Foolproof Love(37)

 

Adam’s stomach turned at the thought. People didn’t jump through the sheer number of hoops that Jules had unless there were lingering feelings. There was no damn good reason for the knowledge to burn him up inside, but he felt like he’d swallowed a dozen hot coals.

 

While he was aggravated as all get-out, she stopped and leaned back against his chest. “I don’t want to go home.”

 

He couldn’t take her back to his mom’s house, and he didn’t have a place of his own. He walked them to his truck and opened the driver’s side door to double-check under the seat. Sure enough, there were two thick blankets under there. Most of the time, he forked over the money for a hotel room, but there were the nights when he chose the solitude of his truck over dealing with that bullshit. “You want to go for a ride?”

 

“A ride, huh?” She turned in his arms and waggled her eyebrows at him. Or she tried to.

 

Adam shook his head and lifted her into the truck. “Not like that, sugar. You’re drunk as a skunk.”

 

“Which means it’s the perfect time for some nooky.”

 

Maybe under different circumstances. But she was too drunk for a yes to really be a yes, and, fake girlfriend or not, he wasn’t the kind of man who was into that sort of thing. Tonight she didn’t need sex. She needed someone to take care of her. “Scoot over.” He followed her up into the cab and shut the door.

 

Five minutes later, they left the town limits of Devil’s Falls in the rearview mirror. He took them out to one of the spots that had been his favorite as a teenager. He and his friends had spent more nights than he could count out on the edge of this field, drinking and bullshitting and passing out in the beds of their trucks. He shut off the engine and stared at the stars while the engine ticked. “He’s not worth it.”

 

“Hmm?” She scooted over and burrowed under his arm to lean against his side.

 

“Grant. He’s not worth it. You’re so far out of his league, it’s not even funny.” Out of both our leagues.

 

A soft snore was his only response. Despite everything, he smiled. She really was something else. He’d never put much thought into the kind of woman he’d eventually settle down with—or into settling down in general. But he could almost picture it with Jules. Life would never be boring, that was for damn sure.

 

As if on cue, the restlessness in his blood kicked up a notch, like an itch he could never quite scratch, reminding him that he’d been in the same place for two weeks, longer than he’d spent in one town in twelve years. If his mom…

 

No, it’s time to face the truth. It’s not an if. It’s a when. If the cancer doesn’t take her, old age will at some point.

 

When his mom died…

 

Adam pulled Jules more tightly against him and rested his chin on the top of her head. He could barely stand to think the thought. How the hell would he be able to spend time in Devil’s Falls when every time he turned around, he’d be assaulted with memories of her and have to experience the loss all over again? It had been unbearable after John died. With his mom it would be so much worse.

 

Even if she lived to the ripe old age of a hundred, the open road was too tempting a siren call for him to ignore for long. He needed the horizon stretching out before him, the thrill of the next bull ride promising an adrenaline rush like no other.

 

The closest he’d come to it outside the rodeo was the woman in his arms, and hell if that didn’t make him a dick for using her to quell his thrill-seeking nature. It couldn’t last, though. Nothing had kept him in one place for long before, and he didn’t imagine anything would in the future.

 

No, he wasn’t staying. He couldn’t.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Fourteen

 

Jules woke up wonderfully warm…and certain that some small animal had crawled into her mouth and died. She shifted, not quite willing to leave the safe circle of Adam’s arms—because she’d know that spicy scent anywhere.

 

“Morning.”

 

She looked up, finding him far too close to risk opening her mouth. There was no help for it. She slithered out of his hold and to the other side of the bench seat. Eyeing the distance between them, she decided caution was the better part of valor and held her hand in front of her mouth. “Morning.”

 

His eyebrows crept up. “What are you doing?”

 

Being an idiot, apparently. Considering what she remembered of the night before, he shouldn’t be surprised. “Morning breath.”

 

If anything, he looked even more amused. “Here.” He opened the glove compartment and pulled out a bottle of water, a tiny toothbrush, and a travel-size tube of toothpaste.