Dorie Graham - Tempting Adam

She nodded, her attention on the mystery package. She turned it over in her hands. It bore a printed label, addressed to her. As Frank had said, the sender hadn’t included a return address.

Whatever it was, it had a solid feel to it. Anticipation stole over her. Was it another gift from a secret admirer?

“What’s that?” Elliot’s voice sounded beside her.

She started, then chastised herself for being jumpy. “Don’t know.”

He reached around her to scoop up the mail from the desk. “So, open it.”

For just a split second, she hesitated. Then, with a sigh, she tore at the tape binding the box. She held her breath as she removed the lid. A rectangular gift lay inside, adorned in floral wrap and tied in a satin bow. She lifted it out, then peered inside the empty container. “No card.”

“Here.” Elliot stooped to pick up a folded sheet of paper that had fallen to the floor. He handed it to her.

She opened it, then silently read the typed words.

Let me lie,

let me die on thy snow-covered bosom,

I would eat of thy flesh as a delicate fruit,

I am drunk of its smell, and the scent

of thy tresses

Is a flame that devours.

—George Moore (1852–1933)

“What’s it say?” Elliot peered over her shoulder.

She clutched the note to her chest, while heat bloomed in her cheeks. “It’s private.”

He nodded toward the package in her hand. “You going to open that, or should I leave first?”

Her gaze fell to the present. “It feels like a book.” She hesitated a moment, then tore away the paper.

She drew a deep breath as she turned what was indeed a book over in her hands. Rose petals covered the front. Nestled among them stood a pair of wineglasses, candlesticks and a serving dish filled with heart-shaped pastries.

“The Lovers’ Cookbook: Essential Ingredients to Sensual Evenings,” Elliot read over her shoulder. “Now, who did you say that was from?”

“I…don’t know.”

The phone pealed. She started.

Elliot grabbed the handset. “Entice Advertising, Elliot Star here.”

Again, his gray eyebrows rose as he glanced at Lauren. “Sure, Adam, she’s right here. We’ve just been opening the mail.”

She snatched the phone from him with unsteady hands. Had Adam sent the cookbook? Did he truly harbor such a romantic heart? “Hello?”

“Hey, sunshine. I’m getting ready to cut out of here. Are we on for dinner? I thought I’d push my luck and see if I could convince you to cook up another of your decadent dinners.”

THE CLOCK STRUCK eleven that evening as Lauren tossed the last flyer onto the stack heaped at one end of her sofa. Her stomach rumbled. Not only had she turned down Adam’s dinner proposition in favor of working some overtime, she’d skipped the meal entirely.

After staying late at the office, she’d brought home the file on one of their new clients to complete her marketing analysis. Then she’d gone on to ready Bennett’s flyers for the morning mail. She’d meant to keep her mind too busy to jump to conclusions about her latest gift.

The plan had failed miserably.

Was Adam her secret admirer? Goose bumps prickled up her arms. She eyed the rose-covered corner of the cookbook peering from beneath the avalanche of flyers. With a shake of her head, she slid the book free.

The phone on the end table rang. Who was calling at this hour? Her heart skipped a beat as she picked up the handset. “Hello?”

“Hi, sweetie,” Delores Bryant’s voice greeted her.

“Hi, Mom. What’s up?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Not much. Just wanted to say hello, see how you were doing.”

Lauren sighed. Her mother’s voice held a note of strain. “Come on. Claire giving you a hard time about paying the bills again?” Delores had some trouble getting her housemate to cover her share of the costs.

“No, when she postdated her check for the electric bill then went out and bought a new stereo, I stood up to her like you suggested.”

“Good for you.”

“She returned the stereo and wrote me a new check.”

“Great. So what’s the problem?”

“We’ve got a new district manager.” She managed a children’s clothing store in a local mall.

“Oh? What happened to old Bernie?”

“He got transferred.”

“So, you don’t like the new guy?”

“He just rubs me the wrong way. He doesn’t like the way we do anything. So we’ve got to redo everything—the way we place orders, the way we handle customers, the way we count down the drawer.”

“Don’t you have company policies on all those things?”

“He’s not changing the policies, just the way we follow each procedure, the nitpicky stuff. He’s got his own procedures within the procedures. He’s making everyone crazy.”

“Well, at least you don’t have to deal with him on a daily basis, right?”

“I don’t know. Now that the North Point store is picking up so much business, he’s talking about setting up his office here, letting this be his home base. He thinks we have the most potential and wants to help us ‘come into our own.’”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll win him over.”

“I’m not so sure I want to. Anyway, enough about me. Why are you home on a Friday night?”

“Mom, don’t start. Besides, I could ask you the same question.”

“Let me guess. You brought work home over the weekend.”

Lauren drew a deep breath. “It’d be really nice if you, at least, would support my decision to make something of myself.”

“Honey, I do. I wish Entice Advertising great success. You know that. I just don’t want you forgetting there’s more to life.”

“Believe me, between you and Adam, I’m not likely to forget.”

“So, how’s my number-two son?”

Lauren paused, considering keeping silent about Adam’s new direction in life. “He’s been acting…different lately.”

“Really? How so?”

She frowned. “He’s talking about settling down.”

A short silence hummed across the line, then Delores said excitedly, “Oh, this is wonderful! It’s about time. I was wondering when he’d come around. He’s always kept his word and I knew he wouldn’t let us down this time. What have you two planned?”

“I don’t know what he was supposed to keep his word on, but the plan is for us to find him a wife, pretty much the same way we found his house and furniture.”

“What do you mean, find him a wife?”

“Well, a serious relationship, anyway. He’s prepared to wait awhile before jumping into marriage.”

“He wants you to help him find a woman?”

Lauren’s gaze fell to the cookbook. “You know how he values my opinion. He likes consulting with me on most of his major decisions. Even when some of those are spur-of-the-moment.”

“Yes, dear, that’s why I always thought… Goodness, I can’t believe I’ve been wrong all along. Tell me, has your relationship changed since he decided all this?”

“Changed?” Lauren closed her eyes and dropped her head back against the sofa. She’d certainly changed. Seemed suddenly she got all hot and bothered whenever Adam was around.

“Has he indicated in any way that he might like to share this new experience with…well, with you?”

Lauren opened her mouth to protest, but Adam’s words echoed through her mind. And you think I’ve never thought of you in that way?

She sat forward. Was it possible Kamira, Elliot, and now her mother were right? “Mom, why do you ask?”

“You remember shortly before your father died. I had stayed the night at the hospital and Adam brought you and Rusty by that morning. You had that bunch of azalea blossoms and Rusty went with you to put them in water.”