A Dark Horse Read online

  “Have you dated anyone since your divorce?”

  Adele’s heart thumped unevenly at the unexpected change in subjects.

  When she didn’t reply for nearly a minute, Natalie looked embarrassed and said, “I’m sorry if I poked my nose where it doesn’t belong again. I know it’s none of my business. But—”

  “No,” Adele assured her quickly. “It’s okay. I was just surprised, is all. The answer is no. I haven’t dated since my divorce.”

  Unmistakably bewildered, Natalie looked up from Adele’s leg. “But why? It’s been a couple of years and, I mean, you’re gorgeous. You must get asked out all the time. Every day.”

  “I—” Adele stopped to smile at the use of the word gorgeous. “‘Every day’ is a big exaggeration.” She was battered and scarred and limped. Nobody was signing her up to be a fashion model. But Adele wasn’t stupid. She realized that despite those things, she still got her fair share of attention. Though that really wasn’t the issue.

  “I don’t know,” Adele finally replied. Then she hesitated and bit down on the inside of her cheek, debating. Honesty. “No, I do know. For a long time I was too much of a train wreck to even consider it. When Landry left…things had already been bad between us for months. But I would have never given up, you know?”

  Natalie nodded, her expression boiling with anger that Adele understood was directed solely at her ex.

  “I would have kept trying for as long as it took to make things right. I felt even more betrayed by him than I did by the NOPD. And that was like having my guts ripped out.

  “Afterward, I could hardly force myself to venture outside the house,” Adele admitted to the ceiling. “When I wasn’t furious with the entire world, I was so despondent that it was only the fact that Logan needed me that kept me from crawling into bed and never getting back out. I certainly wasn’t looking for a romantic partner. I had enough sense left to know that I couldn’t subject someone else to my crap or ruin any more lives.”

  Natalie scowled. “Ella.”

  “It’s true. Or at least I believed it was true at the time. When I finally started to feel better about myself, there wasn’t anyone who captured my interest. When someone would ask me out, it was easy to tell him no. So I did. I guess I was waiting for someone to make me feel like I had to say yes.”

  Natalie carefully slid her fingers beneath the string of Adele’s panties and dug deeply into the muscle surrounding the scar.

  Heat flooded Adele’s lower belly, and guilt at enjoying this a little too much piled on top of pleasure. Too soon, though, those magic hands ran down her thigh and began to work on her calf muscle.

  Adele hadn’t been touched by someone who wanted nothing more than to make her feel good in ages. Natalie’s touch didn’t just ease her aches. It connected her to another human being, something she hadn’t even known she’d missed. It was as though all the tiny cracks that still caused her pain were being filled in with the warm oil and the sure hands that dug into her flesh and trailed over her skin leaving sparks in their wake. Adele’s eyes slid closed and, unthinkingly, she arched her back and released a languid moan.

  Natalie’s mouth went slack. Then she licked her lips, her eyes glued to Adele’s face. “Is it hard to capture your interest?”

  “Not for the right person.”

  Natalie finally let go of Adele’s leg and wiped her hands on the towel.

  Adele opened her eyes and squinted at the invasion of the firelight. She rose to her elbows in time to see Natalie making fists with both hands. A sliver of guilt pierced her. She’d allowed herself to get lost in the moment. In many moments. Natalie’s hands were probably about ready to fall off because of it.

  “I should have stopped you sooner, but I was too stoned from your magic hands to think straight.”

  Clearly pleased, Natalie dipped her head at the praise.

  “Natalie, thank you. Nothing and nobody has made me feel that good in a very long time.” Adele grinned and lifted her leg and gave it a little shake to prove her point.

  Natalie beamed, white teeth gleaming in the flickering firelight. “You’re welcome. Why don’t we make a deal?”

  A little hesitant, Adele lowered her leg. “Okay.”

  “When I want to remember Josh, I’ll talk to you about him.”

  “Yes.” Adele nodded immediately. She didn’t need to hear the rest. She wanted to do that for Natalie, and she didn’t need nor want anything in exchange.

  “And you ask me to massage your leg whenever it hurts.”

