Falling From Disgrace

“Do you wear contacts?” Adrianna asked by way of changing the subject.

“No. Can I come in?”

Adrianna dropped her gaze to the bag Jack was holding in his hand. “What’s that?”

“Chinese food,” he said simply, as if it was totally ordinary for him to show up at her door with dinner after she had avoided his calls for more than a week. She wanted to tell him no but she was hungry and Chinese sounded amazing.

“You bring egg rolls?” she asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

“Of course.”

Adrianna stepped to the side and opened the door wider to let him in. With a satisfied grin Jack stepped into her apartment and kicked the door closed with the heel of his brown leather shoe.

“Why didn’t you take my calls?” he asked, shifting their dinner to cradle the bag in his arms.

“I was out of town.”

“Oh? Where?”

Adrianna looked down at her toes. “Australia.”

Jack laughed. “Australia, huh? How are things down under?”

Adrianna slinked away towards her kitchen with Jack right on her heels, ignoring his question. While he deposited the bag of food on her counter he watched as she reached into a cupboard to retrieve plates. It been just over a week since he had seen her last but he had forgotten how beautiful she was. He unashamedly checked out her ass as she stretched on her toes to reach two glasses from the same cabinet. When she turned towards him, balancing the dishes and cups in her hands, he got a look at those luscious lips of hers and he felt himself get hard. Not able to help himself, he leaned forward and kissed her, loudly, on the mouth.

“Sorry,” he said when he pulled away, noticing her shocked expression. “I couldn’t help myself.”

Adrianna shook herself out of the kiss-induced stupor he put her in and then sat at her kitchen table.

“Nice place you have,” Jack complimented as he unpacked cartons of shrimp lo mien, sweet and sour pork, and steamed dumplings. “Though it doesn’t look like the place a trust fund baby would have.”

Adrianna smirked and told him, “I’m not a trust fund baby.”

“So you don’t go to school, you don’t work, and you aren’t a trust fund baby. Then how do you afford an apartment in the better part of the city, huh?”

Adrianna looked at him seriously like she was about to share a deep, dark secret. Jack leaned in intently and she whispered, “I’m an arms dealer.”

Jack sat back in his chair, his brows high on his forehead. “An arms dealer? That’s tough in a city like Chicago.”

“Well,” Adrianna shrugged, “you aren’t the only who’s clever.”

She left Jack laughing at the table while she went to retrieve silverware.

Jack shot question after question at her while they ate, not at all deterred by her hesitance to share.

“Your parents still married?”

“Yup.”

“Brothers or sisters?”

“Nope.”

“I’ve got one sister; she’s older than me and lives in Wisconsin. You graduate high school?”

“Of course.”

Jack gave her a snarky look. “Don’t say it like that, I didn’t.”

“You didn’t?” Adrianna asked, not trying to hide her surprise.

“Nope. I got my GED when I was sixteen. School wasn’t the right place for me.”

“Why not?” she asked him.

“I always struggled. I have ADD and I could never sit through a class without getting into trouble. My parents got tired of getting calls from the principal so when I told them what I wanted to do they agreed. Best thing I ever did.”

Adrianna shifted in her chair and Jack noticed it was the third time she had done that since they sat down. “Do I make you nervous?” he questioned.

“No, why?”

“You just can’t seem to sit still.”

Damn, why did he have to be so observant? She could tell him she suffered from a bad back and leave it at that but instead she smirked and said, “I guess I have a little ADD, too.”