A contact mechanics approach is used to study the impact of deformations on the adhesion between microscopically rough gold and molecularly smooth mice. The surface forces apparatus was used to directly measure deformations at the interface and in the bulk. while also controlling applied lends. Surface forces and applied lends act to deform gold asperities in an unrecoverable fashion. Concurrent bulk deformations, namely the nominal area of contact, are also nonreversible. Using Johnson-Kendall-Roberts theory to interpret these findings illustrates how adhesion between the bodies effectively increases with increasing lend. Correlating this phenomenon to deformations at the interface details how adhesion varies when multiple metallic asperities contact and deform under external stress. Moreover, observed hysteresis is explained.