Amber by Night

by Sharon Sala

  Seth shoved a tall glass of cola in front of Tyler. “Are you all right? I didn’t think you needed anything alcoholic. You looked like you were getting sick.”

  He shrugged, unwilling to admit how she’d rattled him. “I’m okay. I don’t know what…”

  Something lacy and black caught the corner of his eye. Perfume wafted across his nostrils. Even in this din, even through the smoke, he smelled her coming.

  Amelia walked up behind him and set a small dish of peanuts on the table to go with their drinks.

  When her arm came across his line of vision, he jumped as if he’d been shot.

  Already nervous at being in such close proximity to a walking disaster, Amelia leaned down once more, shouting to be heard. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Tyler stared, once again lost in those blue-green eyes and that cloud of chestnut curls drifting around her face. If she bit her lip again he was in serious trouble.

  “That’s all right, miss…?” Seth Hastings waited with a smile on his face, expecting her to fill in the blanks with her name. She obliged.

  “My name is Amber,” she answered. “Will there be anything else?”

  Her name is Amber! Tyler grabbed her arm. “Yes.”

  She waited, and then waited some more as his fingers tightened around her wrist. She began to panic again. What if he was beginning to…? And then he shouted in her ear.

  “Bring me some nuts.”

  Seth’s grin widened perceptibly, which did not help Tyler’s unraveling composure.

  Amelia looked at him as if he’d grown horns and carefully pushed the dish toward him that she’d just placed on the table.

  He looked down at the salty, brown nuts and reluctantly let go of her wrist.

  “Oh…uh, thanks.”

  Seth rolled his eyes. This was getting better by the minute.

  “Will there be anything else?” Amelia asked. She was almost afraid to wait for the answer.

  “If there is, we’ll yell,” Seth said. “And thanks…Amber. You’re a doll.”

  Tyler frowned. He didn’t think he liked the fact that Seth just paid the woman a compliment. He grabbed his cola and downed it in one gulp, watching that bobbing bustle over the rim of his glass as Amber walked away.

  Seth grinned. “Old girlfriend?”

  “I wish,” Tyler muttered, and then grinned back at his friend’s owlish leer. “Just shut the hell up, Seth. I haven’t signed that contract yet. If you keep this up, I still may not.”

  Seth pursed his lips into a comical expression of propriety and calmly lifted the bowl of nuts from the table.

  “Here you go, Tyler, have a peanut.”

  Two

  It was almost closing time, and without doubt, the evening had been the longest of Amelia’s life. The relief of knowing that Tyler Savage hadn’t recognized her had left her weak and shaken. It was her first close call since she’d started living a double life.

  She fidgeted with the top of her suit as she gathered up her gear. With one last tug at its too-snug fit, she emptied her tips onto the bar and began to count. At least one good thing was coming out of this deceit. Her car fund was growing. At the other end of the bar, Raelene was performing a similar routine while employees began to clean up.

  And then a voice in Amelia’s ear made her jump. Her suit slipped a notch as she whirled around. Openmouthed, she clutched her suit with one hand and a wad of bills with the other as Tyler Savage leaned forward and poked a dollar bill lightly into the crevasse between her breasts.

  “You dropped this,” he explained, with an obliging grin.

  Amelia gasped, and yanked it out with a flourish. “Thank you,” she muttered, and spun around, anxious that he not see her so closely, face-to-face.

  “Amber…?”

  Her heart skipped a beat as his deep, sexy drawl lingered in her ears.

  “What?” she muttered, and began stuffing money into her bag. She had to get away from him and she had to do it now. This situation was making her nervous.

  “Would you go out with me sometime? Maybe to dinner…a movie…or dancing, wherever you wanted. You name it.”

  He waited anxiously for her answer, remembering the hour he’d spent after Seth had gone home just watching her wait tables. For some strange reason, she didn’t seem as if she was a stranger, although he knew for a fact that he’d never seen her before tonight.

  While he waited for an answer, Amelia went into a panic.

