Brenda Jackson - The Real Thing

“Worse than that. It taught me not to truly give my heart to any man, hometown or otherwise.”

He studied her, seeing the seriousness behind the beautiful pair of eyes staring back at him. “But things worked out fine for Tara in the end, didn’t they? She met Thorn.”

He saw the slow smile replace her frown. “Yes, she did, and I’m glad. He’s made her happy.”

Adrian nodded. “So there are happy endings sometimes.”

She finished off the last of her cake before saying, “Yes, sometimes, but not often enough for me to take a chance.”

“So you don’t ever intend to fall in love?”

“Not if I can help it. I told you what I want.”

He nodded again. “To return to Bunnell and work alongside your father and brothers in their medical business.”

“Yes.”

He took another sip of his water when she moistened the top of her lip with the tip of her tongue. “What about your happiness?” he asked her, shifting slightly in his chair.

She lifted a brow. “My happiness?”

“Yes. Don’t you want to have someone to grow old with?”

She turned the tables when she asked, “Don’t you?”

He thought about the question. “I intend to date and enjoy life for as long as I can. I’m aware at some point I’ll need to settle down, marry and have children, but at the moment there’re enough Westmorelands handling that without me. It seemed every time I came home for spring break, I would have a wedding to attend or a new niece, nephew or second cousin being born.”

“Speaking of cousins...mainly yours,” she said as if to clarify. “I’ve heard the story of how the Denver Westmorelands connected with the Atlanta-based Westmorelands, but what about these other cousins that might be out there?”

He knew she was referring to the ongoing investigation by Megan’s husband, Rico, who was a private investigator. “It seems my great-grandfather Raphel Westmoreland was involved with four women before marrying my great-grandmother Gemma. Three of the women have now been accounted for. It seemed none were his wives, although there’s still one more to investigate for clarification.”

He paused and then said, “Rico and Megan found out that one of the women, by the name of Clarice, had a baby by Raphel that he didn’t know about. She died in a train derailment but not before she gave the child to another woman—a woman who’d lost her child and husband. A woman with the last name of Outlaw.”

He could tell by the light in Trinity’s eyes that she found what he’d told her fascinating. He understood. He was convinced that if there were any more Westmoreland kin out there, Rico would find them.

Adrian glanced at his watch. “It’s still early yet. Is there anything else you want to do before I take you home?”

She glanced at her own watch. “Early? It’s almost midnight.”

He smiled. “Is it past your bedtime?”

“No.”

“Then plan to enjoy the night. And I’ve got just the place.”

“Where?”

“Come on and I’ll show you.”

* * *

A half hour later Trinity was convinced she needed her head examined. She looked down at herself and wondered how she had let Adrian talk her into this. Indoor mountain climbing. Seriously?

But here she was, decked out with climbing shoes, a harness, a rope and all the other things she needed to scale a man-made wall that looked too much like the real thing.

“Ready?”

She glanced over at Adrian who was standing beside her, decked out in his own climbing gear.

Ready? He has to be kidding.

She saw the excitement in his eyes and figured this was something he liked doing on a routine basis. But personally, she was not an outdoorsy kind of girl.

So why did you allow him to talk you into it?

It might have had everything to do with the way he had grabbed hold of her hand as he’d led her out of Andrew’s and toward his car. The tingling sensation that erupted the moment his hand touched hers had seemed to pulverize her common sense. Or it could have been the smile that would creep onto his lips whenever he was on an adrenaline high. Darn, it was contagious.

He snapped his fingers in front of her face, making her realize she hadn’t answered his question. “Hey, don’t start daydreaming on me now, Trinity. You need your full concentration for this.”

She looked over at the fake mountain she was supposed to climb. He claimed this particular one was for beginners, but she had serious doubts about that. She glanced up at him. “I don’t know about this, Adrian.”

His smile widened and she felt the immediate pull in her stomach. “You can do this. You look physically fit enough.”

She rolled her eyes. “Looks are deceiving.”

“Then this will definitely get you in shape. But to be honest, I don’t see where there needs to be improvement.”

She swallowed. Had he just flirted with her for the second time that night? “So, have you ever climbed an outdoor mountain? The real thing?” she asked, rechecking the fit of her gloves.

“Sure. Plenty of times. I love doing it and you will, too.”

She doubted it. Most people were probably in bed and here she was at one in the morning at some all-night indoor mountain climbing arena.

“Ready to try it?” Adrian asked, breaking into her thoughts.

“It’s now or never, I suppose.”

He smiled. “You’ll do fine.”

She wasn’t sure about that, and did he have to be standing so close to her? “Okay, what do I do?”

“Just grab or step on each climbing hold located on the wooden boards as you work your way to the top.”

She glanced up to the top and had to actually tilt her head back to see it. “This is my first time, Adrian. There’s no way I’ll make it that far up.”

“You never know.”

She did. She knew her limits...even when it concerned him. She was well aware that she was attracted to him just as she was well aware that it was an attraction that could get her into trouble if she didn’t keep her sense about her.

Trinity moved toward the huge structure and proceeded to lift her leg. When she felt Adrian’s hands on her backside, she jerked around and put her leg down. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you a boost. Don’t you need one?”

She figured what she needed was her head examined. Had his intention been to give her a boost or to cop a feel? Unfortunately her backside didn’t know the difference and it was still reacting to his touch. Heat had spiked in the area and was spreading all over.

“No, I don’t need one, and watch your hands, Adrian. Keep them to yourself.”

He gave her an innocent smile. “I am duly chastised. But honestly, I was only trying to help and was in no way trying to take advantage of a tempting opportunity.”

“Whatever,” she muttered, not believing him one bit. However, instead of belaboring the issue, she turned and started her climb, which wasn’t easy.

Beginner’s structure or no beginner’s structure, it was meant to give a person a good workout. Why would anyone in their right mind want to do this for fun? she asked herself as she steadily and slowly moved up one climbing hold at a time. After each attempt she had to take a deep breath and silently pray for strength to continue. She had made it to the halfway point and was steadily moving higher.

“Looking good, Trinity. Real good.”

It wasn’t what he said but rather how he’d said it that made her turn slightly and look down at him, nearly losing her footing in the process. Climbing this structure was giving her backside a darn good workout. She could feel it in every movement, and there was no doubt in her mind that he could see it, too. While she was struggling to get to the top, he was down below ass-watching.