Falling from Disgrace Read online

  After more than a week of rejecting his calls, Adrianna was sure he’d give up. She wasn’t worth the hassle, surely Jack would realize that. A few more days went by and when she didn’t receive any more calls she was both relieved and disappointed. It was for the best, though.

  On a Tuesday evening, Adrianna was sitting on the floor of her living room, painting her toenails. She had had a good day, having slept a full five hours straight the night before and had woken up in minimal pain. She spent the morning in the laundry room and then spoke with her mother.

  Adrianna’s parents were still hoping their daughter would return to school to get her degree in medicine and her mother told her that every chance she got. Not wanting to argue, Adrianna told her what she always did.

  “Soon, Mom. I’m not ready just yet.”

  “How’s work, honey?” her mother asked her. Adrianna spent the last two years lying to her parents, telling them she had a job working as a medical assistant in a pediatrician’s office. She didn’t like lying to them but it was important that they believe she was living a normal life. The more normal it seemed, the fewer questions they asked.

  “It’s fine,” she said casually. “I’m hoping to take vacation next month so I can come home for a visit.”

  “Oh really, sweetie? That would be wonderful!”

  Adrianna felt badly about getting her mother’s hopes up like that but it was something she had to do to keep up with the facade. In reality she had no intention of going home until she really had to at Christmastime, still six months away. She couldn’t stand visiting her hometown where she was bound to bump into someone she knew from high school. They would either pretend not to see her out of discomfort or look at her with such pity she would want to throw up.

  After hanging up with her mother, she decided to get out for the day. It was a rare occasion when she wouldn’t feel like keeping herself holed up in her apartment and so she took advantage of it. She went out for lunch, did some grocery shopping, stopped in the library for a bit, and then bought a few new bottles of nail polish at the drugstore around the corner.

  She was polishing her toes in a color called Koala Pink, remembering how she and Rachel both went through a pink phase when they were twelve. Their rooms, clothes, shoes, accessories, and even pencils they bought for school all had to be some rosy color.

  “Remember when we washed all of our white socks with my mom’s red blouse on purpose?” Adrianna said out loud to her late best friend. “You said they were the color of cotton candy and then put one in your mouth to see if it tasted like it. You were such a nut, Rae.”

  Adrianna liked days like that, when she was able to reminisce about her friend without having a meltdown. Those days were few and far between.

  She sat thinking about her best friend and where they would be right now if they hadn’t been in the accident while she waited for her toes to dry. They’d be finishing up with med school, probably sharing an apartment together and applying for residencies. Maybe they would be planning Rachel’s wedding to Jason.

  With a heavy sigh, Adrianna lifted herself from her carpet not wanting to dwell and spoil her good day. After she placed the bottle of nail polish in her bathroom cabinet she heard a knock on her door. Her jaw dropped when she saw through her peephole that it was Jack.

  Pulling away from the door quickly she waited silently for him to go away after knocking again. Then her cell, which was sitting on her sofa, rang.

  “I know you’re in there, I can hear your phone ringing through the door!”

  Damn, he really was clever, wasn’t he?

  Pulling her hair down from the ponytail it was in, Adrianna fluffed her bangs and looked down at her wardrobe. A pair of black yoga pants and a Kermit the Frog t-shirt wasn’t the most flattering thing she owned but it would have to do.

  “Why are you so persistent?” she demanded when she opened the door.

  “Why are you so stubborn?” Jack countered. He looked good. He was wearing a pair of well-worn blue jeans and a white button-down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His dark hair was styled neatly on top of his head and he stared at her with a gleam in those striking, blue eyes.

  “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.”

  While Jack took a sip of his soda she turned the conversation back to him. “So you got your GED and have been bartending ever since?”

  “I don’t just bartend, I run a business,” Jack said.

  “What business?”

  “Loki’s.”

  “You run Loki’s?”

  “I own Loki’s.”

  It was Adrianna’s turn to look snarky. “Now who isn’t the forthcoming one?”

  “Hey, you never asked. But yes, I opened the bar about two months ago. It’s going well. Despite a shitty economy, people will always need a place to drink.”

  Adrianna’s expression conveyed that she was impressed. “How old are you?”

  “Thirty-two,” Jack answered.

  “No way!” Adrianna exclaimed. She had guessed he was her age, maybe a year older.

  Without a word and while chewing his food, Jack reached into his wallet and handed her his license. Sure enough, his birthday confirmed that he had turned thirty-two in February. Adrianna’s eyes roamed over his ID gathering more information.

  “Jonathan Henry Lokinski?” she smiled.

  “I’m a junior so my parents called me Jack,” he smiled back at her.

  “Lokinski. I can see where Loki’s comes from now,” Adrianna said.

  “In ninth grade English we read about Norse mythology. When Loki came up my friends noticed the comparison to my last name. Being that he was the god of mischief and my tendency to always get into trouble, the name stuck.”

  “That’s cute.”

  Adrianna felt herself warming up to Jack and actually liking him. The feeling didn’t bother her though, not that day. She was comfortable and the thought of getting closer to him was starting to appeal to her. Maybe a relationship could work. Lord knows she was tired of being alone all the time.

  Jack finally felt as if Adrianna was being more open with him. Even if she wasn’t talking about herself, she was at least talking now, without him having to prompt her with questions. Still, there was a lot he wanted to know.