  Oh my Lord! He’s just asked me out on a date! What do I do? All these years he’s ignored my existence and now he decides to notice me? Now when I can’t do a darned thing about it? It’s not fair! And then it dawned on her that he hadn’t really asked her out, he’d asked Amber. It was a frustrating and sobering thought.

  Of course, had Amelia been honest with herself, she would have admitted that her own personal appearance had nothing to do with Amber’s. As Amelia she’d done nothing to attract his, or any other man’s attention. It wasn’t entirely Tyler Savage’s fault that he didn’t know Amelia Beauchamp existed. But as Amber, she didn’t have to do anything to attract attention. Her pretty face and that shiny red suit were enough enticement for any man with the inclination.

  “We don’t know each other,” she muttered, as she stuffed the last of her tips away. “I don’t think that a date would be proper.”

  Tyler couldn’t believe what he’d heard. He’d expected any number of answers, but a concern about propriety had not been one of them. In his experience, propriety and barmaids had little in common.

  He leaned forward, just shy of touching her again. “We’d get to know each other a whole lot better if you’d agree to go out with me.”

  Amelia groaned. His voice was as compelling as the man himself. She closed her eyes and then shuddered. There was no way on God’s earth that she could go out with him. He might suspect, and if he did, she was ruined. With a dejected sigh, she looked up.

  “Thanks all the same,” she said softly, “but I don’t think it’s such a good idea.”

  Tyler died in her eyes and was resurrected by the smile on her lips. Her mouth was moving. He knew it because he could feel her breath against his face, but focusing on her words was impossible. And then she started to walk away.

  “Does this mean no?”

  Another soft smile slid into place in spite of her intention to remain aloof. “It means just what I said, mister. It’s not a good idea.” In fact, you have no idea how dangerous it would be.

  “My name is Tyler…Tyler Savage. And I’m real good at changing people’s minds.”

  At that, he reached out and gently tucked a stray curl back in place that had been teasing at the corner of her eye.

  Amelia held her breath as his finger stroked against her temple. She was afraid he wouldn’t stop with a touch and afraid that she wouldn’t have the guts to say no again.

  Tyler ached to hold her. The lost, almost vulnerable look that kept appearing and disappearing on her face was nearly his undoing. As aloof as she seemed, he sensed insecurity and fear were the true reasons for her behavior.

  “Okay, you win…this time. But I’ll be back, and I’ll need a better excuse than the one you used tonight. Okay?”

  Amelia let out a pent-up sigh as she watched him walk away. “Well, I never,” she muttered, and then realized that was just what was wrong with her. Or at least she hadn’t for a long time. If she had…at least recently…she wouldn’t be so hesitant to take the man up on an offer she’d been praying would come.

  “Ooh, honey,” Raelene muttered. “Why did you let that one get away? You know what they say about him, don’t you?”

  “Him, who?” Amelia had to play it safe and pretend that they’d just met. It wouldn’t do to admit that she’d spent the better part of the past eight years of her life transposing Tyler’s face onto the heroes in her romance books.

  Raelene stared. This woman floored her. She’d never understand what was going on inside
that head. She knew good and well who Amber really was. She also knew that “Amber” had to know who Tyler Savage was. He’d lived in Tulip his entire life. Nevertheless, this wasn’t her game to play. So instead of arguing the issue, she shrugged and pointed.

  “Him…Tyler Savage. He’s one hunk of man and if the stories about him are true, one hot lover, too.”

  Amelia groaned and wished she was physically able to kick herself in the rear. It boggled the mind that she’d turned him and his reputation down. Her shoulders drooped as she stared at the empty doorway through which he’d disappeared.

  “Oh, I’ve heard all of that, but so what if it’s true? He wouldn’t be interested in me.” For the first time since her and Raelene’s relationship had begun, Amelia as good as admitted she was a fraud. She met Raelene’s knowing gaze. “Not the real me, anyway.”

  Raelene grinned. “There’s more to the real you than I think you’re willing to admit.” She wiggled her eyebrows, and her hips wiggled in unison as if they were somehow connected.

