She studied the rack of skirts she was standing in front of, running her fingers over the fine, expensive material.
“We could go back to my place and get my things.”
“We can and we will. But you need a couple of nice outfits. My mom is the social queen of Houston, and she’ll expect you to attend at least one or two of her parties.”
Amber turned to face me, the stroller where PJ—short for Peter Junior—was nestled in his little car seat between us.
“I accept the fact that your family wants to buy things for PJ. And I get that you want me to stay with you until I’m fully recovered and your sister is satisfied that that guy who was following me won’t be following me anymore. But that doesn’t mean you have to feel responsible for buying every little thing I need.”
“Okay. But there is a party coming up…”
She groaned, turning back to the skirts. I watched her pick through them, not sure if I should admire her for being so stubborn or annoyed that she had to argue with everything I said. She’d been at my place for just over a month and she barely let me help with anything. She didn’t even want me getting up in the middle of the night with the baby, even though I could see she was clearly exhausted. It was damned frustrating.
Megan didn’t trust her. She’d called me and told me about the photograph that showed Amber at Peter’s funeral. She thought that proved that Amber was lying to us. The thing was, I was already aware of that. I knew the moment she told me she didn’t know that she was lying. But I also suspected that Amber had a reason for lying. She was too stubborn, too determined not to look like she was using us for money, to be playing out some sort of scam. There had to be more to it than that.
I moved around the stroller, reaching down to move the thin blanket out of PJ’s face, then lifted a simple black skirt off the rack.
“This one would look perfect on you.”
Amber glanced at me. “You think so?”
“Yeah. Go try it on.” When she hesitated, I forced it into her hand and then pushed her toward the dressing rooms. “When’s the last time you had something brand new?”
She glanced over her shoulder at me. “Trying it on isn’t agreeing to buy it.”
“No, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
She stuck out her tongue, and I laughed.
I moved around the store, pushing PJ ahead of me, picking out blouses and skirts and dresses that I thought would look good on Amber. A couple of women gave me admiring glances, but none of them said anything. They must have thought Amber was my wife, just like the staff at the hospital had assumed. I found I didn’t dislike the idea. I’d never really thought about getting married and settling down with one woman. I liked women. Many women. But playing house with Amber sort of opened up new possibilities that I hadn’t thought I’d enjoy.
I liked PJ. He was soft and smelled really good, and when he smiled—despite the fact that Megan insisted it was just gas—it made me feel a new sort of joy that was indescribable. I told myself I was just doing a job with Amber, that I was just being a good uncle to PJ, but the truth was, I was enjoying myself.
I walked into the nursery last night and watched from the shadows as Amber lay the baby on her narrow twin bed with her and lifted her nightgown to offer him a breast. The sight was…I would be lying if I said a burning heat didn’t rush through me. Amber was a beautiful woman, and now that her body was returning to its pre-pregnancy state, I could see more of what Peter saw in her. She was graceful and limber and her breasts were impossibly perky. I was only human. The sight of her lying there, her stomach and breast exposed, I did think of things that I probably shouldn’t have.
But that wasn’t all. There was more to the feelings that rushed through me, more to the pleasure in seeing such a beautiful sight. I wanted to just stand there and watch her all night; I wanted to file it away and hold onto it.
I…I don’t know how to describe how it made me feel, really. But looking at Amber…it wasn’t just about getting into her pants. I mean, I wanted…but it wasn’t just that.
And that confused me. I’d never felt this way when I looked at a woman. The problem was, I was pretty sure she didn’t like me much. When we were alone at the apartment, she tried to stay out of my way as much as possible. I’d sit in the kitchen and she’d sit in the living room. If I moved to the living room, she’d find an excuse to go up to the nursery or to go to the kitchen. And all this arguing over the money I spent on her. It wasn’t like I had much else to spend my money on and I had plenty of it. What was a couple of outfits?
I was going to buy her some clothes today—whether she liked it or not.
I had three dresses and a couple of blouses hanging from the handlebars of the stroller when I spotted her headed toward the front of the store.
“Amber!”
She kept walking, her back stiff, her eyes staring straight ahead. That’s when I saw the man behind her, standing too close to be just another customer who happened to be walking in the same direction. I couldn’t see a gun, but I knew there must be one.
I swiped the clothes off the stroller and followed, careful to stay a few feet behind them. It wasn’t the bald guy. I’d never seen this guy before. But he was clearly determined to get Amber out of the mall. I moved off to one side, pretending to be window-shopping. They guy never looked in my direction, so I thought it was safe to assume he didn’t realize I was with Amber. He had one hand on her upper arm, the other pressed against the small of her back, wrapped in a dark shirt that was likely wrapped around a small caliber pistol. I wished I hadn’t left my gun back in the car, but the mall had a no concealed weapons policy and, stupid me, I respected the posted ordinance. This guy clearly didn’t.
