Take This Man

Chapter Nine



They"d had a quiet evening when they returned from the ballpark, and the next morning Elyse was still sleeping—or pretending to sleep—when Adam left for work. Adam wouldn"t put it past her, trying to fake him out. She"d done everything possible yesterday to avoid a serious conversation with him.

He wasn"t stupid—he knew Elyse was using sex to keep him at arm"s length. Not that he was making it hard for her. That was the problem. He was hard for her, anytime, anywhere.

But there was a lot more to it. He loved her. It wasn"t a sudden realization. When she left him two years ago, he knew exactly what he"d lost. Sure, he tried to hide from it with anger and cynicism, shooting off his mouth and being an a*shole. But Matthew had seen through it and so had Kim. He"d only been fooling himself.

Now things had changed. He had taken Elyse to the ball field last night because of the memories the place held. She told him she loved him there, and he"d intended to say those same words to her last night. But he let her distract him.

Adam was determined. Tonight he was taking Elyse on a real date, and they"d have fun like a normal couple, instead of behaving like a pair of sex maniacs.

When he got home from work, he didn"t grab a beer and flop onto the sofa, as he ordinarily might have done. Instead he headed to the bathroom, showered and shaved and changed into a fresh set of clothes.

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“Hey, what"s up?” Elyse asked, her eyes widening at his spiffed-up appearance. She was sitting on the sofa, working on her laptop.

“Turn off the computer,” he told her. “We"re going out tonight.”



****

Just like that. Not a request, an announcement.

Mr. Bossy was in good form.

“Out?” She looked down at her outfit—jeans and a sweater. “But I"m—”

“You"re fine,” he told her. “It"s casual.” Elyse discovered where he was taking her when she saw the signs for St. Dominick"s Church Festival. Parking was scarce, and they had to pull in far down the street and hike the extra blocks to the feast. They walked hand in hand like a couple of shy middle-schoolers out on their first date.

“Wow. It"s been years since I"ve been to one of these,” Elyse murmured. “Not since I was a kid.” She felt like a kid, too, wanting to play all the games, go on all the rides, and taste all the treats.

She kept a tight hold on Adam"s hand as she dragged him from booth to booth. They shouldered their way through the crowd, tempted by the tantalizing smells of french fries, pizza, and Blooming Onions. They stuffed themselves with fried dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, sausage and pepper sandwiches, cotton candy.

After Elyse lost five dollars on the roulette wheel, Adam pulled her away to get some beer and listen to the band. People laughed with their friends, festival barkers urged people to try their games, children cried because they were tired or lost their balloons. As it grew dark, red and white lights twinkled and blinked.

“What"s the matter?” Elyse noticed Adam was a little wobbly after they got off the tilt-a-whirl. It was her idea to go on twice, though Adam tried to beg off 96

by saying he wanted another beer. This was after they"d gone on the Ferris wheel and the tea cups, all at Elyse"s insistence.

“What?” he replied, swallowing hard. “No, nothing.”

“Are you sure?” Even in the dark, Elyse saw his face was pale and sweaty.

He held up a finger. “One sec.” His throat worked, his Adam"s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard several times.

A moment later he said, “We better go.” They had almost made it to the truck when Adam upchucked the evening"s splurge in the gutter.

Elyse rubbed his back in sympathy as he wiped his mouth. “Better now?”

“Yeah, a little.”

“Want me to drive us home?”

Adam gave her an are you kidding? look. He was back in manly man mode and not about to let anyone behind the wheel of his truck, even if he was still green around the gills. “Nope. Let"s go.” Elyse held back a sigh as he helped her into the truck.



****

She placed a cup of tea in Adam"s hand and sat in the chair across from him, peering at him in concern. He lay on the faded brocade sofa, his large frame dwarfing the spindly-legged thing. His face was still pale, his forehead creased in concentration as he focused all his effort on not throwing up again.

He grimaced. “This is so frigging embarrassing.”

“Take it easy, it"s no big deal.” Elyse knew he hated seeming weak, not in control. But she liked doing little things for him, like making him tea.

Taking care of him.

He took a swallow of the tea.


“Better?” she asked.

Adam nodded. “Thanks.” He took another sip.

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“Those sausage and peppers must have been off.”

“Really? I had some too, and I feel fine.” A little smile crept across her face. “Why don"t you admit what really made you sick, tough guy?” He gave her a cagey look. “What"re you talking about?”

“Those crazy carnival rides. You were looking pretty green after we got off the Ferris wheel. But I think the tilt-a-whirl really sent you over the edge.”

“Shit.” Turning red, he set the cup on the coffee table. “Busted.”

“Does anything that spins set you off?”

