Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (85 page)

It was like Nick came back to earth then.  He disentangled himself from the woman, whom Ami could see was very pretty, though she was wearing a great deal too much makeup.  But what was more disturbing to Ami though, was that her coloring and her size were similar to Ami's own.  She even had green eyes, though they were a brighter green, closer to the shade of Gabe's wife's.  She was disgusted.

But what Nick did next was almost worse Ami thought.  He almost roughly shoved the girl away from him.  Ami heard him tell her to get the fuck away from him.  She looked puzzled for a minute, and then she must have noticed the look in Nick's eyes because she suddenly grabbed her purse from the picnic table and tottered away on what Ami found to be a ridiculous pair of spike heels, mumbling something about "Fuckin' prick" and "girlfriend."

Ami closed her eyes again.  The poor girl thought she was Nick's girlfriend?  This night was just getting better and better she thought.  And Nick was coming their way.

She turned back towards her still open car door, throwing the bag of movies to Carson.

"Ami," Alicia said, looking alarmed when she was behind the wheel.  "Where are you going?"

She turned to Nick, giving him easily the dirtiest look Ami had ever seen her friend give.  "Don't let this asshole get to you.  He's leaving, aren't you Nick?" Her words were pure ice.

And then he was leaning in her window.  She wanted to throw up and it wasn't just because of the strong smell of alcohol coming off of him.  "Ami.  You gotta forgive me.  I can't believe I let you see that.  I just can't.  .  .  I couldn't.  .  ."

She didn't let him finish the sentence it sounded like he wasn't sure how he was going to finish anyway.  She needed to go for a drive to clear her head she thought.  The first time she had let herself get even semi interested in a guy after all this time, and this had happened. 

“If you want to do something like that in public, that's your business.  We're not together remember?"

Why did it hurt to say those words Ami wondered?   She looked over his shoulder at Alicia who, still looking angry, had her arms crossed over her belly.  Carson was trying to pull her into his arms but she was still too pissed to let him.

"Ali I'm fine.  I'm going for a drive.”

"You sure you're okay?" Alicia said.

"Yep.  You guys have a good night."

"You too hon," Alicia said.  Ami thought that she still looked worried but she had calmed down enough to let Carson put his arms around her.

Nick wouldn't look at her as she drove past him out of the parking lot and she was glad.  She didn't want to see the look on his face.

She stopped for gas on the way out of town, buying a soda, and eating a sandwich that made her stomach, which was already in turmoil, feel worse.  She drove aimlessly for an hour and a half and then with a sigh, turned around and started towards home.

Chapter 8

It was after midnight when she finally arrived home.  She was glad once again that Nick was nowhere in sight and that the light was off at Carson's and Ali's.

Her feet felt like they were dragging when she went up the stairs.  She was glad when she was finally inside.

She locked the door behind her, throwing her purse on the couch.

She didn't bother to look at her computer as she passed it.  She used the restroom again since the soda had filled her bladder and then brushed her teeth, going back to the bedroom, feeling like she was dragging again.

She tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, but it was only a little after one a.m.  when she fell into an uneasy sleep.

She awoke the next morning a little after nine a.m.  to a pounding on her door.

She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes.  The knocking subsided.  She sighed, getting out of bed.

She padded out to the living room and opened the door.  No one was around, but there was a blue piece of paper taped to her door.  She pulled it off and read ‘Ami is everything okay?  Nick feels like shit and wanted us to tell you that he's sorry and that he doesn't blame you if you don't want to see him ever again.  Call me or come down later please.  Carson and I are going to look at a couple of houses this morning and afternoon but he's going out with Nick tonight, so it'll just be me.  Nick is taking him out to dinner and a movie to make it up to him for being such a shit these past few days.  I told him it was you he should be making it up to, but he got a funny look on his face and told me to let him know when you're ready for an apology.  No, he won't be here tonight.  I told him he can't come any further than the edge of the parking lot until you've at least sort of forgiven him.  Please, please come see me Ami.  I'm worried about you.  Ali.’

Ami was glad that Alicia was going to be gone the morning and afternoon.  She didn't want to face her friend and her questions.  She knew they were well meaning and that Alicia cared, but she just wasn't up to it.

She ignored her computer again and curled up on the couch with her library book.  She finished the first book and had fallen asleep halfway through the second when a knock on the door awakened her again.

She sat up, and said "Just a minute."

Alicia was standing on the other side of the door, looking concerned.  "Can I come in?"

Ami stepped back.  "Sure."

"No offense sweetie, but you look like shit."

Ami laughed.  "I know."

"Ami, I am so sorry.  Men are such assholes."