Amber suddenly turned left, moving closer to the stores on that side of the open corridor. I moved up behind them, pushing the baby ahead of me. The mall was crowded, people moving in and out, weaving around us. I looked around, trying to figure out how I could stop them before they got to an exit. Once they were outside, Amber would be gone—and I couldn’t allow that to happen. That’s when I saw the swinging doors that were supposed to keep customers from wandering down hallways containing nothing more than janitors’ closets and executive offices.
I moved faster, navigating the stroller up and around them. Just as we came even with the swinging doors, I slammed the side of my hand into the man’s Adam’s apple, instantly knocking the air from his throat. Then I followed with a quick blow to the top of his wrist, grabbing the gun as I pushed him back through the swinging doors. At the same instant, Amber grabbed the stroller I’d let go of and followed.
The man lay sprawled on the ground as I held the gun level with a spot right between his eyes.
“Who are you?”
The guy was holding his throat, clearly struggling to catch his breath. I didn’t fucking care. I kicked him in the thigh.
“Who are you? What were you doing with Amber?”
The guy shook his head, touching his mouth to show he couldn’t speak.
“Where were you taking her?”
He still couldn’t speak.
I glanced at Amber. She’d taken the baby from his stroller and was cradling him against her chest, her face drained of color. I held the gun with one hand and gestured for her to come to me with the other. I touched her face, grasped her jaw and made her turn slightly so that I could see that she was okay. Then I studied the length of her body, searching for any sign of injury.
“I’m okay.”
She didn’t sound okay. Her voice was weak and shaky.
“What happened?”
She glanced at the guy, but looking at him made her shudder a little as she tugged the baby closer to her chest.
“I was coming out of the dressing room, and he shoved the gun into my back. He said I should be quiet, or he’d put a bullet in my spine before anyone could do anything about it.”
“Where was he taking you?”
Amber shook her
head. “That’s all he said.”
I kicked the guy and leaned close to him, pressing the gun to the center of his forehead. “Where were you taking her?”
He spit, narrowly missing the sleeve of my shirt. I hit him, slamming the barrel of the gun against the side of his head. He was out cold before I was done with the follow through.
“What are we going to do?” Amber demanded.
I tugged my phone out of the back of my pocket and pressed the speed dial that would connect me with Megan’s company.
“Phoenix,” I said the moment the call was picked up. Seconds later, Sam’s voice filled my ear. “What’s up?”
“Some guy just tried to drag Amber out of the mall at gunpoint.”
Sam was quiet for a second. Then she was all-professional.
“What’s his condition?”
“He’s unconscious.”
“And Amber?”
“Safe.”
“Okay. I’m sending help. Hang tight.”
I tucked the gun into the back of my jeans and pulled Amber into my arms. For a moment, she rested her head against my chest and let me run my hands down the length of her back. But then the baby fussed and she pulled away, her eyes turned from me.
What did I have to do to prove to her that I meant her no harm?
Chapter 11
Amber
I watched Megan pace in front of her desk. There wasn’t a lot of space in her office. In fact, it was nothing like I’d imagined it would be all the months I tried to get up the courage to come here. I imagined a huge office with big windows and a full bar. Instead, it was just a narrow little room off to the side of the reception area. No bigger than my bedroom back at the trailer.
I don’t know what that said about Megan, but I found it oddly impressive.
“I have Dominic interviewing the man from the mall,” Megan announced to no one in particular. “Hopefully, he’ll be able to get something out of him.”
I glanced back at Cole. He was leaning against the back wall, watching his sister pace with a blank expression on his face. The baby fussed, and he glanced at me just as I turned to adjust PJ in my arms.
“Did he say anything to you?”
I shook my head. “Like I told Cole, he just shoved the gun into my back and threatened to shoot me if I didn’t do what he said.”
“You didn’t recognize him?”
“No.”
“Is there a reason we don’t know about why someone would want to forcefully remove you from a mall?”
I didn’t answer right away, and Megan seemed to take that as some sort of confession. She stopped pacing and leaned back against her desk, right in front of me. I looked up to find her studying me like a scientist might study a bug. Then she reached behind her and picked up a photograph that had been lying face down on her desk.
“Can you explain this?”
I took the picture and my heart sank. I bit my lip, trying to figure out what explanation might make me look a little less like a liar in her eyes.
“Why did you pretend you didn’t know Peter was dead when you were at his funeral?”
I stared at the picture for a long time, remembering how it’d felt to stand at the back of that crowd that day. Everyone there was dressed so nice, and they were all leaning on each other, drawing comfort from one another. They clearly loved Peter and each other very deeply. I had no one. I thought I had Peter; I thought we were beginning something that would…I don’t know. I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that Peter would want to run off and marry me just because I was carrying his child. But I was kind of hoping he’d want to spend more time with me. To see those people—so many people—mourning his death only highlighted how little I actually knew about him.
I’d felt isolated. Alone. And heartbroken.
“I did know he was dead. I did go to his funeral.”
“But you sat in this very office and made me believe you didn’t know.”
I handed the picture back to her and gathered the baby closer to my chest as I stood. “I’m sorry,” I muttered, as I started toward the door. But Megan caught my arm even before Cole could react.
