Tease Me

  emotional edge to his voice. He needed to get his shit together before the guys got back to New Orleans.

  “Are you in the hotel?” Gabe asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Can you do me a favor?”

  “I guess so.” It wasn’t as if he had better things to do.

  “Can you go check on Melanie’s friend Nikki? Mel hasn’t heard from her all weekend and she’s starting to worry.”

  “Uh.” Adam thought the request exceedingly odd. “And how exactly do I go about checking on her?”

  “Just knock on the door of the room next to yours and see if she answers.”

  Adam slipped out of bed and found a pair of shorts in his luggage. He held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he slipped into them.

  “Is there a reason to worry?” Adam asked, grabbing his room key and venturing into the hall.

  “With Nikki there’s always a reason to worry,” Gabe said.

  “Is she there?” Adam heard Melanie say in the background.

  “He’s checking.”

  “She’s probably fine,” Melanie said. “Probably not answering her phone because she’s mad at me.”

  Adam knocked on the door next to his and waited. When there were no sounds of movement within, he knocked louder. “Nikki, are you in there?”

  Still no response.

  “Well?” Gabe asked.

  “She isn’t answering the door. I guess she could be asleep.”

  “Is she a heavy sleeper?” Gabe asked Melanie.

  “No, she’s an insomniac. Unless she sleeps with me or she took some pills.”

  “She’s probably just out enjoying the city,” Gabe tried to reason with his distraught girlfriend.

  Adam stood outside the hotel room and nodded at the well-dressed woman who passed him in the hall. Her steps slowed as she walked by so her eyes could take in every inch of his exposed torso. If he was looking for company, he was certain he could have some, but he just wanted to return to his room and be alone with his turbulent thoughts. He turned his back to the woman and leaned one bare shoulder against the wall.

  “Am I finished here?” Adam asked.

  “Can you get the spare key and check to see if she’s inside?” Gabe asked.

  Adam sighed. “Is the woman capable of taking care of herself?”

  “Not really. That’s pretty much the issue.”

  “Fine,” Adam said, before retrieving the extra keycards everyone had so thoughtfully left him in charge of when they’d scattered to various locations during their short break. After figuring out which one to use, he slipped it into the lock and was rewarded with a flashing green light. The security latch had not been bolted, so there was probably no one inside, but he knew Gabe and Melanie wouldn’t leave him alone until he checked to be sure. He opened the door a crack.

  “Nikki, it’s Adam. I’m coming in. Is that okay?”

  He waited a tense moment, listening for sounds of movement.

  “Is she in there?” Gabe asked again.

  “Calm your tits, dude. I’m checking. I don’t want to just barge in with guns blazing.”

  He eased the door open. The room was dark and deserted. There was an open suitcase on one bed and toiletries in the bathroom, but no other signs that anyone was staying there. No towels had been used, and the bed was still made.

  “She’s not here. Doesn’t look like she’s been here all day. Maybe not even last night.”

  “She’s not there,” Gabe said to Melanie.

  “Where could she be?” Melanie said, sounding even more distraught than when Gabe had first called.

  “I’m sure she’s fine.”

  “I’ll leave her a note to call you and if I hear her come in later, I’ll call you myself and let you know,” Adam said, as he searched the desk for something to write on.

  “Thanks, dude. I really appreciate your help.”

  “I didn’t do much.” Adam scrawled a hasty message on hotel stationary and set it on the closed lid of the toilet. He figured Nikki would eventually see it there and be unable to overlook it.

  “Hey, you tried. I’m sorry I had to bother you. Are you having a good weekend with your woman?”

  Adam hesitated. Most of his time with Madison had been spectacular, and he didn’t want to get into his problems with Gabe—or anyone—so he said, “Yeah. I gotta go.”

  “Okay. I’ll check you later. Thanks again, bro.” Gabe disconnected.

  The kit of toiletries and makeup on the counter drew Adam’s attention. He couldn’t seem to stop himself from touching all the feminine items inside. There would be no such items in the bathroom of his hotel room. No tangible reminders of Madison except the hole she’d left in his chest.

  Perhaps he should go out and bury his sorrows with a bottle of whiskey. Or maybe he could find something a little more to his liking. His vessels hummed with the memory of the heroin he used to shoot into them. The craving that never really left him tied his stomach in knots. His mind reveled in thoughts of euphoria and his favorite part of being wasted—the not giving a fuck part. But he didn’t try to solve his problems that way anymore. Only he couldn’t remember how he was supposed to try to solve his problems now that he was clean. He usually called Madison and talked things over with her, but that safe haven was closed to him. She’d been gone mere hours, and he was already floundering without her.

  “For fuck’s sake, you can make it three days,” he chastised himself. In the past, he’d gone a lot longer without seeing her.

