by A. C. Arthur
As for Tim, Ty had ordered instant termination as a result of his inebriation, but HR suggested they send him for drug and alcohol testing first. Then they would add the test results to his file along with his notice of termination. All this became Brandon’s problem and had resulted in a stack of fifteen file folders on the edge of his desk, because Margaret’s emails from Doris Gettings had opened the door to a flood of compliance violations. Now, Brandon had to go through each of her files and all of her emails, printed and stored on their shared drive, to see what else he could uncover and fix before they got hit with hefty fines from the SEC.
Brandon would have been even more tense dealing with these issues if Amber were not still in town. She’d taken over the daily task of making sure his father ate three meals a day and took his medicine, all while speaking to potential investors and the chemist that was driving her crazy with ideas about some of the beauty products she wanted to offer. Brandon didn’t even waste time acknowledging that they had a very domestic set-up going on. Complete with the dog.
That thought made Brandon smile. At least until his cell phone rang.
Sitting up in the chair he saw that it was Bailey and answered immediately.
“First,” his sister began. “I do not appreciate being the last to know that you’re not only seeing someone, but that she’s staying with you at your apartment.”
“Bailey,” he started, but she continued talking, cutting him off.
“And second, what the hell? Where is this woman now? First she wants to know who the father of her child is and then she runs off and hides when it’s time for us to find out. Who does that?”
Brandon tried once again to speak, only to have his sister steam roll him with more words.
“Then, there’s the Brynne situation. Do you know she’s now not speaking to Keysa because she feels like Keysa is taking Uncle Bernard’s side? She left the house in Seattle and none of them know where she is. Why she called me out of the blue last night to tell me all this I have no clue. Brynne and I have never really been close. Actually, she’s never been close to any of the family. Anyway, she doesn’t want me to tell anyone where she is but she wants everyone to know she’s not lying in a ditch dead somewhere. “
Bailey huffed.
“Well aren’t you going to say something?” she asked, irritation clear in her voice.
“Oh, is it my turn to speak? I wasn’t sure,” he said.
“You’re not funny, Brandon.”
He laughed anyway.
“This is no laughing matter. What if Roslyn disappears forever? Now we’ll all have this hanging over our heads,” she said.
“Relax, they can do a DNA test with just the father and the child. It takes longer that way, but it can be done,” he told her. Brandon understood her frustration because he’d had it for a few seconds after reading the message himself. He also wanted to know if his father was Dane’s father.
“It’s already taken long enough,” she replied. “I can’t imagine not knowing who my parents are. Keysa said he seemed like an okay guy. You know, he wasn’t an asshole or anything like that.”
“I don’t know about nice, but everything went as cordially as it could,” he said, leaving out the fact that he’d been ready to rip the guy’s face off after the bombing incident at the house.
The house which had sustained substantial damage to the first floor and needed over a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of repair work done. Brandon still wasn’t convinced that Dane had no idea about what had happened to his father’s house and he was admittedly a bit skeptical about the guy saying he didn’t know where his mother was now. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about either situation.
“I guess that’s better than nothing,” Bailey told him. “This case is taking forever to be finished. We’re working with the FBI on this one because the guy we were hired to tail turned out to be involved with a diplomat that was killed two years ago.”
“Sounds intriguing,” Brandon replied.
“Not as intriguing as you and this new woman, who by the way, Keysa said is lovely and makes a killer glass of homemade lemonade.”
Brandon once again leaned back in his chair, turning in it so that his back was now to his closed office door. “She’s very nice. Jenise knows her.”
“Uhh huh, Keysa told me that too. She also said that she’s pretty and has a great sense of humor. Now that all the formal stuff is out of the way, I want you to tell me why she’s staying with you? Is this serious? Are you in love with her?”
“I’m not one of your suspects, Bailey. You don’t get to fire off questions and I answer them one-by-one.”
“Okay, well answer them all together,” she quipped.
Brandon grinned. He’d always enjoyed talking to his twin. It was unlike most brother and sister relationships, stronger, a more solid connection. He was glad he had her.
“She’s staying here because she came to visit me and I didn’t want her to stay at a hotel. As it turns out she’s been super helpful with dad who is already threatening to go back to work first thing Monday morning,” Brandon said with a shake of his head. “I don’t know if this is serious because I’ve never been in something serious before. As for being in love. How would I know?” he asked earnestly.
Bailey sighed. “You’re asking the wrong one, bro. I’ve never been in love and not trying to ever step into that trap. But you sound like you’re really into this woman. I wish I was there to meet her.”
“Maybe next time,” he said.
“So there’s going to be a next time? Meaning, she’s going to move in with you?”
Brandon thought about those questions long after he’d ended their conversation. He wasn’t sure if Amber was going to move in with him, or if they were serious. On paper, he knew that people would say he hadn’t known her that long, a couple of weeks did not classify as long. Neither did it mean that he didn’t know what type of woman she was and who she ultimately wanted to become. It didn’t mean that he couldn’t admit he enjoyed seeing her every day and sleeping with her every night.
