by Kathryn Shay
In a flash, Amanda was off the bench and out the door before Nick even realized what had happened.
Heather’s face was colorless. “Go with her, Dad, please. They’ve got knives.”
“Stay with Jase,” he ordered and bolted after Amanda.
A crowd of kids had gathered in the dim hallway. He elbowed his way through in time to see Amanda standing next to the vice principal, Tom Mannerly, each facing one of the combatants. The boys loomed over her. They were about seventeen, muscular and very, very angry. Both were holding knives. One was higher than a kite, if Nick guessed correctly.
He watched as Amanda glanced at the two boys then at the gathering crowd. She spotted two security guards and pulled one aside, speaking quietly to him. In moments, they began to clear the area of spectators. Smart woman, Nick thought. These kids would never surrender in front of an audience.
Easing into a doorway, Nick shielded himself from the guards.
The principal was talking. “Back off, Chico.”
“No way, man. He called me dickhead.” The boy in question gripped the switchblade tighter.
The other boy’s eyes narrowed on Chico and he fingered the handle of his knife. “Yeah, you prick. Sandi told you to get lost. Something wrong with your stupid hearing?”
“The weapons have to go, guys,” Mannerly said calmly. “Particularly for you, Chico. You’re on thin ice from the last fight. Any more trouble like this and you’re out of school for good.” The man’s voice was even, but Nick could see the vein throbbing in his neck.
Amanda’s face was flushed, but she turned to the first boy with assurance. “Chico, I don’t know you, but I do know Matt. If you two go after each other now, you’ll both be expelled for having weapons on school property. What’s more, you’ll probably be seriously hurt. If I get Matt to stop this, will you?”
Chico raked her with insolent eyes. “What’s it to you, lady?”
Fists clenched, Nick was ready to spring. But some intuition about Amanda’s need to handle this herself held him back.
“I’m Matt’s counselor and I care about him.”
The teenager looked her up and down, his eyes glassy and wild. Indicating the vice principal with a toss of his head, he asked, “What’ll the dude do if we stop now?”
“Since no one attacked, you’ll only be suspended for a few days.”
“Ms. Carson’s right,” Mannerly told them. “We can end this right now with minor repercussions.”
Chico glared at the adults, then looked beyond them as if noticing for the first time that he’d lost his audience. That seemed to tip the balance. “Fuck it, why not?” Then he tilted his chin at Matt. “Get him to back down first.”
Quickly Amanda turned to Matt, who had bristled at Chico’s words, back down. She moved directly between the two boys, right in the path of Matt’s knife. “Give it to me, Matt.”
Cold green eyes stared over her shoulder at Chico for several tense seconds. Nick watched as they then focused on Amanda and warmed several degrees. But Matt said nothing.
“I want you to do this, Matt.” Amanda’s tone was implacable.
The boy held his aggressive stance for a moment longer, then his whole body slackened. “Sure. He pulled his first. I don’t care about this crap. Just so he leaves Sandi alone.”
“He will, Matt. We’ll see to it.”
The incident was over soon after that. Nick watched, openmouthed, as Amanda accepted the knife from Matt and the vice principal took the weapon from the other boy. Mannerly led Chico to his office while Amanda pulled Matt to one side and began to speak softly to him. She looked at the boy intently, and soothed his arm with her slender fingers. Matt shook his head and even smiled at something she said before he went off with one of the security guards.
Nick and Amanda were left alone. He felt fear, anger, respect and admiration simultaneously. As she walked across the hall, he realized she was trembling. “You okay?”
“Yes. Aftermath of the adrenaline spike, I guess.”
“That was quite a feat you pulled off.”
“It was, wasn’t it? I never would have believed I could do it, Nick.”
He wanted to shake her for endangering herself, and hold her and tell her how much he admired her courage.
Instead, he raised his hand and stroked the side of her face with his knuckles. “Well, you did, Mandy. And all by yourself.”
“Thanks for not pulling some macho rescue. I needed to do this alone.”
