by Karen King
Amber didn’t want to go straight home and face her parents. She knew Jed had managed to charm them and now they were convinced he was a thoroughly nice young man, ideal for her to settle down with. If only. Tears filled her eyes and she turned away from the village, over to the meadow where she’d walked earlier that morning. It had upset her far more than she’d thought it would to see Jed again. She’d worked hard over the past few months to put him out of her mind and get on with her life but as soon as she saw him again the old feelings came flooding back. She longed to run back to the pub, into his arms, tell him she loved him and would marry him but she knew it would never work. Their marriage would be doomed before it even started.
She walked for ages, remembering the good times she’d shared with Jed, their kisses, wondering how she’d ever get over him. Would the pain ever stop?
Her mother took one look at her face when she returned home and hugged her. ‘You never sorted it out then, whatever it is that’s keeping you two apart.’
She shook her head, miserably. ‘It’s too big to sort, Mum.’
‘Nothing is insurmountable if you love someone,’ her mother told her. ‘You’ll find a way if you’re meant to be together.’
Mum and her homespun philosophy, Amber thought. If only life was so simple.
She drove home after lunch, thinking of her mother’s words but no matter how hard she thought and how much she wanted to, she couldn’t find a way to be with Jed. His money and the knowledge he’d lied to her was too big an obstacle to get over.
Callie was on the phone as soon as Amber arrived home, explaining why she’d given Jed her parents’ address and wanting to know what had happened. She told Amber she’d been trying to contact her on her mobile all weekend.
‘I switched it off in case you’d given Jed my number and he tried to phone me,’ Amber explained. She only just realised that it was still switched off and had turned it back on again a few minutes ago.
‘Did you see him? How did it go?’ Callie asked, eagerly.
Amber told her.
‘You’re mad,’ her friend declared. ‘You love him and he loves you. You’re meant to be together.’
‘It isn’t enough,’ Amber replied. ‘We need to trust each other too. Jed will always wonder if I married him for his money, and I’ll always know he’s wondering that. It will destroy us.’
‘You turned Randy down and you’ve turned Jed down twice,’ Callie said slowly, as if she was explaining a simple fact to an idiot. ‘How could he possibly think you were marrying him for his money? It’s because of his money that you aren’t marrying him.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, if he wasn’t so stinking rich you’d marry him tomorrow, wouldn’t you?’
‘It’s not just that he’s loaded, Callie. He kept it secret from me. He didn’t trust me enough to tell me.’
‘And if he had told you, would you have married him?’
She thought about it. ‘No,’ she said, slowly.
‘I rest my case,’ Callie sounded triumphant. ‘You’re letting the fact that Jed is rich keep you apart. You’re punishing the guy for something he can’t do anything about. Unless you want him to give all his money away, of course.’
Callie was right, Amber thought, as she tossed and turned in her bed that night. She wouldn’t marry Jed because he was rich. No other reason. She accepted his proposal when she thought he was a poor photographer. OK, he was the one who’d walked away but as soon as she’d found out the truth about him she would have called the wedding off. Maybe she was stupid, stubborn, and all the other things Callie had said before she finally put down the phone, but she loved Jed too much to risk it going wrong. And the way she saw it, the stakes were against a happy marriage.
Monday morning, after another sleepless night, things didn’t seem so cut and dried. She loved Jed. He loved her. He’d come all the way from America to try and sort things out but she’d sent him packing. Was she crazy?
I had no choice, she told herself as she got ready for work. He’s an American billionaire. Even if he did trust her, and she wasn’t convinced he did, their lives were too different. She’d never fit into his world. And he must have realised it too because he’d made no attempt to contact her since yesterday lunchtime. Obviously, he’d gone back to America, his mind at peace because he’d talked to her and tried to sort it out. In fact, it was probably only guilt about the way he’d treated her which had made him look her up in the first place. After all, he hadn’t tried too hard to talk her around, had he?
It was a long day. Unable to concentrate, Amber made countless mistakes, including deleting a client’s file which she’d been working on the previous week. Helen, her boss, finally sent her home and told her to stop there until she’d sorted herself out.
‘Either win him back or put him out of your head,’ Helen advised.
Easier said than done.
Callie phoned her later that evening. ‘Have you heard from him?’ she asked.
Amber didn’t need to ask who she was on about. ‘Of course not, he’s gone back home now. He only wanted to see me to clear his conscience.’
‘Do I detect a note of regret that you sent him packing?’
Yes. ‘I had to, Callie. There’s no way we could have made it work.’
‘I’ve got his mobile number if you want to call him. He might not have gone back yet.’
Amber paused. Did she?
‘Amber?’
‘No, it’s best this way.’ If he’d have truly loved her, meant what he said, he’d have tried a bit harder to win her back. Phoned her to see if she’d changed her mind. Come around again. Sent flowers. Anything to show he cared.
‘OK, but I think you’re making a big mistake,’ Callie told her. ‘You two are made for each other. You’re just too stubborn to admit it.’