"You seem to have found a good one.  Who I thought was an asshole."

"He can come off like that, yeah.  You poor thing."

"I'm an idiot Alicia."

"No, you're not."

Ami gave her a half-hearted smile.  "I think I'm done with men again.  Maybe I'll try for ten years this time instead of seven." Why didn't she think it was going to be that easy though, she wondered?

"Don't give up on them yet.  Nick really likes you.  He just did some really stupid stuff because he thinks you have a boyfriend.  He's chilled out.  I don't think you'll see him with another woman for a long time."

"I don't think it would be a good idea for either of us to jump right in to a relationship when we've both acted like such idiots."

"Give it some time.  I think he'll make it up to you, if you'll let him."

"I don't think I want him to right now.  It's all too damned complicated.  I want my simple life back."

"Nothing that's worth it is ever simple, Ami."

"I guess."

"You want to come down and watch a movie or something?"

Ami shook her head.  "Maybe later.  How did your house hunting go?"

Alicia made a face.  "Not good.  They were all too small, or they wanted too much of a down payment, or too high in the monthly payments.  It looks like we might end up in the trailer after all, though now even that's going to take longer than we thought.  It was a repossession and now it looks like everything is going to be tied up in court for a while.  It won't be until February that we could move in.  Of course Carson's hoping like hell that something else comes up before then."

"Good luck."

"Thanks.  Call me or come down if you want anytime.  Work’s been slow for the past couple of days and I'm bored out of my mind when Carson's not around."

"Okay," Ami said, but she figured she was going to wallow in her self-pity for the rest of the day and then go to bed early, to prepare herself for what she figured was going to be a busy night at the bar.

Alicia reached out and squeezed her hand briefly.  "It's gonna be okay Ami."

"I know." She gave her friend another weak smile and then walked her to the door.

When Alicia was gone, she turned her stereo on low and went back to the couch with her book.

She debated on making herself something for lunch but she wasn't really hungry.

She finished the book and then had nothing else to do.

Finally she sighed, went into the kitchen and made herself a sandwich.  She returned to the living room and turned on her computer, skipping her e-mail and instead heading to the movie site to watch a movie.

She watched three movies and then took a shower and went to bed.

She didn't sleep well and it was almost noon when she finally got out of bed.  She made herself another sandwich which she didn't taste and then curled up on the couch to watch another movie, still feeling sorry for herself.

She dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and headed out to work.

Chapter 9

She was glad when Carson's car wasn't in the lot and Alicia wasn't around.  She felt guilty for not hanging out with her friend and knew she couldn't avoid her forever.

Candy was behind the bar when she got there, chatting with a dark haired man who was hanging on her every word.

She wasn't sure how far along Candy was but you couldn't tell she was pregnant as she moved around smoothly behind the bar, slipping past Eric with ease.

"Hey Ami," she said with a smile.

"Hi Candy."

Conversation was halted then, because it got very busy.  They didn't hit much of a lull even when Rick brought in a pasta salad which Candy insisted on sharing with Ami.

After they'd cleaned up and split the tips, which Ami noticed were easily twice as much as they'd been on the nights she'd worked with Rick and they'd locked up, each headed to their separate cars, she noticed a tall figure standing next to her car.

Her step faltered.  Candy, having sensed it, turned.  "Ami?"

Ami squinted her eyes.  Her heart beat faster.

It was Gabe.

"I'm okay."

Candy noticed Gabe then and her dark eyes got even darker.  "You sure?"

"Yes.  Goodnight Candy."

"Night Ami."

She turned to her car then, but Ami heard the sigh.  Candy didn't seem to like their boss much she thought.

She waited until Candy had pulled out of the lot before she walked the rest of the way to her car.

“Hello Ami.”

"Hi." She thought he looked good in a tight pair of jeans, and a dark blue t-shirt.  The chilly air didn’t seem to be bothering him at all.

"Will you come back inside with me for a few minutes Ami?  I'd like to talk to you."

She wondered if he was firing her already.  But no, the look in his eyes told her that he wanted something else completely.

Gorgeous or not, seven long years since she had had sex or not, Ami knew she could not sleep with a married man. 

"I don't think that's a good idea Gabe."

"I would never hurt you Ami.”

She wanted to run away, but knew she had nowhere to run, so she followed him. 

She noticed that his hand shook a little when he put the key in the door.

He flipped the lights on only in the back of the bar and motioned for her to follow him to the back booth. 

She suddenly wanted a cigarette very badly, and started to reach for her purse, then stopped herself because it was against the state law to smoke inside public places.

"Smoke if you want.  I'll pay the fine if someone finds out."

