He was dying to ask her if she’d been in the center of a ménage before. He just couldn’t figure out a way to ask the question without seeming like a freak. Or a pervert. He’d already scared the crap out of her. He’d been a little surprised when she’d put a cup of coffee in front of him with a smile on her face.
“Uhm, what floor do you want?” That was polite, right?
Adam snorted but Serena smiled, a wide grin on her face. “I think it’s the fifteenth floor. But you’re the one who works here, so you might know better than me.”
God, he was a dumbass. He was so much better when he was just killing something. He jabbed the button for his floor. “Sorry.”
She pushed her glasses up. They made her look like a supercute librarian. “It’s okay. I forget stuff all the time. And I’m sorry I made such a big deal about the car. I know it can be fixed. And that car has gotten me in trouble before. It’s kind of why Doyle decided to sue my ass.”
The elevator started to rise. He could smell her shampoo. Citrus. He loved that smell. He hadn’t realized how much he loved the smell of citrus. “How did it get you in trouble?”
Adam beamed his way as though Jake was a toddler who’d just learned to say please. Jake was going to kick his ass later.
Her nose wrinkled as she confessed. “Bridget and I might have driven the car off the lot and gone straight to Doyle’s place. We might have stopped in front of his mailbox where he was standing talking to some of his stuffy friends from the college. I might have shot him the finger and yelled that he made a huge mistake.”
Jake couldn’t help but smile. He totally understood the impulse. There were plenty of assholes he would love to shoot the bird at.
“He probably wouldn’t have figured out I was making so much money if I had just left well enough alone. I kind of told him he was a dumbass for walking away from a slot machine just before it paid out.”
“Yes, you probably should have left well enough alone,” Adam said with a frown on his face.
But some things were worth doing. Jake understood that. “I bet it felt good.”
The smile on her face heated his blood. She was getting under his skin. “Yes. It felt good. I would do it again. No matter what it cost.”
“The cost could be half your income,” Adam grumbled.
She seemed to shrink a bit. “It won’t. My lawyer says it’s just a ploy. He’s being irritating on the off chance that I’ll pay him to go away. My lawyer doesn’t think he has a leg to stand on in court.”
Jake thought about slapping Adam upside the head. She’d had a smile on her face, and now she’d shut down again. He glared his partner’s way. Adam’s eyes flared. Jake tilted his head.
What? Those wide eyes told Jake that Adam was going to be obtuse.
Stop fucking this up.
“Wow, you two are having a whole conversation with a series of small tics. That is deeply interesting.” Serena watched them with wide eyes.
Adam shook his head, breaking up their little argument. “Now we’ve done it. We’re going to end up in one of her books. Tell me something, sweetheart, how does your heroine pick which man she ends up with in your books?”
Jake suddenly felt better. He knew something Adam didn’t know. Adam hadn’t read one of her books yet. Adam thought she wrote a whole lot of sex and then ended her stories in a conventional fashion. But Jake was starting to learn there wasn’t a lot that was conventional about Serena Brooks.
Serena turned to Adam. Her brows came together in consternation. “What do you mean?”
Adam shrugged as though the answer didn’t really mean anything. “I mean how does she choose between the men? I read some of the blurbs to your books this morning. I thought it was interesting. I’ve never seen a book like that. I just wondered how your heroines ultimately decide on who to marry. Do they tend to go with the meathead alpha male or the utterly reasonable, slightly metro hunk?”
Asshole. Now Jake did what came naturally. He slapped his best friend upside the head. “I’m not a meathead. But you are a metro douche bag. And Serena writes romance, idiot.”
While Adam had holed up in her bedroom, Jake had used her computer. He’d read her website, checked out her reviews, Googled her. Amber Rose was known for happily ever afters. For everyone.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Adam asked. The tense set of his jaw told Jake that he knew he was in the doghouse.
Serena’s whole frame stiffened as though she was just waiting for someone to kick her. “I write erotic romance. It’s about love, not sex. Though there is a whole lot of sex. I write permanent ménages. I would never have my heroine choose. It would upset my readers.”
The elevator doors opened, and Serena strode out, not bothering to look back.
“Dude, how was I supposed to know?” Adam’s hands went up.
Jake felt a smug smile cross his face. Score one for the meathead alpha male. “Guess I’m just smarter than you.”
They walked out. Jake could see that Grace had already caught Serena and was speaking animatedly. Sean’s wife was practically vibrating. Jake was happy to see her. She would build Serena’s confidence back up. According to Grace, Amber Rose was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Adam stopped him before they opened the office door. “Are you seriously telling me that this woman writes about the type of life we want to live?”
It was almost too good to be true. A little of his good mood disappeared. Things that seemed to be too good to be true usually were. She could write it all she wanted to, but unless she’d lived the lifestyle, she didn’t know a real thing about it. “Yes. I’ve only read the one. It was really nice.”
He’d been surprised at how much he liked it. He’d expected to laugh and toss it aside, but he’d kind of gotten into it. The story of a woman returning to her small town after years of running had been compelling.
“Well, I’ll just have to read two then, won’t I?” Adam said before walking away.
Jake followed, his eyes never leaving Serena. Grace gave her a huge hug, and when her face turned up, Serena was smiling again.
Fuck. He was already in too deep.
* * * *
Adam had to hand it to Jake. When his partner decided to do something, he usually did it with the tenacity of a dog after a particularly juicy bone. If they had been battling it out for Serena’s affections, round two would have gone to Jake.