“But she knew about the baby.”
“You put his name on Amber’s birth certificate. That’s easy enough to track.”
“Why did you put his name on the certificate, Mama?”
“’Cause he’s your daddy. You deserved to know where you came from.”
“But you never talked about him. Never mentioned him to me.”
“I was scared to! I thought you might go out and try to find him and end up dead.”
Amber reached out and touched her mother’s forearm, offering her comfort the way Angie had offered it to her. Odd, but she wanted to comfort her mother. “I’ve met him. He didn’t make that threat. I’m almost sure of it.”
Harper smiled. “I can vouch for him too, ma’am. In fact, I could call him up and get him out here if you want. I think he’d be right glad to know Amber’s his.”
“I don’t want him to see this mess,” Karen said.
“Harper, no,” Amber agreed. “I want to get to know him, truly I do, but not until this other…er…stuff is taken care of.”
No way was she telling Karen about the photos.
“I understand,” Harper said. “At any rate, Ms. Hedstrom, I’m sure we can clear this all up with Thunder Morgan.”
“Well, he owes me eighteen years of back child support.”
“Sixteen. You kicked me out, remember?”
“I’m afraid he doesn’t owe you anything, ma’am. Unless a court ordered him to pay support and he didn’t, which is not what happened. In all likelihood he didn’t even know Amber existed. If you want to get anything out of him, you’ll have to take him to court and get an order for back support. Are you sure he’s the father? Because the judge will order a DNA test at this point.”
“Harper’s a lawyer, Mama.”
“Oh, perfect. A lawyer.” Karen twirled a piece of her hair between her fingers. “He’s the father. I may look like I slept around, but I really didn’t. So again, I get nothin’. Story of my life.”
“You can take him to court,” Harper said.
“With what? My good looks? Look at this place. You think I got a dime in my pocket, much less what you lawyers charge?”
“Mama, we’ll figure this stuff out about Thunder Morgan, I promise. But not now. I have other things I need to do first.”
She had to keep her heart out of it.
“Ms. Hedstrom”—Harper stood—“thank you for your time. Will you be okay here for the night?”
“Of course.”
“Good. I’m taking Amber to a hotel.”
“Harper—”
“No argument. You need a decent night’s sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”
What a wonderful man! If only he could be hers. Remember, he’s not doing any of this for you. He’s doing it for Angie. She nodded. “Okay.”
“Come on, then.”
She wanted to resist, really she did. But for once it felt so good to have a man take the lead, to take care of her. Especially when it was the man she’d fallen hopelessly in love with.
If only he could return her feelings. She sighed. That would never be. She’d have to settle for a man who couldn’t resist doing a favor for his big sister.
Still a wonderful man, just not her wonderful man.
* * *
Amber took a long hot bath and wrapped herself in the luxurious fluffy robe provided by the hotel. Harper and Blake both had rooms on the same floor. Harper had told her to order room service, but she wasn’t hungry. She was tired—oh, so weary—and numb.
So very numb.
She lay down on her bed, wanting to cry. Wanting to sob her heart out. The tears didn’t come.
She got up, left the room, and walked across the hall. She knocked on Harper’s door.
Harper answered, looking tousled and sexy in green cotton lounging pants and no shirt. His hair was wet and clung to the sides of his neck, Evening stubble had emerged on his chin.
“Amber. You okay?”
She nodded.
“What do you need?”
“I…I don’t want to be alone.”
He shook his head. “You can’t stay here.”
Her heart sank. “I’m not asking to stay here. Can I just come in for a little while? Maybe watch some TV or something? I just need to know there’s another body in the room.”
“I’m sorry. You have to go back to your own room.” He walked through the door and grabbed her arm. “I’ll walk you back.”
He took the key card from her hand and slid it into her door. He opened it.
“Please, can you come in? Just for a few minutes.”
“Damn it, Amber.”
“I’m sorry if I’m being so needy. It’s been…” It’s been what? A hell of a day? A hell of a few days? A hell of a few days from my nightmares?
A hell of a life?
“Amber, I’m telling you, I can’t come in.”
“Why, Harper?”
He raked his fingers through his damp hair. “Damn it!” He pushed her through the door and followed her in, slamming it. Then he grabbed her and crushed his mouth to hers.
He tasted of Irish coffee, of salt, of wild berries. She’d never tasted anything more delicious. Who knew that was exactly what she’d been craving? Now was not the time to be coy. She opened her mouth and welcomed his tongue.
Their tongues slithered together in a kiss of wildness and passion. Of pure unadulterated need.
Need. Amber needed him. Now. So much now. But not just now.
Forever.
She stopped her thoughts. Forever would not happen for them. She knew that.
She’d take now.
She deepened the kiss and he followed her lead. With her tongue, she traced his teeth, his gums, the inside of his cheeks. His mouth covered hers hungrily. The kiss sent the pit of her stomach into a wild swirl. His lips were hard and searching. She wondered briefly what he might be searching for, but then could no longer wonder.
She let her body take over, let the kiss sing through her veins like a concerto. When his lips left hers she mourned the loss, but as they trailed over her cheek to her ear, nibbling on her lobe, she nearly swooned.
