“Oh, for crying out loud,” I said, giving him a reproving look. “Thank you Gabrielle, I’ll be honored to wear your cow jammies.” She and I hugged and I saw Adam glare at Braden, who looked like he was trying not to laugh.
Chapter Twenty
When I came out of the bedroom wearing Gab’s faded pajamas with pictures of smiling, demented-looking cows, Adam put his hand in front of his mouth, cocking an eyebrow at me.
“Those cows look kind of disturbed,” he said, his voice cracking a little.
“They’re mad cows,” I answered dryly and he almost lost it. “Speaking of mad, this was such a crazy night, it was like something that would happen to Gabrielle.” I went and sat on the sofa and he moved over to sit beside me. I guess the cow jammies weren’t that repulsive.
“So, tell me more about you and Sachs,” he said, putting his feet up on an ottoman and resting his arm on the back of the sofa. Even though the pose was casual, I sensed tension.
“There’s not much to tell,” I replied, turning to face him. “He was in his third year and I was in my first. I talked to him at a party one night. I thought he was cute and sexy. He asked me out on a date and I said yes.”
“You said he reminded you of me.” He was trying to be serious, but every time he glanced down at my sleep apparel he almost cracked up.
“He did remind me of you, except he was nice to me,” I teased. “Anyway, we dated for a little while and then he graduated and went to D.C. to work. The end.”
“You weren’t all heartbroken?”
“No, Adam, I wasn’t. He didn’t get me stirred up emotionally. He was just a cute sexy guy who I had some fun with for a while. He wasn’t heartbroken either when he left.” What I thought, but didn’t say, was, “he wasn’t you.”
“You slept with him, though,” he said, almost accusatorially, suddenly finding the wall very interesting.
“We were dating,” I answered defensively.
“The thought of him touching you makes me want to kill him,” he went on, still not making eye contact. “When he said you could talk to him anytime, and he would visit you, I almost did kill him.”
“At least he’s only one person. We probably couldn’t go out to most clubs in the city without running into someone you’ve had carnal knowledge of. That doesn’t exactly thrill me either, you know.”
“I don’t even remember their names,” he replied, finally looking at me again. “I probably wouldn’t recognize them if I saw them. It was completely meaningless and mechanical.”
“And it’s not meaningless and mechanical with me?”
“No!” he replied indignantly, scowling at me, and looking offended.
“Well, sex is different for me with you too. I don’t know if it was ever ‘mechanical’ per se with other people, but it was just physical. I never felt anything else.” There, I had just told him I felt something. That was progress.
“I appreciate that, although, it wouldn’t hurt if you told me it was better physically too.”
“It is!” I said with a laugh, relieved he was letting my revelation pass. “Seriously, I’ve never been so orgasmic in my life. You could probably make me come just by rubbing my back.”
“Really?” he asked, sounding much too intrigued.
“Why? And why are you looking at me like that?”
“I was just thinking that would be really hot, if we were out with other people, and I got you off without anyone else suspecting.”
“I’m not sure no one else would suspect. I’m not exactly stoic at the moment of truth.”
“It would be interesting research, wouldn’t it? Then if you wrote a scene like that into one of your novels you would know it was possible.”
“Aren’t you a prosecutor? Do the words public indecency mean anything to you?”
“I won’t get you naked, at least not where anybody could see us.” He smirked.
“Okay, look, how about if we talk about your role as my research assistant another night, like one when I haven’t been chased by some creepy guy.”
“I’m sorry. I know that must have freaked you out really badly.” He looked contrite. He also looked pretty stressed out himself, and I thought about what Gab had said.
“Adam, you know that what happened tonight, there was nothing you could have done.”
“I know,” he said, sounding unhappy. “I just wish I could have done something.”
“You couldn’t have known that something like that could even happen. Who would think anybody would try something that crazy in City Hall?”
“When I came to get you the front entrance was unlocked, but nobody was there. Your boss showed up a couple of minutes later. She said she got a call from somebody claiming to be a law clerk, who wanted her to come to a judge’s chambers in another building, but when she got there everybody had already left. Then I saw books lying on the floor,” I heard him swallow and his voice sounded hoarse, “and your shoes by the stairs.” He sounded like he was reliving it in his head.
“Adam …” He didn’t have to tell me that he felt something. It was obvious that he did.
“Then I called the cops, and before you know it, not only do two uniforms and two detectives show up, but Sachs shows up with the FBI.”
“Adam, I’m fine. We’re together. In fact, we’re going to be together all the time. Nothing’s going to happen, unless we kill each other,” I joked. He smiled but he still looked kind of upset, and he let out a deep breath.
“You’re the only one I’ve ever gotten worked up about like this. I’m just not used to it. I’ve never felt all protective like this before. I’ve never felt jealous like this before. Mark is one of my best friends and I wanted to kill him too. I still can’t believe he put his hands on your ass.”
“Adam, stop dwelling. Let’s watch a movie or something, then we can go to bed and you can tap my ass and mark your territory.”
“You’re so romantic, Adler.” He laughed. “You know, I wasn’t surprised that you wrote romance novels because I didn’t think you were sexy. I can believe you write sexy novels.”
