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Amber screamed. Her father swerved back to his lane and narrowly averted the accident. They pulled over to the side in the heavy rain so that her father could catch his breath and calm his nerves.
“You okay, pumpkin?” her dad asked after turning back to face her. Her mother had apparently covered her face with her hands.
“Yeah,” Amber lied. Her heart was pounding hard and fast in her chest by then.
Little Brian rubbed his eyes and opened them up. “What happened?” he asked, his voice soft and small.
“Nothing. Your dad just got a little sidetracked.” Her father pulled out a map from the glove compartment. Her mother turned her head away to face outward at her side of the window.
Her mom wasn’t speaking to their father. It was going to be one of those nights—again.
He looked at the map. “Okay, it looks like I made a wrong turn off the main road where the lights were out.”
There were blackouts along the way due to the storm. Most of the roads looked dark, terrifying. Amber grabbed hold of her brother and they clutched each other in the backseat. She was thankful she had the protection of her parents. What if they were alone in that wooded area? Not that they could ever be left alone. Brian was only four and Amber was twelve.
“Okay, I know where we are now,” her father said, looking at a landmark sign that was illuminated by his overhead lights. “Let’s roll.”
He turned on the ignition and proceeded to drive away. Just then, she heard the screeching of brakes and a car was swerving on the road headed towards them. Was the driver out of control?
She couldn’t see much. The rain was pelting. Her father tried to see through the windshield as the wipers madly rushed from side to side trying to keep up with the rain.
The car was coming right at them at they were pulling onto the road from the ditch.
It was coming right at them…
Amber screamed and bolted upright in bed. Her heartbeat pounding hard and fast in her throat. Her blood vessels constricted in her body. She could feel her baby move around rapidly inside her. She nervously turned on the bedside light. Thank God, she was at least in a nice secure apartment. But she felt alone. Very much alone.
She picked up the phone on the nightstand and called Jules. But she swiftly hung up, realizing it was two o’clock in the morning. Oh, God! What was with her? She was a nervous wreck. Again. The anniversary of her family’s death was approaching. It was always like this. Would Amber ever escape the torment of that night? Trouble was, she couldn’t remember much else after that. She didn’t want to recall a single detail. She couldn’t remember any more and maybe that was for the best.
Amber got up and went to the kitchen. Admiring, along the way, the beautiful marble stone countertop and the stainless steel appliances that housed her smart fridge and smart everything in that home.
She made herself an instant green tea with her Tassimo machine. Jules had spoken to her about not having too much coffee since she was pregnant, which was fine with her. He was such a sweetie.
Looking around her environment was certainly a mood picker-upper. Everything was so calming and soothing in its cream and earth tone colors. The ginormous screen TV was built into the wall and so was the compact, elite looking fireplace beneath it. The floor was professionally finished oak hardwood and highly polished. The walls were painted in an off-white sheen and adorned with calming artwork of nature, beautiful pictures. Gorgeous and healthy green plants also graced her suite. But how long would she be able to stay there? She was grateful for Jules’s generosity. She just wished she could actually repay him.
About five minutes later, the phone rang. Amber glanced at the digital display clock on the fridge as she sat in open-spaced kitchen on a seat around the breakfast island. “Who could that be?”
“Jules Romero calling,” the disembodied voice sounded from the telephone speaker.
She quickly got up and answered the phone.
“Jules?”
“Amber, you okay? You tried to call me?” His voice was tired but strong. Alert.
“Oh, it’s okay…I’m fine. I didn’t realize the time.”
“I’ll be there in a second,” he told her without giving her the chance to rebut.
“You didn’t have to come here, Jules,” Amber said later when he’d arrived at her door.
“You called for a reason. It’s not a big deal.”
“Really? You’re something else, you know that? You’ve done so much for me and-”
“What happened?” he quizzed, leaning in closer to her. Amber caught the irresistible scent of his cologne again. God, he was gorgeous and her hormones were going wild for him. She fought the urge to wrap her arms around him and give him a good hug and pull him to her, ripping off his shirt. Jules was strikingly handsome and extremely tall and fit, she noted as he towered over her, giving her a loving grin.
