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Craziness.And there was no way Amber would have anything to do with that kind of blatant disregard for her own personal safety.
She made her way into the little house, left her suitcase by the front door and took the bag into the kitchen, where she unloaded the few things she bought. She opened the retro fridge to put her orange juice inside, but there wasn’t much in there, which was a bit concerning for Amber.Wasn’t Josie eating properly? She never did. She was always so thin, but could survive on potato chips and beer. Speaking of beer…
Amber eyed the beer in the fridge. It had been a long time since she’d let herself indulge in alcohol. Five months, three weeks, and two days to be exact. Not that she was counting, because she really wasn’t. But she remembered the last time she’d had any alcohol at all, because her boyfriend Randy had bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate her graduation from college. The bubbles had tingled and popped on her tongue, and two glasses had made her head fuzzy, but not so fuzzy that she didn’t sober up immediately when he broke up with her by telling her he didn’t want to settle down to a boring and predictable life.
And that’s all she offered.
They’d dated for over two years. She thought he was going to propose that night. After all, it was the next logical step. She’d graduated from school. Marriage should be next.
Logical. Everything she did was always logical. Planned. Organized. Despite the fact that he was an asshole about it, Randy was right. Life with her would have been boring and predictable. She couldn’t blame him for not wanting that. Heck,shedidn’t want that. And it was her life. His leaving had been a shock to be sure, but Amber could honestly say that she didn’t miss his presence. Which not only told her everything she needed to know about the relationship, but also gave her a bit of a shove in the right—hopefully lesslogical—direction.
She grabbed a beer and cracked it open. She was done with being boring and predictable. Before she put it to her lips, she paused and grabbed a tea towel to give the can a wipe. Okay, she wasn’t totally done with being predictable and boring, but she was working on it.
She’d spent the last few months finishing her internship in Toronto at Wallace and McKwade, the accounting firm she’d expected to be offered a job at. She’d been so sure that she’d get the job that she hadn’t even bothered to apply anywhere else. A move that she was regretting more and more every day. Because the offer hadn’t come. And now, instead of being excited about the possibility of working at Wallace and McKwade, she was nervous and uncertain. Six months ago—heck, even a month ago—she would have jumped at the opportunity to stay in Toronto and take the job, but she couldn’t deny that Randy’s words to her had sunk in.
Boring and predictable.
Is that all life had to offer?
Amber took a deep drink of her beer, grimacing a little at the sour taste. She’d never been a big beer drinker. It was all too much to think about for one night.
“One thing at a time,” she told herself. After all, she’d just taken a plane halfway across the country, to a strange town in the middle of nowhere, to visit a friend who wasn’t even there. If she was looking to burst out of her comfort zone, she’d done enough bursting for one day. There would be nothing wrong with sitting in front of the television and doing a bunch of nothing for the rest of the night.
Surely Josie had a television.
She took her beer, and the packaged salad she’d bought at the store, and made her way into the room she assumed would be the living room. She flicked the light switch.
Nothing.
Of course.Electrical was probably on the list of things Josie would be fixing. Hopefully the TV would work.
With her hands full, Amber did her best to navigate her way through the room. Her shin bumped into the coffee table. She set her beer and salad down and picked up the remote control she felt next to it. When she clicked it, the screen came on and illuminated the room enough for her to back up and plop down on the couch.
“Oomph! What the hell?”
Amber screamed as she jumped up. “Whoever you are…” Her eyes wide, she pressed her back against the wall, wielded the remote in her hand like a weapon, and turned to see whatever—or more likely,whoever—had made the noise when she’d sat on what was decidedlynota couch. “You’re trespassing,” she continued, keeping her voice as steady as she could. “And I have a weapon.” She wielded the remote in her hand like the weapon she didn’t have and crouched into an attack position as she focused on the form on the couch.
As she watched, the man unfolded himself and got to his feet. He raised his hands in the air. “I’m not going to—”
“Don’t move! Stay right—Cole?” Amber took a step back until she bumped into the wall. If running had been an option, she would have turned and ran all the way back to Ontario. But running wasn’t an option because her body had gone from shock to fear to…full-on arousal.
Cole blinked onceand then again, hard. He’d been having a very nice dream that involved the Australian beach, a surfboard, and a woman in a very small bikini. Being woken by someone sitting on him wasn’t exactly the way he’d been hoping that particular dream would end.
The voice sounded familiar, but in his sleepy fog, he didn’t quite register who was staring at him, threatening him with…a remote control?
“Cole Price? What the hell are you doing here?”
And there it was.The icy formalness that could only be Josie’s old roommate. “Amber.”
“Yes. Who else would it be?”
He pulled himself to a sitting position and scratched at the scruff on his face. It had been at least a few weeks since he’d shaved. “Well, I don’t know,” he said. “For starters, I might have been expecting my little sister.” He rubbed at his face, trying to wake himself up completely. “This is her house, after all.”
Amber scowled, but he could see the flush working its way up her neck. Cole tried not to smile, but he remembered very well the effect he’d had on his little sister’s roommate two years ago when he’d visited. The attraction wasn’t entirely one-sided, not by a long shot, not that he’d ever admit that out loud. She was his sister’s friend, and she had a boyfriend. A particularly stuck-up douchebag, if he remembered correctly. But still, it wasn’t his style to get involved with unavailable women.
“Josie isn’t here.” Amber’s voice trembled just a little. “You should know that.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Didn’t know that.”
