by Katie Dowe
“I do.” A tender smile touched his lips. “I absolutely do. I will let myself out.”
Amber sank down on the stool and put her head in her hands, her body still having bouts of tremors as she remembered his lips on hers, her body pressed against his, the feel of that lithe muscular magnificent body against hers and wanting him so much that she could hardly think straight! She saw the irony of it, the shock of feeling this way about the man she considered her best friend! She was not longer going to be able to look at him without wanting him, without wanting to feel his lips on hers. She was no longer going to be able to think of his past relationships with amusement! She was not going to be able to stop the jealousy and the awful insecurity she would feel when she saw another woman looking at him. She was not going to be able to stop herself from wondering if the woman looking at him had enjoyed an intimate time in his arms. It was all going to be different and she had no idea how to deal with it!
*****
Adam went back to his apartment to take a shower and change into loose sweatpants and a t-shirt. He had tried not to think about Amber. As a matter of fact, he had turned his mind to business – there was the chateau in France that he had made the decision to have refurbished. The ocean goer and his own personal yacht could do with some repairs as well and he needed to make the calls to deal with them. He needed to make a trip to Tuscany to view the vineyards they had invested heavily in. There were so many things that needed his attention and could take his mind off her, so many things that could blot out the raging need inside his body! The need to feel her in his arms, making love to her until they both forgot where they were. He smiled grimly as he pulled the shirt over his head. She had told him not to call, but he had gotten so used to doing so that he almost reached for the phone to ask her what to do about what he was feeling for her! He shook his head and strode into the kitchen. He stood in the middle of the ultramodern dazzling white décor and realized that he was about to try and make himself a sandwich. With a shake of his head, he turned around and grabbing his keys, he headed back out.
Chapter 9
Twenty-four hours felt like twenty-four days! And it was not just Adam alone going through the anxiety and restlessness of the time Amber had imposed on them. Adam spent the time going about his day as usual. He had several meetings at the corporate office that he was happy for because it kind of took his mind off her but not entirely. He sat in the meetings, forcing himself to appear interested in the talks of mergers and acquisitions and bank interests to be dealt with, and he did his best to make input. He was not in charge of the finances, that was his father and grandfather, but as the heir to the entire fortune, he had to be aware of every area of the business. But he was not the type to stay in the office. He possessed a kind of restless energy that always required him to be on the move. He loved to travel and the fact that he had the freedom to do that was the highlight of his life. He went around the world, checking on the different investments that had the Whitmore name and made sure that they were running up to par. His father and grandfather were extremely efficient on keeping an eye on the financial side of things and he was okay with that. He never wanted to think about the time when he would have to take over the entire operation and he hoped that it would be a very long time before that happened!
His mind wandered idly back to the conversation he had had with Bianca the night before when he called to apologize to her.
“She was running a very high fever and I had to make sure she was okay,” he had explained. “Look, Bianca, I am sorry-”
“You two are more than friends.” The woman had interrupted him quietly and he had felt like an eel for hurting her feelings.
“I am sorry.”
“So am I, Adam,” she had told him and hung up the phone. He had spent the night drinking steadily and trying to curb the urge to call her. She had told him to give her a day and he had the sneaking feeling that she was trying to talk herself out of what was happening between them, but he was not going to allow her to do that! He smiled grimly as he realized that he was anticipating making love to her and the anticipation was spiking his blood pressure and heating his skin!
“Adam?” His father looked at him inquiringly and he forced his attention to the matter at hand!
*****
“Honey, are you sure you are okay?” Madeline Brightly’s over-bright voice sounded in her ear and caused an instant headache! Her mother had promised to stop by for lunch the other day and had not shown up, something that Amber had been grateful for! Especially now that she was battling with so much! She had spent the remainder of yesterday trying to talk herself out of the very bad idea of going to bed with her best friend and the logic had been crowded out by the way she had felt when he had kissed her. The shiver of feelings that had invaded her body, bringing it to life like no one had ever done before! She had finally drifted off to sleep in the early hours of the morning, waking up a few hours later with her head pounding. She had told Adam she needed a day, but the truth was that she wanted to call him so badly that she had to talk herself out of doing it. Her day was up later, and she was going to have to call him.
“Mom, I am fine.” She injected a jovial note into her voice and wished her mother was someone she could confide in, but Madeline was not like that. She would probably tell her to go for it because life was too short! “I am just running against a deadline right now.”
“Your little hobby is no longer a hobby, darling, and I am so proud of you!”
Amber laughed at that. “it was never a hobby, Mom.” She looked around for the brilliant green material she had decided to use against the purple material already there. She had been getting a steady stream of orders online and was considering hiring someone to help with the actual sewing of the outfits. She offered one of a kind, unusual designs that bordered on scandalous but with a touch of undeniable style. “I actually make a comfortable living from it.”
