Amelia

by Marie, Bernadette

  “Let me get this straight. You’re mad because your husband, who married you when he was already married and then married another woman while married to you, was having casual sex with other women?”

  Her lips pursed and she turned back in her seat. “Yes. As irrational as it seems it pissed me off more.”

  Sam wanted to laugh, but this wasn’t a laughing matter. There were real feelings being had and three very hurt women.

  “I can’t imagine you let anything get under your skin.”

  “I’m still a woman.”

  Ouch. He was fully aware that she was a woman and too much aware that he was attracted to every inch of her muscular frame—which could crush him for even having the thoughts. But there was something else that she wasn’t letting go of. In two days he’d learned that she spoke what was on her mind and ran to get it off her mind. Something still gnawed at her.

  Sam drove her back to the hotel and parked in the lot.

  “Will you be alright?”

  Amelia let out a heavy breath. “Yeah. No need to be angry anymore. It’s only going to cause me to create holes in my shoes.”

  He snickered. “I’m here if you need me.”

  She nodded and opened the door. “I’ve never needed a man.” That hurt, he thought. “But it seems like in the last few days I’ve learned to need you.”

  Sam felt his mouth drop open and that had made her smile.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said shutting the door.

  “Hey,” he called though the window after her as she started toward the building. “You’ve been my dinner date for two nights. Interested again?”

  Her shoulders dropped and she shook her head. “I think Penelope needs some company.” She gave him a wave and disappeared into the building.

  Sam sat there for a moment longer. Disappointment was an understatement of what he felt. And worse, after tomorrow Amelia Monroe would leave Parson’s Gulch, Oklahoma and head—somewhere else.

  He put the car into drive and pulled away from the building. She wouldn’t be the first woman he’d wanted to get to know better—maybe she wouldn’t be the last.

  Chapter Five

  It had been a long time since Amelia had been nervous. Usually she could compose herself with shoulders back and a tight jaw, but today was different.

  She’d dressed in a long skirt and a beaded tank which she belted at the waist. Penelope had actually gasped when she’d seen her.

  “You’re stunning. No wonder Adam fell in love with you,” she’d said as they’d maneuvered around each other in the small hotel room that morning.

  If only she knew he’d probably only seen her like this a few times. It was the strong woman type that he said he’d liked about her. But obviously he had a flair for feminine too. Looking at Penelope with her blonde curls and her curves and thinking about Vivian and her sophistication, Amelia wondered what he saw in her at all.

  Amelia parked her truck in front of the building where Sam’s office was. This would be a different side to the man she’d been spending so much time with. He’d have to be official and boring, she figured. Then she thought about him with his sunglasses on in those running shorts which had made his ass look so good—she had to clear her throat to clear her mind. He’d been nice to know, but in the next hour their short lived friendship would be over and she’d drive away from Parson’s Gulch for good.

  She looked at Penelope who was gripping tightly to her purse. “Are you okay? You’re not going to be sick are you?”

  Penelope shook her head. “I’m just afraid that other woman is going to yell at me. I honestly didn’t know about her or you. I just feel like I’ve done something so wrong.”

  “Just remember she’s in the same boat. She’s even more jilted than either of us. We just need to go in and hear what Sam has to say and then go our own ways.”

  She saw the threat of a tear in Penelope’s eye.

  “I’ll be sorry to not have you around,” she said as she lifted her head and looked at Amelia. “My baby is all I have. I just don’t know the first thing about being a mother.”

  Amelia felt the tightening in her chest and she knew what it was. It was the offer to help take care of her lodged inside of her.

  She smiled and then opened the door to the car. She’d see what happened in the next hour and then she could make up her mind on what she wanted to say to Penelope. After all, Amelia had nowhere to go either.

  Sam’s office was on the third floor and the elevator was out of order.

  By the time they’d reached his office Penelope didn’t look well at all.

  “Listen, there’s a restroom down the hall. Why don’t you go and freshen up. Splash some water on your face and just get yourself pulled together. I’m going to go in and tell Sam we’re here.”

  Penelope nodded and walked down the hall.

  Amelia stood outside the door that read S. JACKSON ATTORNEY AT LAW and sucked in a deep breath. She was about to face Vivian Monroe for the first time really. This would be the first time she’d hear her voice and surely there would be some blame. Normally Amelia would handle her anger with some sort of physical violence, but she couldn’t do that here. She needed composure. She was trained for that. Her mother was deeply embedded in her DNA.

  There was a part of her that knew seeing Vivian wasn’t what was making her so nervous—it was knowing this was the last time she’d see Sam.

  With a shaking hand, Amelia twisted the knob on the door and let herself into the office.

  She opened the door to the waiting room where a woman, who must have been in her seventies, sat behind a reception counter.

  “Mrs. Monroe?” the woman asked and Amelia thought that the woman had an easy job this morning. Everyone who walked through the door would answer with a yes.

  “Yes. I’m Amelia.”

  The woman smiled and stood from her seat. “Mr. Jackson asked to see you in his office.”

