Trouble Won't Wait Read Online Free PDF

me.
    “You were only joking about the minute, then?” Adam asks, feigning letdown.
    I elbow his ribs. “Remember your promise, Ferris.”
    I don’t get it, I just don’t. Mike’s not old enough to be having a mid-life crisis. What the hell is up with him? Purposely going out to a bar, and dancing , of all things.
    “Am I really so undesirable?” I hadn’t intended to verbalize that. I don’t go fishing for compliments. But first Lana, and now Mike. Just when I was starting to feel good about myself, they’re lobbing mud-missiles at my self image.
    Adam clears his throat. “No.”
    I’d forgotten I asked it out loud, and I turn to him in surprise. The “I want you” look is back. My mind is yammering Scout’s honor, Scout’s honor! but Adam is intent on showing me I’m not undesirable. He leans and pulls me against him, cradling the back of my head, tilting it up. My pulse thunders in my ears in anticipation, while he stares into my eyes.
    When his mouth finally meets mine, it’s like the first time I’ve ever been kissed. My hands are on his arms, and I know I’m not breathing, but maybe just being attached to him like this, I can absorb oxygen. His kiss is so different . Of course, it’s been like fourteen years since I kissed anyone but Mike.
    When Adam’s rum-flavored tongue enters my mouth, I feel like I’ll melt into oblivion. Nothing has ever felt this good, this right. Wrong, no, this is wrong! The tears I’ve been holding back since last night choose this moment to make an encore appearance. I’ll play hell stopping them now.
    Adam notices I’ve changed my mind and pulls back. “Damn it, I’m sorry, Mandy. Don’t cry, it’s not your fault, I’m sorry.” He gets up, then returns with a box of tissues.
    I want to tell him not to be sorry, but it won’t make any sense right now. I’d only be blubbering. I have to pull it together, for him. I have to make him understand; I don’t want him to feel guilty. I snuggle against his side, let his arm hold me while I pull my thoughts together. My legs are folded beside me on the couch, curled up tight. Maybe I could just stay here forever, warm and protected…
    When it feels like my voice will be coherent, I take his hand in mine and hoarsely proclaim, “You’re a really good kisser!”
    “You got a pretty good start there, yourself,” he murmurs against the crown of my head.
    “Adam?” My heart is lurching, skipping beats, from the feel of his breath in my hair.
    “Hmm?”
    “I think I need to go. Really.”
    “Yeah, I know.” He sounds resigned, but we both know things will go too far if I stick around. “I’ll drive ya.”
    He drives straight to my house without me telling him where to go. At my driveway, he clears his throat. “Uh. I sorta followed you home on my bike one day, right after I moved in.”
    “Stalker!” I laugh.
    With a sheepish shrug, he asks, “What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”
    “Tomorrow. Well, Mike’ll come home hungover, and sleep it off. The kids are supposed to go to his mom’s tomorrow night. After they’re gone, Mike will get up, be a real cranky bastard, and we’ll have it out, I guess. I’ll definitely need my walk. Will you be home?”
    He nods without speaking.
    I sense he’s yearning to touch me again, as I am him.
    “Adam.” I hope he likes when I say his name as much as I like when he says mine. “Thanks. For everything .”
    I open the door with one hand, to make a quick escape, then kiss my fingers and touch them to his lips. He grabs my left hand and kisses the palm, making my heart race the whole way up to the garage, where I use the keypad to open the big door.
    His engine idles outside until the garage door closes completely. Then he drives away.
    * * * *
    Inside, my house is crypt-quiet. A message awaits on the answering machine. Probably from Mike. Oh, nope. His great-aunt Clara. Aunt Clara is a hoot, and positively the most perceptive ninety-year-old alive. She’s