Come to think of it, Brandon was ready to see her again already. He was more than ready to go home and see her smiling face. To pet that whining dog of hers and even to listen to his father talk about how soon he could go back to work. He stood from his desk, grabbed his briefcase and stuffed a few of those files inside. Then he was headed for the door. He was headed home…to his family.
Chapter 15
Two Weeks Later
Chicago
He didn’t want her to go. That’s what he’d said, as Amber recalled a few days after returning home.
“Stay with me, please.”
They’d just finished a long steaming shower where they’d made love and then showered and then made love again, calling for another shower only this time in lukewarm water. It didn’t matter, every muscle in Amber’s body was fluid as she walked from the bathroom into Brandon’s room where he’d moved her things after the first night she’d arrived in Houston. She’d slept with him in that king-sized bed for almost three weeks. Until she’d known it was time to go.
“This was only supposed to be a quick visit,” she replied. “I’ve had to go to the mall and buy clothes and I still have business to tend to.”
Amber had stayed in Houston because Albert needed help and so had Brandon. Father and son were stewing over a situation that neither of them could do anything about at the moment. She felt sorry for them and she’d wanted to help, so she stayed. She cooked and she kept Albert company when Brandon was at work. When Brandon came home, they had dinner together and had even begun going out for evening walks with Essie together. It had been fun and for the first time in a very long time Amber felt needed.
She’d also begun to feel like this might not be the best place for her after all.
“I can buy you all the clothes you need. You can use my home office to take care of whatever business you have. Just stay,” Brandon had continued.
>
They were standing on the balcony just off his dining room. It was already night and there were some cars passing the apartment building. Couples going out on dates, she thought. Parents taking their kids to a movie possibly. Family things.
“Essie misses her bed,” she told him. “And my family hasn’t seen me for almost a year and then I disappear again so soon. My dad’s texting me every day.”
“If you don’t want to stay with me, Amber, just say so.”
He’d sounded dejected, but then not. Moving away from her Brandon had leaned against the railing, folding his arms over his chest.
“It’s not that simple,” she said.
“Sure it is. Stay if you want to. Go if you don’t.” He’d shrugged and she’d become angry.
“Look, you might be used to telling people at the office what to do, but I don’t take orders from you or anyone else.”
“No,” he told her. “You don’t. Because if you did, we wouldn’t be arguing. You’d be staying.”
“I get to choose,” she told him. “I get to choose what is good or bad for me.”
“And I’m bad for you?” he asked. “Since when?”
Since he’d shown her a world in stark contrast to what she’d lived through with Billy. No, she wasn’t going to compare the two men, there was no comparison. Still, she’d vowed to make better decisions. Staying here this long hadn’t been one of them. She liked Brandon, a lot. Too much. But it could go wrong and she couldn’t lose herself in a man again. She didn’t think she would survive another time. So Amber needed some space. It was best for her to leave and to go on about her daily living, to work towards achieving her goals.
“I’m sure you probably don’t understand and I’m not saying that this, what we have, is over. It’s just time for me to go home,” she’d finished.
He hadn’t said another word about it as they stood on the balcony and that night they’d made love slowly, almost as if they would never get the chance again. Afterwards, Amber lay in his arms thinking of how she would feel if that were true. She would survive, she thought as dawn began to break. As would Brandon, she figured. They were both adults and both capable of accepting what could and could not be.
That had been two days ago and now Amber was home. She had a meeting today with a potential investor named Wade Banks. After sharing her idea for the new business with her agent, she’d received Wade’s business card and had called him immediately after her successful meetings in Miami. He had been out of the country then, but now he was back and he’d made a stop in Chicago just to meet with her. Amber needed to be totally on her game for today’s meeting. She did not need to be thinking about Brandon and what may or may not still be going on between them. She hadn’t heard from him since she’d been home and that was okay. Right?
Amber took her time dressing. Business casual was what she decided to aim for. Nothing too flashy because she wanted him to take her seriously and always something that accentuated all her good body parts, while camouflaging the bad ones. A lovely seafoam green pencil skirt paired with a black sleeveless blouse that had a cute little flair at the waist and a black and white striped jacket. Her shoes, simple black pumps, while her green and black purse and green tiered necklace gave her the little bit of whimsy she loved to add to her wardrobe. She’d pulled her hair back into a neat and very professional chignon and her make-up was light except for the bold slash of green blended in seamlessly with a more natural gold colored eye shadow. Gold button earrings finished off the outfit.
Looking in the mirror—side view, front view, side again, then partial back view—she insured that everything was smooth, no lines showing, no bulges. From the small crate near the bathroom where she always placed Essie when she had to go out, her best buddy barked her appreciation.
“Thanks, sweetie,” Amber said to the pooch before grabbing her purse and leaving the bedroom.