“Your grandmother was so proud of you.” Her mother’s voice turned wistful and Amber had a feeling that she actually missed her.
“She was.” Amber paused and stopped what she was doing to concentrate on the conversation. “Mom, there are several things here that Grams wanted you to have.”
“I know, darling, but it is too soon right now. I have no idea how you can stay at the house where there are so many memories of her.”
“I never had a choice, Mom,” Amber said dryly, massaging the back of her neck. She felt the tension there and her mind flashed back to several days ago when Adam had massaged her shoulders for her.
“I should be getting paid for this,” he had told her teasingly. “That’s how good I am.”
“I am sure you had a whole lot of practice,” she had told him dryly.
“I usually have it done to me, darling.” His deep voice had told her mockingly. “So, consider yourself fortunate.”
“I do,” she had told him as she leaned back against him. She shook her head and concentrated on the conversation.
*****
Just when he thought that she was not going to call him, she did – just as he was about to decide whether or not to go out by himself to a restaurant to get a bite to eat. His father and grandfather had invited him over for dinner, but he had declined. He was not in the mood to sit around the vast dinner table and contribute to chit chat when his mind was elsewhere. He had just taken a shower and had gone back into the bedroom when his cell phone rang. His heart picked up the pace and he hurried over to the antique table next to his bed and stared at the screen. It was her! For a minute, he did not know what to do! He stood there frozen for a moment before snatching it up on the third ring and sliding the green button to answer. “Hey!”
“I bet you thought I was not going to call.” Her sultry teasing was almost his undoing! His knees shook and he had to brace a hand against the table to steady himself. He felt the tension leave his body and his eyes closed in relief.
“The thought never crossed my mind,” he teased rig
ht back.
“I would never have not called, Adam, no matter what,” she said seriously.
“I know.”
He waited for her to say something else and hoped fervently that she had not called to tell him that she just wanted to be friends!
“So I am making chicken alfredo. You are in charge of bringing the wine.”
“Our first date?” he asked her softly.
“Don’t push it, buddy,” she said in a warm tone of voice. “Come over when you can.”
He hung up from her and sat on the side of the bed, his eyes closing and his large muscular body shuddering! She had called and invited him to dinner! He did not care about anything else but that she had called him to come over. “Jesus!” He tunneled his fingers through his damp hair and dug his fingernails into the scalp. With a rueful laugh, he realized that he had never been so tied up in knots by a woman before!
*****
She opened the door to him wearing a slinky red dress that left her upper arms bare and a skirt that swirled around her shapely legs. Her thick dark hair with the blonde highlights at the ends was loose around her shoulders and falling partway down her back in shiny waves. Her lips were coated in coral and as she smiled, the contrast of her white teeth against her lips was undeniably alluring!
She eyed him - from his ruthlessly brushed jet-black hair, his smoothly shaven cheeks, to the charcoal-colored sport coat he was wearing over his light grey shirt and dark grey dress pants. Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at the astonishingly handsome man leaning inside her doorway and felt the fear clouding out the pleasure at seeing him!
“Will I do?” His deep baritone was tinged with amusement as he looked at her.
“Good to see that we are on the same page when it comes to the appropriate attire for this date.” She stepped aside for him to enter. “Just because we are having the date here did not mean that we should not dress up.”
“My thoughts exactly.” He caught her arm with his free hand and turned her to face him. “You are beautiful.” His voice had dropped, and Amber felt the incredible pull of attraction drawing her to him.
With a supreme and herculean effort, she managed to pull out of his hold and took the bottle of chianti from him. “Thank you.” She indicated to the dining room and he followed her there. He stared in surprise at the table. A starched white tablecloth was spread on the small, six-chair, oblong table complete with a crystal vase in the middle filled with sprigs of freshly picked dandelions and daffodils. Amber had turned the lights off and a row of candles were lit and placed around the vase. The place setting was already there for two people complete with white napkins placed next to the plates and utensils. He turned his head to look at her.
“It’s a date so I wanted it to look like one,” she explained.
He nodded, his heart hammering inside his chest. “What should I do?”
“Pour the wine.”
“It’s already chilled,” he told her as he strode into the kitchen to get the glasses and the corkscrew. He had been to her place a number of times and knew where everything was, but tonight it felt as if he had just come there for the first time! He was nervous and ill at ease and there was no way he should feel this way! She was his best friend, who was also going to be his lover hopefully before the night had ended!
“Top drawer on your right,” she told him.
“Right.” He opened the drawer and took out the corkscrew and retrieving the glasses, he headed back into the dining room. He stood there after he had finished pouring the wine and watched as she brought out several dishes before she went to take her place at the table. He pulled her chair out for her, pushing it back in before taking his seat. The first part of the meal was eaten in silence before he decided to break it. “This is very good,” he murmured as he ate the chicken in appreciation.
