by Jill Sanders
Amber’s chin dropped slightly, and he was sure his own chin was down just as far.
“But ... you said,” she started.
“I know what I said.” Aiden dropped his arm and shook his head. “Apparently, my wife tells me I’m being—how did she put it? —stupid.”
Tom laughed, earning him a quick glare from Aiden. “Sorry.” He leaned against his desk and smiled. “I told you from the moment I met Kristen, that if you didn’t snatch her up, I would.”
Aiden’s smile grew. “You’re too late.”
“Yes, I am.” Then his eyes moved over slowly to Amber, who was still frowning at them both.
“Is this a game to you two?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You think I need your permission to see someone?” She turned on her brother. “You come marching in here like some ... some stupid brother.”
“Good one,” Tom added under his breath, only to earn him a glare as she turned towards him.
“And you.” Her finger dug into his chest and he cringed at the sharpness of her nails. Had they been painted that soft pink the other night? “You’re some kind of man. Needing your best friend’s approval before you kiss a girl.” It was almost a growl. “What’s next? A permission slip to sleep with you?” She turned back to her brother, and the moment before the words came out of her mouth, he knew it was coming and braced for another punch to the face. “Well, you’re too late.” She pointed her finger into Aiden’s chest. Then without another word, stomped to the door and slammed it shut after leaving.
Tom held up his hands and backed up until his ass hit the desk once more. “Now, Aiden, hang on a moment ...” He let the first punch land on his jaw.
An hour later, they sat at their favorite bar and laughed about the whole thing. Tom had a bloody lip, and a bruised ego.
“Okay, so maybe you don’t always punch like a pussy.” He rubbed the cold glass of beer across his lip.
Aiden laughed. “I always warned you.”
“Yeah, you did.” His eyes turned to his friend. He’d made a promise a long time ago. If Aiden ever found out about him messing around with his sister, he had to take a punch. Then, he had to promise that it wasn’t just for fuck’s sake and that it meant something. What could he say? He had been eleven and they had taken a spit oath on it. So, he’d stood by and let his best friend’s fist hit his face for the second time that day.
“Are you done being mad at me?” he asked, wiggling his jaw.
“Yeah.” Aiden took another sip of his beer. And then looked him in the eye. “Did it?”
Tom’s eyebrows rose slightly. He knew what his friend meant. Did it mean “something?”
“Hell yeah.” He swallowed the rest of his beer in one swallow. “Hell, yeah it did.”
Aiden shocked him by laughing.
“What?” He frowned over at his friend. “What the hell are you laughing for?”
“You”—Aiden set his beer down— “you and Amber.” He shook his head. “Damn if the entire world didn’t know about you two long ago.”
Tom’s eyes narrowed even more. “But you” —he pointed back behind him, thinking of the two punches he’d taken— “if you knew, why the hell did you hit me?”
“Principle”—he picked up his beer and took another sip— “it was the principle of it. You should have told me.” He set his beer down. “You should have been the one to tell me, not some jerk-off who’s been writing shit about my sister.”
“What made you change your mind about ... everything?” he asked after a moment of silence.
Aiden leaned across the table. “Did you look at the picture?”
“Yeah, I saw it.” He thought of the paper.
“No, did you look at it?”
He nodded his head. “I looked ...”
Aiden sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Look closer. When you see it, you’ll know.” He smiled.
Tom thought about it, then nodded. “Fair enough.” He held up his glass, then realized it was empty and shrugged. “To friendship.”
Aiden’s smile grew as he held up his mug and clinked it against Tom’s empty one. “Friendship.”
Chapter 4
She hated wardrobe. Okay, to be fair, she loved getting fitted for clothes, and loved the clothes themselves. What she hated was standing in the same spot for hours while someone shoved pins in the clothes hanging on her—and how that someone looked at her. She knew her hips were wider than most women in Hollywood. She knew her chest was bigger too. But she was still in a size six and only a full C cup. So, all the critics could just suck it.
Besides, she worked hard to keep her figure the way it was. She was careful of what she ate, except Barb’s sugary desserts. For those, she made an exception. Still, she always felt fat after a day standing on her feet being carefully wrapped in material.
Plus, she was still steaming over how her brother and Tom had talked about her relationships like it was up to them who she saw. Really! Men!
Of course, she’d been so preoccupied by being mad, she didn’t even mind getting stabbed several times by the seamstress. A young woman with jet-black hair who seemed very anxious around Amber.
“What’s your name?” she finally asked after being stuck with a pin one too many times. She was pretty sure at this point, there was going to be a pool of blood at her feet soon.
“Katie,” the girl said, nervously.
“Are you new?” she asked.
When Katie nodded, Amber smiled. “Listen, I’m just a person. I put my socks on inside out every now and then, I forget to mail my bills on time, and on occasion, I’m known to run a red light or two.” She took Katie’s hand in hers, stilling it before she was jabbed again.
“I’m sorry, miss—” Katie started to say.
“Don’t worry about it.” She released the girl’s hand and gave her a warm smile. “Why don’t we take a break? My feet hurt and I could sure go for a coffee.”
