by Natalie Ann
When the speeches were done, then dinner, the music started to play and everyone was mingling between the ballroom and the casino. She’d gotten up to use the restroom and walked out with another lady.
“You’re Drew’s girlfriend, right?”
“I am. I’m sorry, I don’t think we met. I’m Amanda.”
The blonde shook her hand. “Nadine,” she said. “I used to work in one of the Boston offices but now I’m on the island. I’m here in the north end.”
“Did you move to the island?” she asked, trying to make conversation. She pretty much asked the same questions or answered the same ones all night.
“I did. I was working in Boston but saw the opening here and asked for the transfer.” She paused, then added, “Just some friendly advice with Drew.”
Oh boy. She’d kind of expected something like this. So far no one had said a word to her about anything. But she hadn’t been far from Drew’s side either.
“What’s that?” she asked, keeping her smile in place. Amanda wouldn’t give anyone the privilege of knowing they might ruffle her feathers.
“Drew is out for fun. He always has been. We dated for about three months, but then he moved on.”
Interesting. “You still work for him? No hurt feelings?”
“Not really,” she said. “It was a few years ago. I was twenty-five and he was thirty. I would have loved for it to be more, but he’d made it very clear he wasn’t looking for that. It was almost a shock to hear but I think I thought I could change his mind.”
“And that didn’t happen?”
“Obviously not. I was hurt when it ended, but I expected it. I have a great job and didn’t want to jeopardize it. I don’t have a lot of interaction with him so it’s fine.”
And since Drew didn’t introduce her to Nadine she was thinking that was on purpose. “Thanks for the warning,” she said.
“I’m not trying to be mean. It’s just so many people want to land a Bond and get stars in their eyes. I’ve been there and done that. It’s just not meant for the average person.”
“So, I’m average,” she said with a laugh. She couldn’t help it.
“There is always this talk that the family doesn’t care who anyone ends up with, but I don’t believe it. I think that is why so many are still single. They are trying to find the right person to fit in their class. Hunter got his fiancée knocked up so that doesn’t count.”
Amanda was seeing red and wanted to defend Kayla. She opened her mouth, but Helena turned the corner and started to approach them. “Amanda. There you are, sweetie. I wanted to introduce you to Mitchell and Janet, Eli’s parents. They are here tonight.”
“Nice to meet you, Nadine,” she said and let Helena pull her aside.
“Oh dear,” Helena said. “I believe that might have been good timing. You looked ready to scratch her eyes out. Did she mention that she used to date Drew and he broke her heart?”
“She might have said something to that effect.”
“Ignore her. She’d approached Drew and was out for fun. Drew knew it and they agreed. When she decided she wanted more, he didn’t. It’s too bad. I want my boys settled down but even I know when someone just wants his name.”
She stopped, forcing Helena to do the same. “You’re not worried about that with me?”
Helena laughed at her and patted her arm. “A mother knows. When you’re a mother someday you’ll understand.”
It always hurt to hear those words. “I guess so,” she said back. What more could she say? “Are Eli’s parents in the ballroom?” They’d just walked back in.
“No. They aren’t here tonight. I just made that up to get you away from Nadine. I had a feeling it might cause a scene and we wouldn’t want to give her food to get stuck in her teeth. I’m rather short on dental floss tonight.”
She shook her head at Helena. “I should thank you. Drew might not have appreciated if I said something nasty to Nadine.”
“He might have thanked you, but I’d bet you would have regretted it yourself.”
She would have. She didn’t have a chance to say another word though before she felt hands on her waist and Drew’s body pressing against her. “I love this song. And I can’t wait to get you in my arms.”
“Have fun,” Helena said as Drew dragged her onto the dance floor.
“That was rude to do that to your mother.”
“No, it wasn’t. She knows I would have requested this song in an attempt to get you in my arms.”
“Did you really do that?” she asked, starting to relax against his warmth. Her body always yielded so easily and she wondered why she’d fought it so much in the beginning.
“I did. We’ve got a few more hours here, but I couldn’t wait any longer to touch you. I’d love to taste you but that would get tongues wagging.”
“And you don’t like to be talked about,” she said. She would have to thank Helena again later when she had a chance.
“Not if I can avoid it. But I’m a Bond and that isn’t always avoidable. There is a lot of talk tonight with you by my side. I’m just giving them more fuel for that fire. The good kind of fuel.”
“The good kind?” she asked.
“Yep. The one where they don’t take bets on how long before it fizzles.”
She wanted to be outraged by that comment but after her conversation with Nadine she almost expected to hear that.
“I don’t make bets that I can’t win,” she said.
“Me neither. Nor do I bet on matters of the heart. Or things I can control.”
The matters of the heart comment got hers fluttering, but the other word didn’t. “I don’t like to be controlled.”
“Not even the bedroom?” he whispered in her ear. “Here I had all these ideas tonight.”
“There...you can have your way.”