“Yeah, I figured that. Don’t think I didn’t want to, though. God, Amanda, I wanted to whisk you away from those knives.” His tone softened. “And I could kiss you for your cool, calm reasoning.”
Her eyes glowed at his praise. “Well, that gives me food for thought.”
Unfortunately, it gave him the same thing. And the conclusions he came to as he digested the events of the evening frightened him. Not only was Amanda sexy and desirable, but she was strong and savvy. It was easier to keep his feelings in check when he could view her as shallow and superficial. Easier to remember they came from different worlds and had a questionable future together. But, tonight, in a hallway of Eastside High, she had seemed very much a part of his world.
True to her promise, she came back to the apartment after the game and cleaned up as he put his children to bed. The kids had been full of questions all the way home and had wanted her to tuck them in before she left. Nick knew they both wanted to assure themselves that she was all right.
Just as walking her to the car when she was ready to leave and easing in beside her filled a need he had.
“Shall I turn on the heat?” she asked innocently.
Nick didn’t answer. Seized by remnants of the fear he’d felt earlier, he pulled her to him and took her lips with his. He clasped her to him too tightly, wanting to meld her body with his. After a moment, he eased up a bit and trailed kisses down her jaw to her neck and sucked lightly. Her moan triggered a response deep in his gut.
When he pulled back and she peered up him, his eyes captured hers. “I need to be close to you tonight, Mandy. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe it’s because of the danger you were in earlier. Maybe it’s because I didn’t expect you to...never mind.” He lifted his hand to her navy wool coat and parted it. He eased each button apart, drinking in what his touch had bared. “Ah, you’re beautiful, exactly as I knew you would be.” Slowly, he lowered his head and placed his wet tongue on her cleavage. He licked her gently. “Front closure, a woman after my own heart.” He didn’t ask permission this time. He just flicked open her undergarment and she spilled into his waiting palms. “Jesus, I must be dreaming,” he whispered as he felt her swell into his hand. “You fit me so well.”
“Oh, Nick, that feels so good. I didn’t know. It’s the first time I’ve really wanted...”
Leaning over and tracing the outline of her ear with his tongue, Nick’s grin was all male. “You’ve wanted what, sweetheart?” He felt her tremble. When he drew back, he looked in her eyes and saw her swallow convulsively. “Tell me.”
Though she blushed an appealing shade of pink, her tone was confident when she answered him. “I want you to touch me. Everywhere.”
He groaned. He couldn’t help it. Sea blue eyes met silver ones and he admitted, “Do you know what hearing you say that does to me?”
“Yes, I think so.” A smile as old as time itself touched her lips and she looked down his front.
He lowered his head and opened his mouth over one pouting peak. She started off the seat as if she’d never felt the sensation before. It made him more voracious. After a moment, he transferred his attention to her other breast. She raised her hand to his neck and fastened it there, as if afraid he would stop and the feeling would be gone, as if she couldn’t count on him to continue.
“I want to touch you, too,” she whispered into the darkness.
Reluctantly, he left her breast and lifted his eyes to hers. He took her hand and placed it over his heart, which lurche
d at even that innocent caress.
“I want that, too, sweetheart. But this isn’t the right place. We need to make some time for us. To have some lengthy privacy.”
Burying her face in his neck, she nodded.
“Not afraid anymore?” he asked.
She raised her head and met his gaze unflinchingly. “No, not anymore. Not with you.”
“We’ll take it slow, anyway.” Stroking her hair, he said, “I’m going to enjoy every second of helping you to discover just how responsive this delectable body is.” Pausing meaningfully, he added, “To me.”
He extricated himself from her, helped her right her clothes, kissed her soundly on the mouth and left the car. I’ll have to be careful I don’t lose myself in her. Or trust what’s between us too much.
But after what he’d witnessed tonight, he knew he was in grave danger of doing both.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Want to go for a walk?” Amanda asked her mother after dinner on the Wednesday following Christmas. She needed to get out of the cabin, a cedar A-frame, perfect for skiing vacations.
