Always Amy Read online

  REID

  I was pissed when I woke to an empty bed this morning. Apparently, Amy didn’t quite understand what it meant when I said she was mine. I hope my actions on the way to work made that clearer. She belongs in bed, wrapped up in my arms.

  I toss Amy a pair of gloves. “You’re not working in the office today.”

  “What?”

  “One of my guys called in sick. I need your help on site.”

  Genuine panic is painted on her face as she stares at the gloves like she’s never seen a pair in her life. “But I don’t know anything about landscaping.”

  “I’ll teach you.” The idea first sprang to mind when I realized she was writing a book. But I decided she would come with me today when I woke up alone. I don’t want to let the minx out of my sight, even if it means I have to answer my own calls today. She spoiled me yesterday with her take-charge personality when left alone in the office.

  Amy seems too stunned to say anything. It’s probably the last thing she expected, but there’s a surprise in store for her, too.

  “It won’t be that bad.”

  I load up the truck with a few things, and then we head out. Most of the landscaping material is already at my sister’s place. I’ve been working on that project off and on for about three weeks now. I’ve been fitting it in between other paying clients.

  “You always been a landscaper?” Amy asks me. She’s unsure about the situation, and it eats me up a little. I want her to relax. To trust me. Whatever that asshole did to her had to be bad. If he ever has the audacity to show up, I don’t think I’ll have the capability of restraint.

  “Did a few years in the military. Saved up some money on a few deployments so I could start my own business.” Landscaping found me by accident, when I realized I could never stand a desk job. I tell Amy about the weekend I spent with a buddy, helping complete a landscaping project. “There was just this sense of accomplishment when it was done. I wanted more of that.”

  “I hope that’s how I’ll feel when I finish my book.”

  “I’m sure you will.”

  I wish she’d open up and tell me more about the writing and New York. I know they’re connected somehow. I rest my hand on her thigh, relishing in the warmth that radiates from her. My dick twitches in my jeans. I had her several times last night, but I want her again.

  “Is this it?” Her mouth is agape at the sight. My sister came into some money through a nasty divorce. She took the bastard to the cleaners, and rightfully so. The house looks grand on the outside, but it’s still a bit of a fixer-upper on the inside.

  I wink at her. “Ready to get your hands dirty?”

  For the first couple of hours, I do keep Amy busy. She is on the clock. But mostly it’s because I don’t want to spoil the surprise. I called my sister this morning and told her what I was up to. Though I didn’t know much about the book Amy was writing, I knew my sister could help her.

  “This is hard work,” Amy says with a pant. Sweat beads her forehead, and she wipes it away with the back of her glove. “Don’t suppose you packed any water?”

  I set my shovel to the side. “Let’s take a break.” I lead her to the house, but she stops a few yards short. I keep walking and reach for the doorknob without knocking.

  “We can’t go in there!”

  “Why not?”

  “Reid, you’re here!” my sister says in greeting.

  I’m about to introduce the two women, but Amy’s wide eyes narrow into laser beams. Before I can say a word, she marches off toward the truck.

  6

  AMY

  I’m such a fool. Of course Reid has a girlfriend. Or a sidepiece. Or whatever. Because that woman is much too gorgeous, and much too ringless to be anything else. I just wish I wasn’t stuck out in the middle of nowhere. For the first time since I moved to town, I consider calling my sister to come rescue me.

  “Amy, wait.” Reid didn’t waste a second chasing after me. I don’t understand what is happening right now.

  “Why? You don’t want to keep your girlfriend waiting, do you?”

  “My girlfriend?”

  I’m fuming. I can’t believe he would bring me here. After last night… “Is this a punishment?” I feel like such a fool. I let him get me off in the truck this morning, thinking that was my punishment.

  “Amy—”

  “Just leave me alone.”

