Page 70 of Impossible
“He was already here—downstairs. I told him he shouldn’t be there. He said he’s staying on the men’s side.”
What was Max up to?
“Thank you, Joanna. I’ll take care of this.” Ada stalked from the library and went to the backstairs. If he was in her office, he’d discover that she also lived there.
She went into the apartment, but found the main room, which included her desk, a table, and a seating area, empty. “Max?”
He appeared in the doorway to her bedchamber, then leaned his long, lithe figure against the frame. “You live here.”
“Yes.”
“You failed to mention that last night.” He perused her lazily and thoroughly, making her feel as if she wasn’t wearing any clothing. “I have to ask why.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” She licked her lips, too aware of how attractive he was and how much she wanted him. There was something different about him tonight. Dressed in dark blue with a light blue waistcoat, he made her mouth water with desire.
“I’m not sure it is.” He pushed away from the doorframe and moved toward her. “Perhaps you’d enlighten me?”
Ada’s heart began to pound a steady, hungry rhythm. “I thought it best for both of us if you didn’t realize we were sleeping under the same roof.”
“You didn’t want me asking you to sleep with me again.”
“I didn’t want to have to tell you no.” More accurately, she didn’t think she could have. “You make resistance difficult.”
He smiled slowly, seductively, and Ada couldn’t breathe. “I’d apologize, but I feel no remorse about that.”
“You’re not being at all fair,” she croaked, her body quivering with need. He’d stopped a foot away from her, and she took the respite to grab hold of what little sanity she currently possessed. “What is wrong with you tonight?”
His brow pleated. “Something is wrong?”
“Notwrong. Different. You are behaving in a wholly unusual manner. You’reflirting.”
“You don’t like it?”
“You are making resistance nearly impossible.”
His gaze dipped over her again, setting her entire body aflame with want. “I like impossible.”
Ada was moments away from abandoning all restraint and sense. She fought to keep them talking. “Did something happen tonight?”
“I went out with Dougal and Lucien. We went to the Siren’s Call. Do you remember me telling you about that?”
“I do, the not-brothel. How was that?”
“It didn’t go well, and I came back here. I realized I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to enjoy myself. The damned past keeps rising up. I’ve since decided it might be best if I could pretend the last five years hadn’t happened. Just for tonight.”
She saw a brief battle in his eyes, as if he were reconsidering his decision, or perhaps his ability to forget. She stepped toward him, finding it imperative that he win this battle, that he spend a night in which he would not be burdened by all that weighed upon him. “How can I help? I was told you needed my assistance.”
He just stared at her, and she wasn’t sure he was winning the fight within him.
“What would you be doing if it were five or ten years ago?” she asked. “We could return to the Siren’s Call. Or go someplace else.”
He shook his head. “Five or ten years ago, I’d be right here shaggingyou.”
Oh God.She nearly threw herself into his arms.
A knock on the door interrupted them completely, momentarily disorienting Ada. She ought to have been thankful. Instead, she wanted to murder whoever stood outside.
“Ada, are you in there?”