“You know how I hate the kitchen,” Amber said with a laugh as she reached for her wine glass. “But Grams insisted that I learned to cook. I remember her telling me that even if I married a wealthy man who could afford servants, it did no harm to know how to prepare a meal. She was of the notion that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and if someone else was doing the cooking then there was a chance that the affection the husband had for me would be transferred to whoever that was.”
“Even if that person was a man?” Adam teased, his thick eyebrows lifted. He relaxed back in his chair and felt the familiar ease covering him as he stared at her. They had always been able to talk to each other, no matter what was happening, and he was happy that that had not changed.
“Possibly,” she said with a wicked smile.
“I think not.” His silvery eyes wandered over her exquisite face, settling on her lips.
“You are not allowed to do that.”
“Not allowed to do what?”
“Flirt with me while we are having dinner,” she told him lightly.
“When am I allowed to?”
“At the end of the meal when you are about to leave.”
His mouth tilted in a smile at that. He had no intention of leaving tonight and he was sure that she would not want him to! He was going to make damned sure of that! “Noted.” He inclined his dark head and continued to stare at her until she looked down into her wine glass. “Am I making you nervous?”
She lifted her eyes and stared at him. “You know you are.”
“Why?” he asked her, genuinely puzzled.
“Before, you were ‘friend Adam.’”
“And now?”
“Now –” She took a deep swallow of her wine before continuing. “Now there is going to be more, and I am still not sure about any of this.”
He leaned forward on the table and forced her to meet his gaze. “I am still the same person you told about your fear of heights when we went mountain climbing a few years ago. I am still the same guy who caused you to get poison ivy on that very same trip. I am also the same person you told that you hated the injustices of the world and how much you wished you could do more than you are already doing. I ended up taking out my checkbook and writing a sizeable amount to the children’s home downtown, the charity that is near and dear to your heart. I am the same person you tell your dreams and fears and how you are not afraid of dying but afraid that you will die before you truly live.” He was seated near enough for him to take one slender hand in his. “I remember every conversation we ever had, since the first moment I met you, Amber, every nuance of expression on your beautiful face and every outrageous comment you ever made. I am still that same man who is your best friend and who is now going to be the main man in your life. We are going to be lovers and I am hoping more than that. I don’t want anything to change between us.”
“You should have been a politician.” Her voice was husky and there was a slight tremor in the hand he was holding. “That’s the problem, Adam. I know you and I know of your reputation-” She shook her head as he opened his mouth to say something. “Please, let me finish. You asked me why I was not attracted to you and I lied. I was attracted to you from the first time I saw you. I knew who you were and had seen pictures of you before. The girls in my dorm were pretty excited that you were enrolled there and they had lengthy discussions on how to approach you and how to get you to get them into bed. Your reputation preceded you and they were aware that you had been paired with several actresses even though you were that young. I also knew of the feud between our families because Grams had told me the story. I thought it was tragic and unfortunate but had no idea that your family still placed such importance on the wrongs that had been supposedly perpetrated by my great-grandfather to your great-grandmother. So, I decided that I would seek you out and prove to myself that I was not one of those who would fall in love with you, no matter what! But when I saw you it took everything I had to stop myself from giving in to the attraction I felt for you!” She turned her hand over so that her palm was against his. “After I got to know you better, I realized that you were not so bad after all
and I loved having you as a friend.” Her hand tightened in his. “You know me better than anyone else, Adam, and it also means that you have the ability to hurt me more than I have ever been hurt before.” She lifted her eyes to his. “I am damned scared, and for the first time in my life, I am scared more than I have ever been before.”
He hesitated before he responded. One, because he was surprised to hear her tell him that she had been attracted, and two, he did not want to say the wrong thing. He had to set the tone of their relationship and saying the wrong thing was going to delay what should happen between them! “You are my best friend,” he said slowly, his fingers gripping hers. “I want to promise your right here and now that I will never do anything to intentionally hurt you. I know of my reputation and I am not going to insult you by telling you that I have been with women I haven’t cared about. I have, Amber. There were ones I thought would become permanent, but something was always lacking, something was missing, and as much as I wanted permanency, I was not prepared to settle for half measures.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly, causing her skin to quiver. His eyes had darkened somewhat as he looked at her. “There was something missing and I think it was you, it was what we will be experiencing between us, what we are experiencing now.”
Amber stared at him for a moment, drowning in his silver gaze! She had never had to experience the full force of Adam’s magnetic charm before because they had just been friends, but she had seen it at work whenever he found someone he was interested in and knew that it was lethal! Her roommate in college had gone out with him a few times and even though he had broken it off before he had taken her to bed, she had seen how devastated the girl had been and had asked Amber to intercede on her behalf to get him to be interested in her again. The girl had begged her, saying that she only wanted him to take her to bed just once and if it was over after that, then she would be fine. Amber had been horrified at that and had told her a resounding no!
