Family Bonds- Drew and Amanda (Amore Island Book 2)

by Natalie Ann

  “Not anymore,” she said, following him to his car.

  “Oh no,” he said. “What happened? Or don’t I want to know.”

  “The two of us went shopping in Boston last Sunday for this dress.”

  “The dress that made my eyes pop out of my head,” he said, winking at her. He looked over at her sitting in the car; the hem of the dress was now mid-thigh. It’d been above her knees standing. Black fitted open-toed heeled pumps, red pedicure to match her red nails. Her hair was down in the back, pulled away from her face in the front. There wasn’t a lot of makeup on her face, but enough to make her blue eyes stand out even more.

  And on her neck was a silver necklace with a star pendant. His eyes went right to it, then the cleavage that was surrounding it.

  He hadn’t thought she was teasing him before but now he wasn’t so sure.

  “I don’t wear a lot of dresses. And I’m not normally drawn to black, but Bri was all about this dress when we saw it in the window. She’s got some pretty good style sense. Anyway, back to what happened with her. Mark, her boyfriend that we’ve all suspected was married—all but Bri—lives in Boston.”

  “Oh boy. I’m afraid to find out where this is going.”

  “I’m sure you can figure it out. We’d gotten my dress. She’d been whining because she wanted to spend time with him this weekend, but he said he was going out of town for work. So since she was alone she went with me. Boston is a big city, so what do you think the chances are of running into him would be?”

  “I’m thinking they were pretty good. He wasn’t alone, was he?”

  “Nope. He had his wife and teenage daughter with him. I’m not sure who was more shocked when they saw each other. I could see the look in her eye. She was ready to scratch his face off and cause a scene. He was looking for any place to hide he could.”

  “And you played the peacemaker, didn’t you?” he asked.

  “I guess you know me well. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it and told her not in public, to think of the kid. She didn’t want to, but I pulled her away. At that point we found a restaurant to eat in and she cried. She was so upset. And then she wanted to know why I wasn’t surprised.”

  “Did you tell her you suspected it?”

  “I did. I wasn’t going to lie. But she wouldn’t have listened if I’d told her and she admitted that. She is swearing off men for a month. It will last a week, maybe two.”

  “I want to say I feel for her, but she seems to attract men like that because of what she looks for,” he said. He’d seen plenty of women like Bri in his life. Bode and him.

  He learned his lesson years ago.

  His mother had been setting him up for years. Or making comments to him and his brothers about the nice girls they should date or meet.

  When he went to college he was determined to do his own thing. Find his own woman.

  He did. He fell in love. Cassandra loved him back. Or so she said.

  What she really loved was his name and his money and he felt blindsided by it when he’d been looking for the signs from day one.

  Just like he looked for the signs now.

  He was reserving judgment on Amanda. Deep down he didn’t think she was after anything.

  He’d approached her. She wasn’t even showing any signs of wanting anything more than some company.

  Though the last few dates they’d had she was getting almost as aggressive as him. She didn’t date much and he wondered why, but didn’t feel it was his place to really ask. Nor did he think she’d tell him the full truth either.

  “I tell her all the time. Bri just tries way too hard. She doesn’t think it. Do you know she came to this island so she could find love? She just wants it so badly and she thinks putting out by the second date is the way to do it.”

  He laughed. “Well, we know you don’t think that.”

  She tilted her head at him. “Sometimes the wait makes it all the more worth it...on both sides.”

  “So the wait is for you and not me?” He parked his car but wasn’t going to get out until she answered him.

  “Let’s say I’m a bit rusty.”

  This was making more sense to him. “And you think I’m going to judge that? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even notice.”

  “That’s good to know,” she said. “But I would. You know that old saying about diving in headfirst or dipping in a toe.”

  “So you’re dipping your gorgeous toes in one at a time?”

  “For the moment.”

  Amanda wasn’t sure where this conversation was going with Drew. Sure, she knew he’d been dying to get her naked. If she was honest with herself she was dying to strip for him.

  But she was telling the truth. By waiting as long as she had, now she was having doubts.

  She hadn’t been with a man in years. Not just a relationship, but sex. She’d dated but she never got to the sex part.

  She started young in her life and she enjoyed it. Until everything changed so drastically that she just shut it all away from her mind and body.

  It was time to start living again.

  She opened the car door to get out or she had a feeling they’d be sitting here all night talking.

  He put his arm around her waist to walk in with her. He was always touching her and she liked it. Appreciated it.

  It warmed her up and made her feel like some of the rust was wearing off because he probably wouldn’t notice like he’d said.

  He leaned into her ear right before he opened the door to the building. “Just like riding a bike.”

  She opened her mouth, then shut it and he moved forward to kiss her quickly on the lips.

  He ushered her to their table once her jacket was hung up and she noticed that Hunter and Kayla were already there along with two other men and Hailey. She was guessing the two other men were Drew’s brothers.

  “Thank you,” she said to him.

  “You’re welcome. I figured you’d feel more comfortable sitting with Kayla so I mentioned it to my mother.”

  “Boys, this is Amanda Moore. Amanda, my brothers Bode and Coy. You already know Hunter, Kayla, and Hailey.”

