Forbidden Read Online Free PDF Page B

her nearer.
    Liz could feel his warm breath on her cheeks, could easily guess his intention as his head began to lower. She stiffened.
     He was entirely too smooth, too practiced. “No,” she said quietly, firmly. “I don’t want this.”
Liar!
her mind screamed as she opened the door.
    Adam stepped back, thrust both hands into his back pockets, annoyed with himself. What had come over him, making a pass at
     one of his volunteers? Fitz would have a shit fit. “Neither do I, believe it or not.” His eyes searched hers, trying to read
     her feelings. “But something’s happening here.” Despite his reluctance, he couldn’t repudiate it.
    Liz had to deny it. Had to. She wasn’t accustomed to encounters that left her trembling. It was one thing to touch the flame
     and quite another to leap into the fire. She recognized that she was way out of her realm of experience with this man. “We’re
     intelligent, mature adults. We don’t
have
to let anything happen. We have free will.”
    He smiled. “Do we?” He let her leave then, watched herwalk to the elevator without looking back. He closed the door after her and moved to the window to stare out at the sea.
    He hadn’t wanted her to go. He wanted to carry her in to his big four-poster bed and bury himself deep inside her. He wanted
     to taste her, to make love with her until neither of them could move.
    How long had it been since he’d wanted a woman like that? Adam asked himself. A very long time.
    Slowly he walked back into the kitchen to check on the kitten.
    Sam Lorenzo was not an experienced speaker. Not for just anyone would he get duded up in a suit, tie, and tight collar and
     speak in front of a roomful of strangers in a posh hotel he’d never even visited before. The Hotel Del Coronado was too ritzy
     for his taste, the people too sophisticated for his comfort. The banquet room with its richly paneled walls and chandeliers
     in the shape of crowns was more than a little intimidating. But everyone had been so nice to him and his wife. He knew his
     English wasn’t all that good, yet no one seemed to mind.
    After Fitz had introduced him he’d begun talking, and they’d given him their polite attention. As his story built and the
     emotions came to the surface, Sam needed to take out his white handkerchief and unashamedly dab at his damp eyes. He’d noticed
     more than one person in the audience brushing aside tears, too. Now he was building up to his big finish.
    “He got my family a big settlement, my friend Adam McKenzie did,” Sam declared. “But that’s not what’s important. How many
     meals can a man eat? How many suits can he wear? Money isn’t what Mr. McKenzie got us. He got us
justice. “
    The applause that followed wasn’t merely polite; it was loud and enthusiastic. As if he were a trained political speaker,
     Sam waited for it to die down before he continued.“And the best part is that Mr. McKenzie, he didn’t stop with just our one case. He shook up the politicians and got a bill
     passed. The law’s changed now here in California.” He swallowed hard and scanned the faces all looking at him, many very moved.
     There was almost absolute silence as he delivered his final line. “Because of what that good man did, no other woman has to
     die like my Angie died.” Wiping his eyes, Sam Lorenzo stepped down from the podium and walked back to his seat on the dais.
    “The man deserves this standing ovation,” Molly commented to Liz at the side table reserved for Adam’s volunteers and aides
     as they stood, joining in the applause. She noticed that Barry and Jesse and Steve were on their feet, as was Diane. “It couldn’t
     have been easy for him to get up there and say all that.”
    “I agree.” Liz watched Fitz resume his place behind the mike, clapping as the cheering continued.
    “As testimonials go, Sam Lorenzo’s a hard act to follow. But look at Adam. He seems almost embarrassed.”
    Liz’s eyes moved to Adam. She