Amber spent the evening thinking about Jed and came to the conclusion that, as much as it hurt, she’d done the right thing. What’s more, she was relieved that Jed had accepted her decision and gone back home. Now she had to put it behind her and get on with her life.
She returned to work next day, focused and determined. By lunchtime she’d got the client file back on the computer and was working on a brilliant graphic design.
‘Excellent work,’ Helen told her. ‘So you managed to sort things out with him then?’
‘No but I’ve put him out of my head,’ Amber replied.
She’d spent enough time crying over Jed. It was time to move on. So when a group from the office invited her to join them for drinks after work, she agreed. She could only have soft drinks as she’d driven to work but she was socialising again instead of living like a recluse. Jed was gone forever. She had to accept it. He’d apologised, asked her marry him again, she’d refused, he’d gone home. End of story.
She had a great evening and didn’t think of Jed at all. Well, hardly at all. Only every five minutes or so. And the reason she dashed to the phone as soon as she returned home to check her messages was in case anyone important had phoned her.
Like Jed.
No one had phoned at all. Especially not Jed. Incredible that it still hurt how easily he’d walked away from her.
Get over it, Amber. Jed has. He’s put you out of his life.
When she arrived home from work the following evening, Jed’s BMW was parked outside the block of flats.
He’d come back.
Her heart did a somersault as he got out of the car and walked towards her, looking so handsome and knee-jerkingly sexy that her bones felt like they’d been turned to jelly.
‘I thought you’d have gone back to America by now,’ she said, hoping her voice didn’t sound as breathless as she felt.
‘I can’t go back yet. I haven’t followed all the plan.’
She stared at him, confused. ‘What plan?’
‘The “how to hook Amber” plan,’ he said solemnly. ‘My sister helped me work it out.’
‘Your sister?’
Honestly, she was beginning to sound like a parrot.
‘Yes, we worked it out before I came over to find you. When you walked out the pub on Sunday I thought maybe I should give up and go back home but I couldn’t. Not without seeing the plan through.’ He took a piece of paper out of his pocket. ‘Let me see, I’m on rule number five.’
Then before she realised what he was planning he stepped forward, drew her in his arms, and kissed her. Deeply, passionately, hungrily. And despite herself she was responding, running her fingers through his hair, pressing her body against his, returning kiss for exquisite kiss.
‘Wow!’ he said shakily, gently pulling away. ‘Does that mean you’re pleased to see me?’
She stared at him, trying to control her ragged breathing, not trusting herself to speak. Why did he always have this effect on her?
Because you love him. Why keep fighting it?
Who said she could fight it?
‘Shall we go inside?’ he suggested, glancing over his shoulder. ‘There’s a couple of curtains twitching in the block of flats and I don’t want to sully your reputation with the neighbours.’
She nodded numbly as he placed his arm around her, sending her senses reeling again, and gently led her inside.
‘What were rules one to four?’ she asked when she finally found her voice.
Jed guided her into the lift, his arm still around her waist, and spun her around to face him as the lift doors closed.
‘Rule number one was to come back to England and find you.’ He kissed her on the forehead. ‘Number two was to apologise for the way I walked out on you and to give you a chance to explain.’ He kissed her on the tip of her nose. ‘Number three was to tell you I love you,’ He kissed her on her left cheek. ‘Number four was to do all the running and not let you get away.’ He kissed her on her right cheek. ‘And number five is to kiss you.’ He kissed her soundly on the lips.
She groaned, entwined her arms around his neck, and gave into the wild, uncontrollable urge to kiss him back.
The lift doors opened and someone coughed. Loudly. Amber opened her eyes and saw Mrs Gibson, the little old lady from the flat next door smiling at her. She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. How could she have got so carried away she hadn’t even noticed the lift doors open?
Jed tenderly disentangled her arms from around his neck, and, his arm still wrapped around her waist, guided her out of the lift. ‘So sorry, madam. I have asked Amber to exercise some restraint but she just can’t resist me,’ he told Mrs Gibson.
Amber groaned and buried her face in the sleeve of his jacket.
‘Was rule number six to show me up in front of my neighbours?’ she asked, taking the key out of her pocket as they reached her flat door.
Jed took the key off her, unlocked the door, gently pushed her inside, then kicked the door shut behind them. ‘No, rule six is to make you listen to me,’ he said, kissing her again. ‘And you’re not allowed to interrupt until I’ve finished.’
‘How many rules are there?’ she asked
‘Only seven,’ he said. ‘But rule six is the toughest of the lot and the one Chloe insisted is the most important.’
She nodded. ‘OK.’ She walked over to the sofa and sat down. ‘I’m listening.’
Jed sat down beside her. ‘Chloe said if I told you about myself you might understand why I misjudged you and realise that, if you take away the trimmings, I am just the simple photographer you fell in love with.’
‘That makes sense,’ she said cautiously, wondering what dark secrets he was going to come out with.
‘I told you about my mother and how she struggled to bring me – and later, Chloe – up single handed,’ he said, placing his arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer to him. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his soft American drawl.