  “So what did you do after you graduated high school?” he asked.

  “I went to Northwestern,” she divulged.

  “Really?” he asked, impressed. “Did you graduate?”

  “I did. Double major in biology and chemistry.”

  Jack dropped his fork and sat back in his chair. “The more I learn about you, Adrianna, the more confused I get. You have degrees in biology and chemistry from Northwestern University? Jesus, you must be brilliant!”

  Adrianna rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Hardly.”

  “What did you want to do with those degrees, rocket scientist?”

  “I wanted to be a pediatrician.”

  Jack noticed the way Adrianna said the words sadly, like it wasn’t something she just gave up on but that had been taken away from her. When she didn’t offer any more than that he supposed it was information that would come out eventually.

  “That’s amazing, Ade,” he told her. “I hope you go back to pursuing that one day.”

  Adrianna didn't want to respond and so she busied herself with cutting up an egg roll.

  "What the hell are you doing?" Jack admonished when he saw her. "You don't eat an egg roll with a fork!"

  Adrianna blushed and told him, "I don’t like to get my hands dirty."

  Jack snickered.

  "I mean when I'm eating!" Adrianna stuttered, flustered with herself for not hearing the innuendo in her words. Jack laughed some more.

  "I mean when I'm eating food in the kitchen...oh, shut up, Jack!"

  After sharing a cigarette at Adrianna’s kitchen window, she and Jack moved on to her couch where he turned on her television.

  "Oh, go back!" Adrianna exclaimed as Jack was flipping through the channels. "Forrest Gump is on!"

  Jack chuckled but turned back to where the movie was playing and set the remote down, settling into the couch with Adrianna close to his side. Rather than watch the movie, he watched her, enjoying the way she looked at the television with deep interest.

  Jenny was just crossing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool when Jack noticed Adrianna had tears in her eyes.

  "You're really into this movie aren't you?" he asked, putting his arm around her and liking how she snuggled into his side.

  "Of course," she sniffled. "Forrest Gump is the most amazing fictional character ever created. He taught Elvis to dance, came up with the lyrics to John Lennon's most famous song, and was responsible for Nixon's downfall. How can you not love this movie?"

  Jack leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I think you might have a crush on Forrest, Adrianna," earning him an elbow in the side. "Would it turn you on if I talked like him?" he continued to tease.

  "Shh," Adrianna chastised. "I'm watching a movie."

  Jack brushed his lips against the shell of Adrianna's ear, eliciting a shiver from her and then, using his best southern, Forrest Gump accent he said, "Jenny and me was like peas and carrots."

  Adrianna burst into giggles, not knowing what was funnier, the fact that a hot and sexy man like Jack was doing a Forrest Gump impression or that he actually did it well.

  Before her laughter could subside, Jack continued his torment with adding, "Lieutenant Dan!"

  When she slapped his arm to get him to stop he retaliated by pinching her side, causing her to pull away abruptly in a fit of more laughter.

  "Oh, you’re ticklish!" Jack grinned evilly, and went in for the kill, grabbing both of Adrianna's sides and squeezing until she was on her back, squirming underneath him.

  "Stop, stop, please, Jack, stop!" she squealed, struggling in vain to remove his hands from her. "Not the knees!"

  Jack just kept tickling and quoting the movie, throwing in, "Bubba was my best good friend," causing a snort to escape Adrianna. That made Jack laugh and soon they were a tangled mess of hysterical limbs, the both of them laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes.

  Adrianna couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much. When it settled and they lay breathing heavily, Jack on top of her across her sofa, she brought a hand up to cup his cheek.

  "Where did you come from, Loki?" she asked softly, looking into his beautiful eyes.

  Rather than get a response, she was rewarded with a small kiss on the inside of her wrist. The action sent her stomach dancing.

  She moved first, reaching up to pull Jack's lips to hers. Again, he kissed her in that way that made her forget her name, forget her problems, and forget everything else that existed in the world other than Jack's mouth.

  She pulled away for a second to tell him, "You're an amazing kisser," and then sealed her lips back to his again.

  Jack had been pleased when he saw Adrianna's lighter side. He knew he sounded like an ass doing the impressions but it was well worth it. Hearing Adrianna laugh was amazing and though he didn't think it was possible, she became even more beautiful when she lit up while he tickled her. And how adorable was she when she snorted?

  He had been told he was a good kisser before but those other times it had no effect on him whatsoever. For some reason when Adrianna said it he felt his chest swell with pride and he suddenly felt like it was his mission in life to impress her in every way possible. Fuck that he still didn't know a whole lot about her; he knew she was smart, had a sense of humor, and was sexy as hell when she was turned on. And damn, if the sounds she made when he moved his hand underneath her shirt didn't drive him crazy.

  Now set with a new purpose to see how many sexy noises he could elicit from Adrianna, he pulled her Kermit shirt (adorable as well) up and yanked the cup of her demure, white, cotton bra down. Jack gave her one more burning kiss and a sly grin before closing his lips around her pebbled bud.


  Adrianna decided that Jack's tongue was without a doubt the most talented part of his body. The way he kissed was remarkable but when he circled her nipple, then flicked his tongue over it, then bit it, then licked it, Adrianna felt as if she was ready to explode.