“Be wary of a stranger.”
Excellent advice. Her mother had drilled it into her head before kindergarten. Next!
“Anything else?” Madison asked.
“Think about what you really want before you answer him.”
“Who?”
She nodded at Adam. “Him.”
“Okay . . . Do you have any concrete future plans in that crystal ball? Like what I should do about losing my job?”
“I already said someone close to you betrayed you.”
Yeah, that was hella helpful.
“Okay,” Madison said. “And what should I do about that?”
“Avoid snakes.”
Since the woman was on repeat, Madison’s session of enlightenment was apparently over.
“Um . . . Thanks?”
Madison stood, more than a little bewildered, and waited for Adam to pay the old woman.
“That was unsettling,” Adam said as they strolled away.
“Why? She didn’t tell me anything.”
“She knew someone close to you betrayed you and that resulted in your job loss.”
Madison shook her head. “She knew no such thing. I asked her about my job—which she never mentioned—and then she just reiterated exactly what she said the first time. And then she told me to beware of snakes. What in hell could that possibly have to do with being a counselor?”
“Maybe you’ll be working at a reptile house in your next job,” Adam said, looking pensive. “Do you live near the zoo?”
“No,” she said, ready to smack him. “Can we go look at the cathedral now?” The tall white spires were calling to her.
“Whatever makes you happy,” he said. He cuddled her up against his side as they walked toward the square.
When they rounded a corner, she thought she saw a figure watching them slink behind a bush. Or maybe she was imagining things. It had probably just been some tourist minding his own business. No matter. As long as Adam was beside her, she had nothing to fear.
“You make me happy,” she told him.
“Likewise. As much as I’m looking forward to tonight, I’m having a great time with you today.”
“Likewise,” she said. “On both counts.”
She enjoyed ambling through the perfectly tended garden, admiring the statue of Jackson, and studying the architecture of the Saint Louis Cathedral. As they wandered the French Quarter, the brick buildings with their ornate iron railings and flower boxes charmed her. And the food at the jazz club where they ate lunch was some of the best she’d ever tasted, with a flavorful kick that pleased rather than overwhelmed. But it was the company that was truly grand. Each stolen kiss, each longing glance, each heated touch served to remind her that she was the luckiest woman in the world.
“Are you ready to go back to the hotel?” Adam asked after their romantic stroll along the waterfront. “Have you seen everything you wanted to see?”
“I would like to see a real-life bayou,” she said with a teasing grin. She’d much rather go back to the hotel for a bit of alone time before they ventured to the club. And she definitely needed to shower after sweating her ass of in the humidity all day.
“This entire place is a bayou.”
“I guess. But I was thinking more along the lines of a natural bayou. Without buildings and people.”
“Are there snakes in a bayou?” he asked.
She chuckled. “Probably. You aren’t still thinking about what that hack of a fortune-teller said, are you?”
“No. I’ll take you to a real bayou tomorrow,” he promised. “But right now I need to see you naked.”
She laughed. “I think you have my naked form memorized,” she said, lifting the clipboard with his drawing. She’d been carrying it around for hours.
“Don’t get me wrong, you look great,” he said. “But you feel even better.”
“Taxi!” she yelled hoarsely, sticking her arm in the air to gain a driver’s attention.
Adam had the audacity to laugh at her desperation.
If he thought her horniness was hilarious now, just wait until he got her alone. He’d die laughing.
As she stepped into the cab, she thought she spotted Chris observing them across the street, but when she paused for a closer look, there wasn’t anyone there.
Seeing things. Perhaps she’d gotten a bit too much sun.
Chapter Eight
Madison’s belly quivered with nerves as Adam led her down a set of narrow steps to a basement situated beneath an old warehouse. She stared at the worn bricks along the corridor as Adam knocked a rhythm on the small wooden peep door built into the center of a heavy metal door. The impressive black barrier had rivets and everything. She wouldn’t be surprised if it were grenade proof. Were they anxious to keep people out or keep them in? A shiver ran up her back. This place was far shadier than she’d imagined it would be. What was Adam thinking?
“Adam . . .” she said, her nerve suddenly fleeing back up the stairs in the direction she wanted to go.
He squeezed her hand, and the peep door opened.
“Tangerines go well with mangos,” Adam said to the set of eyes observing them from within the club. Assuming the place really was a club. She could hear the sultry beat of music, voices, and even a few moans. A red glow escaped the now open peep door, but so far it wasn’t like any club she’d ever been to.
“How cold is Siberia in December?” the doorman asked, his voice so low it made the hairs on the back of Madison’s neck stand on end.
“Too cold for vodka.”
The man stepped away from the door and Madison heard him say, “The other VIP has arrived,” before he closed the peep door and opened the massive structure barring their way.
Adam entered first and tugged Madison in behind him with the hand he still held. Before she could see more than a naked woman on the bar, who as far as Madison could tell was pouring someone’s beer with a bottle that was rammed up her vagina, she was ushered into a pitch-black room.
She’d lost her hold on Adam’s hand at some point, and she couldn’t see a damned thing. Her hands shot out in front of her, and she hit something solid and warm.
“Easy,” Adam said, somehow finding her arms in the darkness. He stroked them soothingly, but she didn’t let out the breath she was holding until an overhead light switched on.
Even though the lighting was dim, she blinked her eyes to adjust them after the absolute darkness of a moment before.
“Did I see that right?” Madison asked. “Was there a woman out there serving beer from a bottle in her thing?”
Adam chuckled. “Yeah, she’s known for that. And the night’s still young,” he said. “She’ll be serving wine by midnight.”
“Shut the fuck up!” she said, her jaw about to unhinge itself as it dropped. “You aren’t going to do that to me, are you?”
“Of course not,” he said. “I don’t like warm beer.”
He crossed the room and picked up an ornately decorated white