Chapter 2

He wanted to take me home and I didn't even know his last name; and for some reason completely uncharacteristic of me I found myself not really caring. I'd never gone home from the bar with a guy and never had sex with a stranger, but the idea of it was coursing hotly through my body. It was more exciting than I would have thought possible.

We had to walk past Rhiannon and Adele to reach the door and I had to admit to myself that made me even more nervous, but Adam just shot my best friends his devastatingly sexy grin while Adele wordlessly passed me my sweater and Rhi silently handed me her tiny clutch purse. I knew without looking that it contained a cell phone, enough money for several cab fares if necessary, and probably a few condoms. God bless my friends.

My legs wobbled uncertainly on Rhiannon's borrowed heels, but I managed to keep up with Adam's lengthy stride as we wound our way through the crowd and out into the cool spring evening. Adam waited in patient silence again as I donned my cardigan against the damp chill. I could feel his eyes taking in every inch of my torso before I drew the soft sweater over it and I somehow found myself at a loss for words at the unabashed appreciation which glinted in his emerald green gaze.

He reclaimed my hand without comment once I'd rearranged myself, and I followed nervously as he led the way from the brightly lit bar down to the end of the quietly dark street. "Which way?" Adam inquired with the same aplomb as if he was politely escorting me home after tea instead of taking me home for an entirely less honourable reason.

"Right," I said with only the smallest waver in my voice. The crowds and noise of the bar had given way to a dark and empty night and I was alone with a complete stranger who wanted to fuck me; I couldn't stop my small shiver of apprehension.

"Cold?" Adam asked huskily; there was such concern on his handsome face I instantly felt guilty for thinking bad thoughts about him.

"Not really," I fibbed. I wasn't willing to admit either that I was little frightened or that the spring air was chillier than I'd expected.

"Liar," Adam teased with his low, deep voice. He slung one long arm easily about my shoulders and nestled me against the warm length of his torso. We fit together perfectly, and even though he was in his shirtsleeves, I felt instantly warmer for the contact.

We walked silently for a time; I could smell the approaching harbour and that uniquely spring-like smell of freshly turned flowerbeds and newly sprouting leaves. The city streets were quiet as the old buildings flowed downhill to the sea.

"You up for a walk in those shoes?" Adam teased after a time, as I tripped again on yet another curb.

"Well, they're not mine," I explained with a shrug, relishing the solid weight of his arm across my shoulders. "But I think I can manage it."

"They belong to the brunette friend, I'm willing to bet," Adam laughed. "She seems like the type."

My curiosity burned. "What type is that?"

"The red lipstick, high-heel, tiny-purse, high-maintenance type." Adam's laughter was contagious.

"That she is," I admitted with a giggle. "But if not for her, I wouldn't have gone over to the bar and spoken to you."

Adam laughed huskily and gave my shoulders a squeeze. "I'll have to thank her later; but if you hadn't have come over to me I would have come to talk to you anyway, so the point is really moot."

"You would have?" I asked incredulously.

Adam nodded but said nothing.

"Why?" I blurted out, regretting the words instantly, hoping I didn't sound rude.

Adam shrugged. "Dunno. You looked like you didn't belong there, like you just wandered in and sat down by mistake; that intrigued me, I guess. That and I have an unholy weakness for redheads."

I laughed loudly before we settled into a comfortable silence. The buildings lining the old downtown melted away to reveal the vista of the harbour before us. The dark water shimmered with the soft light of reflected street lamps while the breeze off the water was softly cool and smelled like the sea. Inadvertently, we'd taken the long route to my apartment, but the progression had seemed natural; contentment settled deep in my bones.

"I love this city," Adam admitted gruffly. "I'm so glad I moved here."

"You're not an Islander?" I asked.

Adam shook his dark head and the lamplight glinted off his eyebrow ring. "Nope, grew up in Toronto actually, but when I was offered the job here I couldn't say no. The second I set foot on the Island I loved it."

"Yeah, it does that to you," I said with a laugh.

"You grew up here?" Adam stopped walking and pulled us up against a streetlamp on the edge of the quay; at our feet the black water lapped melodically against the wood.

"On the North Shore," I smiled faintly. "I'm a good, sturdy farm girl."

"I like sturdy," Adam admitted with a wink. "Sturdy is good."

"Thanks," I said laughingly; somehow Adam made me feel sexy, despite my sturdiness. When he wrapped both arms around me I just about stopped breathing.

"Why'd you become a journalist?"

I considered for a moment. "Insatiable curiosity, I suppose; I've always asked a million questions, even when I was a kid."

Adam chuckled deeply. "Yeah, I noticed that."

I ran a finger up Adam's forearm and over one of his swirling black tattoos; at first I'd been wary of them, but I had to admit to myself they were pretty sexy. There was something faintly Celtic about the way the lines curved and intersected. "What does this symbolize?"

He shrugged before reaching up and brushing a wayward lock of hair from my forehead. "I got that when I came home from France a few years ago; I guess you could say it's a celebration of sorts."

"It's beautiful," I whispered, tracing the matching tattoo on the opposite arm. "Are there more?"

"A few," Adam admitted with a chuckle. He pulled up a shirt sleeve to reveal the dark, undulating edge of a tattoo which encircled his bicep. "And there are some you can't see clothed."

"Really?" I enquired flirtatiously, not believing myself capable of being so coy; the fresh air had done wonders to clear the beer fog from my head, but still my attraction to Adam remained.

"Really," Adam assured me confidently. "Can we discuss this later though, Lilly? I'd really like to kiss you now."

I couldn't help but laugh at Adam's bluntness; his approach was so unlike anything I'd ever experienced and there was an earnest hopefulness on his handsome face which stopped the breath in my lungs with a jolt.

