His Southern Sweetheart

by Carolyn Hector

  By the time they made it inside the house, Amelia was famished, as well. Thankfully she remembered the leftover Chinese food. The day before they’d picked up some takeout and Amelia had purposely ordered a dozen egg rolls, positive she’d eat at least two with her meal. Nate had polished off two before she transferred their rice onto a plate and had eaten still another with his meal. Those remaining called her name. The motor of the refrigerator went off when she opened the door to take out the red-lidded containers. Her stomach rumbled so loud she doubted she’d be able to wait until the microwave—a luxury item she’d tucked away in the corner of the counter—heated the rest of the egg rolls. What! Only five left? Math might not have been her strong suit but she could’ve sworn they had only had five the first night. Did Nate eat two for breakfast? She gave Nate a side-eye glance and wondered where he put the calories.

  In the kitchen, she and Nate worked side by side, moving in unison. Without words, she ducked when he opened a cabinet and he stepped out of the way when she opened the oven. Once, Amelia had filmed in a fast-paced kitchen and enjoyed the dance of the chefs. She was reminded of them when she observed Nate and herself right now.

  “I’m glad you decided to reheat the egg rolls in the oven,” said Nate, leaning his long, lean body against the counter. His slacks still hung off his hips and his shirt was unbuttoned. “The crust will be crispier.”

  “I figured as much.” Amelia sighed and nodded her head at the black microwave with the bright turquoise digital numbers counting down as a timer for the oven. “I wonder if buying this was a mistake. Grandmamma will never use it.”

  “I’m surprised she doesn’t have one already.” Nate folded his arms across his chest. His biceps flexed. Amelia wondered if it was possible to christen the kitchen in the ten minutes set for the oven.

  “Because Grandmamma doesn’t strike you as a patient woman?” Amelia smarted off.

  “Leave my friend alone,” Nate teased. “Let’s find something else to do while we wait for the timer to go off.”

  Amelia’s left brow rose in inquiry. “For eight minutes? Why, Mr. Reyes,” she said in her Southern drawl, “you disappoint me.”

  Before the smirk fully spread across her face, Nate once again tossed her over his shoulder and headed up the stairs. Amelia squealed with laughter and feigned being a damsel in distress, loving every minute of his hard, muscular body manhandling her. When was the last time she’d had this much fun with a man?

  “No one can save you now.” Nate went along with the bit. He made his way up the stairs, careful of her head as he turned the corners to get to her bedroom.

  Hanging upside down, Amelia reached for her brass doorknob and pushed the door closed seconds before Nate tossed her on the bed. Her stomach quivered with desire. Nate touched her toes and gave them a little squeeze. Amelia leaned up on her elbows and spread her legs, inviting him inside. A deep breath lodged in her throat just before he entered her. The breath turned into a startled gasp as someone pounded on her door.

  “Is it me—” Nate leaned his body against hers “—or are we interrupted every time we make love in a bed?”

  “Just half the time.” Amelia covered her face with her hands. The pounding continued before she realized it wasn’t her bedroom door being knocked on, but the stairs. What the hell?

  “Amelia,” Grandmamma’s voice called out. “Is that you up there? I know you don’t have a boy up in the room with you.”

  Chapter 10

  The last time Nate had been forced to hide for a woman was a few weeks ago, moments before Amelia had opened the door to her angry colleague. Now he sat at his dining room table with his leg propped up, his knee sore from landing too hard on it after scaling down Amelia Marlow’s bathroom window. It was a wonder he didn’t break his neck, but he didn’t want to have his neck broken by Helen Marlow. So far, the woman with the ornery reputation liked him and he wanted to stay in her good graces.

  “You’re not fifteen anymore.” Stephen frowned, coming in from the kitchen with a fresh pack of ice.