“Oh, I’ll run and—” Katie started to turn away.
“I was actually thinking we could go, sit, and talk for a while. Then maybe you wouldn’t be so nervous.”
Katie’s brown eyes grew bigger. “Really?”
Amber smiled and stepped off the stool. “Yeah, I hear there’s a Starbucks in the lobby of this place.” Katie nodded slightly. “Good, I’m buying. Let me just go change.”
After coffee and a warm chocolate chip muffin, Katie was a completely different person. Her hands no longer shook, she openly talked to Amber about her new boyfriend, and more importantly, she didn’t prick Amber with the needles and pins anymore.
Three hours later, after being fitted for every outfit that was needed for the movie, she rode the bus down Sixteenth Street towards her place. She sat near the back and memorized her lines. She hadn’t thought anything about riding the bus again, since it had been a norm back in the day. However, this time, she could immediately hear the whispers, and pulled on her earphones. Even though she didn’t have music playing, they usually did the trick to let people know she was working. Still, she was interrupted when a little girl tugged on her coat sleeve.
Removing her earbuds, she smiled down at the girl.
“Are you her?” the girl said. Amber guessed she was around ten.
Nodding, Amber pulled out a glossy image and signed it for the girl. “Here you go.” She handed over the headshot her agent made sure she always had on her.
“Thanks!” The girl turned around and rushed to her waiting mother. “Look!”
After receiving a quick smile from the mother, Amber went back to reading her script.
Amber remembered meeting and working with some of her childhood icons. She remembered the first time she’d met one of the great actors she’d looked up to, and the disappointment when she’d been treated as a nuisance. She’d vowed never to treat a fan like she’d been treated.
When she finally let herself into her condo that evening, the sun was just dipping behind the mountains. She stood at th
e windows and watched the colors in the sky and on the mountains as she drank a glass of her favorite wine. Her sister called, and she spent a few minutes talking to her until her mother’s name popped up on the screen and she switched the call over and talked to her parents.
After promising to spend Sunday evening at their place, she hung up and sat back on her new sofa that had been delivered the day before, and thought about Tom.
Resting her head back, she closed her eyes for just a moment before she heard her buzzer at the door. Sighing, she dragged herself to the front door, and then held in a scream when she heard who was waiting for her. The seconds seemed like hours as the elevator brought her guest up.
Finally, when the doors opened, she squealed and reached in, then wrapped her arms around him and hugged him until finally Marcus laughed and tugged her hair slightly.
“Let me breathe, little one,” he said, reaching down and laying a soft kiss on her lips. “You look amazing blonde.” He tugged her hair again, causing her smile to grow.
“I thought you weren’t coming until ...”
Instantly sadness filled his eyes. “Plans changed,” he said, setting a black bag inside her doorway.
She tugged his arm and shut the door behind them, pulling him farther inside her place.
His eyes traveled around the room and a low whistle sounded from his lips. “Nice digs.” His eyebrows rose and fell. “Far cry from that little hellhole you lived in when we first met.”
“I’ve missed you.” She wrapped her arms around him one more time. The man was sex in a suit. His sandy-brown hair was always in place and completed his “bad boy” look he did so well. Even the few days’ growth of hair on his face made most women swoon. Still, his brown eyes looked sadder than she’d remembered.
“Sit”—she pushed him onto the sofa, then walked over and poured another glass of wine and handed it to him— “talk.”
He closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa. “Nice.” He ran his hands over the soft leather. “Where’d you get this?”
“Don’t get sidetracked.”
She sat beside him and sipped her wine, then waited as he took a drink and set the glass aside. She knew he wouldn’t drink anymore, and leaned in as he started talking about how his wife, Kim, was threatening to leave him. Again.
Tom didn’t think he was a coward. Far from it. If he actually put some time into thinking deep about it, he should get a fucking medal for valor in how he handled Amber. Okay, so he’d spent the last few days hiding from her. Well, not really hiding, just making sure he wasn’t where she was. He’d even taken to working at home. Which had a lot more to do with the bruise on his face from Aiden’s fist, than actually hiding from Amber.
Still, he knew he couldn’t avoid her for much longer. After all, she was in town for six months and he’d been invited to the family dinner on Sunday, which he was pretty sure was Ann’s idea to try and hook him up again. It was Aiden and Amber’s mother’s idea to see that he was happily married. Which at this point, he was beginning to wonder why he’d been wanting marriage in the first place. Especially after the whole Terra fiasco. He’d spent the last few years hopping from shallow relationship to even shallower ones.
He knew it was a simple trust issue, but still, something deeper told him that he’d be just wasting his time. It was the same thinking and reasoning that had him driving downtown the following night. Aiden had made a point to let him know what Amber’s schedule was. Strange, now that his best friend was “behind” him pursuing his sister, he was actually becoming quite annoying about it. His last text message had been just a few minutes before he’d finally gotten into his car and headed out into the raining evening.
“Have you talked to her yet?”
He’d waited, hoping Aiden would leave him alone, but instead a few seconds later came another text.
“I happen to know that she’s currently at home. Drinking some wine ... alone. Now’s a perfect time, bro.”
