Chapter 38

Mia

Los Angeles International Airport

 

Jenna: In Customs now. Will meet you at curb outside baggage claim?

Me: Yes! Will be there ASAP. Can’t wait to see you!

 

I notified the driver to pull out of the cell phone waiting lot near LAX and head to the curb of the Tom Bradley International Terminal. We had plenty of time because William and Jenna would have to pass through Customs and then claim their luggage. So I decided to while away that time by wheedling Adam some more.

It had been almost two months since the duel, and he still wouldn’t tell me when this wedding was going to happen. And he was loving every minute of stringing me along. I’d laughed along with him at first, but as time passed, I was ready to stage a revolt.

We sat in a rented limo—part of the service we sometimes used. Though Adam still preferred driving himself most of the time, no one—not even him—liked circling an airport. Thus, I had the benefit of him being a captive audience with no distractions. I was prepared to use that benefit to get my way.

“Let’s see…how about Star Wars Day?” I asked.

“What?” He frowned.

“May 4th?” At his blank expression, I elaborated. “May. The. Fourth. As in ‘May the fourth be with you.’”

One dark brow rose. “Stupidest pun ever. Besides, we’re already past that date.”

I shrugged. “That date comes around again next year...”

His smile grew shrewd. “Oh no you don’t. I told you already, we are getting married this year.”

“But you’re not going to tell me what date.”

He shrugged. “Surprise parties are always fun. Why not a surprise wedding?”

I scowled at him. “Surprise parties are always fun? You threw a surprise party for me once that was definitely not fun. And you’ve warned me never to throw one for you. Not that I’d attempt it. Your prescient genius brain powers would sniff out the secret long before it ever happened.”

A slow, smug grin crept across his handsome face. “That’s right. I’m the one who does the surprises.”

My mouth twisted with faux frustration. “You missed your calling, Adam Drake. You should have worked for the CIA.”

He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me up against him. “Maybe I already do.”

I shook my head. “If you make this a surprise wedding, I promise you it’s not going to go down any better than that surprise party did.”

It was good that we were finally in the place where we could joke about one of the dark points in our life—the night that Adam had asked me to marry him for the first time—and for all the wrong reasons. The night I’d refused him and then walked into the most awkward surprise party ever. Yes, we were light years away from that night. And when you got to the point where you could laugh or smile about painful memories, then you knew you’d arrived at your happy place—at least for the time being.

The smile slid off his handsome face and he looked away, rubbing his jaw dramatically with his free hand as if he were a cartoon villain.

“C’mon, Adam, I need a date,” I whined.

He leaned over and kissed my temple. “I promised you a date. I’ll give it to you. I just didn’t say when I would give it to you.”

I got up and moved to the opposite bench seat to avoid his groping hands. “You don’t want to at least tell William we have a date? He helped you win that bet. ”

“Oh, I could tell him. He’ll keep my secret.”

My mouth pursed. “Just make sure that secret isn’t too well kept or the bride might not even know when to show up.”

His smile widened and he patted the seat next to him. I shook my head at him, refusing to risk getting within reach of his all-too-convincing hands. I stuck my tongue out at him before saying, “You’re enjoying this way too much. I might have to get violent. Or get you drunk.”

“Or...” He held his hand up his mouth to mime a blowjob.

I folded my arms across my chest, and then a brilliant idea popped into my head. Adam studied me with a wary look on his face. As he should. “What?”

I gave an exaggerated shrug. “Sadly, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to get freaky with you.” For effect, I sighed dramatically. “At least not until my mind is alleviated of the burden of worrying about when I’m getting married.”

His eyes narrowed. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

My devious grin widened. “Probably.”

“I feel the need to warn you that I do have legendary willpower.”

I laughed. And laughed. And snorted. And then laughed some more. That may have been the case once, but it hadn’t been the case for quite a while now. Nowadays, he had the willpower of a frat boy on viagra.

He frowned. “It wasn’t that funny.”

The car pulled into the loading zone outside the terminal. I spotted William and Jenna standing on the curb beside their baggage, holding hands and waiting. They both looked utterly exhausted. After a fifteen-hour trip, I couldn’t blame them.

I turned back to Adam. “I can’t wait to test that legendary willpower.” And with that, I reached under my skirt and yanked off my panties. Then I tucked them into a ball and leaned forward to stuff them in the front pocket of his khakis. “Here, hold these for me, will you?”

I saw his eyes widen just I hopped out of the limo. Immediately, I gave William a hug—after warning him first—noticing Adam was slow to get of the car. “Here are our world travelers!”

“How are you?” Adam slapped his cousin on the arm while I moved to hug Jenna.

“Hungry and tired,” she said. “Neither of us could sleep on the plane.”

“We have dinner ready for you at our house, and a guest room made up if you want to stay. Or the driver can take you home after we eat. We weren’t sure what you wanted to do.”

“Dinner would be awesome,” said Jenna.

“William, how was Sarajevo?” I asked.

“Busy,” he said. “Beautiful. Old. And crowded.”

Once the driver had loaded the luggage, we all piled into the back of the limo. I smooshed in next to Adam even though it was completely unnecessary. There was a ton of room back here, but my seduction plans were in play. I’d have to press my body up against his as much as possible. Not that that was really a chore. The man was too damn sexy for his own good.