by Mel Teshco
She pulled back, and then kissed him gently, first his mouth and then the bead of a tear that slipped down his cheek. “You were incredibly brave and strong.” She held his stare. “You did everything in your power to free your mother. Everything. No one would ever dispute that. Not your mother or your father.”
“If I hadn’t been driving, they might still be alive today.”
“They might be,” she said softly. “Except accidents happen every single day of the week, where people are taken from their children, their families. It’s harsh but it’s the truth. Anyone could have been driving that car, with the same results. Call it fate. Call it horrible timing. Call it whatever you want, but it’s not your fault.”
He kissed her back then, his lips soft and yet tender, his emotions bared to her. When he finally pulled back, he said huskily, “Thank you. I’ve been carrying that around for a long time. I’m glad I could share it with you.”
She cupped his strong jaw, with its coarse growth of bristles. Dear Lord, hadn’t he told anyone else? Somehow, she knew he hadn’t, not for a very long time, probably not since the police had questioned him about the accident. She only hoped a counselor had been involved along the way.
“Are the tattoos on your back a reminder of them?”
He nodded. “Yeah. My mother loved red shoes and couldn’t resist buying them. The white roses are what my father bought my mom every payday without fail, no matter how much they struggled to pay their bills. Everyone brought white roses to the funeral in honor of their love.”
Her breath hitched at the raw pain in his voice, but she refused to change the subject to avoid further stress. She sensed he was glad to share his past as much as she wanted to hear it. She ran a hand down his back, wishing she could feel the ink like braille. “And the script underneath?”
He pushed his head against her other hand, as though needing her close. “Mom and Dad, May Your Love be Forever Entwined.” His smile was etched with sadness. “Dad taught Latin at the local college, so I had it inked in that language.”
Her chest ached for him but she still managed a smile. “I’m glad you trusted me enough to share it with me.”
His eyes glittered. “Natalie, I love you.”
She sucked in a breath, her heart expanding. “I love you too,” she said huskily.
Why had it taken her so long to realize he was truly the only man for her? Why hadn’t she comprehended that nothing in life was impossible, not even a client falling in love with her?
Good things didn’t just happen to women like Brandy and Scarlet, they happened to her too. She too deserved a man like Amos, deserved to be loved and cherished. If only life didn’t sometimes make a person feel unworthy of it.
She bit into her bottom lip, her eyes closing. What happened if Amos did hurt her? She’d left herself open now, vulnerable to hurt.
“Don’t shut me out, Natalie. Open your eyes. Let me in.”
She released a slow breath and did as he asked, giving herself over to him completely. She couldn’t spend her whole life shielding herself from possible hurt. She needed to grab Amos, by the throat if need be, and trust in him and his word.
He stared at her with unblinking eyes. “I really do love you.”
Her heart did a slow somersault. She was a fool to think she could deny what had blossomed between them. “And I really do love you too,” she whispered.
A slow smile spread over his face, his eyes bright with adoration. “Come on tour with me.”
Her thoughts scattered like leaves in the wind. “What?”
“We leave tonight for a tour around Australia before we hit Asia and the US.” He blinked. “Say you’ll come with me and leave your old life behind.” He brushed some strands of loose hair behind her ear. “I’ll take care of everything. All your expenses, Maisey… everything.”
Mirth bubbled up inside her, a barely withheld release of tension and control. “I’ve never told you this before, but I’m a huge fan of Frankenstein’s Blood.”
His grin wavered, his head tipping to the side. “You are?”
She nodded. “Yes. I just didn’t want you to know it. Didn’t want you to imagine I was just another groupie ready to kiss your damn feet.”
His eyes flashed with an odd light, but then his smile returned full force and he murmured, “So that’s a yes, then?”
She bit into her bottom lip. “My father—”
“Will have his every need met, I’ll make sure of it.”
Any doubts evaporated as warmth radiated through her, her trilling laugh finally escaping before she burst out, “Yes!” and flung herself into his arms.
When their mouths met in a kiss that deepened in urgency and need, the last thing on her mind was being late meeting Toby. All she cared about was the man whose arms held her as if he’d never let her go.
Even before he undressed her with practiced hands, kissing her bared, sensitized skin until she was quivering and moaning beneath him, then pushed inside her, making her gasp with the pleasure-pain of joining, she knew without a doubt she’d already given him her heart, her soul.
There was no going back from that.
Chapter Eleven
‡
Natalie walked into the Crazy Duke Inn with a weight off her shoulders and lightness in her step. She grinned. Here she was, a twenty-seven-year-old woman, happy for the first time since her mother had walked out of the family home fifteen years ago.
It was heady, to say the least, knowing Amos loved her with everything he had. Knowing he now waited for her to return and join him at his house, where they’d then leave together for his national and then international tour was simply the icing on the cake.
She’d always wanted to see Australia and the rest of the world, but had always thought it was a pipe dream. Now it was as if her whole future was spread out before her like a glorious fantasy just waiting to come true.
She put a hand to her mouth. Who’d have thought her jaw could ache and her whole face hurt from smiling so much? Not she was complaining, not when her whole body felt truly alive.
