Surely he must have misunderstood what she said. The clap? Nobody in their right mind announces they have a venereal disease, let alone to a prefect stranger. Who the fuck even uses that terminology anymore? Adam wrestled with his shocked expression by busying himself digging ice out of the bar and placing it on a clean towel. He was rarely surprised, but tonight, this little waitress was shocking the shit out of him at every turn.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye while he assembled an impromptu icepack. Her back was as straight as the day is long, but her eyes kept darting around the limo and out the window while her fingers tapped out a Morse code in her lap. Nervousness inundated out of her pores so powerfully, he could damn near smell it.

"Here, put this on your head." He handed over the icepack which she placed gingerly on the growing knot, mumbling a thank you. "You were saying...you have the clap?" He cocked his head to one side and focused his full attention on her response, watching every subtle movement for giveaways.

Her eyes grew as large as saucers. "Oh, yeah." Trixie nodded furiously, the intense expression on her face meant to be foreboding. The way she delicately nibbled on her lips, drew his attention as did the anxious knitting of her fingers on her empty hand. "I've got it bad. The itching and scratching is horrible. I have all these big oozing nasty open sores and the puss..." she gagged. "It's really...really disgusting." A hard shudder ended the performance.

Warning alarms echoed in Adam's head and he knew immediately she was lying. Every ounce of her body language screamed it, not to mention she just described a repulsive version of herpes instead of gonorrhea. It was evident to him she had no inkling as to what she was talking about. The circumstances would have been rather amusing; except for the aspect she was being purposely deceitful.

He loathed being lied to. What made it worse, was she was shit at it. Obviously she wanted to disgust him, but why? Why go to such a disturbing length? He studied her silently for a moment, before deciding to call her bluff.

"Then perhaps we should take you to the hospital, immediately," he said briskly, leaning forward to push the divider button between them and Erich.

She yelped, grabbing his wrist. "NO! I mean...um...that won't be necessary. I've already been to lots of doctors and it's incurable. There's...um...nothing they can do."

Her small fingers clamping his wrist, squeezed tightly. Her touch cool and smooth against his. A jolt of awareness bolted threw his system as if he'd been hooked up to the wrong end of a car battery. His eyes jerked and locked onto hers. Undiluted panic caused her eyes to be overly bright and the way her teeth were worrying her bottom lip, it would be a miracle if she didn't chew it off.

Compelled, he reached out with his other free hand; slowly stroking her cheek with a light caress removing the lingering pieces of blond hair stuck to her face and tucking it behind her ear. The pulse at the base of her neck started to thump wildly making him swallow back a moan as he pictured feeling it beat beneath his lips. This girl was a conundrum to him. He knew absolutely nothing about her, and yet, she could affect him with nothing more than a flutter of emotion or a touch. One moment she was all sass and giving him attitude by the truck load, the next she was timid, fearful and unsure of herself. Both called to him, one in a challenge and the other a desire to protect.

She fit none of his usual tastes in women, but he craved her like no other. Her face was so expressive, showing him every little emotion she possessed and each one made his body flare with heat. Even her subtle movements attracted him, so unlike the others where each move was calculated to be the most tantalizing and seductive. But beyond all that, there was an inner strength and tenacity about her he admired. Fuck, he was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. His thumb caressed her check again, drifted down her jawline and brushed against the lip she was abusing. A satisfied smile stretched his lips when she released it with a soft pop.

"What are you doing," her voice was husky, almost provocative, if it wasn't for the slight tremble.

"You had a hair on your face," Adam answered, aware his voice had grown thick with desire. His mind wandered with his eyes over her features before settling on her lush lips. She frowned, her lips forming an alluring pout. He couldn't stop himself from wondering what they would feel like against his, how those little teeth of hers would bite or what she would taste like against his tongue.

Her sharp gasp, snapped him out of the daze he was under and he realized his hand had burrowed into her thick hair at the nape of her neck, pulling her towards him while the other had reversed positions and was now clamped, tugging at her wrist. All working towards one goal. He wanted to kiss her, desperately.

What the hell was wrong with him? Jerking his hands back as if he'd been burned, Adam sat back in the seat, running both of them through his hair, tempted to rip a handful out.

"You're lying to me," he snarled, angrier with himself and his loss of control than her earlier dishonesty.

"You're mad at me?" Her eyes popped in surprise.

"For lying to me? Yes." Adam narrowed his gaze. "I warned you, I do not like to be lied to."

She shot him an annoyed look, but her eyes lost their bravery and quickly turned away. "I'm not lying," she told the floor of the limo.

Snorting loudly, Adam shook his head. "You've done nothing but deceive me since the moment we met, Trixie." He put extra emphasis on her name to prove his point.

"What were you planning to do? Kiss the truth out of me?" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"If that's what it took," he countered smoothly. His admission causing her to pause and stare at him with her lovely mouth gaped open.

"Look, Mr. Steel..."

"I think by now you can call me Adam."

"Mr. Steel, please stop this limo and let me out."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?" Exasperation clear in her tone.

"We haven't concluded our discussion."

"Discussion! This isn't a discussion! It's kidnapping!" she accused pounding the leather seat with her fist in frustration.

