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.As luck wouldhave it, he managed to get interviews at both facilities during the same week.And now, three weeks after the reunion, here I was sitting in my car in theSea-Tac Airport cell phone lot, waiting for Adam to text me to say he was on theground.Here.In Seattle.On my turf.Meet Me in the MiddleApparently this was the week I’d find out if we could pull off this whole“just friends” thing when we were face-to-face.Adam seemed confident wecould.I was…cautiously optimistic.My phone buzzed on the dashboard, so I picked it up.Just got to baggage claim.Meet you outside.Be there shortly.I sent the text back and put my car in gear.Whether or not this was a good idea was about to be a moot point, so I triedto push my worries to the back of my mind.Emphasis on tried.My heart beat faster and faster as I inched along under the names of the various airlines.And there he was.One glance sent a full-body shiver through me.Naturally, he looked good.He must’ve just had a haircut, because the sides were shaved almost to the skinand the top was short and sharp.Still long enough to lie flat instead of standing up like a buzz cut or something, but shorter than the last time I’d seen him.He smiled, and I returned it, and oh God, I was going to spend four dayswith him?Okay, so maybe not four whole days.I had to work part of the time, and hehad his interviews, and… Fuck, I was going to lose my mind.Just friends, Dale.Remember? No pressure.No pretenses.Just.Friends.I stopped beside the curb.Adam put his bag in the backseat and then got inon the passenger side.“How was your flight?” I asked as I pulled back into traffic.“Not bad,” he said.“Short, thank God.Thought it was going to be delayed,but whatever issue they were having, they fixed it quickly.”“Well, it’s a good thing you landed when you did,” I said.“We should missmost of the traffic getting back into the city.”www.samhainpublishing.com67L.A.Witt“Traffic? It’s not even two o’clock.”“Yeah, but Boeing lets out at two.And believe me, that is not a traffic jamyou want to get into if you can avoid it.”“Ouch.”“Ouch is right.And about the time that mess clears up, everyone else isgetting off work, and it’s just a massive clusterfuck.” Why am I rambling about traffic? I cleared my throat.“So, um, what’s your schedule like while you’re here?I could probably take a day off from work if you want to do some sightseeing.”Adam smiled.“That would be fun.I’ve got a fair amount of time, actually.Ihave an interview on Monday morning at the shipyard in Bremerton and anotherone at the base in Everett that afternoon.”I grimaced.“You might want to reschedule one or the other.”“Oh?”“Seattle’s an hour by ferry from Bremerton, and you’re looking at easily anhour to get to Everett from Seattle.If there’s an accident somewhere on thefreeway—and I promise you, there will be—it’ll take twice as long.”“Oh.Shit.”“Any way you can reschedule it?”He blew out a breath.“I can certainly try.Thanks for the heads up.”“Any time.”The freeway was, as I’d predicted, mostly clear.As downtown Seattle cameinto view, with buildings shooting up from behind the snarl of interstates andoverpasses, a weird feeling twisted in my gut.This city had been my home fortwenty years, and it was strange to see Adam here.Like he didn’t quite jive withthe backdrop of mountains and skyscrapers.Or maybe it was me.That was probably it, because I wasn’t sure how I feltabout him bleeding into this world.68www.samhainpublishing.comMeet Me in the MiddleAdam rested an elbow below the window and glanced at me.“By the way,are you, um, sure about this? Having me stay with you instead of at a hotel?”“Of course.” I gestured dismissively.“I’ve got a guest room, so why makeyou pay for a hotel room?”He eyed me.I sighed.“We agreed we’re just friends, right?”Adam nodded.“Right.I just don’t want things getting awkward betweenus.”Probably a little too late for that.The fact that my guest room was cheaper, more comfortable and probably a hell of a lot quieter than any decent hotel intown was moot when we took into consideration how close it was to my bed.There was no turning back now, though, and about an hour after I pickedhim up, I let us into my condo.Adam looked around.“Wow, this is a really nice place.”“Thanks.”I showed him down the short hall to the guest bedroom.He set his bag on the bed.“You mind if I grab a quick shower?” He waved ahand at his clothes.“I always feel like such a wreck after I’ve been flying.”“Sure, go right ahead.”While he settled in and headed for the shower, I went into the kitchen.It wasa little early for a glass of wine, but whatever.The shower turned on in the other room, and my glass of wine was gone in asingle gulp.It was five o’clock somewhere.Adam O’Connor was naked in mybathroom.I didn’t care what time it was.As I poured my second glass, I glanced down the hall in Adam’s generaldirection.My mind’s eye naturally filled in everything I couldn’t see, and Ishivered.I wondered if he’d let me join him in there and quickly banished thewww.samhainpublishing.com69L.A.Wittthought, no matter how tempting it was.It was dangerous to even let myselffantasize with no intention of following through, because I wanted to followthrough.We shouldn’t, so I wouldn’t.Rationally, I knew we were doing the right thing.Sex between us wasamazing, but I’d missed our friendship for far too long to quite literally fuck it away.Adam meant more to me than the orgasms we gave each other.I wouldn’t cross any lines this week [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]