Read One Night with Sole Regret 07 Tease Me for Free Online Page A

the person she thinks you should be.”
    Madison stiffened and lifted her head to stare the woman down. “I love him for who he is on the inside. That tender part of him that he doesn’t let most people see.”
    Phaedra shook her head at her. “He really has you fooled, doesn’t he?” Her brown-eyed gaze shifted to Adam. “Let me know when you get bored with her Pollyanna bullshit, baby. You know it will never be enough for you.”
    Adam kissed Madison’s temple and whispered close to her ear, “Go wait for me outside.”
    “What?” Narrowing her eyes, she looked up at him. Her hurt for being insulted by Phaedra was rapidly replaced by utter confusion. And a touch of suspicion. “Why?”
    “I need to speak to Phaedra in private.” He didn’t look at Madison. His cold gaze was fixed on the woman who was suddenly clutching to her chest the cream-colored jacket that matched Madison’s leather pants.
    “But—”
    “Go.”
    “Adam?”
    His gaze softened when he looked at her. He lifted a hand to touch her cheek and stroked her skin lightly with his fingertips. “It’s okay, baby. Just do what I ask, please.”
    She still didn’t want to leave him alone with this woman who seemed to know him and was obviously interested in him as something more than a regular customer, but she did as Adam asked and went outside. She did not, however, take her eyes off him as she stood outside the store, staring in through the windows. She couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he was obviously very angry as he yelled at Phaedra, gesticulating aggressively—one arm swinging out toward the door Madison had just exited, the other curled inward as he patted his chest and then pointed at Phaedra, who winced as if he’d slapped her.
    Madison strained her ears, but couldn’t hear over the traffic sounds behind her. So she tried to read his lips. It appeared that Adam’s every other word was fuck , but she couldn’t be sure. Why had he sent her outside to wait? She would have liked to hear him cuss out Phaedra. Madison reached for the door handle and pulled it open, catching the tail end of Adam’s tirade.
    “—better if no one besides her gives me a fucking chance!”
    A ringer behind the counter bonged to announce someone had entered the store, and Adam turned his head to look at Madison.
    “I told you to wait outside,” he said, his tone still harsh from anger.
    “I’m not waiting outside,” she said and stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest. “You should trust me enough to hear what you have to say.”
    “She’s right,” Phaedra said. “Has she ever even seen this side of you?”
    Madison had seen it plenty in the early days of his treatment, but he’d let go of his anger once he’d opened up to her and trusted her with his real feelings. Or maybe all this time he’d been burying his anger for her benefit.
    “This isn’t me anymore,” Adam said to Phaedra.
    “It looks like you and it sounds like you and it acts like you, so who exactly is it supposed to be, Adam?” Phaedra asked.
    “Fuck off, Phaedra,” Adam said. He shoved past Madison on his way out of the store.
    Madison started to go after him, but Phaedra’s warning stopped her.
    “You can’t leave with those pants unless you pay for them.”
    She could have jerked off the pants and gone outside in her underwear, but instead she dug a credit card out of her small purse and extended it toward the woman.
    “Charge them for me.”
    Phaedra took the card from her hand. “And the jacket?”
    “Yeah, whatever.”
    “And a black T-shirt.” It wasn’t a question.
    Madison hurried out of the store and searched for Adam. She spotted him near the end of the building. His back to the road, he had his forearm pressed against the bricks and was staring down at the cracked asphalt between his boots. His right hand was clenched into a fist, and every line of his body was hard with tension. Madison took a steadying breath and strode in his direction.