  Two firm hands grip my shoulders. I try to wriggle free, but his lips are on mine before I can make any progress. Not that I was going to break free of his Hulk-like hold anyway. I feel so tiny in his arms, as we make out in his girlfriend’s driveway. Because of course, my lips can’t help but kiss his back. I couldn’t resist his kiss any more than I could resist breathing.

  “Wait!” I finally manage to say, shoving at his chest to give me a couple of inches of space. This man makes me foggy with the single touch. Add to that an intense kiss, and I can’t even remember my name right now. “Let me go, Reid.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend, Amy.”

  “Yeah right.”

  “She’s my sister.”

  “Oh.” Well, now I feel doubly stupid. “Of course she is.”

  “And she has water. Inside.” He puts an arm around my shoulders, and I don’t even care that we’re sweaty. “Let me introduce you. You might have heard of her. She’s a mystery writer.”

  Reid left me inside for much of the afternoon. At first, I wasn’t thrilled about the idea. But when I found out that his sister Jenny was a published author—a pretty well-known one at that—I don’t think I shut up for three hours. She’s sweet, too, because she let me ask her hundreds of questions.

  “Seems like you two hit it off,” Reid says when we get home, a satisfied smile on his lips. We’re hardly through the front door before I’m pushed up against the wall. He keeps his hands on either side of my head, but he rocks his groin against me.

  “We had a lot to talk about.” I want to show this man my appreciation for what he did. He didn’t make an empty promise and then let me down. He came through without even telling me what he was up to. But something is holding me back. It’s too soon. We just met.

  He kisses me hard, and my panties ignite. I forget my reservations and melt into the sensation of Reid. At this rate, I’ll never actually get my book finished. “How about a shower?” he says against my ear, tugging on my lobe with his teeth.

  There’s a trail of clothes that leads up to the master bathroom. His shower is massive with two main showerheads and a few smaller jets. I twirl around in a circle, amazed by the sheer room.

  “Come here, honey. I need to lather you up.”

  Reid covers me in bubbles, his hands sensually roaming every inch of my body. We’re wrapped in a cocoon of suds. Any insecurities I had are gone, because the man worships every inch, and he takes his time doing it. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Amy.” I feel like a confession is about to spill from his lips, so I kiss him.

  I reach for his hard cock and stroke it in my hands. It feels like a lifetime since he’s been inside me. My pussy aches for him to return. I might be falling for this man. The thought creates a stirring of panic, but I push it away. Right now, I just want to feel. I don’t want to think about what comes next.

  Reid backs me up against the tile, lifting me with ease by my ass. Pushing my back against the wall, he lowers me onto his hard shaft. As he fills me, I forget about everything else. Whatever I was worrying about, I can worry about later. I wrap my legs around his waist and hold on for dear life as he fucks me senseless until I’m screaming his name.

  I’ll never get enough of this man.

  That’s the problem.

  Panic sets back in as he lowers me onto my feet. I can’t do this. I can’t give myself away to someone again. I’m scared.

  “You okay?” Reid asks as he hands me a towel.

  “Yep.” I keep my back to him. “I think I’m going to go write for a while. In my apartment. Your sister inspired me t
o get to work on this book.”

  I catch a glimpse of his expression in the mirror. His eyebrows are drawn together, like he suspects I’m up to something else. But he doesn’t argue. “Come back for dessert later?”

  I kiss him so I don’t have to lie. I don’t want to hurt him. I know he’s a good guy. But things are moving too fast. I need time to myself before I get swept away by another relationship. I can’t lose myself again.

  Reid might hate me after tonight, but it’s the only way to protect myself from another broken heart.

  REID

  I hated to let Amy go back to the apartment. My house feels so empty without her in it. Amazing how a woman I’ve only known a few days can feel like she’s always been a part of my life. A part of my fate.

  I fill my time cooking an elaborate meal. One I’d hoped to share with her, but I didn’t want to disturb her writing. I can tell it’s something very important to her. Either way, it feels good to cook again, and for someone who I suspect will appreciate it this time.

