Adam’s Outlaw Page 15
Toni was stunned to realize that the Swan Gardens residents would willingly have done many of the projects she’d commandeered if she’d approached the project differently. Once again she had charged in without asking.
Finally only one chore was left, the democratic selection of a representative to ask city hall to permit their project. The tenants voted. They chose Adam Ware and they asked Toni to tell him their plan.
Suddenly Toni wasn’t so confident of her scheme. Moving mountains had always been easy. Facing Adam was hard. How could they possibly work together without his learning that she was in love with him? They couldn’t.
You know where I am, Adam had said. In her heart she knew she hadn’t any choice. She would go to him. She’d always taken risks for other people. Now, she’d take one for herself. She’d tell him she was in love with him. She was not going to give up on him, or her projects. But she’d learned how wrong she’d been in her hell-for-leather approach.
There might be something to be said for working through the establishment. Family was important, too. Once she’d asked for help, even her father had offered his assistance. If she could only fare as well with Adam. But even if he didn’t love her, she’d still ask for his help. First she’d go home and change, though. Looking her best couldn’t hurt.
She saw his van first, then she saw Adam hurrying down her steps as she pulled into her drive. Still big and mean looking, he’d combed his hair, but he hadn’t shaved. Dressed in worn jeans and scuffed running shoes, he looked as though he’d pulled on the first things he’d come to and run out the door. On seeing her he came to a stop and stared at her.
“Adam, I—”
“Toni, I was—”
They both broke off, and suddenly she was in his arms. She didn’t remember moving.
“Oh, Adam, I was so wrong. I had a long talk with my family this morning. You were right. My grandfather wasn’t what I thought he was. And it wasn’t my parents’ fault that the mill had to be closed. All my life I tried to make up for what I thought my parents had done and all the time it was him.”
“I know,” Adam said. He lifted her in his arms and climbed the steps two at a time, kissing her hungrily as he kicked the door closed. “He was a good man, but terribly unrealistic. I just came from talking with your father.”
She stared at him for a long moment as he set her on her feet. “I learned a lot about myself today, Adam. I was self-righteous and condescending, a worse snob than I’ve ever accused my mother of being.”
“You may have been wrong about how you went about it, but you weren’t wrong about the end result. And you were right about me. Upholding the law is only one part of serving the people, Toni. That’s the easy part, because all the rules are laid out for you. You? You take risks, but you give from the heart and that’s scary. Taking risks is that gray area I refused to see.”
“Oh, Adam, we meant well, but we were both wrong.”
“Not about everything, outlaw.” He grinned. “You and me, we’re right together and that’s what I was coming to tell you.”
She let out a long breath. “On that I totally agree. I’ve—we’ve found a place for the Swan Gardens people. The old Gresham Mill Village. The Greshams will donate the property. The tenants and my students will do the work, and Father is going to head the fund-raising end of the project, if you’ll agree to help.”
“That’s a sound idea, Toni. I think you’ve pulled it off. I never doubted that you would.”
“But Adam,” she said shyly, “I don’t think I can do it without your help.” She dropped her head, pressing herself against his chest. “I don’t even want to try.”
He tipped up her chin with his fingertip. “The last time I helped you, you almost got killed over at the prison farm. I have to tell you, outlaw, I can’t drive a straight nail.”
“Oh, I can do that, Adam. I just need you to love me, to keep me safe and share my dreams. I never want to be scared of the dark again. Please love me, Adam.”
“Love you, Toni? I could never not love you. Since you swung out of that tree, you wiped out the line between black and white. Without you, my whole life is gray. I not only lost you, but you made me face the truth about myself.”
“But you’re always truthful, Adam.”
“I thought I was. I thought I was helping the people I grew up with, but deep in my heart, I didn’t really believe that I could change anything. So I wasn’t disappointed when everything remained the same. I accepted failure and made it a part of everything I did.”
“You’re wrong, Adam! You’re an example to every one of those kids and you care. That’s what they need.”
“I still think they have to help themselves, but I’ve changed my mind about the way I’ll help them.”
“How?”
“It was something you said, Toni, about basketball leagues and schedules. That set me to thinking. Why not have a real, official team, with snappy uniforms and schedules? My guys are as good as anybody. They need to know that. That’s where I was wrong. How can I make them believe in themselves if I don’t?”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Adam. And maybe, if Gresham Mill works out, we could refurbish some of the other buildings and bring in some of your Cabbage Town people and Fred and Annie. We’ll put together a joint project between the young and the old. What do you think?”