Oh, the sensation. The heady caress of his lips on her neck set her aflame. His lips continued their searing path across her shoulders, where his hands gently eased the robe from her body.
It fell into a heap on the floor. He cupped both of her breasts as his lips reclaimed her mouth.
She kissed him back with a hunger she’d never known. A desire. A raw need, both pure and impure.
Gently he thumbed her nipples, and they hardened into tight buds.
“Oh, baby,” he said against her mouth. “God, I’ve missed you. I have to suck those beautiful nipples.”
His lips left hers again, but instead of mourning this time, she anticipated their touch on her nipple. First he merely teased—a lick here, a tug there. The touch was light and painfully teasing. Her clit throbbed.
Dear Lord, I’ll die an untimely death if he doesn’t suck a nipple between his gorgeous full lips. “Please, Harper. Please.”
He locked his lips around a turgid peak and sucked. Sucked. Sucked.
“Oh,” she groaned. “So good.”
“You’re so beautiful, baby. So enticing.” He wrapped his lips around the other nipple and sent her surging again.
He pushed her ever so slightly until they were against the bed. Once there, he laid her gently down. Her nipples were red and erect from his attentions, and they wanted more.
As if he read her mind, he clamped his mouth onto one again and sucked.
She writhed beneath him, her hips moving of their own accord. She was wet, she knew. She could feel the moisture between her legs. If only—
Again, he read her mind. One hand wandered downward, and he inserted a finger into her channel.
“Ah!” Her voice was breathy and husky.
“So wet, baby.”
God, yes. Wet for him. For Harper. For the man she adored.
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He left her breasts and returned to her mouth for a passionate kiss. Her nipples tingled against the hair of his chest. So, so good. His hard body atop hers, she thrust her hips upward, trying to take more of his finger. More of whatever he would give her this one night.
Their kiss deepened, and he added another finger. Harder and harder he thrust them into her, and wetter and wetter she became. Her sighs and moans grew louder, until…
“Yes!” she cried. The climax pushed her upward, nearly out of her own body. She writhed against his probing fingers, against his rock hard chest.
“That’s right, baby,” he said against her lips. “Come for me. Make it feel good.”
She soared higher, the spasms inhabiting her whole body. Only one thing would complete this feeling of ecstasy.
“Harper, make love to me.”
He rose slightly, pushed his lounging pants over his hips and plowed into her.
The hardness against her slick walls made her orgasm begin again. She spasmed around his cock as he pumped.
“That’s it. Keep coming, baby. You feel so good.” His breath puffed against her neck. Still he pumped, harder and faster, until she came yet again.
“God, baby. You’re so hot.” He kissed her neck, nibbled her ear lobe. “I’m coming, baby. I’m coming.”
“Harper, come for me. Come in me.”
“What? In you? Oh my God!”
He thrust hard, and she was so sensitive from her climaxes, she felt every single contraction of his cock.
“Mmm.” She sighed and closed her eyes. So good. So good to make him feel good.
He pulled out of her quickly. “Goddamn!”
She opened her eyes.
He was standing by the bed, his eyes troubled.
“What is it?”
“Condom. We didn’t use a condom.”
Was that all? “Don’t worry. I’ve been on the pill forever.”
“Well, then, at least I don’t have to worry about pregnancy.”
“What else would you need—”
His meaning her like a freight train, knocked the wind right out of her lungs. Disease. With her past, he was worried about disease. She’d never slept around. She’d had two one-night stands, and she’d gotten a clean bill of health after both of them. She’d never slept with men at the club. Even in those dreaded photos she wasn’t having sex.
She stood, anger raging through her. “Get out.”
“Amber.”
“You have nothing to worry about. I’m clean. If you don’t believe me, tough shit. I know I’m clean.”
“That’s not—”
“You’re so transparent. That’s exactly what you were thinking. Do you think for one minute I’m the kind of person who would have unprotected sex if I knew I was a hazard to anyone? Fuck you, Harper Bay. Now get out.”
He said nothing more. He pulled on his pants and walked out, shutting the door behind him.
Amber curled up on her bed. All the tears that hadn’t materialized earlier came now like a tropical rainstorm.
How had she let this happen? She hadn’t gone to him for sex. Just some company to ease her loneliness and pain. He had initiated the sex. She should have been stronger. She shouldn’t have let it happen. After all, he could never love her.
That was more apparent now than ever.
A rapping at her door interrupted her misery. She must look like hell from crying, but she put the robe back on and went to the door. If he’d come back to apologize, she’d listen. She loved him, after all.
She covered herself with the fluffy robe, pinched her cheeks, pasted a smile on her face, and opened the door.
In the doorway stood Blake Buchanan.
Chapter Eighteen
Her nerves skittered. Every bone in her body ached to scream for Harper. Would he be able to hear her?
“Can I come in?” Blake asked.
“Absolutely not.”
“Fine. I’ll talk from here then.”
“I can’t imagine what you think we have to talk about.”
He fidgeted, jamming his hands into his jeans pockets and then taking them out again. “I want to…er…apologize.”