24
Win Her Over
Drew had been worried about the talk tonight, but so far it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
Were there a few here he might have spent the night with a time or two? Or maybe even longer? Yeah, there were, but he always left on good terms.
That didn’t mean some of those women wouldn’t have wanted to let Amanda know about it.
He was ready to put a stop to those kinds of talks by pulling her on the floor.
By putting his hands on her back and swaying his body with hers.
His hand on the side of her face, the tilt of her cheek into his palm. His other hand on the back of her neck as he kissed her sweetly.
He didn’t devour her as he wanted to do. He’d never make that kind of a spectacle of himself. Not even when he was out for fun.
But he wasn’t out for fun as much as he was out to win her over now.
To get everyone to see this was real.
To get Amanda to know he was serious.
“How much longer do we have to stay here?” she asked when he lifted his lips from hers.
It hadn’t been much more than a soft tender kiss, but the look in her eyes had him wondering if he could excuse himself right now.
It wasn’t just that his cock was growing hard in his pants, but that he had a need to just hold her against him. The afterglow seemed to shine so bright with Amanda when they were together.
He wondered if she felt the same as him but had been terrified to ask.
“Another hour at the most. Plenty are thinning out,” he said. “But we can stay here in each other’s arms. Maybe my mother will take pity on me and tell me to get a room.”
“That would be embarrassing.”
“Would it really?” he asked.
“Maybe not. Not if it got us where I want to be.”
Shit. She was going to push him more than he’d planned on.
He started to move her toward the DJ while holding her in his arms in the guise of dancing. “Another one just like that,” he said to the young guy manning the controls on the stage.
“You’re bad,” she said. “But I lik
e that.”
His wish came true twenty minutes later when his mother and father moved closer to him while they were dancing too. “You’re going to wear the floor out. You can call it a night,” his father said.
“Please do,” his mother said. “Amanda looks dead on her feet. Take good care of her tonight.”
He looked at Amanda and saw the flush on her face. She didn’t look the least bit tired to him. “I can do that.”
“No need to say goodnight to anyone,” his father said. “You’ve done enough tonight and we’ll see most for breakfast in the morning before they leave.”
He nodded his head and pulled her off the floor and to the elevators, thankful it was empty when they got in.
He had her against the wall, his mouth on hers, her body bending close enough to his that he could have been almost trying to blend them into one.
“There’s a camera in here,” she said.
“Who cares? I’m just kissing you. There is no law against it.”
“This is more than just a kiss,” she said, her hands moving under his suit jacket on his back.
“Eli won’t care. I get a pass.”
She laughed and the minute the elevator stopped, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to their room.
They were behind the door, her mouth on his again, her hands going to the waist of his pants and yanking the shirt out, buttons flying she was moving so fast.
“I think I got you pretty worked up,” he said, his hands going to the zipper in the back of her dress and sliding it down. “Shit, you don’t have a bra on.”
“Nope. Wait to see what is really on under this dress.”
He moved her to arm’s length and pulled the dress off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor to see her standing there in a little black lace thong. He could see every part of her that was covered, which wasn’t much.
“It matches your shoes,” he said.
“That was the point. I think they are going to stay on too.”
“Oh hell yeah.”
Her hands went to his pocket, found his wallet and said, “Get a condom out.”
He didn’t hesitate to find it, only to have her pull it out of his hands, then undo his pants and lower them enough to free his cock.
She opened the package and covered him, but rather than him moving her toward the bed, he twirled her and had her back against the wall, one hand on her hamstring pulling her leg up around his waist.
“Lift your other leg up. I’m going to fuck you right here, right now.”
“There is the control that I love so much,” she said, lifting her leg and wrapping it around his waist.
He was pushing her against the wall, nudging the string of her thong out of the way and then sliding into her moist pussy to feel her inner muscles stretching and squeezing around him.
“Oh God,” she said. “You need to move in me. I’ve got to feel you more.”
His hands were cupping her ass, his hips moving in and out. Her fingers were in his hair almost pulling it as he had his way with her up against the wall.
He wasn’t sure the last time he’d done this, if ever. If he ever had a need so great that he couldn’t wait to get someone to the bed, a couch, or the floor.
With Amanda there wasn’t much waiting for anything. She was slowly stealing his heart, even his soul.
“Can you move faster?” she asked. “I’m right there, but I want you to show me how much you really want me.”
He braced himself with one hand on the wall, the other still on her ass cheek and started to pound into her as fast as he could. A picture was knocked off the wall and he wasn’t sure if it was from her hand or his.
Not that he cared because there was no care in his mind right now other than getting Amanda to the end where he was.
“I can’t wait much longer,” he said. He didn’t want to admit defeat, but he was so close he was shocked he’d held off this long.
“Don’t wait. Keep going. I’m right there.”
She screamed out his name, the spikes on her heels scratching his hips where her ankles were crossed behind his back. The pain was nothing compared to what he felt as he emptied himself inside of her.