“Don’t you have a wife to satisfy?”
“LOL, she’s always satisfied. Go!”
“Leave me alone.”
“Never.”
He’d rolled his eyes at this one and typed, “You’re acting like a girl.”
“So are you. A man wouldn’t be afraid to show up at a woman’s place with flowers and more wine to apologize.”
“Damn, now I need flowers?”
“Always. They’re suckers for them, especially Amber.”
He’d thought about when he’d have another chance at apologizing to her.
“Have you apologized?”
His phone was silent, causing him to laugh and ask, “Double standards?”
“Suck it. She’s my sister, which means I’ll talk to her Sunday night.”
He rolled his eyes at that one.
“Go!”
“Mind your own business.”
“Don’t make me have my mom call you.”
He leaned back and thought about fighting Ann, then cringed. “Fuck you,” he replied, only earning him a laughing Bitmoji.
So, he’d climbed into his car, swung by the liquor store, and picked up a bottle of her favorite wine, then paid for a bunch of white flowers and drove across town.
The rain started when he was driving down Broadway. He lived for rainy nights—especially fall ones. He thought quickly about spending a weekend at his cabin in the mountains, but then knew he had to be in Golden Sunday afternoon. Still, two nights in the mountains, watching the fall colors was something he needed. Especially since he had a lot of thinking to do.
He’d officially been given the place when his father had passed away. He’d planned on spending all of his time in the mountains. That was before he’d inherited his family’s business. Now, he was lucky if he had a chance to visit the family’s cabin twice a year.
By the time he rolled into the parking garage at Amber’s building, he had convinced himself that he would head up to the cabin early Friday morning. He had already compiled a list of items he would need.
When he buzzed her condo, he was surprised that she answered right away.
“Did you forget something?”
“Um”—he cleared his throat— “Amber, it’s me. Tom.”
There was silence for a while, then the door buzzed opened. He took that as a good sign. Maybe she wasn’t still mad at him?
When he reached the top floor, he instantly felt like he should have gotten more flowers. There were large vases of beautiful bouquets all over the place. He tucked the simple flowers behind his back and thought about ditching them the second he could without her knowing.
But when she opened her door, her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head as her hip jutted out.
“What’s behind your back?” Her arms crossed slowly, causing her silky shirt to dip lower. Was she even wearing a bra? Damn. He’d just lost his train of thought.
“Huh?” he asked when she remained glaring at him.
“Give it up.” She held out her hand and he watched her eyebrows rise.
Closing his mind at the pretty site of her perky nipples poking through the thin material, he took the flowers out, and watched as pure pleasure crossed her eyes. A smile slowly grew on her lips.
“For me?”
“No, for your doorman.” He shifted his feet, but she was too busy burying her face in the soft petals.
She stood back, allowing him to enter. His jaw dropped slightly at how beautiful her place was. He stood just inside the door as she walked back into the kitchen area and put his flowers into a vase, taking her time to arrange them.
He followed her slowly and set the bottle of wine on the bar area.
Reaching over, she took it and smiled. “I already have a bottle open. Do you want some?” She turned and pulled out another wine glass. That was when he noticed the two glasses sitting on the bar area. The one with her shade of lip gloss on the edge was half-empty. The other, was completely full. He watched as she reached over and emptied the gl
ass into the sink.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt ...” He left the statement hanging.
She glanced up at him in question, then smiled. “You aren’t. I was just watching the rain.” She nodded to the large windows and then handed him a full glass of wine. “Would you like some cookies? My friend Barb sent them to me. I swear she’s trying to fatten me up.” She chuckled and pulled out a plate of chocolate chip cookies, each one the size of his fist. His stomach growled.
“Actually, I haven’t had dinner yet,” he said.
He watched her tilt her head, then smiled. “There’s a Chinese place that delivers.”
He nodded. “I’m buying.”
She laughed and pulled out her cell phone.
Chapter 5
She didn’t know why she was nervous. Maybe it was because she could hear the time click by slowly as they waited for the delivery guy. She sipped her wine and sat across from Tom as his eyes ran over her slowly.
“Something on your mind?” she finally said after a full two minutes of silence. The soothing sound of the falling rain relaxed her.
He shifted in his seat. Making him look even more uncomfortable.
“I ... uh, wanted to apologize,” he finally said, his eyes averting her own.
“For?” She took another sip of her wine.
“The other day. We didn’t ... I didn’t mean to ...” She smiled when he ran his hands through his hair.
“Tom ...” She waited until his eyes met hers. “My brother can be overprotective.”
He snorted softly, causing her to smile. “That’s an understatement.”
“But, still”—her smile fell slightly— “I’m a grown woman. In charge of my own life. I’ve been making my own decisions for a while now.” He nodded and averted her eyes again. “My brother’s permission means nothing.”
He nodded again, then set his glass down, still half-full. Standing, he walked over to the windows and watched the rain fall on the city.
“It mattered to me,” he said, causing her to follow him and stand next to him.
She loved the view of the city. Especially when it was raining out. The streets and buildings looked so clean, so new.