Slide(Boosted Hearts Book 3)(18)

There was no point denying the truth. But for whatever reason, or reasons—two large, overprotective ones, no doubt—he wouldn’t go there with her.

His nostrils flared. “Lucy…” His voice was rough as hell, gritty.

She leaned in, and she didn’t mean to, but her breasts pressed against his bicep. A shudder moved through his solid frame, and her throat got so tight she was surprised she could still speak. “Thanks for the ride.” She slid her hand around the side of his neck, right over that beautiful feather tattoo, and pressed a kiss to his jaw. A goodbye kiss, to Adam, to silly dreams that would never come true, and to the old Lucy. It was time to grow up. “’Bye, Adam.”

His hand snaked out, halting her when she tried to pull back.

She tried to get free, but he wouldn’t let her, his dark eyes locked on hers. She couldn’t do this anymore. God, how could this hurt so much when they never were, when nothing had ever happened between them? “I better go.” She pulled against his hold again, and this time he released her.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, of course.”

As she took the stairs up to her place, she didn’t look back. And she knew, felt his heavy gaze on her the whole way.

She’d wanted this man for as long as she could remember, and after tonight, she knew he wanted her, too. But it was never going to happen between them.

And if she wanted to give new Lucy a fighting chance, she had to let the fantasy go.

There was no room in her life for make believe. Not anymore.





Chapter Five





Stunning. Exactly like Adam remembered. Long and lean. Sleek, subtle curves. Shit, sexy. Lying and telling his cousin he couldn’t find her—messing with him for a few weeks while he enjoyed her—might have crossed his mind.

But John’s relationship with the 1970 Plymouth Hemi Superbird was already unhealthy as far as Adam was concerned. If he didn’t get it back to him in Chicago ASAP, shit would get hairy. He didn’t want the guy charging down there and going mass-murder psycho on these guys.

Adam stood just beyond a chain-link fence, far enough back he was in shadow but not too far back he couldn’t make out the main players. No one he was on friendly terms with, that’s for damn sure. They were minor guys he knew of from his years boosting, before he was forced into retirement. He hadn’t decided whether that forced retirement was a good thing or not quite yet. Yeah, it was the right thing to do—hanging up his lock picks—but he missed it, missed the thrill. While he was boosting, he was out of his own head. There was no space for him in there when every one of his senses was on high alert. Something he’d relied on for a lot of years. You could say he was self-medicated. Fast cars and faster women. Whatever it took to give him that kick of adrenaline, that rush of endorphins. They did what antidepressants and shrink appointments hadn’t ever been able to do.

His gut tightened at the memory of a cold office, the sound of the wall clock ticking down the minutes until he could get the fuck out of there and work at forgetting again.

He turned back to the car parked several yards away, and a familiar rush of excitement pumped through his veins. He needed this, and wasn’t ashamed to admit to himself just how much. Things hadn’t been the same since Hugh and Joe gave up the game and shacked up with their women.

Adam could feel the tension that was always there in the pit of his gut getting tighter. If he didn’t do something to release it, he was headed for a downward spiral of epic proportions. Screwing anything that walked, the chase, the release, it wasn’t enough anymore. Not on its own. He needed this, the danger that came with it.

Granted, this wasn’t quite the same. He was stealing back his cousin’s car and returning it. Not exactly high octane stuff. And he was well aware how fucked up that made him. He also knew he couldn’t go back to that life, being a thief, no matter how much he needed it—not if he didn’t want to end up in prison, or worse, if he pissed off the wrong people.

He had to find another way, something else that gave him this feeling…

A pair of pale green eyes drifted through his mind. And like always, with merely the thought of her, he felt it, the kick to the midsection, the stirring of his cock.

Idiot. Do not go there.

He still couldn’t believe the way he’d behaved at Abella’s. But seeing her with someone else like that, knowing if he didn’t step in he’d have to watch her go home with some other guy, had forced him to act. The idea had been unacceptable. Shit, it had made him feel ill. Which was why leaving town for a while was for the best. He had no damn right getting in her way like that. None. But he knew if it happened again, if he had to watch her with someone else like that, he wouldn’t just be dragging her out and taking her home. Lucy would end up in his bed, underneath him, and he’d never let her back out.