Can't Stand the Heat - Louisa Edwards [110]
“I would,” Adam said.
What?
Rob’s face darkened, but Adam wasn’t even looking at him, he was staring at Miranda and she was staring back.
“I’d hire her in a heartbeat if it meant she’d stay right next to me for a good long time.”
Miranda gaped, searching Adam’s eyes for the meaning behind his words. His dark chocolate eyes were almost black, snapping with tension. He raised his brows a fraction of an inch, and Miranda tried desperately to interpret the message he was sending. She refused to believe it was as simple as Adam trying to tell her how he felt about her. That would imply that he thought he’d better get it in under the wire while there was still time, and she couldn’t handle that level of pessimism from Adam. Wes was outside by now, the police were probably on their way already. This was no deathbed confession.
No, Adam must mean he wanted her to stay at his side or behind him, not present a target for Rob’s ever-shifting gun.
“Shit, a woman like Miranda?” Rob laughed, high and grating. “No way she’s sticking around. She’s just digging for dirt for that book. Have you let him read it yet, Miranda? There’s some good shit in there.”
Miranda closed her eyes, blood draining from her head and making her see stars against the black of her eyelids.
“Doesn’t matter. Book or no book, she’ll always have a place at Market, if she wants it,” Adam said, clasping Miranda’s shoulder. He shook it lightly, as if waking Miranda from a deep sleep, and she opened her eyes to find him gazing down at her with unmistakable affection.
She gulped. He smiled, dimple winking, and Miranda’s heart did a slow spin before leaping up into her throat.
That wasn’t mere affection shining in Adam’s eyes, written in every line of his face.
Adam wasn’t offering her a job, he was offering himself.
Joy rose in her like a storm surge, bright and unstoppable, only to tangle horribly with a crushing coil of guilt.
Adam loved her.
She’d betrayed him.
Those awful things Rob told her, that she’d put in the book. Secrets, rumors, innuendo, about Violet and Milo and Quentin and all the rest. About Adam and the way he’d gotten the money for Market. Any single revelation would hurt Adam, but a whole bookful, splashed out into public for the whole world to pick over and denigrate?
Miranda shuddered. Adam curled his hand around the back of her neck, palm warm and reassuring at her nape. His stare went from tentative happiness to concern in a blink. Miranda had never felt so out of control. She had no idea what he was reading in her expression, but from the tingling in her fingertips and the chill of sweat at her hairline, she must be white as salt.
She opened her mouth, but her vocal cords seemed to be paralyzed. Nothing came out, not even a whisper.
Before she had a chance to clear her throat and try again, Rob made an aggrieved noise that jerked her attention back to him.
“You fucking loser,” Rob said. There were tears on his cheeks again, but he didn’t pause to sob. His gun hand was steadier now and pointed directly at Adam. “I’ve got a damn gun on you, aimed right at your stupid heart, and you’re still mooning around playing suck-face with her.” Rage purpled his face. His whole body shook.
The very real possibility that she could lose Adam before she managed to squeak out one word about how she felt struck Miranda between the eyes. Everything was happening so horribly quickly.
Shoving Miranda behind him again, Adam faced Rob. Miranda gripped the scratchy fabric of Adam’s chef jacket, longing to pull him to the ground and cover him with her own body. Anything to get that gun off its target.
“I’m sorry, Rob, calm down. Keep talking. What else is on your mind?”
“What’s the fucking point?” Rob screamed. “Oh, shit, what’s the point of any of this? I can’t do it anymore, I can’t, I can’t—”
Adam