  Amelia laughed at her friend’s honesty while being secretly disgusted with herself for not being as sincere. She was desperate to go out with Tyler despite the fact that he might recognize her. She also knew that it wasn’t fear of being recognized that kept her from accepting him. It was fear of what she’d lose if she did. He was the kind of man who took women’s hearts and then kept them.

  Raelene patted her on the arm. “Come on, honey. Let’s call it a night.”

  A short while later, a stray dog barked at Raelene’s car as it entered Tulip. It belched to a stop two blocks over from the Beauchamp residence.

  Amelia winced. “Thanks for the ride, and I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Raelene yawned and then grinned wearily. “Honey, it’s already tomorrow.”

  “How true,” Amelia said, and then bolted from the car, trading the sidewalks for the darker, less obvious alleyways, as she headed for home.

  In no time, she’d entered the house, breathing a quiet sigh of relief as she locked the front door behind her. Once again, another night of deception had passed undetected.

  Yet her conscience would not let her forget that tonight, for just a moment, she’d thought the charade was over. Because of it, a man whom she’d dreamed of for years had asked her out and she’d had to say no.

  But, he didn’t ask me, Amelia fumed. He asked that damned Amber.

  She didn’t even wonder about the futility of being envious of her own self. She was too frustrated and weary. And she thought she might be coming down with something. There was a strange ache hanging around her heart.

  Tyler pulled a clump of peanuts from the ground, searching the underside of the leaves for signs of leaf spot. He pinched at the small, immature nuts hanging like little ornaments on the ends of the plant roots, checking constantly for nematodes as well as the size of the kernel inside the soft shell, hoping that he didn’t find more pops than nuts.

  He’d paid to have the crops sprayed just last week and crop dusters didn’t come cheap. He looked up at the clear blue sky and the tufts of gathering cumulus clouds, shading his eyes beneath the brim of his cap and searching the far horizon for the impending signs of rain that the weatherman had promised earlier this morning.

  He began to walk the rows, oblivious to the irrigation system in operation. His long legs moved in rhythm to the pulsing jets of water spraying his body and the crops. He was concerned with the tiny, dark green clumps of peanut plants aligning themselves in perfect unending order down the fields.

  Beneath the soil, a bountiful harvest was growing, feeding itself from the rich nutrients in the Georgia loam. And yet for the first time in his life, he felt no satisfaction in the knowledge that he was standing on money in the ground. All he could think about was sundown. And a nightclub outside of Savannah called The Old South. And a woman called Amber.

  “Hey, boss,” a man yelled. “You want us to shut this down?”

  Tyler looked up in surprise. For a moment, he’d actually forgotten where he was. He waved to the man in charge of the irrigation crew.

  “May as well,” he said, looking up at the sky with a practiced eye. The building thunderheads were a promising sign of rain. “Give it a rest. Weatherman said rain tonight and if it comes a good one, maybe we won’t have to water the fields for a while.”

  “You’re the boss,” Elmer said. And did as he was told.

  “Some boss,” Tyler mumbled to himself. “I’m not even in charge of my good sense. Damn stupid that I’m trying to run this farm, too.”

  “What did you say?” Elmer asked.

  “Oh, hell, Elmer,” Tyler laughed. “Ignore me. I’m just talking to myself.”

  Elmer laughed. “Yeah, farming will do that to you. I’ll tell you what’s wrong with you, though. You need to get you a woman.”

  When Tyler grinned, Elmer held up his hands in surrender. “Not that kind of woman, Ty. You need one to come home to. You’re past thirty years old and still unmarried. Dammit man, we need to get you out of circulation. I got a daughter who giggles every time you drive by. I’d hate like hell to have to whip your ass when she turns twenty-one. You need to get yourself involved.”

  An image of a tall, voluptuous woman in tight red spandex flashed before his eyes. The last thing he was interested in was one of Elmer Tolliver’s moony-eyed daughters. Tyler was already involved. He just had to find a way to convince Amber to participate.

  Raelene gasped and then nudged Amelia sharply beneath the ribs. “Ohmigod! Would you look at that? He’s back! You’re gonna have to break down and put that man out of his misery, girl. What is it now…four…five times he’s been back?”

