How to Trap a Tycoon Elizabeth Bevarly (year 7 reading list txt) 📖

"She's famous," Lucas said. "She's gorgeous. She's making a bundle of money. In the eyes of the American public, that makes her fair game."

"I don't think everyone in America feels that way," Dorsey said. "Only a few vocal malcontents, that's all."

Lucas chuckled knowingly, and something about the sound of it sent a shiver straight down her spine. "Yeah, right. Think whatever you want. But speaking for myself, if I were Lauren Grable-Monroe, I'd keep a fire extinguisher close at hand. You never can tell about angry, torch-bearing mobs."

* * *

Adam stayed at Drake's far later than usual that night, but he just couldn't bring himself to leave. He'd seen so little of Mack lately, and he had wanted her so much. Spending that one night with her had only generated in him a need for more. He hadn't felt satisfied—in any way, even those that went beyond the sexual—since Sunday morning. He'd done everything within his power to lure her to his place, but she'd shot down his every effort. But Adam respected the fact that she was a busy woman. Hey, her dedication to her work and studies was just one of the things he loved about her, after all.

Whoa. Back up. Replay.

One of the things he loved about her … loved about her… loved…

Was that really possible? he wondered now as he nursed a cup of coffee and watched her go about her nightly ritual of closing down the bar. Could he actually be falling in love with Mack?

He hadn't thought he'd loved anyone since his ex-wife, and even she had been remarkably easy to get over. He had often speculated that that was precisely what had been wrong with their marriage—neither he nor his wife had really loved the other. Certainly not the way two people should when they want to be together forever. Neither of them had made any effort to try and work things out. They'd both simply walked away from a decade-long relationship and had never looked back.

For that reason, Adam had surmised that he simply wasn't capable of loving in the truest, deepest, most genuine sense. Not in the way that a person needed to love in order to bind himself to another human being.

But what he felt for Mack was unlike anything he had ever felt for anyone else, so who knew? Maybe he was falling in love with her. Falling in love … love…

Okay, that wasn't so bad. If he was falling in love with Mack, so what? That wasn't that scary. Was it? Nor was it necessarily surprising. The two of them had started off as friends—albeit friends who were physically attracted to each other—and then, once they'd both realized and accepted the fact that there was nothing to keep them apart sexually, they'd taken that next logical step to become lovers.

And boy, what lovers they'd become. There had been a dimension and an intensity to their lovemaking the weekend before that Adam had never experienced with another woman. And he could only conclude that it had come about because he and Mack had cemented a relationship as friends and confidantes first. Friendship, after all, was founded on trust. And he'd never had trust with a woman before—not really.

He'd never felt comfortable enough with one to share the kinds of things he'd shared with Mack back when he thought she was married and therefore unattainable. Even when he'd been married, he'd kept a part of himself distant, even separate, from his wife. He just hadn't felt like he could be himself with her completely. He hadn't trusted her the way he trusted Mack.

With Mack, though, from day one, he'd felt totally and utterly at ease. Whether that was because he had thought her married and unattainable or because his first exposure to her had been as a bartender—and therefore as someone with whom a man just naturally shared things—he couldn't rightfully say. But something about Mack had appealed to him—had welcomed him—from the moment they met. Trying to understand that, he supposed, would be pointless.

Reasons weren't important. It didn't matter how his feelings had come about. They were there, and they showed no sign of going away anytime soon. What was important was that he cared for Mack deeply. He couldn't imagine not seeing her on a day-to-day basis. He wanted to bring her more fully into his life. He felt better when he was with her than when he was without her. Simply put, he liked having her around.

He just wished he could get her to come around more often.

"More coffee?" he heard her ask then, rousing him from his ruminations.

He glanced up to find himself gazing into bottomless green eyes that looked very, very tired. In fact, he thought, the rest of her seemed to be pretty worn down, too. She really was stretching herself too thin between Severn and Drake's. And he really did wish he knew why.

"Come home with me tonight," he said softly, impulsively. "Spend the weekend with me."

Her mouth dropped open in surprise at his public invitation. Quickly, discreetly, she glanced first left and then right, to make sure no one had heard what he had said. But the bar was deserted, and Lindy had departed with the register receipts some time ago, so there was no one around who might overhear. Nevertheless, it was with no small amount of caution that Mack turned her attention back to him.

"Adam, I wish I could, but I can't," she said softly.

"Why not?"

She seemed to think hard about that, as if trying to come up with an adequate excuse, one that he might possibly believe. Right. As if. There was absolutely nothing to keep her from accepting his invitation—all right, all right, from obeying his command. Whatever. Nothing except her own fear and uncertainty. Which, he conceded, if they were anything like his own fear and uncertainty, might be formidable foes.

She sighed heavily. "I just can't," she said. "I have a lot of reading to