by Jill Sanders
Since he’d been living with Aiden while he was attending school, he’d seen her more than he’d hoped. Especially since her parents had taken a trip to Europe and Aiden was in charge of watching his sisters. Which meant, they were always around. Ashley had still been in pigtails and shorts, but Amber. Amber had turned into a woman that summer. One Tom instantly desired.
A week before she was due to start school, he walked out of his bathroom with only a towel hanging on his hips to find Amber sitting on his sofa. When she saw him, she stood up, her eyes running over his entire body like she knew what she was doing to him under the towel.
“Where’s Aiden and Ashley?” he’d asked, frowning at how she was dressed. This time the skirt was grey and the top was white. He could have sworn she hadn’t been wearing a bra and he felt his mouth water and his hands itch to run over the skin he saw above the low neckline. He watched her move closer to him as if he’d been hypnotized.
“They had to go back to my parents’ house to get Ashley’s paints.” Her eyes had watched him closely.
He turned to head into his room when Amber’s hand fell on his, stopping him.
“Do you want something?” she asked, her tongue darting out to lick her lower lip. He watched the move.
He didn’t remember moving or even making the decision to kiss her, but suddenly she’d been in his arms, her chest pressed up against his bare, wet one as his mouth had taken hers. He’d been a little too rough, a little too demanding.
When he’d pulled back, her white shirt had been soaked from his shower water and he could see that she hadn’t been wearing anything underneath. Seeing her nipples pucker for him, he’d lost it again and pushed her up against the wall as his hands traveled over that sexy body of hers.
Her arms had wrapped around him, pulling him closer as she gave as well as he took.
“My god,” he’d groaned as his hand hiked up her skirt and found her fully bare underneath, and wet for him. “My god,” he repeated, diving his fingers into her heat and covering her mouth as she groaned with pleasure.
Just then, they heard the key in the door, and jerked apart. Before Aiden had the front door to the apartment opened, Tom locked himself back in the bathroom, minus his towel, which was probably still on the floor of the hallway where Amber had pulled it from his hips. He’d moved out of Aiden’s apartment the next week and had been trying to avoid Amber ever since.
“You’re deep in thought,” she said as he drove them back to her place. She’d ridden to the baby shower with her sister and asked him to take her home.
“Just thinking.” He sighed and smiled at her, then reached over and took her hand in his, and raised it to his lips.
“Oh?” she asked.
He chuckled and shook his head, and decided that some memories were better left in the past. “About how much you like football.”
Chapter 11
Amber felt the nerves returning as she looked across the car at Tom. She was being stupid. After all, their relationship was progressing smoothly. That’s what it was, right? She kept playing it over in her mind. A real full-blown, honest-to-god relationship. Like as in boyfriend-girlfriend. What she’d always hoped and dreamed of having with Tom. Of course it was.
After all, there was no way Tom thought of her as just a casual sex partner. Tom didn’t do casual sex partners. None that she’d ever known about. Glancing over at him from the corners of her eyes, she thought about it.
“You don’t do casual sex, do you?” she asked.
If he’d had a drink, she was pretty sure he would have spewed it all over the dash of the car. No matter how much he loved the thing.
“My god, what brought that on?” He turned to her as he parked the car.
She shrugged. “Just trying to see where I fit in.” She fiddled with her fingers. This particular role in the movie called for her to wear the same pink nail polish for all of shooting and it was driving her nuts not to change colors. But still, she liked the soft color against her skin.
His finger pulled her chin up until she was looking into his blue eyes.
“No, this isn’t just casual.” He leaned in and placed his lips on hers. “To be honest, I’m not sure exactly what this is, but it’s anything but casual.” He smiled at her. “Now, invite me up.”
She smiled and nodded.
They walked, hand in hand, through the lobby. Gary nodded at them as they walked by.
She felt silly having a guard sit in the lobby twenty-four seven just because she’d stupidly forgotten to get a visitor’s credentials and to ask him to leave the delivery at the main desk. She should have known better.