“I just had a bad dream.”
“It must have been one heck of a bad dream, Amber. Come on now. It’s me you’re talking to.”
“I know.”
Amber shared some parts of the dream, so grateful that she was able to get it off her chest and talk about her fears, her guilt over surviving the accident and wanting so badly to be a good mother to her little girl.
“You’ll make the perfect mother, Amber,” he told her as he stroked her hair as she laid on the couch curled up into him. She enjoyed the warmth of his firm body as her head rested on his chest. His heartbeat was strong and steady. Oh, heavens.
Amber and Jules, like old times, watched a rerun episode of Dancing with the Stars. She didn’t know when but she dozed off for a moment then re-awakened, still in his arms feeling loved. Cared for.
The fact that she could call Jules any time of the night and he didn’t mind spoke volumes about the type of chemistry they had. Amber was aware when you found someone who connected to you so well, you didn’t take it for granted, you cherished it and nurtured it.
Did Jules want to take another chance on her? She noticed he was trying to get close to her but he wasn’t as flirtatious as he’d been in the past but that was probably because of her pregnancy. Most men were cautious around a woman who was expecting. Some women had sexy hormones rushing through their bodies, while others wanted nothing more to do with sex, until after the baby was born.
Hot damn! Jules looked so good in his half open shirt, his sexy stubble on his chin and those muscular arms of his. Right now, Amber could think of nothing else but to have Jules make love to her—for their first time. She wondered what that would be like. Her heart raced like mad in her chest as she visualized his strong, soft hands caressing her body as he made sweet, passionate love to her.
Stop it, Amber. It’s not gonna happen, remember? Men are no longer part of your emotional budget. It’s just too costly to enter into a relationship again.
Still, Amber couldn’t help gravitating towards Jules. And judging by his physique and the sweet memory of his incredible kiss when they had dated in the past, she was filled with all kinds of delicious images of what it would be like to make love to him. That was assuming if he would ever make love to her. The man was hot though. Even though it could never lead to anything more than physical. If it ever happened.
Jules was probably just there beside her for pity’s sake. She prayed that was not the case. Still, Amber wanted to savor the moment because life was about precious moments and this one with Jules was one she would deposit to her treasure trove of precious memories to never be forgotten.
She wished things had been so different between them. She loved her unborn baby, however, it had always been her dream to have a baby in wedlock. Her father, who died in that horrible crash, had not been her biological father and for some time before her parents’ deaths, she was often called a bastard at the school by those who knew her parents and were aware of the truth. She didn’t want her child to have to go through that. Not that it should matter these days. But oh, how painful it would be to not be married when she delivered her child into the world. Her heart sank at the feeling that it may never happen the way she planned. Yes, Amber wished everything had turned out differently. But the last thing she wanted to do was to spoil everything that Jules restarted between them.
Besides, she could not really cope with any sort of intimacy right now.
Jules and Amber fell asleep but before long Jules woke up. She felt the soft touch of his lips on her forehead as she nestled on his chest. Her heart fluttered. She felt a tingling sensation between her thighs for the first time since she got pregnant. She couldn’t help but smile widely. She tilted her head up to his and looked into his beautiful dark eyes.
Jules stroked her chin gently as he gazed into her eyes. “You are so beautiful, you know that?”
Amber smiled.
She reached up to his lips and pressed hers to his and oh, the magic exploded between them. What was she doing?
No kissing, Amber. Don’t get caught up in that emotional trap again.
Hungrily Jules kissed her, a raw lust clawing its way from his core. His tongue slid in between her parted lips and sent shivers of delight racing through her body. It had been too long since she’d experienced the touch of a man. And oh, she missed Jules’s amazing passion. She trembled with desire and want as he softly stroked her skin. Her body pulsed uncontrollably.