  Amelia plastered a smile on and followed the woman down the hall. They passed a board room where the door was only slightly open, but she saw the black dress and shiny high heels of a woman—Vivian Monroe.

  The smile on her face began to hurt, but she kept it in place.

  The woman tapped on the door and then opened it.

  Sam was standing behind his desk in a gray suit with a red tie. He had on glasses, which he promptly took off, but it didn’t stop her body heat from rising. God he was one sexy man.

  “Thank you, Mom.”

  The woman smiled and shut the door. Amelia quickly turned to see the woman disappear as the door closed and then turned back to Sam.

  “Mom?”

  He nodded. “She’s been at the firm longer than I have. My father started it before I was born.”

  “Oh.” She clasped her hands in front of her and noticed that he took a long look at her from head to toe and back again.

  “You look beautiful.”

  She could feel the heat in her cheeks and she wished she hadn’t reacted to that. “Thank you.”

  He moved across the office toward her, not picking up the stack of papers on his desk. His eyes were locked on hers.

  “I’ve been thinking. You said you really didn’t have anywhere else to go back to. You thought you needed a new place to start over.”

  Amelia felt the plastered smile diminish as her mouth fell open. She blinked and then moistened her lips. “Right.”

  Sam stepped in closer. His cologne, though applied lightly, was heavy in her nose. He was so close that for the first time she noticed the small mole just at the top of his dimple—accentuating his smart and sexy smile.

  He moved even closer, forcing her to take a step back which had her back flat against the office door. Her lips parted as she watched him move close enough, balancing his hand next to her head against the door.

  “I’d like you to think about staying in Oklahoma.” His voice had grown soft and warm.

  She swallowed hard. “Why?”

&
nbsp; The corner of his mouth lifted deepening the dimple. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about you the past few days and I’d like to get to know you better.”

  Her hands were pressed flat against the door now. She could have him on the floor broken into pieces in the matter of just a few seconds, but something told her this man would never be a threat—at least not physically.

  “This isn’t very professional is it?” she asked as he moved in even closer.

  “Least professional thing I’ve ever done. I’m crossing at least a dozen lines of ethics just having you in here with the door closed.”

  She could feel his breath on her cheek now. “Do you do this with all the women you represent?”

  “I’ve never done this to a woman ever.” His hand came to her hip. “And to do it to one that could kill me right now has my heart beating just a little too fast.”

  She couldn’t help it. She raised her hand to his chest to confirm his racing heart—he was right.

  “Why now? Why me?”

  “Can’t help myself. I can’t get you out of my head and I can’t let you walk out of that meeting today and drive away like you’re planning to do.”

  “So you’re going to seduce me?” She let her eyes lift to meet his.

  “Is it working?”

  “Yes,” she said as she finally took hold of his tie and pulled him to her.

  Sam’s breath stuck in his chest as his body was pulled against hers. The only balance he had was his hand still pressed against the door. The hand which he’d placed on her hip to entice Amelia now held tightly to her as her tongue passed through his lips.

  She had hold of his tie and her other hand wound up into his hair. This wasn’t how he’d planned this. He’d given a lot of consideration to the fact that he’d probably be in a fetal position on the floor having been kicked in the balls. They were aching, but not because she’d hurt him.

  He could lose his license. This was so wrong—and so right.

  The knock on the other side of the door had their bodies jar apart and he swallowed that air he’d been holding.

  “Yes?”

  “Mrs. Monroe and Mrs. Monroe are here and they are waiting for you and Mrs. Monroe.” He could hear the humor in his mother’s controlled voice.

  “I’ll be right there.” He looked down at Amelia who was looking up at him with eyes still hazed over from emotion. “There is a bathroom right over there and it opens into the hallway. Go gather yourself up and I’ll head across the hall.” He stood back up slowly and adjusted his tie.

  Amelia passed by him and walked to the bathroom.

  “Hey,” he called after her. “Are you driving away right after?”

  Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were swollen pink. Someone was going to notice.

  She didn’t answer. She only gave him a sexy grin and shut the door.

  Sam let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and sucked in another. With the back of his hand he wiped his lips, just in case she’d decided to wear lipstick with that getup she’d had on. He picked up the stack of papers and headed toward the door.

  When he opened it he could hear the sound of a chair as if someone stood and pushed it against the wall. The hair on the back of his neck rose as he heard Vivian Monroe’s voice rise over the blood which had been running through his ears.

  “What do you mean you’re Adam’s wife too?”

  He rolled his head from side to side to work the tension out of his neck.

  He was so going to hell for all of this.

  Chapter Six

  When Sam walked into the conference room Penelope was standing across the table from Vivian in tears. Her hands visibly shook and her teeth were chattering.

  And how had Amelia made it into the room faster than he had? He had only turned around to pick up his papers.

  She looked more like herself now. She’d somehow managed to run through that bathroom and tie her hair up in a ponytail—though still looking damn sexy in that skirt she had on.

  Vivian’s eyes locked on his. “Is this some kind of joke? Are you kidding me? How many more bimbos are going to flood in here and say they are married to my husband?” Her voice was loud and sharp. He had a headache brewing.