  But he’d never suffered this gut-clawing agony before, and he wasn’t sure how to deal with it.

  He didn’t know what to do to ease the pain. Actually, he did know. What he didn’t know was if he could resist the temptation.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Madison stared at the departure sign above the airport gate and clenched her hands together. Why hadn’t she just said yes? Why had she left? And why was she so fucking stupid?

  She loved Adam. She wanted to marry him. She wanted to spend her life with him. She should have jumped at the opportunity to be his wife. And her hesitation had hurt him. She knew it had. She saw his pain in the way he’d hunched his shoulders and shied from her touch and in his refusal to look her in the eye. Trying to hold him at arm’s length so he didn’t destroy her had ended badly. Very badly. She was sure she’d made him feel like he didn’t mean any more to her than a very talented sex toy, but it couldn’t have been farther from the truth. She’d thought that giving him what she assumed he wanted—awesome sex—while she sorted through her stupid emotions and her equally stupid life would keep him interested long enough for her to get her head on straight.

  It hadn’t. He’d basically told her to go fuck herself.

  The worst part was, she deserved his animosity.

  For someone who’d once been paid to help other people get their lives on track, she sure was terrible at keeping her own in order.

  She slid her hand into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her phone. She could call him. Apologize. Accept his proposal. Move in with him. Tell him that she didn’t only want his body, she wanted his heart. His soul. She wanted all of him.

  She ended up dialing Kennedy instead of Adam. She and Kennedy had been inseparable since birth—actually their bond had started before birth. No one knew her better than her twin. If anyone would be able to explain to Madison why she had behaved like such a raving idiot, Kennedy could. And Madison knew her sister wouldn’t hold back to spare her feelings.

  Madison held her smart phone against her ear and massaged the tense spot between her eyebrows as she waited for the call to connect. She hoped her sister wasn’t with a patient. She really needed to talk to someone who would talk back to her.

  “Uh, how did you find a spare minute to call me?” Kennedy answered. “Aren’t you too busy getting laid to have time for the likes of me?”

  Just hearing Kennedy’s teasing voice made Madison’s eyes fill with tears.

&n
bsp; “I messed up,” Madison said, her voice catching. The huge knot in her throat made it difficult to breathe, much less speak.

  “What’s wrong? You sound upset, and when you’re upset, I’m upset.”

  “Adam asked me to marry him.”

  There was silence on the other end for a long moment. “And?” Kennedy drew out the word.

  “And I didn’t say yes.”

  Another pause. “Did you say no?”

  “I didn’t say no either. Not exactly. I told him we needed to talk about it, and he freaked out. And then we made up and he asked me to move in with him, and I freaked out again. Then I think I broke up with him. I’m not sure. I’m not sure about anything right now. I left, but I’m not sure I meant to leave. I didn’t want to leave, but it seemed like the only option at the time because I wasn’t thinking clearly and he wasn’t listening properly. What am I doing, Kennedy? I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.” She dashed away her foolish tears. The airport was not the place to have an emotional breakdown. People were starting to stare.

  “Where are you, honey?”

  “I’m at the airport trying to get on an earlier flight.” She hoped a standby seat became available soon so she wouldn’t have to hang around the airport all day. Her ticketed flight wasn’t until the next day, so the odds weren’t looking good for her.

  “Good. I’ll help you sort things out when you get here. What time does your flight land? I’ll make sure I’m home when you arrive.”

  “Don’t cancel appointments or anything; I’ll be okay.”

  “What time, Madison?”

  “Half past three, I think. They said my best chance is the two o’clock flight.” She wiped at a few stray tears that insisted on falling. She could always count on her sister to be there for her. “I’m sure I made a huge mistake by leaving, Kennedy, but I didn’t know what to do. I panicked.”

  “You did the right thing. He shouldn’t have freaked out because you told him you needed to talk about something as monumental as marriage. I didn’t even know marriage was on his agenda.”

  One of the main issues was that Adam didn’t see marriage as monumental. He seemed to think it was something to do on a whim. Madison sniffed her nose, and dug through her purse for a tissue. “Neither did I. It was a complete shock. I still can’t believe he asked. But I messed up with him so bad. I’m not sure he’ll ever forgive me.”

  “You didn’t mess up, he did. And he’s obviously more serious about you than you are about him.”

  Madison closed her eyes and shook her head. “But he’s not. I should have just said yes. I don’t know why I didn’t. He means everything to me. I love him. I want to marry him. I do. I just . . . I’m confused. Or . . . I don’t know. Maybe I’m delirious. I did get bitten by a bunch of mosquitoes. Isn’t delirium one of the symptoms of Ebola?”