“Yeah,” he admitted in a gloomy tone. “I can barely stomach a frickin" merry-go-round.”

“I did notice how tightly you were holding my hand on the Ferris wheel.” She had to laugh. “Stupid me, I thought you were trying to be romantic.”

“Sorry. It was pure terror. Do your fingers still work?”

“Yeah. They"re fine.” She waggled them to prove the point. “Why didn"t you say something?”

“I didn"t want to spoil your fun,” he grumbled.

“How was I to know my little computer geek liked all those gut-wrenching rides?” At her look he added,

“All right, fine, I didn"t want to look like a big wuss.”

“Come on, you"re too sensitive.” She moved over to him and patted his knee. “Let me assure you that I think no less of you as a man, in spite of you puking your guts out. I still respect you,” she intoned with a straight face.

He scowled at her. “Ha ha. You got jokes.” Suddenly he grabbed her and pulled her down on top of him. “Come here, smart-ass.” Her heart thumped as she fell onto him and he captured her mouth. As she pressed against him sparks zipped through her, from her lips to her breasts, her p-ssy, the very soles of her feet. Same old, same old…all he had to do was touch her.

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The corner of his mouth lifted. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

“It"s not so bad, is it?” Elyse asked, playing with the top button of his shirt.

He took her hand, stilling it. “What?”

“Needing somebody,” she answered, staring him dead in the eye. She knew how hard it was for him.

To need anyone. To trust anyone. Every bit as hard as it was for her.

She pulled her hand from his and leaned back to unbutton the first button of his shirt, then the second. Blood pumped through her veins as slow and sweet as syrup.

He caught her hand again. “What are you doing?”

“I would think it"s obvious.” She rubbed against him, his hard cock jutting against her belly. “Don"t you want to?”

“Let me ask you something, Elyse.” There was no mistaking the annoyance in his hard expression or his tone of voice. “Is that all we have? Sex?” She moved off him to a corner of the sofa, suddenly on edge. “You"re objecting to sex now?”

“I"m not objecting. I"m asking a question.”

“Yeah, and I don"t see the point.” Was he asking if she had feelings for him? Since when had he cared? She wasn"t going down that road again. No way. “The point is I want to know if you think of me as anything besides a great big dildo.”

“This is crazy.” Elyse threw her arms up impatiently. “I want to screw, and suddenly you"re all pissed off.”

“Who said I was?” He demanded, clearly pissed off. “And why do you have to say it like that?”

“Like what?”

“You want to screw. You want to f*ck. Why do you have to make it so dirty?”

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Elyse wondered what alternate universe she had fallen into—and how to escape. “What do you want me to say? Let"s copulate? Fornicate? Have sexual intercourse? Make looove?” She drew out the last word mockingly.

“Is that so terrible?” he asked, watching her intently, his voice quiet. “To call it making love?” She had no intention of answering that. She"d put her heart out there once and gotten it stomped on. Never again.

Sex was good between them. It was safe. Why was he trying to mess with it now?

Adam began tearing at his buttons so fiercely a couple of them popped off. Elyse stared at him.

“What are you doing?”

He tossed the shirt on the floor. “I thought you wanted to screw.”

He kicked his shoes off and pulled off his socks, flinging them across the room. He popped the button on his fly, edged down the zipper, and gave her a look. “You change your mind?”

She stared at him, her hands curling helplessly into fists.

He shrugged. “Whatever.”

She called to him as he headed barefoot for the bedroom. “Adam.”

He didn"t stop. Elyse hopped to her feet and followed him. “Hey!”

Adam turned so suddenly Elyse nearly collided with him. “What?”

“I had a really nice time tonight.” Her voice was quiet. She didn"t want to argue with him. Nor did she want to get into some serious discussion about what it all meant. “Please, let"s not spoil it.” He stared at her as if waiting for her to say more, or wanting to say something himself. But all he finally said was “I had fun, too.” His mouth quirked. “Well, aside from the hurling.” 100

He gave her a half-smile, but there was a shadow of sadness on his face. She wanted to do something to chase the sadness away, so she took his hand, and they walked together to the bedroom.

When they reached it, Elyse kissed Adam softly and sweetly on the jaw. “Do you want to…just hold each other?” She almost wanted to roll her eyes. It sounded so damn sophomoric. But he needed something more tonight than sex, and Elyse, in spite of herself, wanted to give him that.

“I"d like that,” he answered. Their hands parted, and they moved to stand on opposite sides of the bed.

He took off his pants and slid into bed in his briefs, and she, taking his hint, did not get naked.

Nudity was too suggestive of sex, and tonight was about a different kind of intimacy. She took off her jeans, socks, and bra, and crawled in on her side wearing her shirt and panties.