Holidays had been traumatic for the family since her sister’s death. For her mother’s sake, Amanda had agreed to celebrate this—the second one without Lisa—with her parents in Aspen. Lisa’s loss still hurt. And she missed Nick. They’d been unable to juggle their busy schedules to connect before she left.
Spending so much time in such an enclosed space with her father exacerbated her restlessness. He kept bringing up her job, and she could feel her self-confidence drain with each of his cutting remarks.
As she and her mother walked a pedestrian trail at the famous ski resort, the muscles in Amanda’s neck began to loosen. She watched her breath make puffs in front of her and felt the cold air prickle her skin.
“He doesn’t mean it, you know,” Joan commented without preliminaries.
Amanda didn’t need to ask who or what. “Doesn’t he, Mother? It seems his favorite pastime lately.”
Joan frowned into the darkness. Amanda could see it in the dim walking lights spaced every few feet. “He’s scared, dear.”
Stopping midstride, Amanda stared at her mother for a moment. “My father has never been afraid of anything in his whole life.”
Her mother rubbed her calfskin-gloved hands together. “That was true until Lisa died. After that, everything was different.” When Amanda gave no response, Joan asked, “For you, too?”
Amanda felt the familiar inner chill that mention of Lisa’s death brought on. Seeking warmth, she hugged herself tightly. “Yes. I saw how empty my life was.”
“That’s why you made so many changes, isn’t it?”
Feeling the sting of tears behind her eyes, Amanda wished she could attribute them to the wind which had picked up. But the moisture was caused by the realization that this was the very first time her mother had asked her anything about the reason behind her behavior in the past year and a half.
She and Joan had never been close. They’d never talked deeply about anything. It was always as if her mother was trying to adhere to her husband’s ideas and codes and had none of her own. Only lately had Amanda had any inkling that Joan had opinions different from Robert’s.
But she never blamed her mother. Joan was the typical wife in a typically wealthy family. Amanda herself had been just like her in many ways. And maybe Suzanne Sullivan was, too. This was the second time she’d compared Nick’s ex-wife to her mother, to herself, and she filed the thought away for future examination. Tugging her coat closer around her, she glanced at Joan. “Yes, that’s why I’ve made so many changes.”
“I thought so. If it helps any, I think you’ve made some good decisions.”
Again, Amanda was so taken aback, she stopped walking again. “Surely you didn’t agree with my decision to divorce Porter. You made your disapproval very clear at the time.”
Joan halted a few steps from her daughter. “At the time, I did think it was a mistake. But in the last few months, you’ve seemed so much more alive and involved, like your life took on a meaning it didn’t have before.”
Warmth radiated through Amanda. “That’s exactly how I feel.”
“I’d like to hear about it, if you want to talk.”
“Let me tell you about these kids in my group, then.” Amanda reached out and linked her arm with her mother’s.
They strolled and talked and Amanda was filled with an unfamiliar hope as they headed back to the cabin. The snow began to blow and the pathway narrowed, so they were forced to walk single file. Then Amanda felt the icy mush hit her on the side of the head. She turned, stunned to find her mother hurling another ice-packed snowball at her.
“Mother, what are you doing? This isn’t you,” she blurted out and was rewarded with another direct hit to her shoulder.
Joan giggled, her cheeks glowing a rosy red in the path lights and her eyes sparkling. “I know, and it feels wonderful.”
Another whack catapulted the daughter into action.
They were laughing like children, complete with runny noses and watery eyes from the too-long time they’d spent outdoors, when they arrived at the A-frame two hours after they left.
Wet and bedraggled, Amanda preceded her mother through the door and stopped both her entry and her laughing as she came face-to-face with Craig Coleman. She blinked, hoping she was imagining him, when her father said, “Say hello to Craig, darling.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Is that any way to treat your fiancé?” Craig leaned against the doorway, looking deceptively innocent.