  Amelia sighed, trying to ignore the way her heart raced and her stomach tied itself into little knots every time that man entered the room.

  “Six,” Amelia muttered. “And wouldn’t you know it. He’s at one of my tables again.”

  Raelene laughed. “Well hell, honey. Why do you think he comes here? It can’t be for the company. He sits at that table by himself all night and watches you walk. That’s why he’s here.” She laughed again at her own wit as she fluffed Amelia’s bustle. “So go on out there and give him something to remember.”

  Amelia glared at her friend and tried not to wiggle as she walked across the floor to take his order. But it was impossible to stop the motion where her body was concerned. What didn’t sway, bounced. “What’ll it be?” she asked. Pen poised above her order pad.

  “You know what I want,” he said softly. “But in the meantime, you can bring me a soda.”

  “You could get a soda at any corner quick stop.”

  “Yeah, but the service isn’t near as pretty. Hank’s missing two teeth, and his overalls don’t fit nearly as well as your outfit. I’m a bit prejudiced toward short…skintight…black net…shiny red…”

  Amelia made a beeline for the bar.

  Listening to him flirt was getting to be a bit painful. His voice pulled at secret places inside her belly. His eyes taunted her body to react in the most embarrassing of manners. He was wearing her down and they both knew it.

  She slammed her tray onto the bar and almost shouted out her orders. The bartender actually forgot to make a wisecrack as he hurried to complete her requests. Amelia leaned her forehead onto the palm of her hand and closed her eyes with regret.

  “Sorry,” she said, as he set the drinks onto her tray. “It’s been a long week.”

  He nodded and smiled.

  Amelia lifted her tray and then turned, staring through the dimly lit room to the table in the back. “That does it! He’s driving me crazy. I can’t take it anymore. I’m going to put a stop to this…. Now!”

  She sailed across the floor, tray held high, dodging hands and sharp remarks as she quickly served the tables their drinks, saving Tyler’s order for last.

  “Here’s your cola,” she said shortly. “And you win!”

  He nearly forgot to breathe.

  “I win
?”

  Amelia glared. “You know what I mean! Don’t play coy with me at this late date, mister.” She leaned forward to make her point.

  He shoved his drink aside and stood up. Their faces were mere inches apart, their breaths caressing each other’s cheeks.

  “When?”

  She rolled her eyes and slammed her tray against her breasts, unconsciously using it as a shield between them.

  “The sooner the better. Then maybe you’ll get this out of your system and I can get back to work.” But how I’ll get you out of my system later is my problem, she thought.

  “How about tomorrow night?”

  Amelia thought for a moment and then nodded. She started to walk away when his voice stopped her cold.

  “Amber?”

  She turned.

  “I have a small problem.”

  She waited for him to continue.

  “I don’t know your last name…or where you live.”

  Oh God! “Umm…it’s Champion. And don’t bother picking me up. Just meet me here around nine.”

  “So late?” Tyler was hoping for more.

  “It’s that or nothing. I have two jobs. It’s impossible to come earlier.”

  “I’ll take it,” he said softly. And I’ll take you. Anywhere…on any terms.

  “Fine then,” Amelia muttered. “I have to get back to work now.”

  His hands cupped her shoulders, lingering on the bare curves before running lightly down to the bend of her elbows. He grasped her gently and shook her to get her attention.

  “You won’t be sorry, Amber.”

  I already am, she thought. And then she smiled. She’d been sorry half her lifetime. What was the matter with her? She’d wanted a change in her life. Dating Tyler Savage was a fine place to start. She comforted herself by thinking if he hadn’t recognized her by now, he wasn’t going to.

  Tyler wondered about the odd little smile that flitted seductively around her lips before disappearing into those wide blue-green eyes. His pulse accelerated as he watched her walk away, lost in the bustle bouncing in rhythm to her long-legged stride. He had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be the best night of his life. If everything went the way he hoped, it might also be the beginning of the rest of it, too.