“More like a command,” he smiled. A man of power, he was used to getting what he wanted. There was no one who would refuse him anything. Except the fiery girl whom Adam had come to fall in...care for.
“Oh, please,” Mercedes scoffed. “I won’t fall into your bed that easily.”
He laughed at her rejection. “Then I’ll consider it a challenge.” He winked before walking away and disappearing out of sight.
“Thanks for the help,” Paul said in jest, pushing between them to set their drinks down. Cocktail for Mercedes, whiskey for Adam, before he went to sit with Dan and Carlos.
“What was that?” Adam asked. The anger at seeing Blake’s face eclipsed by a different emotion this time. He was jealous.Fucking jealous.But all the more was his curiosity at the bashful woman who was bold enough to turn down Dorian Blake.
“Oh, that? A frustration,” Mercedes replied. She removed the lemon from the edge of the glass and took a sip. A frustration was a start. He could work with that.
“Flirting with Dorian Blake? In broad daylight?” Adam teased. “Do you know him or something?”
“Just from the club. He’s been...pursuingme for a while.” Her body contracted like she was allergic to the thought.
“I understand where he’s coming from,” Adam smirked.
“It’s just smart to play his game.”
“Good girl,” Adam said, holding out an outstretched hand. “Come with me for a minute.”
Mercedes hesitantly put down her drink and stared at him with playful intrigue, but still she didn’t accept his hand.
“Trust me.” Adam cocked his head.
She slipped her hand into his. Dragging her away from the boardwalk bar, he drew her from the crowds to a spot where they could be alone. They walked through the sand dunes and over the hill until the party music was just a low whistle in the distance.
Sitting down on the sand and brushing remnants of the grit from his thick, hairy legs, Adam patted the spot next to him. She tucked her dress under her legs and joined him, sitting up on her knees.
“I have something for you,” he said.
“You do?”
“It’s your holiday gift.”
“Is it?” She leaned closer into him and let him brush her long blonde waves from her face. There it was, that magic spell of hers again. It did something to him. Made his heart feel like it was both beating faster, and like it had stopped completely. He knew without question that he would never feel that way about anyone else. Every time he was around her, all rational thinking went out the window.
“You had something for me?” She laughed when he had gone a period of time without speaking.
Oh right, the gift.
Clearing his throat, Adam retrieved a small gift box from his pocket and held it in his outstretched hand. Her expression turned serious as she accepted the gift, holding the box in both hands. “You stole it for me?”
“No, baby,” he said, laughing. “I bought it for you. It’s not much, but I wanted this gift to be real.”
She opened it slowly. The edges creaked as it snapped open, and laying gently on a cushioned bed was a delicate diamond necklace in the shape of the infinity symbol. Mercedes gasped, frowning as if she thought the gift was far too much to accept.
Adam watched her closely, losing himself in her nervous smile. He ran his fingers over her hands, which were still clutching the box, and then over the diamond necklace. “It’s for infinity,” he explained. “How you and me are forever. How I will always protect you and be there for you... How Iloveyou. How I will love you now and forever. For infinity.”
It was the first time he’d ever told her what he knew in his heart from the moment he met her. Frankly, it was the first time he’d ever said it to anybody, and he hazarded an educated guess that she would be the only person he’d ever say it to.
He waited for what felt like an eternity for her reply, searching for an answer in her frozen expression.
“It’s perfect,” she finally said with a smile. His smile spread, too, the corners of his lips pushing at his eyes. He pulled the necklace from the box, and she lifted her hair to allow him to place it, letting it fall against her chest. She grabbed his cheeks with two hands and pulled him into a soft, warm kiss. Sweet and thoughtful and lazy, like melted ice cream on a hot summer day.
As their kiss broke, she whispered in his ear the words he’d hoped she’d repeat, “I love you, too.”
* * *
