The hours pass and I work hard at not being in the same room too long with them or allowing Jeremiah to drag me into conversation. Each time I rush from the room or away from the truck when they approach, I get weird looks. I'm a woman on a mission and it's to stay out of the path of Jeremiah Dawson until I no longer feel any attraction to him. With how I'm feeling right now, I know that's not going to happen anytime soon.
“Hey sis, come here!” Ryan shouts up from the bottom of the stairs, echoing through the open door into the living room of my apartment.
“Coming!” I call back to him as I hang the last curtain up in the living room. They had blinds up, but I needed my sheer curtains. Hey, a girl wants what a girl wants.
I rush down the steps a little too fast and stumble, falling forward down the final few. I begin to brace myself for hitting the driveway, but I don't. Instead, I'm pulled into two muscular tattooed arms.
“I got you, babe,” his husky voice hits my ears as he pulls me closer, helping steady me on my feet. His arms slide down my back, stopping only at the crest of my ass. I lean back from him and look up into his beautiful blue eyes. I could get lost in them. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, thank you.” I push away from him, taking a couple of steps back. I need to put some distance between us as I try to calm my nerves. Wait! Did he just call me babe? And his hands…were they almost on my ass? Shaking my head, I brush it off. My mind is making me hear and feel what I so desperately want.
“No problem, Amberlee. I'll always be there to catch you.” He smirks, his voice light with amusement but there’s a hint of something else. Like he’s flirting, but that can’t be right.
“Good thing too. I'd hate for her to start her new job with a busted up face. What if there’s some eligible teacher there, and she loses her chance at meeting her future husband?” my brother jokes as he jumps out of the back of the truck.
I'm used to my brother’s jokes and his need to marry me off like it’s the 1800s or something. But the almost feral growl that comes from Jeremiah before he quickly covers it confuses the fuck out of me.
“So, Amberlee, Ryan called you because we need to know if you need any of the boxes left in here. If not, we need to head over to the storage facility and unload them so we can return the truck.”
I make my way over to the truck, and reach up for the handle, trying to climb up inside. But I don’t quite make it and my brother doubles over, laughing. Two hands take hold of my hips, squeezing tightly as his hot breath brushes across my ear. “I got you.” Jeremiah lifts me into the back of the truck as if I weigh no more than a feather.
“Uhh, thanks,” I say nervously, as I rush over to my brother once he lets go of me. I make quick work of opening the boxes. I labeled them all, but I want to make sure there is nothing I’m going to need within the next couple of months.
If Jeremiah is going to be more of an everyday fixture around here, I'm not sure how long I can live here. Shit, Maddy asked this morning if I could stay through Christmas. That way I’m here when the babies are born, and I would have time to save money. Fuck, fuck, fuck, I have to stay. I promised her I would.
It's okay, Amberlee Michaels, all you need is a plan.
It's simple. You can just hide in your apartment. There's no reason for him to need or want to come up and visit.
Opening the last box, I look around, tearing up a bit that I have to put all but one of my bookshelves in storage, along with all the books that I couldn't fit on the one I kept. It was hard. Finally, I picked my favorites from all the genres until it was full. The rest I made sure were protected well, knowing I'd die if any of them were damaged. I've had some of them for more than five years. As soon as I was working and got my first check, I started ordering paperbacks, then as an adult I really fangirled and started going to book signings, even dragging Maddy to a couple. Let's just say I vomited in my mouth when she let it slip that she tried out a couple of the sex scenes with my brother. Especially the one where she pretends to drop her napkin on the floor at a restaurant and crawls under the table, concealed by the tablecloth, and gives him a blowjob.
“I think I'm good. Can we make sure to get one that is climate controlled?” I ask
“Already have one reserved for you. Even paid for it myself,” he says proudly, grinning widely. “I guesstimated what would fit based on what was in your apartment from the last time I saw it, and I was almost spot on.”
“Let me run in and check if Angel can stay here while we go.” Jeremiah is already making a mad dash for the house before I can even tell him he doesn't need to help.
“Here, let me help you out, sis.” Ryan jumps off the back of the trunk, then reaches his arms up for me, helping me back down to the driveway before pulling down the door on the back of the truck.
“I can help unload what's left at the storage unit. That way, Jeremiah can do whatever he needs to do today. I don’t want to take up his time.”
“Nah, he's good. Besides, he volunteered to help. We'll get done faster with him. I'm going to pull the truck up so we can hook the trailer back to it. Or maybe we should come back and get it once we get done unloading.” He puts his hands across his chest as he thinks about it. I'm all for taking it with us. That way, it cuts down how much time we spend with Jeremiah.
“Let's leave it here, otherwise we'll have to unhook it again there,” Jeremiah’s booming voice comes from the porch where he's holding his daughter in his arms.
And there goes my ovaries again. Screaming to have this man impregnate me. Which he definitely cannot.
“I'll have some food ready when y'all get back,” Maddy calls as she steps out from behind him.
“Sounds great thanks, Mads.” Jeremiah sets his beautiful daughter down on the porch, kissing her softly on the forehead.
“Can we have ice cream for dessert, Daddy?” Her voice is so angelic and I realize how perfect her name is for her.
“Sure thing. I'll even see if Amberlee will stop so we can pick it up.” He looks over to me for approval of his request and fuck, how can I deny a promise to his daughter?
“Absolutely. I'm just going to run inside and get my keys and purse.” I rush by them, not waiting for an answer.
I make a beeline for the ensuite bathroom first. Looking in the mirror, I quickly run a brush through my mop of hair, smoothing it back into a ponytail. I do a smell check under my pits, and decide more deodorant is in order, especially if at the end of this they'll have to ride in the car with me.
