Page 24 of Harmless Scandals

Irritation inched along his spine. He knew Mick answered in those short answers when he was trying to avoid the subject. Sometimes it was cute, but right now, it was getting on his last damned nerve.

“About what?”

Mick didn’t answer, which had his suspicion soaring. Dammit. What the hell had those two been brewing? Mick liked to muddy the waters. Adam walked over to the stove.

“Vincent McGrath.”

Mick rolled his eyes. “Don’t real name me.”

“Well, I want an answer. What were the two of you doing?”

“Nothing, talking. I was getting to know her. I find her hot, but I also want to know her. Just like you do.”

That much was true. “Did you find out anything interesting?”

He nodded. “She used to be a child star.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Under a different name. She didn’t really want to talk about it. Or it felt like that to me, so I let it be.”

“And now she’s Serenity Jones.”

“I think she changed her name for a lot of reasons, but one of them has to do with her mother. Not sure what happened, but she was emancipated when she was sixteen.”

He settled back against the counter. “Interesting.”

“I saw her heading to the beach when the rain started and followed her down. She’s working on a book and wanted some shots of the storm.”

“Seems like you were really chatty.”

He glanced over at him. “Jealous?”

“No.” Not really. “Just seems that you were talking to her a long time.”

“You were jealous,” Mick said as he set down the tongs. He stepped in front of Adam. Cupping his face, Mick leaned forward and brushed his mouth over Adam’s.

“No reason to be jealous, since I told her about us.”

“What?”

Mick smiled. “I thought I would let her know we’re interested.”

Anger surged. Always trying to push things too fast. “Dammit, Mick.”

Mick sighed and moved away. Adam immediately felt guilty. Between the two of them, Mick was the dreamer. Adam was the pragmatist. That was why they made a great couple. It also meant that they always irritated each other.

“No worries,” Mick said, as he salted the water and turned the burner on.

Adam sighed. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

“I laid it out there. She knows, and I told her we wouldn’t pressure her.”

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why did you do that? Not your style. To tell her we would let her make the decision.”

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