She had to shake her head to clear it. Had she heard him correctly? “Have you forgotten our conversation last month, Craig?”
He dropped the Southern-gentleman act. Straightening from the casual pose, he squared his shoulders. Amanda noticed how the navy-and-white patterned ski sweater accented his thinness. “No, I haven’t. But I’d hoped you had. I’ve given you weeks to reconsider and I was sure you’d come to your senses by now. So when your father invited me up here, I came.” The last bit was added smugly.
“Of all the...” But she stopped midsentence and turned to Robert. “You invited him? Father, I explained to both Mother and you that Craig wouldn’t be joining us for the holidays. Why would you ask him here against my wishes?”
Her father rose from the leather chair where he’d been watching the byplay, his features pinched. “Oh, for God’s sake, Amanda. You never did know your own mind. I’ve done what’s best for you, as always.”
Stalking over to him, Amanda went up on tiptoe so her face was close to his. “No, you’ve done what you think is best. I will not tolerate your interference in my life like this.”
“Remember who you’re talking to, young lady.” Robert’s tone was clearly warning, but there was a quiver of doubt in his voice and a trace of apprehension in his eyes as he looked down at his defiant daughter.
Without a word, Amanda turned on her heels and headed upstairs. Ten minutes later, she returned with a small Louis Vuitton overnight case. She spoke only to Joan as she donned her coat. “I’m sorry about this, Mother, but I’m forced to leave. Could you bring the rest of my things back with you when you come home?”
Joan nodded her assent. Amanda knew her mother wouldn’t speak up against her father, but the approval in her eyes and the squeeze she gave her shoulder as Amanda bent to kiss her were silent support.
Pulling on her gloves, Amanda marched to the door. She was about to open it, when Craig spoke.
“I just hope this doesn’t have anything to do with Nick DiMarco,” he said silkily.
His comment brought her up short. She turned to Craig warily, hoping there was still color in her face. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, darling, that I hope that seedy little hug I witnessed in the foyer at the library a few weeks ago has nothing to do with your sudden decision not to marry me.”
Amanda was still reeling from his comment when her father asked, “What are you talkin
g about?”
“I think Amanda is involved somehow with the father of one of her students.” Craig eased away from the chair he’d leaned against and slid his hands into the pockets of his navy wool sport coat. “I saw her with him and made a few inquiries, afterward. Robert, do you know Joshua Cohen?”
“Of course.”
“Well, Cohen’s wife, Suzanne, was married to Amanda’s Mr. DiMarco years ago. It seems our struggling lawyer-to-be has a penchant for wealthy socialites.”
Amanda felt the bile rise in her throat. She knew Suzanne Cohen by name. She’d seen the woman at various social functions, but she’d never made the connection that this was Heather’s mother. Nick’s ex-wife! And she was not flattered at the comparison Nick had made between her and Suzanne.
Craig smirked. “Really, darling, I’d have guessed it was his, how shall I say this, his virility that attracted you if I didn’t know you better.”
The attack might have hurt, but Amanda conjured Nick’s words that night at her house.
If you were any more enough, Amanda Carson, I’d be bursting out of my jeans right now.
She stared Craig down from the doorway. “You’re a bastard, Craig. I always knew that, but I didn’t know how much of one until just now. Goodbye, Mother. I’ll call you when I get a flight.”
Robert started toward her but stopped halfway. “You’ll never get a flight on such short notice, Amanda, not on the holiday. Don’t be childish. Take off your coat, now.” Though his tone was peremptory, there was an underlying anxiety in it.
With a sweeping glance at both her father and Craig, she said, “I’d sooner sleep in the airport than under a roof with the two of you.”
o0o
Five hours later, Amanda still felt the same, though she was exhausted and dispirited. There were no seats to New York, though she was on standby for several flights. She was tired and hungry but the satisfaction she felt at walking out on Craig’s insults and her father’s demands gave her stamina. It also gave her the courage to make a phone call. She drummed her fingers on the chair as she waited on her cell.