  “But it hurts every day.”

  Natalie smiled softly. “Then I’ll expect you to ask again soon.”

  Adele relaxed under Natalie’s tender gaze. “You don’t drive a very hard bargain. Don’t you think I’m getting the better end of that deal?”

  Natalie lifted a sassy eyebrow. “I beg to differ. And besides, I know what I want out of a bargain, Adele Lejeune.”

  “Then it’s a done deal.”

  Natalie glanced at the antique grandfather clock that stood proudly along the wall. It was past midnight, but she didn’t remember hearing a single chime. Magic hands. “I’d better get to bed.”

  Adele nodded. “Me too.”

  But neither of them moved.

  “Ready?” Adele asked knowingly. It was nice to spend time with someone. Especially someone kind, and funny, and smart. She still didn’t want it to end.

  “No. You?”

  “Nope.”

  They shared a conspiratorial smile, and finally, it was Natalie who relented. She stood and offered a hand, palm up, to help Adele to her feet. But her skin was slippery from the residual oil so when Adele took it and began to pull herself up, she only got about halfway before she started to slide out of Natalie’s grasp.

  “Whoa!” Natalie tightened her grip and reached out with her other hand…but it proved equally useless.

  Arms flailing, Adele fell back onto the blanket and flat onto her back with a giant thud. “Uff!” The air was forced out of her lungs in a great rush.

  “Oh my God.” Natalie straddled Adele and dropped to her knees, hovering lightly above the bare skin of her stomach where her tank top had ridden up. “The oil! I tried…are you hurt?” Natalie ran her hands lightly down Adele’s arms and worriedly searched her face. “You need to breathe, Ella. Breathe!”

  Red-faced from a lack of oxygen, Adele finally sucked in a deep breath, then let out a choked laugh. “Ow. My…everything.”

  “It’s not funny!” Natalie gave her a light swat on the shoulder, relief making her hands shake. “You scared me.”

  That only made Adele laugh harder, though it was still a little difficult to pull in a full breath. Warm brown eyes twinkled. “It’s sort of funny.”

  Natalie shook her head indulgently. Then her face grew serious and her gaze blistering.

  Adele’s brows knit at the sudden shift in demeanor. “What?”

  “Remember when I told you that since coming to New Orleans I was doing what I wanted and not what I should?”

  “Yeah?”

  Without further discussion, Natalie slid her hand under the nape of Adele’s neck and gently lifted as she ducked down and pulled Adele into a bruising, open-mouthed kiss.

  Arousal swept through Adele like an unexpected storm front as their mouths met in an explosion of sensation, a tangle of teeth and tongues. She drew her fingers up Natalie’s neck and threaded them into silky hair, locking Natalie firmly in place. The resulting moan against her lips caused her stomach to flutter excitedly and suffused her with want.

  “Is this—” Natalie muttered hotly into Adele’s mouth after a sizzling minute. “Is this okay?”

  Adele wrenched her mouth a few millimeters away from Natalie’s to desperately suck in oxygen and whisper a quick, “God, yes,” before smashing their lips back together. She was on fire.

  For another long, blissful moment, nothing in the world mattered but their hammering hearts, their breathy sighs and their glori
ous kiss.

  Finally, Natalie pulled away, her eyes dark with desire. Still breathing heavily from their ardent exchange, she ghosted her lips over Adele’s one last time, as though she couldn’t bear to leave them without a final, sweet visit. “You taste so good,” she whispered, the very tip of her tongue darting out for a tiny, provocative sampling.

  “You too.” Spontaneous combustion was definitely back on the table.

  Still straddling Adele, Natalie sat back and rested most of her weight on Adele’s middle. Stunned by what had just happened, Natalie raised her fingertips to her own parted lips as if to confirm it had been real. She ignored Adele’s groan of protest as she gently untangled Adele’s hands from her hair. Affectionately, Natalie folded one of Adele’s hands tightly between her own.

  Concern was etched across Natalie’s every feature. “Is it really okay? I mean that I’m a woman and—”

  “Yes.” Adele stared back at her from behind heavily lidded eyes. “It’s more than okay. It’s awesome. I promise. You aren’t the first woman who’s kissed me and who I’ve kissed back.”