She lit her cigarette, taking a deep drag.  He got up and rummaged under the bar, bringing out an ashtray and pushing it over to her.

"Thanks."

He was silent for a moment, just watching her.  Then he said "I have a proposition for you Ami."

Damn, she thought.  He was going to pay her to sleep with him?

“There are some things that I’d like to explain to you first.  I don’t know what kind of rumors you’ve heard around town about me, but they’re not true.  I do not hire female bartenders so that I can sleep with them.  I have a soft spot for vulnerable women and sometimes that gets me into trouble.  I’ve given women money.  I’ve paid for abortions, and houses and cars for some of them.  I tend to have a hard time telling a beautiful woman no and many would probably agree that it will be my eventual downfall.  But let me start with my wife.  Oh, Leslie.  When I met her, I was nineteen and I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.  She was wild, she was crazy.  She was so full of fire that I thought I could never love another woman.  She had me wrapped around her pretty little finger before I knew what was happening.  Her parents hated me on sight, and their birthday present to her every year is a higher amount of money to leave me.  She won't do it, but I don't understand why.  I won't leave her for one simple reason.  I love my children.  Which leads me to the next part of the story.  My son is not my son.  Biologically anyway.  She was pregnant when I met her, has never told anyone who the real father is, but I didn't care.  I still don't.  My son has been my son for twelve years and he will always remain my son in my eyes.  I will make sure that his mother tells him someday, when he is ready because it is her story to tell.  My daughter, the beautiful, sweet, smart girl that she is, I know her not to be mine either.  I wonder about the daughter that Leslie is carrying now.  My wife has always had a taste for lovers.  It started out as women at first, something I rather enjoyed until she started locking me out of our bedroom when she had someone in there with her.  But it hasn’t always been women Ami.   I had my daughter’s blood tested for what I thought was my own peace of mind, and I'm not her father.  I love them both so much but when they call me Daddy it's nothing but a lie leaving their lips."

“I’m sorry Gabe.  But you could still divorce her.  She wouldn’t try to stop you from seeing the kids would she?   Even if they’re not yours by blood, you’re the only father they’ve ever known.”

"She would let me see the children yes.  She wouldn't fight me in court; she would shut her pretty mouth and let me see the babies that aren't really mine, though Christian and Jessa are hardly babies anymore.  I never had the strength to really leave her before Ami.  Until I met you."

Ami hid a sigh, wondering why this man she barely knew seemed to think of her as his savior.  She wasn’t anyone’s savior.  Not Gabe’s, not her son’s and least of all, her own.

"But back to the rumors.  I did not hire one of those women to sleep with them.  I did not fuck any of them, not once.  I made two mistakes with women that worked here, and I regret both of them.  The first, you've probably heard about because an ex employee of mine walked in on it.  It wasn’t sexual, but it makes me feel worse than even the time it was.   Yes, Todd walked in on me snorting a line of coke with a recovering addict.  I still hate myself for it.  Her name was Brandy and she was beautiful.  She was also totally unbalanced.  She was a recovering addict and at the time, I still did coke now and then.   I only did it with her because she threatened to kill herself if she didn't do it just one more time.  I'm sure it was an excuse and she took me for a grand on top of giving her a full paycheck when she only worked two days out of that last two weeks.  The other one is simpler I suppose.  Tandra.  She was young and gorgeous with an abusive boyfriend and an utter lack of self-worth.  You remember me asking you about a boyfriend the day I hired you?   Tandra is part of the reason I asked that question.  He used to come in here every night she worked so she wouldn’t get too friendly with the men she was serving.  She was always giving him free drinks.  When she worked by herself, which is something I am loathe to let anyone do at night anymore, he used to be in here after closing time.  I drive by most nights to make sure everything's closed up.  I happened to drive by one Wednesday night.  It was almost two a.m., so she should have been gone at least an hour before that.  But her car was still in the lot, and the lights were still on.  I made sure I didn’t make a sound when I opened the door.  She was in this very booth, bleeding from her mouth, and her eye was swelling up.  He punched her in the head, and was about to kick her when he realized I was standing there.  He had the nerve to smile at me and asked if I wanted to join him.  I almost killed him.  I broke his nose.  There was so much blood I never thought I was going to be able to scrub it all out.  Tandra was screaming and crying.  Finally I snapped out of it, opened my wallet, took out all the cash I had and threw it at him.  It was well over a thousand dollars because I'd cashed a check at the bank earlier that day.  I told him to stay away from her and that if I caught him anywhere near her ever again, I'd kill him and bury him where no one would ever find him.  She was still crying when he walked away, so I took her into my office, and laid her down on the couch.  I held her for a while, rubbing her back and stroking her hair like I had done with my kids when they were younger.  After a while she quieted down.  I thought she had fallen asleep.  I was going to sleep in my chair, call my wife and tell her that something had come up.  So I left my message for Leslie.  I'm leaning back in my chair and I'm half asleep when all of a sudden I feel this tug at my zipper.  I look down and there she is, saying that she had to do something to thank me.  I disgusted myself, letting her give me head when her boyfriend had just beat the shit out of her, but I did it.  I am only a man and it had been so long since Leslie had bothered."