  “She’s the cookie lady!” Bode said. “Dude, you’re an ass. You made me think she was a cougar.”

  “Cookie lady?” she said, shaking her head and taking a seat next to Kayla.

  “You sent Drew home with cookies after that first meeting. I asked if you were a granny. Then when he said you were dating I asked if you were a cougar. He never corrected us.”

  “As you can see I’m not either. I’m the same age as Drew.”

  “And she should be called the cookie lady,” Hunter said. “She supplies Kayla and junior with sweets each week. She doesn’t send enough because Kayla isn’t good at sharing. And, Drew, I know you haven’t formally met my fiancée.”

  Drew held his hand out and shook Kayla’s. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Kayla.”

  “You too,” Kayla said. “I’m having a hard time keeping everyone’s names straight. So I apologize upfront if I call you the wrong name. Though since you’re dating my best friend I don’t think that will be a problem.”

  “No, she’ll just confuse Bode and me,” Coy said.

  “Not likely,” Bode said. “We are nothing alike.”

  “Ignore my brothers,” Drew said. “They are still ticked I got out of this and they are stuck.”

  “I’m stuck too,” Hailey said. “But it is what it is. I’m going to prove to you guys I can bring in more money.”

  “Not if I don’t like who is bidding on you,” Hunter said.

  “Whatever,” Hailey said. “Becoming a dad is making you think you can control things with me. It doesn’t work that way, Hunter.”

  “Guess I’ll have to see who you end up with tonight then,” Hunter said.

  Dinner was served. Conversation was fun. Drew’s hands were on her thigh a lot.

  She was heating up and it had nothing to do with the wine she was drinking.
<
br />   Before the auction started, she and Kayla excused themselves to go to the bathroom.

  “I really like him, Amanda,” Kayla said. “I can see why you do too. He’s so nice and sweet and funny.”

  “He is, isn’t he?” she said. “I told him I was rusty on the way over.”

  “Rusty?” Kayla said. “Hold that thought, my bladder can’t take much more.”

  They got into their stalls and did their business, then finished and started to walk back. When Amanda felt it was clear, she said, “Why we haven’t had sex yet.”

  “What did he say?”

  “When we were walking in he whispered in my ear that it was like riding a bike.”

  “He’s right,” Kayla said. “You’ll know when the time is right.”

  “Who’s sitting next to him?” she asked when they were walking back to the table.

  “I’m not sure, but she’s getting a little close and if Drew inches his chair back any further he’s going to be sitting at the other table.”

  The closer they got, they heard the woman whose dress was too tight and revealing saying, “Drew, I haven’t heard from you in months. Your mother thought we’d be perfect together but after that one date you never called me again.”

  If Amanda wasn’t so annoyed she might have thought it was funny that Drew looked like Bambi was about to be run down by a tractor trailer.

  “Excuse me,” Amanda said. “I believe you’re in my seat.”

  Kayla giggled next to her and returned to her seat at the table. The woman stood up. “I’m sorry. And you are?”

  “I’m Drew’s girlfriend, Amanda.”

  The brunette, who had stood up, squared her shoulders and stuck her bottom lip out. “I didn’t know that Drew was dating anyone. His mother never said a word when I saw her last month.”

  Amanda didn’t bother to say anything, just took her seat. “Thank you,” Drew said. “I didn’t want to be mean, but I knew she could put on a show. She wouldn’t with you saying something.”

  “I was afraid you were going to end up in the gentleman’s lap behind you if you moved back anymore.”

  Bode and Coy started to laugh. “Drew always was the nice guy between us. That’s why he tries to get out of being set up so much so he doesn’t have to deal with that crap anymore,” Bode said.

  “You’re the grouchy one in the family,” Hunter said to his cousin.

  “Just call me Oscar and I’ll go find my garbage can right now.”

  “Are you the cookie monster?” she asked Drew.

  “I guess I am,” he said back and gave her a kiss. “Oh no. Here comes my mother.”

  “I thought for sure I would have met her by now, so don’t worry,” she said.

  “You must be Amanda. I’m Helena and this is my husband, Scott. I’d love to sit and chat but I’m running around organizing everything. Why don’t you come to dinner tomorrow? Drew, bring her over around two.”

  Helena Bond floated off the same way she glided in. All elegant, full of smiles, and in control like a boss.

  “Guess you are going to dinner tomorrow,” he said.

  It didn’t seem like she could dispute it. At least right here or now.

  The auction started with Bode first. She sat there while the women bid on him, even one man, causing Bode to flush, but the man was quick to say he needed something fixed in the house. Once he said that, the man’s wife ended up winning the bid, then saying, “I’d like whatever he wanted fixed completed. It will never get done any other way.”

  When Bode came back to the table he was actually relieved it ended that way. “That wasn’t so bad,” he said.

  “You didn’t think so when that redhead in the corner was bidding pretty heavily on you,” Coy said. “You started to sweat.”

  “Yeah. I’m glad that didn’t work out. Just wait your turn,” Bode said.

  Hunter’s cousin Emily Rauch, one of the owners of at the Atlantic Rise Hotel, was next and got several bids. Whoever ended up winning, Emily knew him and they were laughing over the fact that was the only way he was going to get a date with her.

