Adam’s gaze drifted to the tops of Madison’s thighs and the hint of her luscious bare ass peeking just beneath the hem of her skirt. She was right about needing her panties.
He supposed he could no longer avoid the inevitable. He had to say goodbye to the spot of radiance in his dark existence, find out what the f**k Shade’s problem was once and for all and bribe his father into moving to Amsterdam. Or maybe he’d just sleep on the tour bus tonight and continue to practice avoidance.
Adam tugged the pair of lavender, satin panties from the pocket of his jeans.
He held them up with one finger. “Looking for these, Madi?”
She turned in his direction, her eyes widening when she saw what he was offering her. Blushing furiously, she snatched the tiny garment from his hand and rushed into the bathroom.
“You know, the only reason we even stayed in Dallas last night instead of going straight to Austin is because we all knew how much you need to see that woman,” Shade said.
Adam’s face fell. They knew? How could they know? “So you should have just left me here to find my own way home.”
Shade nodded. “Yeah, I realize that now. I keep hoping you’ll learn some consideration for others, but you’re a lost cause.”
Adam didn’t care what Shade thought of him. “I don’t need a sermon. Thanks.”
“Julie’s birthday is today. I missed her party because of you,” Shade said.
Adam’s heart sank into the pit of his stomach. He knew how much Julie meant to Shade.
“I didn’t realize,” Adam said.
Shade didn’t say anything. He just left Adam sitting in the center of the crumpled bed, feeling like the most self-centered ass**le on the planet.
Adam was sorry. So sorry. Why hadn’t he told Shade he was sorry before Shade had turned his back on him again?
Hands trembling, Adam got dressed. He recognized the craving crawling along his skin. He knew this feeling. This gnawing hunger. This need for something to numb his pain, his troubles, his worries. His father would have any mind-altering substance he wanted waiting for him at home. All he had to do was ask. Take. And he could create the illusion that everything was right in his world.
It would be so easy. So familiar.
Adam took a deep, steadying breath and sat on the edge of the bed. He clenched his still shaking hands together and struggled to find air. He recalled the allure of that illusion so well. Living in a world without problems.
“Adam?” Madison called from the bathroom. “Will you zip me?”
A world without light.
He had something better than illusion now. He remembered the way Madison had looked as she told him she loved him last night. As she climaxed with him and for him. As she slept trustingly in the circle of his arms. As he’d loved her. That had been no illusion.
Adam rose from the bed and headed for the bathroom. Madison stood at the mirror with her back exposed. He paused in the doorway and watched his world scowl at the smudge under her eye. She licked her finger and rubbed at it to no avail. Peace settled over him, spreading out from his chest in soothing warmth. This feeling wasn’t found in a pill or a powder or a needle. This feeling was all Madison’s doing.
She noticed him standing there and smiled at him over her shoulder. Heart in his throat, he smiled back.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
He stepped up behind her and slowly zipped her dress. “Yeah, baby. I’ve got this.”
She met his eyes in the mirror and, for a second, he thought she was going to call him a liar and point out how easily his resolve could crumble. How easily life could break him into a thousand jagged pieces and toss him back into the pit of despair he knew so well. She smiled instead. “I know you do.”
Her belief in him gave him strength. He would make amends with Shade and he would deal with his father and he didn’t need drugs to get him through tough times. They were no longer necessary to numb his pain. Not when he already had bliss. Madison Fairbanks was in his life. Not an illusion. His reality. Everything was right in his world as long as he had her.
“You’d better hope my car wasn’t towed last night,” she said. “If I’m late, I’m going to be fired.”
He hugged her from behind and splayed his hands over her belly. “You could quit that job and go on tour with me as my personal sex slave.”
She laughed. “Don’t tempt me, Adam Taylor. I might just take you up on that offer.”
He grinned. Now there was a challenge he was up for. So, how did he tempt the master temptress? He’d think of something before he saw her again. After all, New Orleans was six very long days away.