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She was…
Waking up.
Next to him, Amber stirred a little and a sweet sound, almost like a sigh, escaped her lips.
The sun was starting to peek through the old blinds that covered the window. If he had to guess, it was probably just after seven. Too early. The night wasn’t long enough for him to soak in every bit of having her body pressed into his. The silkiness of her hair splayed over his chest. The gentle inhale and exhale of her breath as she dreamed.
He snuggled Amber closer to him and kissed her bare shoulder. She mumbled in her sleep and wiggled a little into him. Cole tightened his grip and stroked his hand down her bare arm. “Good morning,” he whispered in her ear.
Amber turned in his arms and looked up at him. She really was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. The very fact that he was thinking that way should scare the hell out of him, but it didn’t. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. With Amber, in only a few days, he felt oddly settled in a way he had never felt before. She actually had him thinking things he’d never thought before…relationship things. Andthatwas the scary part. Because he knew it couldn’t last. A thought he didn’t feel like exploring yet.
It took her a moment to wake up completely. She blinked her eyes a few times and finally offered him a tentative smile. “Hi.”
He kissed her softly. “Hi yourself. Did you sleep okay?”
She nodded, but the peace he was feeling wasn’t reflected in her eyes and he knew exactly what the reason was. Morning-after regret. But he’d be damned if he let her feel even a moment of regret for what had happened between them.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” She blinked hard and shook her head.
“Don’t feel bad about…well, anything. Because I don’t. And if I remember correctly, you enjoyed yourself, too.”
She blushed, but it was followed by a laugh. “I did.” She took a moment before she added, “And I don’t regret…well, that.”
“Good.” He kissed her quickly.
“But it’s not just that.”
He was a little slow on the uptake, but Cole put the connection together about what she really felt badly about. Relief that it wasn’t him she regretted washed through him, but only for a second. “No,” he said with a shake of his head. “Amber, please don’t worry about Josie, okay?”
“I’m not.” She tried to turn away, but he caught her face.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“I know. It’s just…”
He waited and when she didn’t finish her thought, he offered a solution. “We don’t have to tell her.”
“What?” She scooted back to the other side of the bed.
“Just hear me out,” he said quickly. “It’s not like we planned it to happen. She’ll be here tomorrow and the reality is, I’ll be going back to Australia soon and you’ll be…”
“Getting a job.”
“Right. You’re going to get that kick-ass job offer in Toronto’s most prestigious and exciting accounting firm.” He didn’t mean to sound sarcastic, but it definitely came out that way. “At any rate, technically I don’t think you’re breaking any kind of friend code or anything. But since you’re worried about it, maybe we just shouldn’t tell her?”
Amber pulled the sheet up higher on her body, a fact he really didn’t appreciate because Amber’s body was something that should never be covered up, and eyed him warily for a moment. “I guess you’re right,” she said finally. “I mean, it’s not like this is going to actuallybeanything more than a little festival fun anyway.”
Her words hit him in the gut despite the fact that she was right—that’s all it would ever be—but hearing her say it out loud took him off guard and her words stung. Not that he was going to say anything about it.
Cole watched as a smile slowly crossed over her face. The sheet slipped a little, revealing just enough of her creamy white breast to make his body stand up and take notice. And when instead of reaching to pull it back up, Amber crooked a finger and beckoned him toward her, it was all the invitation he needed.
After a very late sleep in—notthat they actually did much sleeping—Amber fixed them both a quick breakfast of instant oatmeal and coffee so they could get some work done on the house. She didn’t say anything, but Amber was definitely feeling like helping Josie out was the very least she could do for her after…well…after Cole. It didn’t matter what he said about it; she couldn’t help but feel guilty about sleeping with her best friend’s brother.
On one hand, Amber knew her friend would be excited for her that she’d finally let loose long enough to have a little fun.And man, did she ever have fun.Just thinking about the way Cole made her feel with a few kisses and touches on her body was enough to make her body vibrate with need again. She’d had a few lovers before, if you could count one fumbling high school hookup and Randy’s thirty seconds ofmoves—which she didn’t—but she’d never experienced anything even close to what she’d experienced with Cole.
Of course, leave it toMiss Plan Everything Out Perfectlyto finally let herself relax enough to have her first wild fling with her best friend’s brother. She could have blamed it on the Moon Juice, except that even though the drink was strong, she was completely sober the night before. And this morning. Not only that, sheverymuch wanted all of it to happen.