The next morning, Amanda stretched and wondered how many bruises she was going to have on her body after she and Drew screwed each other’s brains out with her back pushing against the wall.
When she’d been young and foolish and in love, all she wanted to do was please Randall. But she’d never experienced a desire or need in her life as she had with Drew last night.
She threw the covers back and got up to go into the bathroom. When she looked in the mirror, all her makeup was smeared on her face making her look like a Goth singer that just found out her band was being dismantled.
Instead of trying to wash her face, she started the shower and figured she’d just get ready for the day. She knew there was a breakfast being served between seven and eight for those that didn’t want to try to catch an earlier ferry.
She was just dipping her head under the spray when the bathroom door opened. She should have expected Drew would make his way in.
In the past she always wanted her own bathroom time. It was too personal or crossed over the lines for her. She’d been good about putting boundaries up in her life now.
As much as she’d been constructing those walls and lines with Drew like his brother Bode made repairs, nothing seemed to stand.
Either she wasn’t trying hard enough or he was carrying around some magical sledgehammer.
“Care for some company?” he asked.
She flipped her wet hair over her head. “Since you’re naked and giving me a show you might as well climb in here with me.”
“You can put me to work,” he said. “I like it when you tell me what to do.”
She laughed. “I like to wash my own hair but you can wash my back.”
“I like when you wash my hair,” he said back. “You’ve got some fantastic fingers. But I’d like you to wash my back too...if you want.”
“I want,” she said. “I want too much.”
She didn’t think he heard her say that since she tried to whisper, but he must have. “Me too.”
There were no more words after that. She wouldn’t have been ready for them and she figured he wasn’t either.
She should be happy, but why wasn’t she? Was she more hurt over his silence than she cared to admit?
25
Fell In Line
The Monday before Christmas Amanda took the ferry to Boston to get a few last minute gifts.
The comforter she’d ordered for Kayla’s crib was in and she’d rather pick it up than wait to have it shipped to the island. Plus she still hadn’t settled on a gift for Drew and needed to get something.
Things were going well for them. They’d been dating about six weeks at this point though in some ways it seemed a lot longer, other ways not long enough.
She was just walking out of the last store with her hands full of bags on Boylston Street waiting for her Uber to find her and take her back to the ferry, when someone bumped into her.
Never in a million years did she expect to turn and see her sister, Charlotte, standing there. “Amanda?” Charlotte said, “Is that you?”
“It is. Charlotte, how are you?”
“I’m good. I thought I recognized you standing there.”
Typical of her sister to not call her name but accidentally bump into her for a closer look. “Do you live in Boston now?” She hadn’t spoken to anyone in her family in years.
“No. I’m here on vacation with my boyfriend. He went to get the car and I’m just waiting for him to drive by and see me. Do you live here?”
“No,” she said, not wanting to volunteer just yet where she lived. “I’m getting some last minute shopping done here.”
Charlotte looked down at her bags. “Do you have a child?”
“No,” she said fast. “It’s for my best friend’s shower.” Figures her sister
would zero in on the bags from Babycottons and Mulberry Road.
“Do you still have the same phone number?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes. Do you?”
“I do.”
Her sister would know that if she ever reached out, but she hadn’t. “How have you been? You look good. Are you still doing hair?”
“Thank you,” she said. “Things are good. I’m still doing hair. Yours looks nice.” There was no way she was going into details about her life. Not so her sister could run back to her mother. Or judge her again. She was having none of that.
Though honestly her sister looked pretty unsure of things when she never did before.
Charlotte’s hand went to her short bob and ran her fingers through it. She’d always had long wavy hair but now it was sleek and...fancy. Classy even.
“Thanks. Richard likes it shorter.”
“Richard?” she asked.
“My boyfriend. We live together. We live in New Rochelle. Richard is an attorney for a firm out of Manhattan. He runs an office in New Rochelle though. With his promotion we moved there. I like that life a little better than being in so much action in Manhattan.”
“I’m sure Mom and Dad are thrilled with your choice in men.”
“They like him,” Charlotte said. “We’ve been dating about a year.”
“Do you work?” she asked, wondering where the hell her Uber was. This was such an awkward conversation. Rather than sounding like two sisters that hadn’t seen each other in twelve years they sounded more like two girls that barely nodded their heads to each other in the hallway of high school.
“I do. I manage a small boutique. I went to school for marketing and it didn’t turn out the way I thought it would.”
Amanda snorted. “I might know something about that.”
“It’s not the same,” Charlotte said. “You made your decisions to leave town. You went against what Mom and Dad wanted.”
Now she was only getting pissed off. “I didn’t feel I had a choice. It sounds like you haven’t changed and just fell in line. But if you’re happy then that is all that matters.” Though it didn’t sound like her sister was happy by the tone of voice. Nor had she smiled once.