  “Mrs. Monroe, please have a seat. We will get this all sorted out.”

  He looked toward Amelia, who had her hands on Penelope’s shoulders and was easing her into a chair. She handed her a glass of water and waited until she’d sipped it to sit down herself.

  Sam was finding it hard to breathe though all of this.

  He set his stack of papers on the table and pulled out his chair.

  “First, I’d like to extend my condolences to you all. I know this isn’t what any of you expected.”

  Vivian had crossed her arms over her chest and locked her jaw. Her manicure was chipped which said to him that she’d been nervous. That made her a bit more human in his book.

  “Mrs. Vivian Monroe,” he said thinking it would make it easier to address them. “This is Amelia and Penelope—Monroe.”

  Vivian looked them both over and then focused her eyes back to the table. This was his signal to get it over with.

  Sam sorted through the pile of papers

  “I don’t understand this Mr. Jackson. Why are we all here?” Vivian’s voice was low and she still looked down at the table. “I haven’t heard of people having to go to a reading of a will in—forever. What is it that he didn’t tell me besides the obvious?”

  “Well, Mrs. Monroe, he changed his will before he left for Iraq.”

  That had Vivian Monroe’s head snapping up. “Changed it? Why would he do that?”

  Sam shifted a look toward the other two women at the table.

  Vivian’s nostrils flared as if she were holding back a rush of tears.

  “Can he do that? Is that allowed?”

  “Yes. It was his will.” Sam took the copies of the will and dispersed them among the women. “He had me draft this up prior to his leaving for Iraq. He also gave me this envelope to read after his funeral.” Sam swallowed hard. “Please know that he didn’t sit down and tell me he’d married three women. He asked me to assemble you all if he should die, but until I did—I was unaware of your connection.” Of course when he’d met him in Oklahoma City only a few months earlier he hadn’t anticipated this day would come so quickly.

  Already Vivian was tearing through the pages of the will. “Where are provisions for me and the kids? I’m not in here.”

  “Mrs. Monroe…”

  “Don’t Mrs. Monroe me. I have two growing children. I have a car payment. I have rent. All of these things have his name on it. All of these things I depend on have his name on it.”

  Sam nodded his head. “I understand.”

  He saw her eyes fill with tears and her lips purse tight. “It says he left everything to Amelia.”

  “What!?” Amelia picked up the copy of the will in front of her. “I don’t want this.”

  “Good. You shouldn’t have anything. How dare you move in on someone else’s husband like that?”

  “I did no such thing.”

  “I married him when I was twenty. I had years invested in that marriage. You ruined that.” She was looking right at Amelia whose face was growing darker in color, shaded by anger.

  “The moment I found out he was married I filed for divorce.”

  “Divorce? Your marriage wasn’t even legal.”

  Sam held up a hand and the envelope he’d torn open as the women began their banter. “Um, I think we’d better settle down.”

  “I would like to say my piece,” Amelia said directly to him. Her eyes were even darker than when he had kissed her and he knew this was her attack mode. Now he certainly wished he had more people in his office to help than just his mother.

  Amelia rested her hands on the table with her palms down. “I didn’t go out to steal your husband. I met a man and I fell in love. He asked me to marry him and I did. I never, and I mean never, would
have thought that he had a family somewhere else.”

  Vivian’s lips twitched. “What about you?” She nodded in Penelope’s direction. “You seriously didn’t know he was married too? You can’t be over nineteen.”

  Penelope batted her eyes quickly as the tears had already begun to fall. “I’m twenty-one.”

  “Oh, that’s so much better,” Vivian said with her hands in the air.

  “Leave her alone. She didn’t know about any of this,” Amelia warned.

  Vivian turned back toward Sam. “Listen. I was married to him for ten years. I have his two children. I’m not asking for millions of dollars. I’m not looking to settle everything with what he may or may not have had. But it was his wish that I stay home and raise our children and I did that. He can’t just go giving everything he has to someone else.”

  Sam took a piece of paper out of the envelope and slid it toward Vivian. She looked down as he did so and then back at him, her eyes open wide.

  “Why did he give that to you? Why do you have it?”

  “It was in this envelope,” Sam clarified. “I haven’t opened it until now.”

  Vivian sucked her lips in between her teeth and he could see her fight off the tears that would be there soon.

  “He never signed our marriage license.” The tears were now falling as she looked down at the paper. “We got married in the back yard just hours before he deployed for the very first time.” She sucked in a breath. “He took the license, tucked it into the pocket of his uniform, and said he’d finish it up. He kissed me goodbye and he was gone for nearly a year.”

  Vivian wiped at her cheeks and Sam handed her the box of tissue at his side.

  She gave him what he’d consider a grateful look and took one from the box.

  The other two women sat there with their eyes open wide as Vivian had spoken. The entire room had realized because he’d never filed the paperwork Vivian Monroe had only changed her name. She wasn’t legally married to Adam Monroe. Though Sam considered that common law.