  “You don’t say?” Nate responded and accompanied that with an eye roll. He’d hobbled into his SUV and made his way home in time to catch Lexi slinking out of the house he shared with his brother. Though he’d checked in on his nieces every day for their first week of school, he still felt like he hadn’t been home in months. He missed the cotton-candy smell of Philly’s clothes folded neatly in a white plastic laundry basket. He missed stumbling across the array of Kimber’s colorful cell phones. Even though he’d agreed to allow Jeanette and Enzo to take the girls with them overnight, a part of him regretted it. Walking through the doors and not being attacked by hugs and kisses made him feel strangely empty.

  “What kind of example are you setting for the girls?” Stephen continued to lecture.

  Nate sat up farther in the high-back chair to accept the freezing bag. He pulled up the hem of his red basketball shorts and rested the bag over his knee where the skin displayed a bright red, puffy sight. “The girls are with Jeanette and Enzo.”

  “And how long do you plan on sneaking around?”

  Nate wasn’t sure where his brother was going with this. “What?” His eyebrows rose.

  “You were able to tell the girls last week the reason you were gone was because of the commitment you made for the bachelor auction.”

  Nate raised his pointer finger in the air. “An auction you volunteered me for.”

  “I didn’t volunteer you to spend the nights at her place.”

  “Well,” Nate said, shrugging his shoulders, “as I explained to the girls already, I slept in the barn.”

  “Fine, but your job with Amelia is done. Now what?” Stephen took a seat opposite his brother. “Her grandmother is back from the hospital.”

  “I’m not going to disrespect her grandmother’s house, if you’re worried about that,” said Nate, toying with a stray piece of wicker from the basket on the center of the table.

  A bowl of fruit sat on the table before him—one of Lexi’s influences. Prior to her coming, their table usually had pizza boxes stacked on it. In fact, the dining room at Amelia’s grandmother’s place reminded him of their pre-Lexi days. From what he’d learned of Amelia, he knew she stayed busy. Now that she didn’t have a job, would she become more domesticated? He’d hoped hanging out with her old friends would inspire her to stay. Lexi utilizing Amelia’s skills as a videographer was genius. He hoped that when he met up with Amelia later on today she’d be excited about putting together the footage for Sam and Emily. He wished she’d want to stay. And then what?

  “The whole reason Amelia came back to Southwood was to take care of her grandmother. What happens when she leaves?” Stephen’s question reiterated Nate’s thoughts. “Before she came, you were going through the women in town.”

  “I haven’t gone through all the women.”

  “Not all.” Stephen nodded. “But you’ve gone through enough of them, telling them to back away because you don’t do complicated.” Stephen made air quotes with his hands. “You’ve been running through the women, leaving all of them thinking you might take them as your date for Sam’s wedding.”

  “Give me a break, big brother.” Nate sighed and shook his head. “I never once gave any of the ladies I’ve dated—”

  “Dated?” Stephen interrupted with a raised brow and another set of air quotes.

  “I never gave them the inkling I wanted to take anyone to the wedding. I didn’t think I’d want to attend.”

  “Until you met Amelia?”

  “I thought you liked Amelia?” asked Nate.

  “Amelia is great, but you’ve felt this need to cover for her because you got her fired.”

  “I’m not covering for her,” said Nate. “I’m trying to get her to find a reason to stay in town.”

  “So you t
wo can what? Sneak around?”

  “Date.” The usually awkward word rolled off Nate’s lips with ease. True, he’d never committed himself to one single lady, but he wanted to give it a try with Amelia. The idea of dating Amelia didn’t scare him, but rather relaxed him. This seemed natural.

  Stephen paused his lecture to cock his head to the side. “You said she was fired, Nate.” Stephen shook his head and pressed his hands against the table. “She doesn’t have a job.”

  Nate shrugged his shoulders, biting back the ounce of pain he’d gotten from brushing up against the brick wall in his attempt to hide from Helen Marlow. “Yet,” he corrected his brother. “Amelia doesn’t have a job yet and the lease on her apartment is almost up. This is perfect timing.”