But still, Laura had insisted, and so had Marcus when he’d found out from Laura. He’d actually hired a few extra guards for around the set. Which had the other cast members whispering. They all believed the security was for Kevin Day. She kept her mouth shut and let them believe it.
When they walked into her condo, she was shocked to see Laura sitting on her sofa. “There you are.” She stood and stopped and her smile fell away when she saw Tom standing beside her.
Laura was a middle-aged woman who prided herself on perfection. That and making sure her clients were taken care of, no matter the cost or the situation. Since signing with her, Amber felt like she had actually hired another mother instead. The woman texted or called her at least four times a week. She usually showed up on set and made sure Amber was completely happy with whatever was going on. Amber didn’t mind the attention since she knew that she handled all of her small list of high-profile clients the same way.
“Who’s this tall drink of water?” Laura asked. She was dressed in dark slacks and a tight wine-colored sweater, which hugged her unnatural curves and showed off the assets for which she’d undoubtedly paid.
“Tom, this is Laura Kindling, my agent. Laura, Tom Albert.”
Laura’s dark eyebrows rose slightly. “The Tom Albert?” Laura’s brown eyes moved to Amber, who nodded quickly and felt her face heat. She knew Laura knew all about Tom and about their past together. “Well, Tom, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Her agent glided across the room and held out her hand for Tom to shake.
Tom took Laura’s hand. “I’ve heard a few things about you.” He smiled. “I hear you’re the woman to thank for the hulk downstairs.”
Laura laughed at Tom’s description of the man made of boulders in her lobby.
“Yes, had I known he was that impressive, I would have had him shipped to California for my own private ... use.” She smiled. “Now, it looks like I’m interrupting the ending of your night.” She started to turn.
“No, actually,” Tom broke in. “I’ve had a very, very long day.” He turned to Amber. “And I can tell Amber has as well.” He leaned down and placed a light kiss on her lips, then nodded to Laura. “It was nice meeting you.”
“I have Wednesday off. They have a production day,” Amber said, opening the door for Tom.
“I’ll rearrange a few things. How about driving up to Red Rocks for the day?”
“Sounds perfect.” She leaned up on her toes and kissed him again, this time taking her time and enjoying the kiss no matter who was watching.
“Wowee, girl”—Laura fell back onto the sofa, all pretense of professionalism fading, as she waved her hand in front of her face like she was too hot— “you said he was good-lookin’ you didn’t tell me he was Greek god good-lookin’.” Her southern accent came out slightly. She’d heard once that Laura was originally from Mississippi.
Amber giggled, then peeled off her heels and walked to the fridge to grab a bottle of wine. Because she knew Laura would want some as well.
Setting the two glasses down, she poured, then clanked Laura’s glass to hers. “To Greek gods.”
They both drank, then she tucked her legs underneath her and turned to Laura. “Okay, spill. Why are you here?”
Laura’s smile fell slightly. “There’s something brewing.”
Amber’s eyebrows shot up in
question. “Okay,” she said slowly. “What?”
Laura set her glass down and turned to her a little more. “After getting off the phone with you last week, I had one of my guys do a little research.” She reached down and flipped open a folder that was sitting on her coffee table. There were pictures of Marcus in there—Marcus and his wife, Kim. From what she could tell, it appeared that they were fighting. Marcus had a scowl on his face and Kim appeared to be crying. Then there were pictures of her and Marcus, and even some of her and Tom. Some in the Thai place, others in the parking garage.
Her head whirled and her stomach turned. Someone had been watching them.
“Where’s the shot the guy took of me in my nightgown?”
Laura shook her head. “Not sure, but if it’s the same guy, I’m sure it’ll surface soon.”
Amber came back to the picture of Marcus and Kim. They were clearly unhappy and she knew why.