  Natalie’s eye-crinkling smile lit up the entire room, and Adele couldn’t help but answer it with one of her own, her dimples popping out in spectacular fashion. In an uncharacteristic move, Natalie pumped her fist in victory. “Yes!”

  Laughing, Adele’s heart soared. “Nat?”

  “Hmm?” Natalie threaded the fingers of one of her hands with Adele’s and pulled their joined hands closer to her chest, as though the link between them was something precious and worthy of safekeeping.

  “You’ve gone way, way past piquing my interest.”

  “I have?” Natalie responded hopefully, gently pushing some pale hair off Adele’s forehead.

  Adele could only earnestly nod. “Oh, yeah. So,” she cleared her throat. “Will you go shopping with me tomorrow and have dinner with me afterward? After we do some computer searching, that is?”

  With her index finger, Natalie traced their joined fingers, a small grin playing at her lips. “Are you asking me on a date?”

  She thought that was obvious. A flash of uncertainty made Adele’s stomach flip. Sure, Natalie had kissed her, and Holy Mary, mother of God could she kiss, but what if that’s all she wanted? “Yes.”

  Natalie shrugged happily. “I’d love to go out with you…” She winked. “And not for the purpose of burglarizing someone’s house.”

  Adele felt giddy.

  “And, Ella, if you hadn’t asked me, I was going to ask you. I couldn’t wait any longer.”

  Adele couldn’t keep herself from squirming with delight. “Good, because there is something very special that I need to buy. And I think you’re the perfect person to help me.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The next day dawned sunny and temperate with a promise of hitting sixty-six degrees by midafternoon. That was the good news. The bad news was that finding Billy Hobson had taken longer than either woman expected. Google, at least in this instance, wasn’t the messiah that Adele had proclaimed.

  It was nearly lunchtime when Natalie found a cousin of Billy’s who lived in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans.

  Adele made a quick phone call and provided the white lie—she was a dear friend of Billy’s from the NOPD who was trying to reach him—and the cousin turned over all of Billy’s address information without asking a single question. As it turned out, Billy now lived in Shreveport, which was nearly a five-hour drive.

  Adele powered down her laptop and unplugged it from the outlet near the kitchen stovetop. She set it on the countertop. “I forgot how much I hate doing computer work. That was horrible!”

  Natalie crossed her arms over her chest and glared disbelievingly. “I searched all morning. You helped for the last ten minutes.”

  Adele’s voice was unnaturally cheerful. “But I picked out the new fixtures for the bathrooms and made sandwiches!” She passed a plate holding a sandwich and a handful of potato chips to Natalie, who rolled her eyes then stood with a groan, stretching shoulders that had been hunched over for too long.

  Georgia stormed into the room looking murderous. “That incompetent, stupid, stupid man!” She threw a notepad and pen down onto the kitchen island.

  “Landry’s here?” Adele looked behind Georgia as though she expected him to enter the room any second.

  “No. Ross.”

  Adele made a face and sliced her sandwich in half. “What about him? If he tried to pinch your butt again, you have no one to blame but yourself.”

  Looking anxious, Georgia said, “There’s a problem with the paint on the back of the house.”

  Adele shrugged. “Ask him to correct it. He’s had workmen crawling everywhere all day so it shouldn’t take long. You’re the one who wanted to use him because he’s cheap.” She waggled half a sandwich at Georgia, and a piece of lettuce fell out, causing the older woman to narrow her eyes at the messy gesture. “You get what you pay for,” Adele continued, “and we are paying for a decrepit old pervert and his merry men.”

  Georgia leaned against the kitchen island and crossed her thin legs at the ankles. Today she was wearing the exact same dress as before, in yet another color. Gold.

  This one was Natalie’s favorite, by far, because it contrasted so wonderfully with Georgia’s dark skin and made the older woman look exotic.

  “Ella, that man only goes to his favorite store to buy paint.”

  “So?” Adele muttered as she popped a chip into her mouth. She held the open bag out invitingly to Georgia, who shook her head.