Ami lit another cigarette.  She wanted him to get to his proposition so she could tell him no and she could get the hell out of there.

"Tandra stayed with us for a while.  My kids loved her and so did my wife of course.   I’m guessing that when she left she went back to that piece of shit Andy or another one just like him.  I was almost scared to hire another woman after Tandra but I did.  Women seem to need more help in this world than men.  But you Ami, oh you are the woman I should have met thirteen years ago."

If he was nineteen when he met his wife that made him thirty-two now she thought.  But she would only have been eleven thirteen years ago.  "It would have been kind of illegal for me thirteen years ago Gabe.”

He sighed.  "I forget that you're so young.  You don't seem like it.  You have an old soul, love.  Would you like to hear my proposition?"

She shrugged.  "Go ahead."

"I have a restaurant.  It's about an hour and a half away.  I don’t know whether that’s closer to your boyfriend or not." He paused then.  "I would like you to manage it for me.  You would be the assistant manager at first.  I'd pay you a nice salary, put you through school if you wanted, or teach you everything you need to know myself if you prefer.  It would come with your own house, rent free.  I have two down there that you could choose from.  I could come see you on the weekends, during the week if I could manage to get away.  You could continue to see your boyfriend until you were ready to fully commit yourself to me."

She wanted to gag, and wondered if he could possibly be serious, but the look on his face told her that he was.  "I don’t have a boyfriend anymore."

Gabe's face lit up.  "Good.  Will you consider it Ami?  I could give you the life every woman dreams of.  I would move the earth for you.  I'll get a divorce as soon as you feel you're ready to marry me.  Then we can be together, really together."

"I can't marry you Gabe."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to marry anyone and you can't walk out on your kids.  You said so yourself."

"I wouldn't walk out on them.  I would still see them, you could see them if you wanted."

"I can't do that Gabe.  I don't feel that way about you."

"You find me attractive; I can see it in your eyes."

"Most women would find you attractive Gabe."

"Why do you not want me then?"

Because you are scaring the shit out of me, Ami thought.  Finally she said "It's not that I don't want you, I just can't do this."

"I want you so badly Ami.  I need you.  God, how I need you."

"You don't need me Gabe." But then she made the mistake of looking into his eyes, and she knew was done.  Never had a man looked at her the way he was looking at her.  Then he was kissing her and she let him.

When he pulled back he groaned.  "I have been imagining that since the moment I saw you.  I knew that you were what I needed Ami, what I'd been waiting for."

She almost ended it then, but he brought her hands to his chest.  He was rock hard and he felt so good underneath her hands.

Suddenly though, she couldn’t take his emotion.  If she was going to sleep with Gabe it couldn’t be about emotion.  It was going to be about getting off.  Because Ami suddenly felt very much like she needed to get off.

"Gabe."

"Yes?"

"Do you have protection?"

He kissed the side of her neck and said "Are you not on birth control?"

“No and I really can’t do this without a condom.”

"There's a dispenser in the bathroom."

She watched him walk away.  He had a tattoo on his back that had his children's name and birthdates on it.  She almost talked herself out of sleeping with him, but he was back again before she knew it, blowing all of the sensible thoughts out of her head.

He wanted to take it slow, he wanted to feel and kiss every inch of her body, when she wanted it hard and fast, she just wanted to fuck.

She almost giggled when he was finally inside of her.  Nick was right she thought.  She was a slut.

He was still moving too slow and she almost cried out in frustration.  How could she tell a man that had just told her what Gabe had told her that she was only with him to get off because it had been so long Ami wondered?

Finally, she had had enough.  He was in good enough shape that she thought he could probably take all night.  "Gabe."

"Yes?"

"Last I knew, I wasn’t breakable."

He looked disappointed.  "I'm sorry."

She almost apologized to him but he started to move faster and it was suddenly bliss.  So she closed her eyes and let her body feel what it wanted to feel.

Their bodies started to move together in a near perfect rhythm.  But it was Nick she was thinking of, and she had to stop herself from calling out Nick’s name instead of Gabe’s when she came.