“We just want an explanation.”
“But there is no excuse for what I did.”
“Amber—?”
Cole began to reach for me, but Megan made a motion with her hand, forcing him to back off. Then she turned me around and studied my face with kind, if determined, eyes.
“I know we must have scared you when you first came here. I know Cole going on about you being a gold digger made a really bad impression on you.”
“Hey—”
“But we really need to know the truth if we’re going to protect you and PJ.”
I looked down at the baby, his warm body so comforting in my arms. The only thought that went through my mind when that man pressed that gun into my back was that at least PJ had Cole and Megan and the rest of their family. At least he wouldn’t have to go into the system if something happened to me.
But I really didn’t want to miss watching him grow up.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I just…I wasn’t sure if I could trust you, and I was frightened by that man following me around. I thought if I lied about knowing who Peter was and that he’d died, I could convince you I wasn’t after money or a name for my baby.”
Megan nodded. “Do you think you could tell us the truth now? Explain why you came here and what you were looking for?”
I was afraid to look back at Cole. I didn’t want to see the anger in his eyes, or the I-told-you-so that was probably lying just below the surface. He thought he had me pegged the moment I walked into this office, and I’d just given him the ammunition to prove it was true. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach as I felt what little trust we’d built up simply evaporate.
Megan touched the baby’s cheek, then gently helped me back to my chair. She leaned against her desk again and watched me with eyes that were so much like Peter’s that it almost hurt to look at her.
“I knew who Peter was. I went to the library and looked him up not long after he started coming to the diner because he seemed…mysterious. But there was something about the way he moved, the way he talked, that told me he didn’t belong in a dirty little diner like that. And he was nice to me.” I looked down at the baby as tears welled in my eyes, blinking them away so that neither Megan nor Cole saw them. “He invited me to sit with him sometimes and we’d talk about literature. He knew things that no one else did, no one I knew. He made me feel smart.”
Megan glanced at Cole. In that instant, I could see naked grief in her eyes—and that made me feel worse for lying to her.
“It went basically like I told you before. But…remember how I said he only came by the diner once after the night we…”
“I remember.”
I took a deep breath. “There was another night. It was like a week, maybe more, before his accident. He came to my trailer in the middle of the night, woke me up banging on the side of the trailer. He was clearly upset, agitated in his movements. I thought he was drinking again, but it was pretty obvious that there was something else going on. He had this envelope, one of those big, orange things? He told me if something happened to him, I should give it to you.”
I leaned close and kissed the baby’s forehead, causing him to stir a little. The tears were back and I was struggling to push them away. I couldn’t…I didn’t want to lose it. Not here. Not now.
“Why didn’t you?”
“I tried.” I looked up at Megan. “I tried to approach you at the funeral, but you were so surrounded by people that I couldn’t get through. Then I called your office, twice a week for more than a month, but they always said that you were out and not taking meetings. And then…I got wrapped up in my own stuff, and I guess I put it to the back of my mind. But then that guy started showing up, and I remembered, and I…I wasn’t sure I could trust you.”
Megan nodded. “I understand.”
“No, I
don’t think you do.”
I glanced back at Cole who’d been so quiet through this whole thing. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and he was leaning casually against the wall again, watching with that blank expression back on his face. I didn’t know what was worse: that expression or the anger and hatred that I knew was just under the surface.
I turned back to Megan, tugging the baby a little closer, wanting to hold him so close that no one could ever take him away from me.
“There haven’t been a lot of people in my life that I could trust. Peter was one of so few that I can count them on a single finger. I didn’t want to let him down.”
Megan was silent for a long time. She finally ran her fingers through her hair, tugging it off her neck as she stared up at the ceiling.
“Okay,” she said softly. “I want to give you the benefit of the doubt. But I’m going to need to see what’s in that envelope Peter gave you.”
I nodded. “It’s back at my trailer.”
“I’ll drive her out there,” Cole announced.
Megan glanced at him, and then she looked at me.
“No more lies. I understand that you’ve had a raw deal most of your life, but we can’t have any more lies.” She studied my face for a long second. “We can’t protect you if we don’t know what we’re protecting you from.”
“I understand.”
Megan seemed satisfied. She looked at Cole and said, “Don’t take the baby. You don’t know what you might be walking into when you get there. And if there’s trouble, call and I’ll send Hayden to help you out.”
“I think I can handle anything that comes up.”
Megan’s eyes narrowed. “If you want to work here, you need to understand our procedures. And that’s one major one. You call in. You keep us informed. And you accept help when Sam or I deem it necessary.”
The tension that suddenly filled the room was a little overwhelming. The baby fussed, so I pressed the back of my finger against his mouth. He suckled for a second, then went back to sleep.
“Fine.”
Cole took my arm and pulled me out of my chair. He was silent as he marched me out of the office and onto the street. He didn’t say anything as he waited for me to put the baby into the car seat either. But he snatched up my wrist and pushed me back against the car as I moved to get in.
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