  “You’re going to take her on as a client?”

  Part of Reyes Realty and Contracting meant selling homes. The brothers were so successful in their business back in Atlanta that they’d been able to concentrate on their nieces without having to worry about work and clients. Nate was good at selling and finding dream homes for people. He preferred the hands-on part when they flipped homes.

  Stephen gave a skeptical clearing of his throat. “So you think you’re enough to keep her here?”

  “Amelia’s grandmother is here, and her cousin.”

  “From my understanding, her grandmother doesn’t like too many people, her granddaughter included.”

  Shaking his head, Nate chuckled. “Haven’t you learned your lesson listening to rumors?”

  “We’re talking about you, little brother.”

  “Whatever.”

  “No, not whatever.” Stephen’s voice became sterner, reminding Nate of their father moments before he laid down the law. “Let’s talk about the next week or so Amelia is in town. How do you plan on conducting yourself with Kimber and Philly in the house?”

  “I’m going to start off with inviting Amelia over for dinner, hang out with us so she’ll see the perks of staying in town, and then I’m bringing her to the Crystal Coquí Ball.”

  Stephen choked on his words. “What? I don’t understand.”

  “Don’t worry,” Nate replied with a smug grin, “it’s not too complicated.”

  * * *

  Amelia spent Sunday afternoon pretty much how she did when she lived with Grandmamma—in her room. She wanted to avoid the pressures and questions from the few church patrons who stopped by with a covered dish. After she’d practically pushed Nate out the window, Amelia had gone downstairs to say hello to the visitors and make sure she did not get the eye from Grandmamma. She took to the top steps and eavesdropped on Grandmamma bragging about the new ramp Nate Reyes had put in for her. Occasionally she heard the screen door squeak for Grandmamma to show off. The ladies who came to visited hummed and prayed in thanks for a man like Nate Reyes. Their form of thankful prayer might have turned more into gossip about the time each of the ladies caught a glimpse of Nate playing basketball down at the park with their own grandchildren, or running into him at the store. According to what Amelia learned from the church ladies, domestication made Nate sexy as hell.

  Twenty-four hours later Grandmamma still did not mention anything about Nate sneaking out of the house, but so as to not borrow trouble, Amelia took off the moment Grandmamma asked for a new bag of ice. Amelia guessed her friends drank all the iced tea. Besides, getting out of the house felt liberating. A few days ago, Amelia had wanted to spend her time in Southwood hiding, since she’d been too afraid of running into anyone. But thanks to talking to folks at Emily’s wedding, Amelia had learned her senior exposé had done more good to the community than harm. Too bad she didn’t plan to stick around to find out how people’s attitude to her had changed.

  The black cell phone in her purse came to life as Amelia pulled into the Piggly Wiggly parking lot and put her car in Park. When she answered her phone, she thought she might have sung her greeting. Her toes wiggled in the jeweled flip-flops on her feet.

  “Well, someone sure is in a good mood.”

  “Rory,” Amelia exclaimed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear to better hear. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine.” Rory laughed into the receiver. “Small-town life is treating you well?”

  A shiver ran down Amelia’s spine. The temperature had crept up to eighty-five degrees and it was only eight thirty in the morning. One man made being back in town better. “Life back home is not as bad as I thought.”

  “Does any of this have to do with a particular man?”

  Amelia cleared her throat. “I’m not kissing and telling.”

  “At least I know you’re kissing,” Rory quipped. “Listen here, missy, I know Christopher said you’re not allowed to contact anyone in the business but you did not have to leave a message on my work phone. I heard your message this morning, and before I get mad at you for not calling me at home, how’s your grandmother?”

  “Grandmamma?” Amelia shook her head back and forth. “She’s fine,” she started off with a slow drawl and filled her friend in on the updates and remodeling.

  “Good grief, there is a man,” guessed Rory. “The same one you purchased?”

  “How’d you know?”