"I hardly kidnapped you," Adam chuckled. If looks could kill, he should be measured for a coffin as they spoke. "Despite your abominable opinion of my character, I am not a criminal," he reassured her dryly. Watching her small frame sag slightly with relief, set off another set of alarm bells.

There was something wrong with the girl. Seriously wrong. Clues to the puzzle were slowly starting to click into place. Her intense aversion to the police being called, her over reaction to being taken to the hospital, even her lying...it all added up to something, but he would be damned if he knew what it was.

"You never said you weren't bad," her soft voice broke through his deliberations.

"Excuse me?" Once again, she managed unbalanced him.

"The Big Bad Wolf. You said you weren't big, but you didn't say anything about not being bad," she mumbled to her lap as her fingers busily plucked at nonexistent lint on her skirt.

He cursed under his breath. So that was the crux of her issue. Not that he blamed her for her trepidation. They were, after all, complete strangers to each other. Although, she had him at more of a disadvantage by refusing to divulge her last name and he was beginning to suspect by the slight flinching every time he said it, Trixie wasn't her first name either. Attraction or not, this woman was becoming a bigger problem than the fascination was worth and he was seriously starting to doubt his decision making skills when it came to her. If he would have been thinking clearly, he should have tucked her into the cab with Jillian and called it a night.

Running over his face in frustration, he watched her. She was his responsibility, however temporary, once he took it upon himself to pick her up and place her in his limo which also meant assuring to her safety. But, he was no "good guy" either. Evidently, since he had almost forced himself on her only a short few minutes ago. He snorted.

He was a documented notorious bad boy. There were a plethora of women who would eagerly leap at the chance to tackle the subject and lament about his copious amount of short comings when it came to the fairer sex. He doubted telling her that would help alleviate her worries though.

He sighed. "Trixie, look at me." He waited until her silver gaze met his. "I do not claim to be a boy scout, by any stretch of the imagination, but, I can promise no harm will come to you while you are with me." The truth was he would rather cut off his own balls than witness or cause any more pain than what was already being reflected back at him. Why he felt this way, was an even bigger mystery.

"Then stop this limo and let me be," she insisted tightly.

Adam frowned, bent forward and gently lifted her injured foot into his lap. Her responding cry and stubbornness angered him. "How far do you think you are going to get on this ankle?" he snapped. God, here he was spewing his guts out and threatening to cut off parts of himself and still she argues!

"That's none of your business."

"Curious minds want to know." He cocked an annoyed eyebrow at her.

"Get use to the disappointment!"

"Are you always this obstinate?"

"Yes, I am!" She shouted back. "See how annoying I am? How about you call me one of those cabs like you did your girlfriend and let me go home?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Adam growled, his temper simmering to a boil.

She made an unladylike sound. "Do you blame her?"

"Quite frankly, I don't," he mumbled under his breath. Infuriating women, that was his curse. Adam rubbed the bridge of his nose, fighting off the headache which was tickling the back of his eyelids.

He was well versed in the dealings of the business world. Dow Jones, Wall Street, marketing trends, running multimillion dollar companies and ruling boardrooms...those things he understood. Women on the other hand remained elusive to his understanding. Not that he actually bothered to try and comprehend them before. He didn't have to, beautiful women were always willing to bend to his will no questions asked and not one of them had the audacity to throw his generosity back into his face.

He sighed. This conversation was getting them nowhere. He should call a cab and dump the waitress from hell into it and wash his hands of this wretched night. He looked up at her. She sat in a pool of street lamp glow, seething in anger. Her face was flushed, her breaths coming in rapid pants, her eyes glowing in defiance, but in spite of all that, he still couldn't make himself let her go. Not yet, anyway.

As much trouble as she was, she continued to entice him. Captivatingly beautiful, even more so when riled up, witty, intelligent and not afraid to stand up to The Big Bad Wolf, made him utterly beguiled by her. Aside from all the trauma of the evening, he found himself enjoying her company. People readily gave him his way either because they wanted something or owed him something, her resistance was...refreshing.

He needed to think of a way to barter for more time. Acquisitions of companies were easy, women only slightly more difficult, but this woman was nearly impossible.

"How about we compromise?" He suggested as a last ditch effort.

Her eyes narrowed. "What kind of compromise?"

"You let me take you home with me, I call my personal physician for a consultation over your injuries and if he gives you the green light, I will personally drop you off anywhere you'd like to go."

She shook her head. "No doctor."

"Be reasonable," he coaxed. "You were knocked unconscious and we don't know the extent of the damage done to your ankle. I would say that more than constitutes a simple visit from a very discrete physician," he added the discreet part on a whim. He was beginning to suspect her aversion ran deeper than a simple fear of doctors and authority figures.

"How discreet?"

Bingo. "The best money can buy."

Adam watched her intently while she stewed. Temptation ran thick over his tongue to step in and make the decision for her, but he knew that would be a monumental mistake. Patience...who the fuck ever thought he would have to learn some.

I wanted to take  this time to thank you for reading! I really hope you enjoyed this  installment of Bending Steele, and that you'll consider giving it a  vote. I can't tell you how much  your support means to me and how much   it  motivates me to keep going.

If you find any  errors along the way, don't be afraid to point them out and I always  enjoy any recommendations or critiques you may have. As always, I will  try and update once a week, usually on Thursdays, but if you don't see   an update here, check out my other story When Roses Collide. Thanks   again!