“From history, we know that movies can get a bad rep when there’s scandal involved. I mean, look at what happened to”—she held up her hand to start ticking off names of movies, but Amber stopped her before she got one out.
“I know.” She glanced down at the photos and felt her heart break slightly at the sadness in Marcus’s eyes. Then set them down. “What has this got to do with me?”
“I think”—she paused and took another sip of her wine— “that Kim hired a PI to follow Marcus around. She suspects ... that he’s cheating.”
Amber sighed and closed her eyes. She knew there were some secrets worth keeping. “Great.”
“So”—Laura took another sip— “is it true?”
Amber’s eyes flew open. “How would I know?” She used all of her skills as an actress to cover her anger.
“Easy.” Laura patted her knee. “After seeing the sexy Greek god”—she nodded back towards her front door— “and how he wanted to swallow you whole, I can tell there’s something more between the two of you. I just thought you should know about these.” Amber waited, tilting her head slightly. “Maybe you should avoid being seen alone with Marcus. At least for a while.” Laura frowned into her glass.
Amber took another drink of her wine.
“Okay, besides, I just had to see this place for myself.” She got up and walked over to the windows, then whistled. “Nice view.”
“You should see it at sunset,” she added, knowing that something else was bothering Laura.
Laura turned. “I will. I’m sticking around for a few nights.”
Amber held in a sigh. “You’re welcome to stay—”
“Good, because”—she nodded to her suitcase sitting near the bar in the kitchen and smiled— “I wasn’t planning on paying for a hotel.”
Amber laughed. “Of course not.” She wrapped her arm around her friend. “Make yourself at home.”
“Already did.” She clanked her glass to Amber’s again, then sipped.
Wednesday couldn’t come fast enough, Tom thought Monday morning, as he felt like throwing his keyboard across the room. The damn thing had run out of batteries yet again. The fifth time this year. Why the hell did he need a wireless keyboard when all it did was sit on his desk and drain the double Cs?
“Jenna,” he said, getting up from his desk. “I’m heading over to Best Buy.” He grabbed his coat and stormed out. He didn’t know a lot about computers, but he knew he could probably pick a wired keyboard that would be better than the cordless one he had now.
When he walked into the store and finally found the row of keyboards, he stared at them, dumbly.
“Can I help you?” someone said next to him.
“Uh, yeah.” He turned to the middle-aged man standing next to him. The guy had a heavy beard and no hair on his head. “I need a keyboard. With a wire.”
“Okay, USB or PS/2?”
Tom laughed. “USB. Do they make PS/2 keyboards anymore?”
“You’d be surprised. A lot of the old stuff is coming back as vintage.”
Tom shook his head. “How do I know what kind?” He motioned to the hundred or so keyboards in front of him.
“Well, these over here are all wireless, so”—he moved down to the end of the aisle— “your choices are cut in half.” He pointed to the line where it was clear his choices were.
“Okay, good to know. Now, how do I tell from these?”
“Give them a try.” He nodded. “Let me know if you have any other questions.”
Tom walked up and started trying them out like he was sitting at his desk. He found two he liked. One came with a new mouse, which he could use. The other had a built-in number pad, unlike the first one. Making his choice, he took the keyboard to the front and paid. When he walked out of the store, bag in hand, he stopped a few feet from his car when he noticed a very thick man leaning against its hood.
“Can I help you?” He almost growled it.
“Sure can. Are you Tom Albert?” he said, acting like he was sitting on a clunker instead of a forty-thousand-dollar Tesla. Tom’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes.” He moved closer.
“Good. You’ve been served.” The man handed him an envelope and then strolled away.
Tom glared after him, then made sure his hood wasn’t dented in.
Tossing the envelope onto the passenger seat, he threw the new keyboard on top of it and drove off, wishing for once that he could peel out of the parking lot with a loud motor; instead, the Tesla was silent as it drove away.
When he got back to his office, he waved the envelope, still unopened, at Jenna and told her to call his lawyer.