He wrapped his arms more fixedly around my waist and I gripped his upper arms with renewed tenacity, watching warily as he lowered his dark head to mine. He paused just above my lips, his mouth quirked in a sexy little grin which made me smile right back; my heart beat furiously and I was more nervous than I'd ever been with a guy, but I wouldn't have backed out of the moment for anything.

"Lilly," he whispered softly; and then he kissed me and everything changed. Electric, thrilling, dizzying: every adjective in the dictionary couldn't do Adam's kiss justice. The heat of his lips and tongue drove every thought of hesitation completely from my head; all I wanted to do every minute of the rest of my life was be kissed by Adam.

I felt like a teenager again, discovering kissing for the first time; Adam and I had invented it and no one in all the generations which preceded us or anyone in the yet unborn future would ever kiss that well; it just wasn't possible to improve on that moment.

What started out as tentative and exploratory quickly became frantic and intense and when I came back to my senses Adam had one arm snaked up the length of my torso, pinning me against his body and the other blatantly cupping the curve of my ass. I, in turn, had wound both arms around his neck to play with the dark stubble of his hair and cling unabashedly to his warmth.

"Hi," he whispered with a chuckle when we came up for air.

"H-hi," I laughed in response, pleased to see the little crinkle of laugh lines around his spectacular green eyes. "You know, I think it's important for you to understand that I don't normally do things like this."

Adam's laughter was a deep bass rumble. "Do what? Kiss strange men? Or kiss strange men in public?"

"Either," I admitted with a giggle. "It's not really my style."

"Mine neither." Adam grinned broadly. "So, how much farther is it to your place?"

Adam's enthusiasm made me blush. "Just the next block up, on Hillsborough Street."

"Thank God," Adam mumbled hoarsely, grabbing my hand and all but pulling me back up the street and away from the waterfront. "This is pretty and magical and all, but I can think of more comfortable places to kiss you."

"Like my sofa?" I supplied; the mental image of Adam lying naked on my chesterfield had a definite appeal.

"Like your breasts," Adam teased with a chuckle.

I was speechless for a moment and knew I was blushing as completely as a redhead could, but if Adam noticed he said nothing. He led the way up my street and waited patiently while I took out my key and let us up to my second floor flat; I half expected him to jump me the moment he got me truly alone, but instead he waited wordlessly as I stripped off Rhiannon's uncomfortable shoes and fed and watered my noisy cat.

I stood slightly confused and alone in the centre of my kitchen; Adam leaned against the archway to the livingroom, arms crossed casually across his broad chest, a small grin on his handsome face as he watched me.

"What?" I asked guardedly as Adam's eyes followed my every movement.

He shrugged. I hadn't turned the overhead lights on and the room was bathed in the soft glow of the streetlamps outside; from my vantage point I could see the shadows of his tattoos dance up the length of his arms.

"I like watching you," Adam confessed in his deep voice. "You have an interesting way of moving."

I processed Adam's words for a moment before speaking. "You are nothing like I thought a one-night-stand would be."

"One-night-stand? Who said anything about that?" There was a dry edge to his question which I hadn't been expecting.

"I did." I could feel myself blushing and was glad for the dimly lit room. "You just picked me up at the bar, Adam. I can't say I was expecting much more than tonight."

"Is that what you want?" Adam's face was shadowed and I found myself wishing I could see his eyes better; I didn't know him at all, but I suspected those brilliantly emerald eyes of his didn't hide much.

"I don't know what I want," I confessed with a wry smile. "I told you, I don't do this sort of thing."

There was a stretch of silence between us which wasn't entirely comfortable. I could feel the possibility of my only one-night-stand start to slip away; no wonder I was crap at this sort of thing.

"What were you thinking when you walked over to me at the bar tonight?" Adam asked bluntly.

"I was hoping I wasn't going to trip on those damn shoes, actually."

Adam laughed, but I could see the muscles in his arms flex impatiently. "Be truthful, Lilly."

"I was thinking that even though you weren't my type, you were the cutest guy I'd ever seen, and that there was absolutely no way you were going to buy me a drink and that I must be crazy to think so. What were you thinking?" I added quickly, feeling my defences spring up.

"I was wondering who you were, and why you looked so out of place in that damn bar. I wondered what you and your girlfriends were talking about to make you laugh so loudly and why you'd put lipstick on before you came over to talk to me. But mostly," he crossed the distance between us with only three short strides. "I was wondering what you tasted like."

I stood breathlessly as Adam traced the length of my arm with one slim finger; the faint contact left a trail of goosebumps in its wake. "I've only known you an hour, Lilly; but already I know you're smart, and funny, and gorgeous, and you kiss like you wouldn't believe, and under that sweater you have the most promising breasts I've seen in a long time. One-night-stand? I don't think one night is enough."

I had to resist the urge to shake my head in disbelief. Was this guy for real? How could someone look so rough and speak so wonderfully?

"Did Rhiannon put you up to this?" I asked acerbically.

"Rhiannon? Who the hell is Rhiannon?" There was a perplexed scowl on Adam's face. "What are you talking about?"

I took a step closer and tilted my chin up to look Adam in the eye as best I could. "Rhiannon: the high-maintenance brunette. She's been telling me lately that I should think outside the box and see someone I wouldn't normally consider. I thought that maybe you two had worked something out."

For a brief moment I thought Adam might be angry with me, but the furrow between his eyebrows melted away and he began to laugh. "Look Lilly, why don't we just forget about your friends and your insecurities and my looks and my personality quirks for a little while at least? I can think of a million other things we could be doing right now."