“I think you’d better marry me quick, outlaw. This time I forgot to plan ahead. I came totally unprepared.”
“Adam Ware, I love you.” She grinned and gave him a familiar saucy wiggle. “If you’re sure a cop can love an outlaw who lives in a fairy tale, I’ll marry you tomorrow.”
He slid his hands down to hold her hips, clasping her to him as he said hoarsely, “You cast a spell over me the first time you kissed me, my darling renegade. I’ve stopped worrying about tomorrow.”
“Good. Then we don’t have to wait. You don’t have any objections to my behaving rashly in the bedroom, do you, Captain Ware?” With quick, impatient motions she worked her fingers between them and tugged his zipper down.
“Objections?” He groaned as she touched him. “Not me. How many men ever get to live in a magic teacup in an enchanted forest? I’ve become a man of the moment, and being loved by you is as close to Oz as I ever want to be.”
“By the way, outlaw, you never did tell me why you called Baba Yaga’s house a teacup. According to what I read, she flew in a mortar and guided it with a pestle.” They were lying in bed, their legs tangled, Toni’s face against his chest.
“It wasn’t me,” she answered reluctantly. “It was my grandfather. He told me that she flew in a magic teacup. I believed that too.”
Adam felt her stiffen. He realized that Toni had been forced to rethink her entire life in one day. She’d loved her grandfather. And he must have loved her too. Adam would stake his reputation on the fact that the old crook hadn’t deliberately misrepresented himself. That was just his way of keeping Toni out of the darkness.
“Do you think that maybe”—he hesitated, saying a small prayer that his words wouldn’t destroy what they’d just shared—“maybe your grandfather had his own pair of rose-colored glasses?”
Toni grew very still.
“Just consider,” Adam went on. “Suppose he got caught up in his own dream of success and responsibility, of continuing the family business. After all, the mill was old, the equipment out-of-date. Foreign imports were killing him. What could he do?”
“I don’t know. My parents couldn’t do anything. They were forced to close the mill.”
“But your grandfather couldn’t do that. Instead he laughed and joked and made the workers feel good, as long as he could, just as he did for you.”
“He turned something drab into a dream, didn’t he?” Toni said as something inside her began to glow. “Like turning a mortar into a teacup.” She raised up and gazed at him, her eyes bright with tears of joy. “Oh, you wonderful, wonderful man. Kiss me, before I die of loving you.”
/> “Come here, outlaw.” He smoothed the hair from her face and kissed her lips, already parted in readiness.
The ripple of happiness that shot through her left her breathless with desire. He rolled over, carrying her with him, and gazed down at her with euphoria.
Neither Adam not Toni heard the wind. When the teacup began to sway, they simply smiled and attributed it to the magic of their love.
The Editor’s Corner
Welcome to Loveswept!
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, and so do our Loveswept romances, enticing stories ready to seduce you all month long. Take a look at this list!
Just One Night finishes up Lauren Layne’s Sex, Love & Stiletto series featuring Sam Compton, the hero we’ve all been waiting for. New York’s hottest “sexpert,” Riley McKenna, has been living a lie, and it’s up to one man to keep her honest … all night long. Dream It introduces a new hot series by Jennifer Chance with the tale of a smoldering rocker and the fangirl who catches his eye. And Third Degree, Julie Cross’s new Flirt release, is one you don’t want to miss in the new adult coming-of-age scene. Marshall Collins gives Izzy Jenkins all the normalcy she’s looking for while Izzy teaches Marshall a thing or two of her own.
Classic Loveswept romances are back, too, and this month Sandra Chastain’s Adam’s Outlaw and The Runaway Bride top the list, followed by Fran Baker’s San Antonio Rose. And don’t miss Linda Cajio’s delightful Night Music, coming on the heels of Karen Leabo’s suspenseful and spirited Witchy Woman. Deborah Harmse’s charming and warmly passionate romance, A Man to Believe in, will touch your heart, and New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen’s rerelease of Satin Ice continues with the Delaney family saga.
Last but not least, always a favorite of ours, New York Times bestselling author Connie Brockway sweeps us back to Victorian England with her enchanting stories Bridal Favors and Bridal Season.
Let Loveswept warm you on those cold winter nights.
~Happy Romance!
Gina Wachtel
Associate Publisher
Love stories you’ll never forget
by authors you’ll always remember
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For Bob Knight, the wonderful man who answered all my dumb computer questions, solved my problems, and found everything I ever lost. I couldn’t have done it without him.