  Hailey went next and when one gentleman started to bid heavily for a date with her, Hunter jumped the bid up by a few thousand causing everyone to laugh when she narrowed her eyes at him. In the end, the man who wouldn’t be outbid put down a lot of money for a date with Hailey Bond.

  She came to the table and was quick to slap Hunter on the arm. “Why did you do that?”

  “I upped your price. I don’t know who he is and I’ll make sure security looks into him, but he jumped me several thousand after that. You wanted to bring in the most and you might have. You can thank me now.”

  She narrowed her eyes and looked away.

  Coy went next, then two more of Drew’s cousins. It all seemed to be in good fun for the night, everyone laughing more than anything. Even Coy said it was a patient who paid for the date with him.

  Grace Stone was the last to go on stage over an hour later, with Helena Bond stating that Grace was willing to give a cooking lesson.

  Amanda looked around the room when the bidding started. It was women and a few men but nothing like the rest of the Bonds were bringing in.

  “Going once, going twice.”

  Drew spoke up and upped the price by a thousand, no one countered and he got a cooking lesson with his cousin for the night.

  “Really, Drew,” Bode said. “You don’t like to cook. Do you want to impress Amanda?”

  “I do,” he said. “By giving her the lesson. She’s a great cook, but expressed interest in getting tips from an executive chef.”

  “You did that for me?” she asked, her eyes all glossy. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “I know what he’s thinking though,” Coy said, letting out a loud laugh.

  “What’s that?” Amanda asked.

  “Me want cookie. Me eat cookie,” Coy said, causing Bode to laugh with him.

  Amanda knew her face flushed to match the red of her nail polish.

  15

  Training Wheels

  When the event was over, they were in Drew’s car and she was trying to figure out how to tell him not to go back to her place.

  She wasn’t used to this and for someone who never had a problem speaking her mind, she found the cat in the back alley had her tongue and wasn’t letting go for anything.

  But then Drew turned toward her house and she finally said, “Where are you going?”

  “To take you home,” he said.

  “Why don’t you go in the other direction.”

  “Meaning my house?” he asked, his grin as big as Coy’s was when he made the comment about what Drew might be thinking in regards to her cookies.

  “Yes.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  He put his hand on her thigh and rubbed up and down. “Do you need training wheels?”

  “Are you picking on me?”

  “I’m trying to relax you. How about this, I’ll do all the work and you can sit back and enjoy.”

  She let out a laugh. “I appreciate that, but I’d like to participate.”

  “Trust me, you will be.” The next five minutes were taken in silence and he finally said, “What made you change your mind? How handsome I look in my suit?”

  “You do look pretty spectacular, but I didn’t need my mind changed. I just needed a push or a sign.”

  “So what was the push or the sign?” he asked.

  “What you did with Grace.”

  “Really?” he asked, his smile dropping. “I spent some money on you and now you want to have sex.”

  She didn’t like the look on his face and she almost knew immediately where his mind went. She was trying not to be insulted either.

  “No! Absolutely not. And I think that is part of the reason I didn’t jump into bed with you yet. I’m not playing games and I don’t want you to think I want you for anything other than you.”

  “I’ve insulted
you and didn’t mean to, but I’m trying to not be insulted myself. Can you explain it then?”

  His voice wasn’t as hard, more like questioning, but she knew what she said would make a huge difference for both of them. “You listened to me. You heard me say I’d do anything for a night with Grace. But I’d like to think that you wouldn’t associate anything with selling or buying sex. Too many times in my life men haven’t heard me. People haven’t. They don’t listen to what I want, think, or like. But you did and you remembered.”

  He turned his head to look at her when they stopped at a light. “There are so many questions going through my head right now.”

  “None I have any intention of answering either. Not tonight at least. Just know that since we’ve been dating you’ve turned out to be like a man I’ve never known before. You’re sweet but not so much it makes my teeth hurt. You don’t push, but you won’t be pushed either. You care for your family and your mother. You got what you wanted, but you didn’t want to hurt your mother’s feelings either, nor did you want to really lie to her.”

  “My mother means well even if it pisses me off, but in the end she’s still my mother.”

  “Exactly. I...I didn’t have a life like that. I don’t speak to my family because they didn’t mean well and they didn’t care what they said or did as long as they got what they wanted. I’m not like that. I don’t ever want to be like that.”

  “You’ve been hurt a lot, haven’t you?”

  “Yes. And this is souring worse than milk left out in the sun for a week.”

  “Eww,” he said.

  “Exactly.”

  They turned down his driveway, but he stopped before he made the climb to his house. “Are we continuing or am I turning around?”

  “Continuing,” she said. “If you’re sure. Did I convince you the reason I wanted to come here?”

  “Partially,” he said.

  She wasn’t sure what else she could say. “What more do you need from me?”

  “Do you want to do this? I guess I’d like to know if you want me? Do I turn you on? Do I make you want me as a person?”

  She stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Are you kidding me?” she asked. “Do you know how hard it’s been for me to keep my hands from going under your shirt or in your pants when we kiss?”