They lay side by side, arms wrapped around each other, not speaking. It was a long time before either of them slept.



****

Meet me for coffee. 3:30. Jason sent her the text the next morning, after Adam left for work. When Elyse arrived at the hotel, he did not take her to the charming little coffee shop downstairs, or to one of the others in town. Instead he escorted her to his black BMW, and they drove to a place some twenty miles away.

“How"s this?” he asked as he pulled into the lot and parked, clearly not expecting an answer. Elyse was silent as she descended from the vehicle.

Something was very wrong.

Jason was not himself. Today he was not the easy-going charmer, the wise-ass, the clever character with a ready quip at the tip of his tongue.

He was in his own world.

The ride over had been quiet, except for the 101

classical music from the CD player. Jason had responded to Elyse"s attempts at conversation with polite but clipped responses. It wasn"t like Jason to be rude. Elyse knew something was troubling him.

And she knew what it was as soon as they walked inside. Cooper Caddiman was at a corner booth with his back to the door, seated across from a slim young man.

Elyse looked quickly at Jason, who evinced not the slightest surprise. He took her arm, leading her to a table as far from Coop and his friend as the small shop allowed. He had Elyse sit so she was facing the other men, while he had his back toward them.


She glanced at Coop, and then back at Jason, whose face was tight with anger. “You knew he"d be here?” she asked.

“I knew.” His tone was full of weary disgust.

“Maybe it"s nothing.”

But even she didn"t believe it. Elyse looked at the two men and it was obvious they were flirting, if that was the right term. Coop more so than the other guy, a slim redhead who seemed more reserved. He sat with his back pressed against the bench while Coop leaned forward over the table. Yeah, he was pouring it on thick. He reminded Elyse of the young guy at Hanover"s, who"d been trying to impress his date with the Facebook stuff.

“If it was nothing, he would have told me about it,” Jason answered. “He wouldn"t sneak someplace out of town, after telling me he had to meet with his lawyers.” He smirked. “Well, you"re now officially entitled to say I told you so.” Elyse shook her head. “I have no intention of saying that.” There was plenty she"d like to say to Coop, though. Most of it profane.

“You should. I deserve it. I"ve been an idiot.” Jason sighed. “I promised you coffee. Do you want to 102

order something?”

“No,” she said. “But I do want to go over there and knee Coop in the nuts for you.” Jason tilted his head and gave her a little smile.

“Aw, you"re sweet.”

Elyse frowned, turning somber. “Do you want to go?” “Now, honey, do you think I dragged you all this way just so you could watch me crawl home with my tail between my legs?”

Her spirits lifted immediately. Now this was the Jason she knew and loved. Clever, crafty, and maniacal.

“Go up to the counter and get us a couple of coffees, will you, hon? We can"t sit here and not buy something.”

Elyse went up to place the order and came back with two coffees and a couple of oatmeal cookies.

“Thanks,” Jason said. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, pushed a few buttons, and brought the phone to his ear. “Now let"s see if a*shole picks up.” Elyse went still. Coop must have had his cell on vibrate, because there was no ring tone. After a few moments he excused himself to his friend, looked at his phone and frowned, then slipped it into his jacket pocket.

“He"s not picking up,” she murmured.

Jason spoke at the same time. “It sent me to voice mail. Prick.” He began tapping the keys. “All right. Let"s see if he responds to this.”

“What are you—”

He showed her the words he"d typed onto the tiny screen: What the f*ck r u doing?

Elyse watched Coop pick up his phone, and glance at the screen. Jason read what was texted back to him. Busy with lawyers. TTYL.

Jason typed and spoke at the same time. “Look 103

behind u, a*shole.”

He pushed s end and swiveled in his seat .

Coop looked at his phone. His head jerked up as he nervously scanned the room. He froze when he saw Jason staring at him.

“Busted.” Elyse hissed.

Jason rose from his chair and strode to other side of the room. Coop stood also, at first stammering lame excuses, then trying to turn the tables, blaming Jason for “spying” on him. The redhead stared on, wide-eyed with confusion, along with the other customers and the baristas.

Jason met the bluster with complete silence.

When Coop winded himself, having run out of excuses and accusations, Jason picked up Coop"s ceramic mug and tossed the contents in his face.

Then he turned toward the front counter with his hands up, palms out signaling I"m harmless. “It"s all right, I"m leaving right now,” he told the baristas, as though they"d threatened to call the police instead of standing immobilized with shock.

“Let"s go,” he told Elyse as he stalked to the entrance. She grabbed the cookies and stuffed them in her purse as she hustled after him.

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