caught up was she in the fevered sensations between them. But that hadn’t always happened every time. She’d had to fake enthusiasm, so he wouldn’t get his feelings hurt, but in the last few weeks before she’d left for Arizona, she hadn’t been in the mood.

“You never really let me touch you. I had to beg you for sex! That’s just not normal, Adrian. You don’t make me feel like a guy.”

Her jaw tightened. Oh, she could just imagine him cozying up to Stephanie Frost and calling her sweetheart. They were probably in bed right now, this very minute, laughing about how they’d put one over her. Jesus, her old school probably pitied her. They’d left many online comments for her, but she hadn’t been able to read them.

“Like what?” Alex said.

His voice startled her out of her reverie. “Excuse me?”

Now that she had her eyes open, she could sense his sideways glance. “You said I didn’t know a lot about you,” he clarified.

The car stopped at a red light, and Adrian studied him covertly under her lashes. Was he actually trying to attempt a conversation?

“I know you can dance,” he continued, apparently not bothered by her silence. “And I know you like Nazis.”

That last comment made her laugh. “Not true.”

Still smiling, she half-closed her eyes. Some of the tension had gone out of her shoulders. If she wasn’t mistaken, he’d just made a joke.

He really was gorgeous. It was too bad that he was—

Alex stepped on the accelerator, and Adrian dug her nails into her palms. Wasn’t that what had teased her consciousness all night long? Even now she was partly tense because she was in the car with him. Hadn’t she tried to stay away from him at the party? Hadn’t she finally given in and approached him? And hadn’t she tried to flirt with him?

No, she was wrong. She had to be.

“Alex?” she said suddenly.

“Yeah?”

It was as if the next few seconds had slowed down because, even though she knew what she was going to do, she couldn’t stop herself.

What are you doing, Adrian? No, oh no.

She leaned over and put her hand on his knee. Alex shot her an unfathomable look, one she couldn’t read, before returning his gaze to the road. With a boldness partly fueled by anger and alcohol, she gently slid her hand up from his knee to his thigh where she let it rest.

“You’re drunk. And on my side of the car,” he said.

She didn’t remove her hand. “Then kick me out.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

His voice was curt, but instead of tucking her tail between her legs, Adrian stared at him, not bothering to be covert about it. He had watched her the whole time she’d danced with Justin, hadn’t he? And he’d smiled at her. Maybe she was a little inexperienced because she’d had only one major relationship, but she didn’t think she was stupid.

“You find me attractive,” she said bluntly.

It was a heady thought, one she hadn’t really let herself examine before. She’d been with Jason, and she’d honored that to the best of her abilities, but now that she was free of him—unshackled of him—she could think.

“Is that a question or a statement, Adrian? Is this even a conversation you really want to have with me right now?”

If that wasn’t a yes, she didn’t know what was.

She undid her seatbelt and moved closer to him. There wasn’t much room in the car, but she held onto his headrest, so that her mouth brushed his earlobe.

“It’s just the truth, Alex,” she whispered.

His aftershave teased her senses. It wasn’t the same one Jason used, and that was good. Emboldened, she ran her fingers across Alex’s cheekbones, dipping along his chin and jawline.

So different …

He caught her wrist. “Stop it, Adrian.”

She sat back on her heels. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about what Mandy thinks.”

“We have an on-and-off relationship, so we’re not really a couple, but you have a boyfriend, don’t you? Or am I wrong?”

He was still driving, but just for one or two seconds, he turned his head. Those disconcerting green eyes saw too much. She wasn’t about to explain the breakup and what had prompted it. Alex hadn’t liked Jason—oh yes, she’d realized that—and he wouldn’t offer any sympathy. What’s worse, she would look pathetic.

So she leaned over and trailed a line of kisses along his earlobe, his cheek, and his jawline. It was the only thing she could think of, and then it was the only thing. His aftershave enveloped her senses and she breathed in the scent of him.

I’m just drunk, that’s all. There’s no harm in it, no harm …

Suddenly desperate for more, she tugged on his shirt. It had been so long since she’d actually touched someone and meant it. The last few times with Jason, she’d pretended because it was always so much easier that way. But this? There was no pretense with Alex.

She couldn’t pull his shirt off, but her fingers played across his abs. Again, so different from Jason that she marveled anew. Her lips found Alex’s earlobe and then just the side of his mouth, as he turned his head away. He shrugged her off, but since he was driving, he couldn’t push her away entirely.

“This isn’t a game you want to play, Adrian.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

“We’re family.”

“Bullshit!”

His smile was almost like an explosion in the darkness. “Not yet, but my mother’s going to marry your father.”

He does have a point,
her conscience whispered.
A good one.

For a brief, shining moment she saw her father’s image in her mind’s eye. What would he say if he knew what she was doing now? Actually, he wouldn’t say anything because he would just have a heart attack on the spot. He probably suspected she’d had sex with Jason, but he had never, ever brought up the subject.