  “You don’t have Ebola, Madison. It isn’t even transmitted by mosquitoes.”

  “I know. That was a joke.” Apparently not a very good one.

  “In all seriousness, Madi, something held you back. Some kernel of reason prevented you from accepting his proposal.”

  “But I love him. I love him so much, Kennedy.”

  “Love isn’t all there is to being this man’s wife. You know marrying him is going to be a huge hairy deal. He’s a celebrity. He’s an addict.”

  “Recovering addict.” Sometimes she hated how even kiltered her sister could be. She so rarely got worked up about anything. And Madison had once been the same way. She was glad Adam had shown her how to be passionate. She just wished that embracing that part of herself didn’t scare her so much.

  Kennedy ignored her interruption. “Had you ever even discussed marriage with him before he popped the question?”

  “No,” Madison said. “That’s why it completely threw me. We’re standing in this bayou joking about fish and alligators and mosquitoes and the next thing I know he’s on one knee proposing and . . .”

  She could still picture him at her feet, staring up at her with absolute adoration, the ring he offered catching stray rays of sunshine. She took a deep breath.

  “You should have seen the ring he tried to give me. It was gorgeous. And my heart wanted me to say yes, but I just froze up completely.” She blew her nose and tossed the tissue into a nearby garbage can.

  “And you tried to talk to him about it?”

  “Of course I did, but he’s hurt that I didn’t accept immediately. He seems to think that because I act on logic instead of pure blind emotion that I don’t love him.”

  “He said that to you?”

  Madison toyed with the plastic armrest of her chair. “Well, not exactly, but I could tell he was thinking it.”

  “Maybe he needs a few days to think it over himself,” Kennedy said.

  “But I’m afraid he’ll think I don’t love him. That I left him. Actually left him. For good. I think I need to go back immediately and make him listen to me. Make him see reason.”

  “He’s not a reasonable man, Madison. He is completely driven by emotion and desire. I honestly don’t get what you see in him. He’s your exact opposite.”

  Madison sighed. “That’s what I love most about him, that we’re so different. He brings things out in me I didn’t know I held inside. You know?” Of course Kennedy didn’t know. She only ever dated Mr. Safe and Dr. Secure. “I need that, Kennedy. I need him in my life. And he needs me in his.”

  “Dr. Fairbanks”—Madison heard Kennedy’s receptionist—“your one o’clock appointment is here.”

  “Thanks, Cyndi. Just give me a minute,” Kennedy answered her. “I’ll be home when you arrive, honey, and we can discuss this like rational adults,” she said to Madison.

  Like a psychiatrist and a counselor, she meant. Kennedy still didn’t know that Madison had been fired. They didn’t have time to add that bit of crazy to the discussion now. Kennedy disliked Adam enough as it was; she’d flip out when she learned that he was responsible—at least in part—for Madison losing her job.

  “Okay,” Madison said. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  “Love you, sis.”

  “Love you too.”

  When the call disconnected, Madison felt that a lifeline had been yanked from her hand. She always felt a bit disconnected when she didn’t see her twin for a couple of days, but the sudden feeling of panic was extra strong. And ridiculous. She’d never quite understood what her patients who suffered from anxiety attacks went through. She completely understood now and was sorry she hadn’t been more sympathetic to their need for Valium.

  Madison took several calming breaths and tucked her phone into her purse.

  “Passenger Madison Fairbanks, please report to the counter at Gate C10. Passenger Madison Fairbanks.”

  Madison hesitated at hearing the announcement, but she wasn’t sure why. She needed to go home where she felt safe and secure so she could determine her next move. Adam said he would wait. But for how long? He’s said it himself. He wasn’t a patient man. The faster she figured out why her head and her heart were at odds, the faster she could return to him. Because she was pretty sure the heart was going to win this particular battle. She rose from her uncomfortable airport chair and headed to the counter.

  “I’m Madison Fairbanks,” she told the attendant.

  “There’s a seat available on the next flight to Dallas.”

  The woman glanced up from her monitor when Madison didn’t say anything.

  “If you changed your mind, there’s another passenger—”

  “I’ll take it,” she said, not sure why her stomach sank as the words left her mouth. If Adam had just talked to her when she needed to talk and acted as her sounding board for a change, then she wouldn’t have had to leave. Or maybe if she wasn’t such a coward when it came to huge life decisions . . . But she should be allowed to think such things through, shouldn’t she? Just because he was impulsive and reckless and bold didn’t mean she had to be, did it?

  She scr
ubbed her face with both hands. Kennedy would help her sort through her jumble of thoughts. Suddenly she couldn’t wait to be home.

  “Photo ID please.”

  “Huh?” Madison said, hearing what the woman was saying, but not comprehending her words.

  “Driver’s license? Passport?”