In the living room she picked up the leather strapped briefcase she’d purchased a few weeks ago and checked it to make sure her portfolio, business plan and letters of recommendation were inside. Not only was her agent fully behind her and this idea, but the modeling agency that had originally signed her in the beginning of her career thought it was a fabulous idea and was prepared to partner with Amber on the advertising aspect of this venture. She looked inside her purse to make sure she had everything in there as well, car keys, wallet, lipstick, mints, cell phone. On impulse she pulled out her phone and looked at its screen. No text messages and no missed calls. Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, Amber dropped that phone back into her purse and headed for the door.
Forty minutes later Amber was pulling up to the curb at the Rosebud on Rush restaurant where Wade had agreed to meet with her. She grabbed her briefcase and purse from the passenger seat and said a quick prayer before stepping out of the car and taking the ticket the valet extended to her. With her smile already affixed Amber walked with total confidence toward the restaurant. That confidence faltered suddenly and she stopped.
Without knowing why Amber looked around her at that point. It was a Friday afternoon and the Magnificent Mile was busy with the hustle and bustle of shoppers and tourists and on this particular corner, persons who were hungry and wanted to get into the restaurant. That was the key, she thought as she looked up the street and down, one more time, there were lots of people out here. So the thought that someone, any one of them really, could be watching her was ridiculous. Still, the feeling of being stared at was there and it was strong.
“Amber?”
She jumped at the voice and the light touch of a hand on her shoulder. Embarrassing heat fused her cheeks when she turned to look into the piercing blue eyes of Wade Bassett Banks, III. There was a file folder on her desktop with Wade’s bio, a history of his family and his picture. She’d done her homework before this meeting. It had never occurred to her that she may have needed to take a Zanac or something to calm the frayed nerves she hadn’t even realized she was harboring as well.
“I’m sorry,” Wade immediately said and dropped his hand from her arm. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Oh no, I mean I was just thinking about something and…well, hello,” Amber finally managed, trying valiantly to get herself together.
Wade grinned. A warm and wide grin that displayed straight white teeth against his olive toned skin. He was even more handsome in person, she thought, with his inky black hair and strong jaw covered lightly with a neatly trimmed beard. There was a dimple in his chin that was deep enough that the sprinkle of hair couldn’t hide and when he smiled, well, she just smiled right back.
“I have a table for us already,” Wade told her. “I hope you don’t mind sitting out here, but I thought it was too nice of a day to be cooped up inside.”
“I agree,” Amber said as she walked beside him toward the table.
He pushed her chair in when she sat and then took his seat across from her.
“So I’m very anxious to hear about your ideas and plans,” he told her. “But I must admit that I’m starving. Can we eat first?”
Amber hoped her quick giggle didn’t give away the fact that she too was starving. Nerves and worries had kept her from having more than a granola bar and two glasses of orange juice for breakfast this morning. Now, at just a little after two in the afternoon, she was quite hungry.
They chatted easily over chicken Florentino with a pinot noir that Wade declared was nowhere near as good as his family’s.
“My family has a vineyard in Napa Valley,” he told her after ordering glasses of water for them when they were finished with the meal.
Amber was just wiping her hands on her napkin when she replied, “I know, I did a little research. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not,” he said. “That’s a smart thing to do in business.”
“I intend to be very smart about this endeavor.”
“I’m sure you do, Amber. I have to say that I researched you as well and I’m so exci
ted to see someone taking a stand against the stereotypes. You’ve created a brand, one that all plus size women can relate to.”
“That’s part of my goal,” she told him and went on to discuss her vision for her products.
“Amazing,” he said fifteen minutes later when she’d completed her presentation. “I’m in.”
“Really?” Amber asked. “Are you sure?”
Wade grinned again, he did that a lot and Amber suspected it drove women crazy. Unfortunately, she still had another man’s smiling face on her mind.
“I’m positive,” Wade replied. “To be honest I pretty much had my mind made up before this meeting. I’d already spoken to a few people at the Foundation about you and like I said, I like what you’re trying to do. I want to be a part of it.”
Amber could not contain her excitement. With the money that she and her sisters had pooled together and now Wade’s commitment, Embolden—what her and her sisters had decided to call their cosmetics and beauty products line—would be up and running by this time next year. She was practically floating as she slipped into her car and drove toward her parents’ house where she planned to share her great news. But when Amber turned down the familiar street toward the house and stopped at a stop sign, she noticed a car behind her.
It was a white car with dark tinted windows. She noticed it because as she’d tipped the valet when he’d returned her vehicle to her at the restaurant, a white car with tinted windows had driven past. Then again, a few blocks away when Amber had to slam on her brakes because a squirrel had decided to dart across the street in front of her, she’d looked through her rearview mirror and had seen what she now thought was the same white car right behind her.
She frowned as that uneasy feeling once again engulfed her. Reaching over to the passenger seat she grabbed her purse and found her phone. Dialing the first number on her memory list, she spoke quickly.