  “That store doesn’t carry the brand of paint we selected,” Georgia continued, picking at her fingernails.

  Adele took a bite of sandwich. “So he went to another store, right?”

  “No. Ross decided to go with another brand of paint and another color.” Georgia said the words so quickly they were barely decipherable. She winced. “Bright purple.”

  Adele began choking on her bite of turkey sandwich. Then she accidentally knocked her plate onto the floor, sending her sandwich flopping onto the cool tile. Natalie quickly moved to her side and began slapping her on the back. “Wh-wh-what!” Adele spluttered.

  “Ross says that the color is authentic to the period and—”

  Adele coughed a few times and waved Natalie away with a grateful look. “Grape Ape purple isn’t authentic to this era house! Creole houses are usually earth tones. Today that man is wearing plaid brown pants and a striped black shirt. I think he’s completely blind!”

  Natalie sat back down and took another bite of her own sandwich. Her attention swung from Adele to Georgia, as though she was attending a tennis match.

  Tsking, Georgia picked up the plate and sandwich from the floor and set them on the countertop. She spoke pointedly at Adele. “Save that bread for the birds and the meat for the dog next door. And just so you know, Ross is waitin’ in his truck out front. I’m going with him to buy new paint and make sure there are no more surprises.”

  Placated, Adele nodded.

  “But…well,” Georgia looked upset, “I know you wanted Butterscotch Cream as the exterior color. But now it will take two or three coats of primer to cover up the purple.” Her expression suddenly cleared. “But it will take only one coat if we decide to go with the Rust Red. Ross confirmed this. Then we could still use the Butterscotch Cream for the trim and most importantly stay on schedule.”

  Georgia held her breath, and Natalie watched in amused silence. Georgia was good. Really good. And Natalie would know. She’d been raised by Rose, the Queen of Manipulation. Natalie wondered idly when Adele would figure it out.

  Adele puffed out a grumpy breath. “Fine, fine. Get Rust Red. And please make some calls to get an estimate on soundproofing my room today. I know we talked about doing it next weekend, but it’s going to be a mess, so I want to start as soon as possible.”

  Clearly pleased with herself, Georgia nodded. “I know just whom to call. I’ll get bids and have someone workin’ in your room
by tomorrow.” Her voice held all the confidence in the world.

  “Not Ross.”

  “Certainly not!” Georgia look mortally offended. “I would never let him in your room. I have a couple of other contractors I’ll try right away.”

  “That’ll be perfect, Georgia. Thanks.” Adele smiled and gestured toward the loaf of bread. “Lunch?”

  “Not today. Ross is so upset by his little mistake that I’m going to buy him lunch. You girls enjoy your lunch and shopping.” Georgia waved over her shoulder as she strode out of the room.

  Natalie snickered.

  “That woman is the shepherd of the devil.” Adele released a long-suffering sigh. “Somehow I knew this place would end up Georgia’s preferred Rust Red come hell or high water. I guess I should be glad she didn’t resort to something more drastic.”

  Natalie passed Adele half her sandwich so she wouldn’t have to make another. “You knew?”

  “Of course.” Adele chuckled good-naturedly. “She used to do the same thing when she worked for my mother. She’s like genius smart and was Mama’s personal assistant for more than thirty-five years before she came to work for me. She never messes with anything important, but if it’s something small, and she believes she’s right, which she usually is, she has no mercy.

  “When I was sixteen, and despised the truly hideous prom dress my mother sweetly but misguidedly purchased for me, it was Georgia who rode her bicycle to my high school and showed up just before prom with a different dress. The one I really wanted.

  “She’d bought it for me with her own money, including matching shoes. I changed in the school bathroom, and my mother was none the wiser.” Adele’s expression was a mixture of genuine affection and wistfulness. “I guess it’s only fair that Georgia turn her powers against me now.” She winked at Natalie. “I probably even deserve it.”

  Natalie rested her chin on her upturned hand and soaked in Adele’s every word. She was having a hard time not kissing her this very second. But here in the light of day, Natalie found herself more bashful and cautious than she’d been the night before. Though her lips still tingled at the memory.