Free Transference by Sydney Katt Page A

brother. I need to find a way to make this right for them."
    "You're beginning to sound like Adam," Allison said.
    Brad hated the easy smile that crept across her face at the mere mention of his name. While he had no illusions about what he was supposed to be doing here, he didn't need it shoved in his face. Just get the money and get out.  
    Why couldn't it be that simple?
    "Is it a bad thing to sound like me?" Adam also emerged from the shadows. "Hello, Allison."
    Of all the things he didn't want to see, their happy reunion was it.

    * * *
    This wasn't the way she'd envisioned her reunion with Adam. Brad's eyes were on her; she could tell it was his hot gaze burning into the back of her skull by the race of her pulse. Her heart was in tatters. What was she really supposed to do? On the one hand she had the man to whom she had offered her heart, waiting for her with love evident on his face.
    And on the other she had the man who'd stolen her heart, ripping it to pieces when he'd gone through with the plan to take her to the first man.
    Why did she have to love them both? Her life would be so much easier if she could just hate one of them; Adam for abandoning her when the police caught up with them that day, Brad for...well, for being Brad.
    Of course, it ultimately didn't matter what she wanted because the choice wasn't Allison's to make. Brad's sudden cold behavior to her after they'd made love had said it all. Then again, maybe it had only been lovemaking in her mind. It might have been just another fuck for him.
    That realization hit her hard, harder than she'd ever admit to anyone.
    But Adam's arms were there to comfort her before the hollow claw in her stomach knocked her knees from under her. His arms were strong around her waist as he pulled her against his lean physique in a beautiful embrace. Allison's arms went around his neck out of instinct and teased the closely cropped brown hair she found there while she rested her cheek on his shoulder. She could feel his heart skipping along in his chest.
    Skipping for her.
    His voice was low. "I've missed you so much more than you can ever know. If I could have figured out a way to trade my freedom for yours, I would have done it and never looked back."  
    "That would have just ended with both of us in jail."
    Adam's hands slid up her back until they left her altogether in favor of cupping her face in his hands. "I'm serious." Apprehension clouded his steely green gaze. "I should have said this a lot sooner...and in person, not on the phone when I had to pretend to be your lawyer's assistant to get through."
    "Adam..."
    "I love you, Allison." His eyes were staring into her very soul now. "I should have told you that a long time ago. I'm sorry I didn't. I'm sorry for a lot of things. Loving you isn't one of them."
    Allison's heart swelled and burst, filling the hollow of aching cold in her stomach with the sweet ambrosia of pure love. In that moment, she wasn't just another junkie looking for her next fix; she wasn't a woman who'd betrayed the man she loved in the worst possible way with the worst possible person; she was simply the woman she saw reflected in his eyes.
    The woman she saw there was a woman she was desperate to be.
    Her response to his impassioned words burned on the tip of her tongue. As the words were ready to tumble over her lips, Brad cleared his throat, throwing her back into confusion.
    "I hate to interrupt this enchanted moment, but if you could maybe pay me and give me a lift back to the airstrip then the lovebirds can get back to it."
    Allison felt the flush slide across her skin. Those few moments with Adam had been enough to make her forget Brad was even still standing there, witnessing the entire exchange. She'd never meant for him to be around for this. Then again, she'd never meant to care what Brad thought about any of it.
    Luckily, Eli broke the silence with a tense laugh. "You actually think we wander around out here with that kind of cash?