He lifted a finger. “The limitations?”
She reached for her drink. “I fell asleep on the page and didn’t get that far.”
Adam nodded. “But you’re smart. What would you guess?”
She rolled her drink around in her glass, watching the bubbles float to the top, her mind going blank at his compliment. Had Charles ever told her she was smart? Not that she could remember. He probably thought associating with her implied that her intelligence level was up to par. She mentally shrugged off the thoughts. If she was so smart, she wouldn’t have dated Charles.
She yanked her thoughts back to Adam’s question and mulled it over. “Each of the rules seems to imply that the company, or owners of the company, believed they were a corporation. So, the limitation would be … if they knew that they weren’t a legal corporation and were operating that way anyway.”
Adam’s eyes gleamed with triumph for her, telling her that she’d gotten the answer right. “How would you prove it?” he pressed.
She thought about all the hoops she had to jump through to allocate funds for The Cove. “How they use company funds. If they take draws for personal use or if they have a salary and tax schedule.”
His hand brushed her knee. “You’ve a keen mind, Bella.”
She blushed under his praise and his touch. The man known to the world as the Beast rarely gave a compliment in the legal field. This one was like a precious jewel to her. But more important was that it came from Adam, the man only she seemed to know. He was quickly becoming important to her in a way no other person had been before.
And yet, nothing was set in stone. When the contract was up, she could walk out of The Cove and not be allowed back inside. She wanted more time with him. No, what she really wanted was more of him. The question was, was he willing to give more of himself to her?
She laid her hand on his arm. “Will you tutor me, Adam? In the evenings?”
His body softened towards her. “I’d be delighted.”
Bella smiled shyly. Inside of her, things were changing. Her heart was spreading open to let Adam in. She only hoped that she got to keep a portion of the happiness he brought her, no matter what the future may bring.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to be the first to fish on my lake.” His blue eyes sparkled.
Bella grinned and brushed her hands. “I don’t mind at all.”
Chapter Seventeen
Adam
Adam kept his head bent over a book and his eyes on Bella. A lock of her hair had escaped from the messy bun secured by a pen at the top of her head. She never looked as beautiful as she did when her mind was churning through information and categorized it into usable data. When she concentrated, a tiny line appeared between her eyebrows. He doubted she even knew it existed. Her long lashes brushed her cheeks in the most distracting way. He’d love to feel them tickle his skin, her head resting in that space between his collarbone and—
“Adam?”
“Hmm?” he asked, reluctant to leave his daydream behind. If only he could take Bella by the hand and pull her close—just once. Just one taste of her perfectly formed lips would last him through eternity.
Bella pulled his book gently out of his hands. “What is so interesting?” She closed the cover and ran her hand over the leather binding. “Anatomy of Murder. Adam, are you readingfiction?”
“Based on a real case.” He snatched his book back. “And written by a Supreme Court justice, so … there,” he finished lamely. Bella brought out the child in him, a child he doubted had played outside or stuck his tongue out after his mother died.
Bella laughed, the sound filling all the empty spaces between the books and the cracks in the walls of his heart. He settled back, throwing one arm across the leather sofa they shared and opening the book in his lap.
Bella leaned into his chest, fitting perfectly beside him. She tucked her legs up on the couch and disappeared into the fat book of civil procedures once again. Adam’s mind never quite got back into the courtroom thriller, because the woman sitting with him captivated his attention.
He slowly lifted his hand and tugged the pen from her hair. Long, beautiful waves fell around her shoulders and across his chest.
“Hey.” Bella looked over her shoulder at him, a question in her eyes.
Adam, feeling braver than he ought, buried his fingers in her hair and rubbed her scalp. “You looked tense.”
Bella melted against him once more. “Thanks.” Her voice was soft, intimate.
He used his thumb to rub small circles at the base of her head. She moaned softly and leaned into him, accepting his touch, acceptinghim.
Even as she relaxed into the massage, he stiffened with fear that she’d recoil from him. He was crossing lines here, big ones that companies hold meetings to educate employers not to cross. Bella was here because of a contract, but he wanted her here because … because he was falling in love with her.