‘When I was a kid I decided that somehow I was going to get rich and care for my mom, make sure she never had to work again.’ His voice was little more than a whisper, as if he was still in the past, remembering those hard times. ‘I figured the best way to do that was buy and sell property. So when I left school I worked days in an estate agent’s office as a general run around and nights in a bar until I’d earned enough for the deposit on my first house. A run-down place in the town.’
He hugged her tighter as if wanting to make sure she was still there. ‘I got a loan to do it up, doing as much of the work as I could myself and sold it at a profit within six months. Then I did the same again. And again. When I’d made enough to buy two properties I did them up, rented one out, and sold the other one at a profit. Within a couple of years I had a string of properties which were bringing in a decent income.’
She smiled at him encouragingly, not wanting to interrupt.
‘I bought my mom a lovely little house in the best end of town, and persuaded her to give up work,’ he continued. ‘Then I got lucky. Thanks to a new shopping mall the prices of my property soared. A couple of years later I was a millionaire.’
She could only guess at how hard he’d worked, holding down two jobs and restoring his run-down properties to make it happen. ‘Your mother must have been so proud.’
‘She was.’ His voice was grim. ‘But I forgot about her, Amber. I got so caught up in making money, giving her material things that I forgot she needed my company too. Sometimes I didn’t visit her from one month to the next. I was too busy accumulating my fortune. Making sure she never went without again.’
She lifted her head from his shoulder and winced at the raw pain she saw in his eyes, ‘I’m sure she understood,’ she reassured him, gently tracing her finger across his cheek.
He seized her hand and held it in his, gazing at her for a moment before continuing. ‘Mom never complained. It wasn’t her nature. She always greeted me with a smile, never reproached me for not visiting. It was Chloe who did that. She visited Mom regular and kept telling me Mom needed my company more than my money. But I was too possessed with making money, scared stiff of being poor again. I just wanted to give my mom the best of everything. I kept promising to visit after the next business meeting, then the next. And when I did visit her I was always preoccupied. Then Chloe phoned me to say Mom had cancer.’
‘Oh, Jed.’ Her heart went out to him.
‘The doctor told us she’d waited too long for treatment. She was living on borrowed time. So, I left someone running the business, bought the yacht – it’s named after her, you know, Chenoa means White Dove in Cherokee – and took Mom, and a qualified nurse, sailing around the world. Something she’d always wanted to do.’
He paused and she knew he was trying to deal with his memories. ‘We had a great time. I’ve never seen Mom so happy. I took her to Australia, Africa, China and Japan, then Europe. Chloe flew out to join us whenever she could, with her husband and children. We were on our way to England when Mom fell ill again so we turned back. Two days after we arrived home she died.’
As she listened to him, Amber had a glimpse of that determined little boy vowing that his mother would never know poverty again. Of Jed, the man, working all hours of the day and night, building his business empire so his mum would never do without. She could feel his despair when he found out his beloved mother was dying. He understands, she realised suddenly. He understands why I was willing to marry a millionaire to help my parents. He thought I was wrong, but he understands why I was doing it.
‘When Mom died, I went through a bad patch,’ Jed continued, his voice flat. ‘That’s when Melissa moved in on me, offering me love and sympathy, pretending she was interested in me for myself and not my money. I found out just in time what a gold-digger she was. And disillusioned with a life in pursuit of wealth, with mixing with people who were only interested in me because of my bank balance I decided to take time out. To find out what I wanted to do with my life. So I put a couple of good men in charge of my business and set off in my yacht to sail around the world, alone this time. That’s when I got interested in birds. The feather
ed kind.’
He kissed her forehead. ‘You see so many of them out at sea and I realised what fascinating creatures they are. I started taking photographs of them and sending them to magazines. The kick I got when my first photos were published in a nature magazine was almost as big as the one I got when I made my first million. I knew it was what I wanted to do with my life.’
‘So when I came along and told you I wanted to hook a millionaire you thought I was just like Melissa and the other hangers-on you’d turned your back on? ‘
He shook his head. ‘No, I knew you were different. You were so honest, so naïve. I was just scared of how you would change if you married someone just for money, that’d you turn bitter, shallow, and twisted like the others, which is why I tried to talk you out of your mad scheme. At least, I thought that was the reason. Later I realised it was because I loved you. That I’d loved you from the first moment I saw you. That’s why I was scared to tell you who I was because I wanted someone to love me for me, not for what I had.’ He traced her lips with his finger. ‘I’m sorry.’
She could understand it clearly now. ‘It’s OK, I don’t blame you,’ she told him. ‘I shouldn’t have been so stupid as to think of marrying someone for their money. It was cold and selfish of me. You must have thought I was completely ruthless.’
‘Never,’ he said, planting a feather-light kiss on her shoulder. ‘But I knew you desperately wanted to help your parents and wasn’t quite sure how far you’d go.’
‘So what’s the last rule?’ she asked, shivering as he covered her shoulders then her throat with kisses.