Frowning, she retreated to her side of the car. She thought she heard Alex sigh in relief, but when she shot a swift glance at him, he had his eyes on the road.

They didn’t speak until he pulled into the driveway. All lights were off, so everyone including the adults must have gone to bed.

Alex got out of the car while Adrian fumbled for her forgotten shoes. Justin had put them somewhere, but damned if she could find them. She was still looking for them when Alex came around to her side and opened the door.

“Come on,” he said.

He grabbed her shoes and wrapped his arm around her waist. She leaned on him as she stumbled into the house.

Her bedroom was closer, so he stopped by her door and disengaged himself. “Why don’t you hit the shower? You take the one here, and I’ll take the one upstairs. Pop some aspirin when you’re done. It’ll help with the hangover in the morning.”

She groped at the wall, inching her way to the bathroom. It was, luckily, right next to her bedroom. He was gone before she even made it to the shower.

The bathroom lights were harsh, and she winced and threw up a hand. Then the coldness set in so deep that she was shaking by the time she untied her halter. Had she just tried to … what the hell had she tried to do with Alex?

Her fingers clumsy, she let the halter fall to the floor. She undressed and stepped into the shower. The hot water pounded on her naked back and pounded the misery out of her. She reached mechanically for the shampoo bottle. It was slippery in her fingers, and she clutched it to her breasts like a trophy. What was the use?

She slid down to the shower floor and rested her head on her knees. The tears didn’t come, but that was nothing new. Ever since she was little, she’d always had a hard time crying. Yet another part of the legacy her mother had left her.

Maybe that was the cruelest thing Jason had done. He’d hurt her and made her lose control, and that, more than anything, she couldn’t forgive. She’d shed tears for him, back in that grocery store parking lot. Oh, Jason had played it well: he’d claimed to love her.

Liar! If you loved me, you wouldn’t leave me!

She didn’t know who she screamed it at. Jason, her mother, her father … they were all the same, weren’t they? Her skin pruned under the incessant assault of hot water, but her heart was empty and cold. When the water cooled, she finally got up, using the wall as her guide. After she’d finished washing and scrubbing, she stepped outside the shower. She toweled herself off and rubbed her hair dry.

When she stared at the mirror, her eyes were feverish and bright. She looked as if someone had slapped her. Those eyes belonged to a stranger: sad and lonely. Was this what Alex had seen? Was it the reason he’d turned her down?

She breathed in and out deeply. Then she scrubbed her face free of all makeup and used her toothbrush. Her mouth still felt cottony, so she used some mint-flavored mouthwash. Remembering Alex’s advice, she downed some aspirin that she found in the cabinet. She put her bathrobe on, gathered her clothes, and left.

Alex’s room was right next to hers. The light filtering under his door told her that he was still up. She hesitated, then walked resolutely into her room. Dumped her clothes on the floor and got into bed, but after tossing and turning for what seemed like a couple hours, she got up. This wasn’t working.

Oh, what the hell …

She moved quickly before she could think better of it. Resting her hip against the door frame, she knocked and then tried the knob. It was unlocked, so she let herself in.

Surprisingly he was still up. He was listening to some music, but he sat up on his bed when she entered. He’d shrugged off his T-shirt, but he’d changed into loose athletic shorts.

“Why are you here, Adrian?”

His wariness made her smile. Oddly enough, she felt better by just looking at him. With Alex around, there could never be any comparison to Jason because Alex Montgomery would never let you think of anyone else but him.

“Your door was unlocked,” she said, shutting it behind her.

Alex met her halfway before she even made it to the bed. “Let me take you back to your room.”

She laid a hand on his chest. “Mm. Why don’t you come back with me?” And because she knew he wouldn’t, she kissed him.

His lips parted and she tasted his surprise. And then it was something sweeter, something deeper …

A thrill ran through her. She locked her hand into his hair, melting against him. The muscles in his arms shifted—and for a horrifying second or two, she thought he would push her away, but then he was yanking her closer.

She wrapped a leg around him, and he lifted it higher. He was taking on almost all of her weight as he kissed her. Actually, kissing didn’t even cover it. His hand was under her bathrobe, under her thigh. At the feel of him against her skin, she closed her eyes. Oh yes. She’d always known that it would be like this.

Alex broke away first. He sounded breathless, but now he looked wary. “Wait. What about your boyfriend?” he said, setting her down on the floor.

“Oh, not that question again,” she said lightly.

“You’re drunk. Seriously. Go back to your room. You don’t want to do anything you’ll regret in the morning.”

“Oh, I’m drunk,” she agreed, untying the sash on her bathrobe, “but not
that
drunk.” She let her robe fall from her shoulders, but she kept the edges together. “And besides … I want you.”

As soon as the words left her lips, she knew it was the truth.

Alex’s eyes were green, but in the light they were golden. “Do you now?” he said very softly. “Are you sure?”