Less than an hour later, Roy Blackstone, PA, walked into his office. “Jenna called. What can I do for you?”
The man reminded Tom so much of his father it was almost scary. Of course, the reason was that Roy and his father had been best friends all their lives. He supposed that Aiden and he had a lot of similar traits as well at this point.
He tossed the still-unopened envelope to Roy. “Got served at freaking Best Buy today.”
Roy’s bushy eyebrows rose. “For what?” He pulled open the folder, then laughed. “Buddy, you’ve been had.” He tossed a stack of photos down onto his desk.
Tom frowned down at them.
“Looks like someone’s messing with you. Didn’t you open it before calling me?”
Tom was too stunned to answer. He flipped through the stack of black-and-white photos, then repeated the process. Still unable to understand what he was seeing.
“Did you get a look at the guy who delivered these?” Roy sat down across from him and tossed his legs up onto the desk. Roy had been to his office more times than he could count and felt right at home.
Shaking his head, he picked up the envelope and turned it upside down. A note fell out.
“You’ve been warned,” was written in bold letters.
“What the hell does this mean?” he asked, handing Roy the note.
“Beats me,” Roy said, handing it back to him, then crossing his arms over his chest. “You know, in your granddad’s day, he always had a bottle of scotch handy.”
Tom glanced up, then pulled out the bottle from his lower drawer and tossed the note into the drawer, but continued looking at the pictures.
“Good man,” Roy said, pouring two glasses. Then handing one to Tom.
“Who’s the guy?”
“Beats me. I think it might be Marcus Burgess, but I can’t tell from this angle,” he said. The photos were so focused on Amber, the man was secondary and fuzzy in most of the shots.
“Is that Amber or Ashley? I could never tell those two apart.”
“Amber,” he said, feeling his heart sink.
“Well, the question then is ... why deliver these to you?” Roy took a sip of the liquid.
“Amber and I have been seeing each other since she arrived in town,” he said, tossing the photos down onto his desk.
“Oh,” Roy set his glass down. “Hey, look. These could be old.”
Tom shook his head. “No, her ha
ir is blonde.”
“Isn’t it blonde all the time?”
“Not this blonde.” He ran a finger over the image on his desk. Then reached for his phone.
“Well, looks like you’re busy ...” Roy started to get up.
“Hang on.” Tom set his phone down. “Before you go, I have a few things for you.” He pulled out a large folder and tossed it across the way. “See what you can do with this. It’s a property in Boulder.”
Roy opened the file, then nodded. “Thinking of opening another place?”
Tom nodded, but didn’t look up.
“I’ll get back to you in a few weeks.” He stopped, glancing over his shoulders. “You sure about this?”
Tom nodded again without looking up. His eyes still glued to the image of Amber, holding another man’s hand in a very intimate way as she looked at the guy with pure love in her blue eyes.
Chapter 12
Amber was soaking wet and freezing. The last shot of the day hadn’t gone well, and had required twenty takes. Which sucked because it was a ten-minute shot of nothing but dialogue of her on a supposed phone call, while she stood in the rain in the dying sunlight. Which of course was all brought to life thanks to Hollywood’s magic.
The water that fell over her, dropped over her and her only. Soaking her clothes through and through. The phone, a very soaked iPhone that didn’t actually work, was so cold, she almost dropped it several times as her fingers numbed up.
Sure, between each take she stood in front of a large heater, but nothing she did could allow the warmth to flood back into her bones.
“Honey, we can call it?” Marcus said, taking her hands in his, and rubbing them a few times.
“N-no.” She stopped her teeth from chattering. “I’ve got this.”
He looked into her eyes, then nodded. “Last time. You’re freezing.”
She smiled. “I’m supposed to be freezing,” she said. “Remember?”
She nailed the next one, perfectly. Arguing into the phone as she walked through the park, crying when she needed to, begging, then ending the call as she sat along the bench, alone.