Heading toward the bar, it was hard to miss Toby’s broad back in his dark business suit, and his silver hair that appeared to have thinned even more.
He sensed her approach, his head turning and his gray eyes lighting up when he saw her. “Tiffany, finally. I was starting to think you’d blown me off.”
She almost winced at him using her call girl name. But she’d accept being Tiffany one last time, before leaving that part of her life far behind her. Besides, it wasn’t as if she wanted Toby to learn her real name.
He retrieved a glass of wine from the bar. “I ordered your favorite shiraz,” he said with a smile, before they walked over to a more private area in a corner of the room.
She refrained from telling him that gin and tonic was now her drink of choice, but she had more important things to get off her chest first. Not that she’d be here long. She’d even left her clutch bag in the chauffeured car as she didn’t expect this reunion would last much longer than a few minutes.
He pulled out a seat for her in a show of gentlemanly intent, and she bit back a sigh of exasperation. It was all too little too late, she’d fallen for a man worthy of her now.
He sat opposite her. “Tiffany, I’m sorry I didn’t get in touch with you before now, you must think me a real cad.”
She took a big sip of her drink, trying not to laugh. Who even used the word “cad” these days?
“How is your wife?” she asked instead.
“Ex-wife.” He hurriedly corrected. His hand tightened on his glass. “She’s been better, I’d imagine. It wasn’t easy for her to find out I’d been having sex with the same call girl over a period of several months.”
She bristled. So, was Toby’s wife more upset their “relationship” had been longer than a one-night stand, or by the fact he’d paid for sex? She wiped a bead of condensation from her glass. “Did you tell her we haven’t seen one another for some tim
e now?”
It’d been over three months since Toby had professed his undying devotion to Tiffany and promised to leave his wife. Of course she hadn’t heard anything from him since… until now.
He frowned. “Of course, but she won’t listen to me. She was furious, distraught. I betrayed her in the worst possible way.”
So confessing his love to Tiffany and then abandoning her for all those months wasn’t a betrayal? She pushed away the disparaging thought. It hardly mattered to her what Toby did anymore; she felt disconnected to him now. She was only glad a decent, honorable man like Amos had opened her eyes.
She focused on the dishonorable man in front of her. God, what had she even seen in him? He’d even been selfish in bed, but she’d excused it by imagining all men were the same.
She cleared her throat. “Do you still love her?”
He gulped down some of his beer. “I’d love her a lot more if she’d give out once in a while.” He sighed. “But, honestly, I don’t fantasize about her like I do you, and I most certainly don’t want to fuck her like I want to fuck you.”
She stifled a frown. Maybe his wife—ex-wife—didn’t want to have sex with Toby because he didn’t show her any passion.
His eyes gleamed as they roamed over Tiffany’s everyday look of jeans and a shirt. Somehow, she felt more exposed than she ever had in her lingerie and sexy call girl outfits. Somehow, she felt anything other than sexy. She felt soiled… used.
As if sensing her mental distance, Toby’s shoulders slumped. He sighed dejectedly. “Whatever I once felt for my wife just isn’t there anymore. She’s a friend, nothing more.”
Unwitting sympathy filled her for Toby’s wife. The fact Tiffany had been paid to sleep with such a callous man left a bitter taste in her mouth. It also cemented the fact she was no longer cut out for the life of a call girl. Who her client was shouldn’t matter, only the size of their wallets.
But it was enlightening to finally uncover the truth. She’d happily leave her professional life behind to embrace a life with Amos. She’d also happily make love with Amos for the rest of her life and never again have to service another stranger.
Ever.
“Well, isn’t this a lovely surprise.”
Tiffany turned at the same time as Toby to view the dark-haired lady stalking toward them, the same woman who’d given off strange vibes in the underground cabaret club.
“I’m sorry,” Tiffany said, “I saw you talking to Amos, but we haven’t officially met.”
The woman stilled before them, her eyes flashing. “Of course we haven’t officially met. Why would Amos want to introduce his girlfriend to his whore?”
Tiffany’s joy dissipated faster than smoke in the wind. But she couldn’t believe it, not when Amos had looked her in the eye and told her there was no other woman waiting for him at home. “You’re lying.”
“Oh, please, why would I lie?” She held up her cell phone to show her the text message from Amos.
Tiffany felt something die a little inside when she read the message. “Jasmine, I need to see you urgently. When can we meet?”
The message had been sent just minutes after she’d left Amos to meet Toby. Her throat thickened, trapping her breath. Oh, god. Amos hadn’t even waited ten minutes before wanting to see another woman.
Jasmine shrugged. “Of course, he hasn’t yet committed to marriage; he’s too busy sowing his wild oats. But I’m a realist. He’s a potent sexual male and, while he’s on tour, he won’t refuse a beautiful woman in his bed.”
Natalie couldn’t think, could barely even focus on the woman who was filling her mind with poison. She pressed a fist to her churning belly. Dear God, had Amos seriously planned on taking Tiffany on tour to fulfill his sexual needs, before dumping her for Jasmine the minute he returned home?
