Bittersweet by Noelle Adams Read Free Book Online

comfortable. It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed a simple
meal like this.
    Adam
was recounting a story from a few months ago about how an intern at his company
had tried to maneuver her way into getting an exclusive story on him for her
college newspaper. In his warm, dry voice, Adam gave the full narration of her
attempts: first to talk to him “accidentally” in the elevator and the break
room, then to bribe and flatter a couple of employees into sharing information,
and then finally to sneak into his office.
    Zoe
assumed Adam must have been somewhat annoyed at the time, but now he was
clearly enjoying the memory of having the girl, cursing them all soundly,
hauled out of his office by security.
    “What
did she call you?” Zoe asked, amusement in her voice as she pictured the scene.
She put the plates in the sink and returned to the table for the salad bowls.
    Adam
was on his feet now and handed them to her. His voice was rich with irony as he
replied, “An oaf. She actually called me an oaf .”
    Laughter
rippled out without warning at the sight of his expression—both bemused and
sardonic. And once she started laughing, she couldn’t stop. She managed to get
the bowls into the sink, and then she held onto the counter, nearly bent over
with her amusement.
    She
heard Logan giggling behind her from his highchair. He’d always laughed when
she did.
    She
hadn’t laughed very much since he’d been born.
    Then
it hit Zoe like a sledgehammer. Josh was dead. Her husband was dead . And
she was here eating and talking and laughing with his cousin, as if it didn’t
matter.
    In
an instant, her laughter transformed into a shock of grief.
    Sobs
ripped through her throat, and she brutally tried to suppress them, still
holding onto the edge of the counter, her face twisted in an attempt to control
herself.
    She
couldn’t. Her whole body shook with choked sobs.
    “Zoe,”
Adam said. His voice was close, as if he’d moved toward her.
    She
didn’t turn around—was mortified by the breakdown but couldn’t possibly control
it.
    “Zoe,
don’t.”
    Her
eyes burning and her throat aching, she managed to turn around and say, “I’m
sorry. I’m fine.”
    But
she wasn’t fine. And Adam stood in front of her in a slightly wrinkled suit and
loosened tie, with a stiff and helpless expression on his attractive face, as
if he had absolutely no idea what to do.
    She
wasn’t sure how it happened—if she moved or he moved first. But she ended up
sobbing in his arms, her face buried in his jacket.
    Adam
didn’t say anything, and she didn’t know if he was trying to comfort her or if
he was trapped in an emotional situation he wanted desperately to escape. But
he held her tightly and let her cry. And he smelled nice—not like Josh but warm
and masculine just the same.
    And
he missed Josh too.
    To
her relief, the burst of grief worked itself out after just a minute or two.
When she could manage to get herself together, she pulled away from him,
feeling rather foolish. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”
    “Don’t
worry about it.” He still looked a little stiff, but he scanned her face
closely. “Are you all right?”
    “Yeah.”
She pushed her hair back behind her ears and straightened her shoulders. “I was
actually having a decent evening.
    She
went over to pick up Logan from the highchair and hugged him against her chest,
taking comfort in his warm body. Then, sniffing the air, she said, “I think I
better go change his diaper. Do you mind?”
    “Of
course not.”
    As
she carried Logan into the bedroom to change him, she wondered whether Adam was
ready to leave. She should have given him a chance to escape. She couldn’t
imagine he’d want to hang out here for much longer with a stinky baby and a
weepy woman.
    When
she changed Logan and carried him back out, she found Adam sitting in Josh’s
favorite leather chair, reading something on his smart phone.
    “Sorry
to keep you so long,” she said,