“What do you want to watch, Romeo?”
“I don’t care. Just don’t sing.” He dropped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me up against him.
Chapter Twenty
When I came out of the bedroom wearing Gab’s faded pajamas with pictures of smiling, demented-looking cows, Adam put his hand in front of his mouth, cocking an eyebrow at me.
“Those cows look kind of disturbed,” he said, his voice cracking a little.
“They’re mad cows,” I answered dryly and he almost lost it. “Speaking of mad, this was such a crazy night, it was like something that would happen to Gabrielle.” I went and sat on the sofa and he moved over to sit beside me. I guess the cow jammies weren’t that repulsive.
“So, tell me more about you and Sachs,” he said, putting his feet up on an ottoman and resting his arm on the back of the sofa. Even though the pose was casual, I sensed tension.
“There’s not much to tell,” I replied, turning to face him. “He was in his third year and I was in my first. I talked to him at a party one night. I thought he was cute and sexy. He asked me out on a date and I said yes.”
“You said he reminded you of me.” He was trying to be serious, but every time he glanced down at my sleep apparel he almost cracked up.
“He did remind me of you, except he was nice to me,” I teased. “Anyway, we dated for a little while and then he graduated and went to D.C. to work. The end.”
“You weren’t all heartbroken?”
“No, Adam, I wasn’t. He didn’t get me stirred up emotionally. He was just a cute sexy guy who I had some fun with for a while. He wasn’t heartbroken either when he left.” What I thought, but didn’t say, was, “he wasn’t you.”
“You slept with him, though,” he said, almost accusatorially, suddenly finding the wall very interesting.
“We were dating,” I answered defensively.
“The thought of him touching you makes me want to kill him,” he went on, still not making eye contact. “When he said you could talk to him anytime, and he would visit you, I almost did kill him.”
“At least he’s only one person. We probably couldn’t go out to most clubs in the city without running into someone you’ve had carnal knowledge of. That doesn’t exactly thrill me either, you know.”
“I don’t even remember their names,” he replied, finally looking at me again. “I probably wouldn’t recognize them if I saw them. It was completely meaningless and mechanical.”
“And it’s not meaningless and mechanical with me?”
“No!” he replied indignantly, scowling at me, and looking offended.
“Well, sex is different for me with you too. I don’t know if it was ever ‘mechanical’ per se with other people, but it was just physical. I never felt anything else.” There, I had just told him I felt something. That was progress.
“I appreciate that, although, it wouldn’t hurt if you told me it was better physically too.”
“It is!” I said with a laugh, relieved he was letting my revelation pass. “Seriously, I’ve never been so orgasmic in my life. You could probably make me come just by rubbing my back.”
“Really?” he asked, sounding much too intrigued.
“Why? And why are you looking at me like that?”
“I was just thinking that would be really hot, if we were out with other people, and I got you off without anyone else suspecting.”
“I’m not sure no one else would suspect. I’m not exactly stoic at the moment of truth.”
“It would be interesting research, wouldn’t it? Then if you wrote a scene like that into one of your novels you would know it was possible.”
“Aren’t you a prosecutor? Do the words public indecency mean anything to you?”
“I won’t get you naked, at least not where anybody could see us.” He smirked.
“Okay, look, how about if we talk about your role as my research assistant another night, like one when I haven’t been chased by some creepy guy.”
“I’m sorry. I know that must have freaked you out really badly.” He looked contrite. He also looked pretty stressed out himself, and I thought about what Gab had said.
“Adam, you know that what happened tonight, there was nothing you could have done.”
“I know,” he said, sounding unhappy. “I just wish I could have done something.”
“You couldn’t have known that something like that could even happen. Who would think anybody would try something that crazy in City Hall?”
“When I came to get you the front entrance was unlocked, but nobody was there. Your boss showed up a couple of minutes later. She said she got a call from somebody claiming to be a law clerk, who wanted her to come to a judge’s chambers in another building, but when she got there everybody had already left. Then I saw books lying on the floor,” I heard him swallow and his voice sounded hoarse, “and your shoes by the stairs.” He sounded like he was reliving it in his head.
“Adam …” He didn’t have to tell me that he felt something. It was obvious that he did.
“Then I called the cops, and before you know it, not only do two uniforms and two detectives show up, but Sachs shows up with the FBI.”
“Adam, I’m fine. We’re together. In fact, we’re going to be together all the time. Nothing’s going to happen, unless we kill each other,” I joked. He smiled but he still looked kind of upset, and he let out a deep breath.
“You’re the only one I’ve ever gotten worked up about like this. I’m just not used to it. I’ve never felt all protective like this before. I’ve never felt jealous like this before. Mark is one of my best friends and I wanted to kill him too. I still can’t believe he put his hands on your ass.”
“Adam, stop dwelling. Let’s watch a movie or something, then we can go to bed and you can tap my ass and mark your territory.”
“You’re so romantic, Adler.” He laughed. “You know, I wasn’t surprised that you wrote romance novels because I didn’t think you were sexy. I can believe you write sexy novels.”
“What do you want to watch, Romeo?”
“I don’t care. Just don’t sing.” He dropped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me up against him.
