Finally Found Read Free Page B

to the woman who had been standing over near the window. It was the same woman he had made eye contact with previously, the one he didn’t recognize, the woman he hadn’t encouraged to talk with him.

    “Hello,” she said sensually.

    His eyes narrowed. “ You are my nurse?” He openly looked her up and down. After assessing the situation, he spoke the first words that came to mind. No sense in censoring now while all the cards were on the table. “You look more like Ferris Bueller’s nurse.” He crossed his arms across his chest to show he wasn’t at all pleased with that idea.

    Haley looked confused. “Ferris Bueller’s nurse?”

    “Haven’t you ever seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ?” He spat. He was getting more frustrated by the moment. Clearly, they saw him as superficial as he had been feeling. He was the family joke. He could see it now. He was the playboy, the black sheep, the one not to be taken seriously. And really, it was his fault. His chin dropped to his chest and he sighed. Suddenly, more than anything, he wanted to be taken seriously.

    He looked at Sam. It wasn’t that long ago that Sam had needed to lighten up and that’s when he found Haley. Maybe he could find the woman to shape him, make him a better man. He was ready. This was what he wanted. He looked at the nurse again.

    “My name is Kiki. I am more of a medical assistant. I’m working on my nursing degree. And they told me that really, you needed help more than you needed a genuine nurse.” She glanced back and forth between the brothers. “I’m confused.”

    Adam stood. “I bet you are. It was nice meeting you, Kiki. I won’t be in need of your services. You are free to go. Here, have a cupcake.” He passed her a cupcake from the stand next to the table. He leaned over and gave her a light kiss on the cheek because it seemed like the polite thing to do and it always seemed to make the breakups go more smoothly. Then he walked off, walked to his bedroom to collect himself. Once inside the room, he shut the door. He leaned heavily against it.

    He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t the destructive kind. He didn’t break things. He wasn’t a girl so he wouldn’t be crying. It finally came to him. He needed a drive. A nice drive would clear his head. He could never be wholly rude. He wouldn’t storm out of his own party. He would bide his time. He would wait. And when they were all gone…it would be time for a nice long drive.

    From her vantage point behind the bar, Cammie could see everything. She saw the discussion. She saw the introduction. And somehow, after watching him in action for years, her only surprise was that he went to his bedroom alone. Maybe the girl was going to meet him in there at a predetermined time. Yet, when he turned to close the doors, she realized that he looked upset, had been ever since he walked away from her. She couldn’t help but feel responsible. It seemed she had hurt his feelings. Sighing she made a mental note to remedy that after the party. Though she had no de sire to be a part of her parents’ birthday party business any longer, she wasn’t going to ruin it for them, either.

After splashing water on his face and pasting on his charming Adam face, he left the room to rejoin the party. He made a huge effort to be nice to everyone, to mingle to greet everyone. The only thought that kept him focused and helped him through the remainder of the party was the excitement of driving into dawn. He would drive to the Hamptons. They had a summer home there. Well, his parents did. Neither of them had spent much time there of late, but he somehow figured that as soon as the weather turned, Sam and Haley would. He imagined a morning spent walking the coast and sniffing the crisp ocean air. That helped.

    It also helped that the booze ran out an hour later. When that handy bit of information was passed around, soon enough people started clearing out and heading to the nearest club. They