  Unless she ordered a pizza I didn’t notice, Amy hasn’t eaten since lunch with my sister.

  “I like her,” Jenny says to me on the phone as I prepare a plate to take to Amy. “A lot.”

  “Me too.”

  “You love her.” There’s no point in arguing with my sister. She’s always seen right through me.

  “I might.”

  “You do. I saw the way you looked at her today.”

  I cover the plate with foil and prepare to take it out to the backyard apartment. I hope my sister will give me some hint as how Amy feels about me, but she doesn’t. “So maybe I do.”

  “She’s been hurt, Reid. Badly.”

  I can’t help the pang of jealousy that shoots through me knowing that Amy trusted my sister more than me. But I’m just being irrational. Jenny is easy to talk to, and she’s a woman. Add in the fact that she’s a writer, and it’s no wonder those two bonded so instantly. “I thought as much.”

  “Give her time, Reid. She’ll feel the same way.”

  Patience isn’t something I’m known for. Not when I know what I want. And I want Amy. “No promises.” I hang up the phone before my sister can lecture me about my attitude. I shoot her a text that the food’s getting cold so she won’t stay mad at me.

  A light shines through the curtained window of the apartment. I may not have added much to the place, but I did hang window coverings. I hope Amy’s written up a storm tonight. Maybe, if I’m lucky, she’ll let me read some of it.

  I knock on the door so I don’t startle her. When I go to turn the knob, it doesn’t open. “Amy?” I call. I wait to hear her voice or footsteps. But only silence answers.

  I set the plate down on the lawn chair outside the front door and peer through the windows. I’d lose it if anything happened to her. Why didn’t I check on her earlier? Something feels wrong.

  She left the curtains open at the back window, near the writing desk. There’s no one inside. Her laptop is closed on the desk, and her purse is missing. My stomach twists in tight knots when I realize where she’s at. I just hope I don’t get arrested tonight.

  7

  AMY

  After a profuse string of apologies for missing my first interview, I beg the owner, Rusty, to give me a job. It takes some serious pleading, but I finally get him to agree to give me a trial run. Tonight.

  “Pull anything, and you’re done,” he says.

  I nod.

  He points to the bar. “Get to work.”

  I wonder if Reid will even know I’m gone. Guilt stings me when I think of how I lied to him. I tried to write at first when I went back to the cabin, but I hardly typed a sentence before I had to put the book away.

  “Can I get a Bud Light?” The man at the end of the bar waves at me. He’s been ogling me all night, and it sickens me how sweet and flirty I’ve had to be to him. But he hasn’t tried to touch me, and he’s tipping me better than anyone else.

  I pop the top off and slide the beer to him. “Here you—” The rest of my words lodge in my mouth because Reid is towering behind him. I knew eventually he would figure out I was here, but I didn’t expect it to be tonight.

  “What are you doing here?” he demands, his arms folded across his chest. His muscles bulge in ways that make my panties instantly wet. He’s massive, and even more intimidating to those around him, like this.

  “I’m working, Reid.” I catch Rusty watching from the other side of the bar and know I won’t last five minutes if Reid doesn’t leave. Can’t he understand that I’m just trying to put my life back together? The tips from the man in at the end of the bar alone will pay for a new pair of shoes I desperately need. “I’ll start paying rent if that’s what you’re here about.”

  Hurt laces those stark blue eyes, and I feel like I might throw up. “I thought we talked about this.”

  “Get me a shot too, honey?” The man at the edge of the bar says to me, purposely interrupting our conversation.

  Reid is in his face in half a second flat. “No one calls her honey but me. You got that?”

  The man was brave enough with his back to Reid, he’s cowering now that’s he’s seen the giant towering over him. I feel relief that he doesn’t try to pick a fight, though he’d never stand a chance against Reid. I remember those hard muscles all too well. One punch would break the man’s nose, if he was lucky.