She was numb, yet she automatically assessed the other woman in the hope to find her lacking. Only to decide Jasmine was a respectable woman who’d probably only had a couple of steady boyfriends in her life.
Jasmine was perfect wife material.
Toby watched Jasmine with a frown marring his already craggy face. “I have no idea who you are, but rest assured you no longer have anything to worry about with your boyfriend. Tiffany is with me now.”
A slow burn rose in Natalie’s face, until she finally snapped, “No, Toby, I’m not with you. I’ll never be with you! I don’t trust you. In fact, I don’t trust any man! I’d suggest you go back to you poor, suffering wife and beg her for forgiveness. Not that you deserve her.”
She turned to Jasmine next, ignoring the woman’s snide little smile to add through gritted teeth, “Tell Amos I hope he has a wonderful orgy while he’s on tour. And a wonderfully boring married life when he returns.”
With that, she strode out of the hotel, not even trying to hold back scalding tears. The fact she no longer gave a stuff about Toby might have been a bigger relief if Amos’ betrayal didn’t stab her in the heart a thousand times worse. She should have listened to her instincts, should have ignored her traitorous heart and gotten on with her life without Amos in it.
She should have damn well known better!
The chauffeured car waited for her a little further up the road. She turned and strode the opposite direction. She needed to clear her head, needed to walk and walk until she couldn’t walk any further.
She ignored the thickening crowd of pedestrians who sent her odd looks. But mostly people left her alone and minded their own business. She should probably be glad she wasn’t in the country, where people usually cared enough to ask questions.
The blaring horn of a sedan startled her back off the road and onto the pavement. Shit. She swiped at her tears and sucked in a steadying breath, her pounding heart settling into a normal rhythm. She’d been steeped so deep in her own misery she’d been walking on autopilot, using the barest of her senses.
It was more of a surprise she hadn’t already been hit by a car.
She dragged a hand over her face before glancing around and forcing herself to take note of her surroundings. She recognized the buildings and the intersection. If nothing else, at least she’d gone the right direction. It was less than a ten minute walk to her apartment. And although she’d left her bag with all her essentials in Amos’ chauffeured car, at least she’d had the foresight to give her neighbor a spare key.
She patted her jeans pocket. And at least she still had her cell phone. She smiled grimly. An escort never went anywhere without their phone, for obvious reasons. Not that it made her feel any better about the situation.
By tomorrow, Amos would be long gone on his tour. She released a shaky breath. She only hoped she hadn’t completely misjudged him and that he’d return her personal effects via the agency.
Though she wanted nothing more than to climb into bed and stay there until her tears had ran dry, she had no other choice but to get on with her life. She’d indulge in a shower and force down something to eat. Then she’d ring Maisey and make the necessary arrangements to meet her next client.
Her heart shriveled and her belly spun sickly. How quickly things could change in the space of a few minutes. No longer was she dreaming about leaving behind her call girl life and having no one else in her bed other than Amos, she was resuming a life of paying the next round of medical bills.
To do anything else would see her curling into a ball and never getting up again, and she wouldn’t give into that temptation. Not for a cheating man who didn’t deserve the heartbreak.
She lifted her chin. Amos could go find himself another “whore” to satisfy his wild oats, because she no longer wanted him in her life. He didn’t need her. Not when he already had a woman waiting for him at his convenience.
The pedestrian light turned green and she strode across the road. The only thing she could do now was to get on with her life, take each day as it came. And hope to God the heavy ache in her chest would dull over time.
Chapter Twelve
‡
Amos locked his Mustang and strode across the road. Although the pressure across his temple tightened at the coming confrontation with Jasmine, there was a spring in his step and lightness in his chest knowing he’d soon be with Natalie again.
He grinned. Soon have a future that featured Natalie in it.
As much as he was desperate to get rid of Jasmine and her obsession of him, he’d come to at least sympathize with those same deep, stark emotions. What he felt for Natalie must be dangerously close to what Jasmine felt for him. Except he was lucky the blonde bombshell returned his feelings in full.
He slowed as the outdoor tables and chairs of the eatery came into view. Jasmine had her back to him, but she soon stiffened and then turned, her eyes meeting his.
His grin faded as impatience hit him front and center. He had absolutely no feelings for Jasmine beyond a deep frustration that it’d come to this. He only wished she’d focus on chasing a man who wanted her in his bed and in his life.
He sat opposite her, trying not to dwell on the fact the Crazy Duke Inn was just a couple of blocks away. Trying not to imagine what Natalie and her ex-client Toby were discussing. He inhaled carefully. He definitely wouldn’t rehash how Natalie had professed to once loving the man.
Jasmine smiled, a gleam of satisfaction in her stare immediately tensing the muscles across his shoulders and knotting his belly.
He forced a smile in return and clipped out, “Thanks for agreeing to see me so soon.”
She shrugged idly, her heart-shaped bodice half-exposing the jiggling, upper globes of her breasts. “You must know by now I’d do anything for you.”
What about leaving me the hell alone?
Amos kept his thoughts to himself and his attention above her neckline. Not because Jasmine’s obvious ploys to charm him worked, quite the contrary.
