“I know that’s right,” Vanessa chimed in. Janae wasn’t sure if she was the luckiest person in the world to have these two as her friends, or the most unfortunate. The truth remained unseen. For now, though, she’d take their advice and try to see if she and Adam could somehow get through this unscathed.
Chapter 16
Janae sat quietly in Adam’s cabin driveway trying to get herself together. Together being a euphemism for being in control of her thoughts and body when she was alone with sexy-ass Adam Henderson for more than five minutes.
“All you gotta do is go in there, show him your plans for the fundraising effort, and keep it moving.”
Her strategy sounded easy and logical. However, having been in Adam’s presence before, she understood the threat that awaited her inside that cabin.
Did she fear for her safety? Not in the literal sense. Adam would never do anything she hadn’t given him permission to do to her. The person she didn’t trust was herself, and how easily she wanted to give in, even before she’d left the confines of her car.
Memories of the time they’d spent together since he arrived home flashed across her mind, and she could feel her need trying its best to take over.
Beyond their kiss on Adam’s tailgate at Monroe Summit, nothing physical had happened between them. Unfortunately, that fact didn’t stop her from desperately wanting more.
“You’re not here for that, Janae. Messy isn’t your thing.” Herorganization and attention to detail was known amongst her colleagues. She always prepared for the worst, so she was never caught off guard.
Every time she went into that OR, she checked and rechecked each item on her list from medications on hand to equipment needed, all in an effort to keep her patient safe. Emergencies didn’t always allow for extensive study, but she usually tried to go through as much of the patient’s chart as she could to help her better anticipate the patient’s needs.
Forethought was her thing. It kept her out of trouble, and more times than she could count, saved the lives of the people she was tasked with caring for. It was her greatest strength, and she only needed to employ it to get over this thing, whatever it was, between she and Adam.
Perhaps you’d be better equipped to do that if you weren’t actually preparing to walk into the lion’s den.
She glanced up into her rearview mirror, glaring at herself as if that would help the situation. It wouldn’t and it didn’t. Even as she found herself climbing out of the car and walking toward the cabin’s porch, she could already tell she was fighting a losing battle.
That sentiment was reinforced when Adam opened the door with a smile on his face that read “Welcome to your destruction.”
“Glad you made it safely. Come on in.”
He stepped aside with an inviting smile in place, and though she knew she should probably turn right back around and get in her car, she let his friendly greeting disarm her and lure her inside.
She might’ve continued to worry about whether or not her presence here was a failure to execute her common sense until a delightful aroma tickled her nose.
“What smells so good?”
“Stew chicken and rice and peas. It’ll be ready to plate up soon.”
Memories of their past assailed her. “Your mom used to make that when we were tutoring Michael, right?”
“Amongst other things,” he answered as he offered her a seat on one of the two sofas facing each other in the living room. “Whenever the two of you dropped by the house or the cabin, it was always an excuse for her to go overboard with the cooking. With just me and Pops in the house with her, she didn’t often get to make huge meals.”
“I certainly appreciated her efforts,” Janae said as she took her seat. “All these years of living in Monroe Hills and I still can’t find a decent Jamaican spot.”
He chuckled. “Being second-generation Jamaican and growing up in the South, my mom wasn’t raised with a lot of Jamaican cultural heritage in her home. But her grandfather kept her at his side in the kitchen whenever he’d visit, and fortunately for us, she soaked everything up.”
Janae stood back, taking in Adam and his easy demeanor as he talked about his mother. It was obvious he treasured the woman. Janae could only hope her own son would smile like that when he spoke of her in the future.
“Thank goodness for her grandfather, then. ’Cause your mama’s cooking has ruined me for all of these chain Caribbean food places ’round here.”
“A fact she would be thrilled by, no doubt.” He pointed toward the kitchen door. “Would you like something to drink? I’ve got water, Moscato, and beer.”
She tilted her head to look up at him. Adam was always tall. Even as a kid. But as a grown man, he’d filled out with solid corded muscles that she could see through the cream-colored Henley and dark brown sweats he was wearing.
“You have Moscato? I somehow didn’t picture that as your drink of choice.”
He chuckled, and his entire face lit up like the sun against a windowpane at dawn.
“It’s not. Mike told me you favored it. It’s too sweet for my taste.”