  “Natalia demanded to speak to the higher-ups before she took off.”

  “Took off?” Amelia scratched her head. A teenager zipped by on a skateboard in front of the automatic doors, triggering the signal for them to open. “What do you mean, took off?”

  “She’s took off and left everyone in Atlanta.”

  A thousand questions ran through Amelia’s mind. “Where did she go? Is she okay? What’s going on with the show?”

  “Postponed for now. The rest of the family went back to their island home in Puerto Rico.”

  “And the crew?” The pause on the other end of the line indicated trouble. Amelia let out a whistle. While MET paid their employees well, a lot of bonuses were given to the camera crew if they were able to catch a scandalous conversation or an outrageous act from one of the family members. The camera loved Natalia, but the female public loved her brother Nicholas and often tried to get him in precarious situations. Twitter had been his downfall. Nicholas’s bad habit of wanting to let everyone know where he was going often led to a swarm of women waiting to throw themselves at him. The Nicholas crew earned bonuses for every half-naked woman they caught sneaking out of his hotel room.

  Amelia imagined Rory shaking her head back and forth. “Nope, you know Christopher does not want you to think about work while you’re on leave. Are you ready to come back to work?”

  Considering Grandmamma was getting better, Amelia could go back to work, but the image of Nate’s face flashed in her mind. He wasn’t out of her system.

  “Your hesitation tells me you want to extend your stay,” said Rory. “We’ve got an assistant producer on standby in case Natalia shows up, so you’re free to continue your leave.”

  “How mad would Mr. Kelly be?”

  Rory sighed on the other end of the line. “He’s fine with however much time you want to take. Jesus, girl, you haven’t taken a break since you started here. Chris didn’t think four weeks was going to be enough. Wait until I tell him.”

  “Don’t tell him everything,” Amelia said, panicked.

  “I’ll tell him—” Rory faked a cough into the receiver “—you’re sick or something.”

  Laughing, Amelia shook her head. “You’re supposed to be a professional at a multibillion-dollar company.”

  “Yes, but I’m your friend first. Take as much time as you need.”

  “It’s not like I’m never coming back.” Amelia chewed on her bottom lip; her mind wondered what Natalia was up to. First she’d had a secret meeting with an old friend and now this disappearing act. Her fingers itched to call up Natalia.

  “Famous last words,” Rory
sang before she ended the call.

  After hanging up with her friend, Amelia stepped out of her grandmother’s Nissan and pulled up the elastic of her black yoga pants before she headed inside the convenience store. Amelia had turned in her rental yesterday afternoon with Pastor Rivers, who volunteered to give her a ride back to the house. It seems since he was the one who found Grandmamma, he’d driven her car to the hospital and had hung on to it until Grandmamma was better.

  Amelia let out a sigh with the relief of the pressure of her waistband. All this eating out was putting a damper on her figure. Amelia folded her arms over her faded green, over-washed Florida A&M T-shirt and stood in front of the rack filled with tabloids and glossy magazines with celebrities on the covers. With her forced break from work, she had somewhat lost touch with life in the reality TV world. Two weeks ago, the coverage of the Ruiz family had been crazy. The family had been featured in every magazine. There was no such thing as bad publicity. Rather than every tabloid magazine featuring Natalia and her family, just every other magazine did. However, instead of catching Natalia in some risqué pose or gown, a question mark covered her face. Have you seen her? captioned the photos.

  Amelia grabbed three magazines and a bag of ice and headed to the register. To avoid her name being recognized by the cashier—a man she remembered being in detention a lot during high school—Amelia paid for her purchases with cash and headed for a quick exit. The sliding glass doors dinged her departure. A group of teenagers skateboarded off the curb of the walkway in front of the convenience store. Despite the temperatures spiking into triple digits, some of the boys wore knit caps over their heads. She shook her head and chuckled, biting back the irony of the boys’ flip-flops.

  “I’d be careful of smiling like that.”