Free Adam by Kris Michaels Page A

peered out of the cockpit, and for what seemed like the millionth time since his fractured memories had returned, he worked to piece the events together. He closed his eye and blocked out the bright sunshine and billowing clouds. God, he could see her on the bed in that line shack .
    “How long did it take to get her back down to the ranch?”
    “Ahh… five days. She slept the first three.”
    “So what happened? I mean, if she was out of it, what could you possibly have done to screw things up?”
    Jason held up a hand as Doc started to reply. He listened to incoming directions from Atlanta’s regional air traffic controller. “Guardian four-three-eight-four, confirm turning to two niner three and dropping to twenty-seven thousand.” Jason glanced at him and shrugged. “Sorry, go ahead.”
    “I don’t know, man. Things were going good. I mean, she was recovering.” Adam shook his head and once again peered out at the clouds as if they would provide solutions to the things he’d done. He told Jason what he’d said to Keelee.
    “Oh, hell no! You did not do that to her?” Jason’s stare held the same disbelief he had seen in Keelee’s eyes that morning.
    “Fuck man, I told you I screwed up! I mean, I explained it to her—we fool around, she’d get pregnant. It didn’t faze her. So what was I supposed to think? You know what happened with Bianca.”
    But Keelee wasn’t anything like his psychotic ex. There was no denying Guardian’s people were well paid and had a definite status in D.C. In recent years, the number of women seeking to cash in on the type of men Guardian cultivated had escalated. Doc had learned that lesson the hard way. He had been burned severely by that vicious, gold-digging bitch. Once burned, twice shy. In his case, it was once burned, suspicious forever. Damn.
    “Yeah, but Bianca was an evil fucking pariah. You said yourself that Keelee’s an innocent. Not like that world-class bitch. Besides man, ever hear of oral, or maybe a handjob?”
    Doc dropped his head back against the seat repeatedly. “Yeah. Once I pulled my head out of my ass, I tried to talk to Keelee, to explain why I reacted like I did. She shut me out. She refused to acknowledge I even existed after that. Fuck man, she avoided me like the plague and I can’t blame her.”
    “Ah dude, you fucked up. Bad, epic… biblical proportions even.”
    Adam winced at the truth. “Don’t I know it. The kicker? I compounded the problem by avoiding her after I came back to the ranch. Joseph, told me when I was out of my head in that cave in Afghanistan… well, I guess I told him that I loved her. Fuck, even after he told me what I said, I didn’t remember it. I’d seen her on the ranch a time or two, but I had no idea I knew her from before. I mean, hell yeah. I was clinically depressed, not dead. I noticed her. Anyway, I talked with her. She seemed nice and damned if she wasn’t hotter than all the fires of hell. But I ended up telling her I wanted to be her friend. I’ve treated her like a little sister since then.”
    “So which is it, dude? Are you going back to say you’re sorry to your friend or are you going back to claim your woman?” The largest of the King Brothers glanced at Adam and rolled his hand, gesturing for him to continue.
    Adam drew a huge breath and released it slowly. “Even when I tried to treat her as a friend I felt like I wanted more with her. I just figured she wouldn’t want to be saddled with half a man.”
    “Oh, what-the-fuck-ever, dude. Whine much? FYI? You sound like a girl. Just how far up your ass did you say your head was buried?”
    Adam actually laughed. “Too damn far—for too damn long. I’m going to apologize to my friend and hopefully make love to my woman. I just pray I’m not too late. She’s got that fucking cowboy sniffing after her.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yeah, and to top that off with a shot of ‘Oh, why-the-hell-not?’ I’ve been encouraging her towards a