  “Reid, can we talk about this later?” I nod my head to Rusty who’s frowning at me. I’ve only been here a couple of hours, but I feel like I’m about to get fired. “I need this job.”

  REID

  It dawns on me in that moment, everything my sister was trying to tell me. Everything I needed to read in between the lines. “He took all your money, didn’t he?” She gives me a small nod, and it’s all the confirmation I need. It makes me want to hunt this jerk down and beat him senseless.

  “Reid, if you’re going to stay, at least order a drink.” Her pleading eyes lock on mine. Someone else is flagging her down for a drink, making me wait. I slip into the stool next to the man whose jaw I nearly broke moments ago.

  I wait as she helps three other people, though it burns me up inside to do it. I know I’m not the only one watching that ass sway back and forth, and it makes me want to pummel every last set of eyes on her.

  “I want a Coke,” I tell her when she’s finally back on this side of the bar.

  She fills a cup with ice, then soda. “Reid, I can’t do this.” Such defeat laces her voice it nearly breaks me apart.

  When she slides me a cup, I shackle her wrist with my fingers. I’m trying to be discreet to buy her time before the owner flips out on us both. It’s the reason most bartenders don’t last here. He’s not an easy man to work for, and this isn’t an easy crowd. “You don’t need this, Amy.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  Though I don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle yet, I have enough to make out the picture. “You don’t have to come back to work for me again unless you want to,” I say. “But this place… you’re way too good to be here. I don’t know what lies that asshole made you believe about yourself, but you’re better than this bar.”

  “I don’t have experience in anything else, Reid.”

  Rusty is eyeing me good now. He’s almost as large as I am, and if we have to get into a fight, there’ll be bloodshed. Something suddenly dawns on me. “Does your family know you’re in town?”

  Her cheeks turn a deep shade of red that not even the dim light can hide. Of course they don’t. “I didn’t want to tell them until I got myself together.” She looks nervously over her shoulder at the owner. He’s about two seconds from marching over here. “I made such a big deal of everything when I left…”

  I reach over the bar and slip the cell phone out of her back pocket. “You call them, or I will.” I slip a ten on the bar for my soda and push out of me seat. With her phone in my possession, I leave out the front door and pray she’ll follow me.

  I’
ve made it as far as my truck before the door opens and she bursts through. “Reid, give me back my phone!”

  I hold it up so she can see her older sister’s name on the screen and my finger hovering over the call button. Amy might be the only person in the world I know who doesn’t password protect her phone. “Only if you hear what I have to say first. Otherwise, I’ll be talking to Katy.”

  Arms folded, lips pressed tight together, she huffs out a “Fine.”

  “I’m sorry for what that asshole did to you, Amy. He took advantage of you in the worst possible ways, and if he ever steps foot in this town again, I’ll beat him senseless for it.”

  “Reid.”

  “It’s okay to ask for help from those who love you, Amy.” I draw her into my free arm and hug her around my chest. “Your family loves you, and they will want to help you. No matter what happened since you left. You haven’t talked about them much, but what little you’ve told me, you’ve said with love.”

  A tear rolls down her cheek.

  “And I love you, Amy.”

  “You do?”

  The front door to the bar pops open, and Rusty appears. Even from across the parking lot, I can see that his pissed off face is beat red. I don’t want to tangle with him, but I will if it comes down to that. “Get your ass back inside, Amy. You have thirty seconds, or you’re done here.”

  Amy looks up into my eyes, and some of the fear and uncertainty that’s lingered there since I stepped foot in the bar tonight disappears. A hint of fire returns to those emerald beauties before she spins around to face the bar owner. “I quit.”

  When Rusty charges over, I step forward and push Amy behind me. “You heard the lady. She doesn’t work for you anymore.” I wait as the man wars with his desire to start a fight. I can see the battle waging in his angry eyes. Finally, he mutters something I’m glad I didn’t hear, because I’d probably have to break his jaw, and stomps back inside.