“Apologize? For making my life hell?” She shook her head. “I’m very sorry to inform you that your apology is not accepted.”
“I’m sorry. Really. I was desperate, that’s all.”
“That’s all?” Seriously? “You ruin my life and that’s all?”
“I know it’s no excuse. I’ve really fucked up. Chad and Catie were willing to give me another chance in Bakersville. So were some of the others. I even thought I might be able to work things out with Evie. But I had this debt hanging over my head, and even though I had the promise of work in town, Donetto wouldn’t wait till I saved up the cash. When I recognized you—”
“You saw an opportunity, didn’t you?”
He nodded, the look on his face sheepish. “Yes. I did.”
Amber let out a sigh. She was tired of standing. “Are you done?”
“No. Can we talk for a few minutes?”
Her fear had subsided. What was the harm? The man obviously had no intention of leaving until he’d said his piece. “Fine. Come on in. But the door stays open.”
“Works for me.”
Amber pulled a chair out from the desk. “Sit down.” She plunked down on the edge of the bed.
“I want to tell you something. About all the talk in town about me.”
“Why tell me anything?”
“Because I truly feel bad about what I’ve done to you. I want you to know that I’m not such a bad guy.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m afraid that’ll take a bit.”
“I know that. You see, all that stuff about Evie being pregnant with my kid, it wasn’t true. Evie and I never had sex.”
“Look, I didn’t know you then. I still don’t really know Evie. This is none of my business. And I’ve got my own problems, thank you.”
He nodded. “I know you do. And I’m sorry for my part in them. But for some reason it’s important to me that you know the truth about me.”
“Fine,” Amber relented. “Then why did she say it was your baby?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea. It broke me up that she’d cheated on me. I was sitting around, minding my own business, trying to figure out what to do. I mean, I loved Evie with all my heart. I couldn’t just walk away. Then her dad came at me with that gun. I’ve never been so fuckin’ scared in my life. At least, up to that point. You know, before Donetto.”
“So you left town.”
“Hell, yes. What else could I do?”
“You could have stayed and cleared your name. Her dad went to jail. You weren’t in any more danger.”
He stood and paced a few steps and sat back down. “There was nothing left for me there. The woman I loved had betrayed me. I was a mess. So I came here to San Antonio, got a job on a ranch—that’s where I met Bernie; the ranch was his cousin’s—hung out at Rachel’s a few nights a month to blow off steam. Everything was fine, till I got mixed up with Paul Donetto.”
“And why did you do that?”
“I was greedy. Plain and simple. It seemed like easy money. I was doing okay working at the ranch, but I didn’t have much left over for savings. I wanted a big nest egg so I could come back here and try to work things out with Evie. I’d heard through the grapevine that she’d lost the baby and hadn’t gotten married. She was working as the librarian. So I thought maybe… Anyway, all I was supposed to do was drive a small pickup and deliver some stuff to a warehouse. I had no idea what was in the truck. It had a tarp over it when I got it. And I was smart enough not to ask any questions.”
“And?”
“And…some idiot in a semi blindsided me. Long story short, some of the merchandise was destroyed, and I found myself in debt twenty grand to Donetto.”
“What was the merchandise?”
“Tools mostly. And some cocaine.”
Drugs
. Of course. “How’d you stay away from the cops?”
“I’d been told if anything happened to proceed to the drop-off point as planned as soon as possible. Since the truck was still drivable, that’s what I did. Didn’t stop to see what might be on the road. I didn’t find out it was cocaine till later.”
“You’re lucky you weren’t caught.”
“You think I don’t know that? I was damn lucky. I was also lucky only a little of the coke was destroyed. Some leaked out of one of the bags.”
“Why’d you go back to Bakersville?”
“I couldn’t save any money here to pay him off. I figured I’d have a better shot back home where living expenses are less in a small town. I could find work and cheap housing on a ranch and get a payment plan going. But Donetto wanted no part of that. He wanted a lump sum. And he wanted it yesterday.”
Amber nodded, her skin prickling. “Enter me.”
“Yeah. That pretty much sums it up.”
“If Catie hadn’t told you I wanted barrel racing lessons, we never would have met. I mean, it’s unlikely you’d ever come in for a manicure. Not that I’m blaming Catie. It’s just…weird to think of chains of events sometimes, you know?”
“Tell me about it.” He stood. “Well, now I’ve got that off my chest. I really am sorry.”
“Have you told Harper all of this?”
“Yeah. After he agreed to pay off my debt, he said he wanted the truth and nothing but the truth. Goddamned lawyers.”
Amber tried to hide her smile.
“Anyway, I wanted you to know I’m not such a bad guy. And I’m truly sorry. I really felt I had no choice.”
“There’s always a choice, Blake.”
He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “That’s what my daddy always used to tell me.”
“Your daddy was right. I had a choice too. I didn’t have to work at Rachel’s. I could have scrounged around until I found a job doing nails and then scraped by. But Rachel’s offered good money, which was heaven for a girl like me. I grew up with nothing. I made the choice to do something I didn’t really want to do for the money. And now I’m in this jam.”
Treasuring Amber: The Temptation Saga: Book Five Page 13
