Page 11 of Slide

He froze, nostrils flaring, then barked out a curse, low and harsh, jolting her.

Shoving a hand through his hair, he took a sudden step back. “Look, if you won’t talk to me, would you at least talk to Hugh or Joe?”

Right, so they were going to pretend he hadn’t just pressed her against the door and got hard while doing it? Like it never happened?

This was insane. What the hell was going on? Home was supposed to be predictable. These people were supposed to be predictable. Hugh should have gotten over her leaving college after a small amount of grumbling. Joe usually took her side not Hugh’s. And Adam, he was the asshole. She relied on him being an asshole…or ignoring her.

He was not supposed to care. And he sure as hell wasn’t supposed to get hard when he pressed up against her.

She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to cover her straining nipples. This wasn’t awkward at all. Nope. “I told you, there’s nothing to tell. I’m fine.”

He stood there like the man of steel himself, body rigid, shoulders wider than she’d ever seen them, muscles taut, hands slightly out from his sides like he didn’t know what to do with them.

Her gaze dropped against her will.

And he was still hard as hell.

“You gonna stick to that story?” he said, voice gritty.

“It’s not a story.” Her phone vibrated in her pocket again and her stomach sank to her feet.

“Goddamn it, you’re stubborn.”

She opened her mouth to fire a reply, but he shut her down with a shake of his head.

Then he just stood there, staring at her, completely unreadable. The awkwardness skyrocketed to all new levels and she felt her face flush hot.

He walked toward her, and she held her breath.

Stopping in front of her, he stared into her eyes. “You’re in front of the door.”

“Oh…right.” Her face flamed hotter. She quickly moved to the side to let him past, but he went the same way, then they did it again…and again, until he grabbed her shoulders and bodily moved her to the left, opened the door, and walked out.

Lucy stood there, staring after him.

She hadn’t imagined that, had she?

Adam had just dragged her up there, threatened to go after whoever had hurt her, and had gotten hard while he did it.

Shaking her head, she grabbed her bag and got the hell out of there. Her heart couldn’t take another encounter like that. She’d planned to borrow Joe’s truck, but didn’t want to risk going back into the workshop and seeing Adam after what just happened.

The bus would do instead.

Maybe he got off on fighting. Maybe that’s what the hard-on had been about? That had to be it. The alternative was too absurd to think about. Completely crazy.

No, she couldn’t believe that monster in his pants had been for her.

Adam Grady didn’t even like her…right?

The bus stopped in front of her, and she climbed in and slid into a seat.

No, that heat in his eyes hadn’t been lust; it had been anger on her behalf. That’s all. That’s the only thing that made sense. He’d seen her tears and got hit with some dormant protective instinct. That’s all.

No way could Adam want her.

No way.

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