Trouble in Sudden Falls: A Sudden Falls Romance (32 page)

“You think your mom will let you?” Maybe she’d see how crazy it was to think that they could go out so he wouldn’t have to be the one to say it. He was feeling like a major coward at that moment.

“She’ll come around,” Amy insisted.

“I doubt it.” He sighed. She wasn’t going to make this easy on him, not that he thought she was deliberately trying to make things more difficult. “Look, Amy. I think you’re great. I really do… I don’t think that this is going to work. We’re too…
different.”

Amy’s face fell and he felt like a jerk of the highest order.

“Your mom’s right, you know. I wouldn’t be good for you. I think we should probably stay friends.”

Amy sniffled and he feared that she would cry. He really wouldn’t be able to handle it if she did.

“Amy, it’s time to go,” her mom yelled from the driveway.

“One minute, Mom.” There was a clear lack of patience in her voice, both for her mom and for him.

“Rogan, that’s not true. You’re… well, that is, I really like you. A lot.”

There was a time when
anyone
saying that would have made his week, and to be honest, even though he knew dating her would be difficult at best and a nightmare at worst, the fact that she was willing to say it warmed him in a way that he’d never be willing to admit out loud.

“I’m sorry,” He got to his feet.

“I’m sorry you feel that way. I think one day you will regret this.”

Truer words had never been spoken. He watched her get in the car and drive away. This is why in recent years he’d kept his friends to those he met on the computer. At least with a world of wire between them, he couldn’t hurt the people he met online.

Chapter Seventeen

“Why are you angry with
me
?” Amy’s mom asked. “I took you over there like you asked.”

Amy continued looking out the window, swiping at the tears that she couldn’t seem to stop. “I’m sure you’ll be happy to know, Rogan gave me the ‘Let’s just be friends’ talk. Know why? ‘Cause you don’t approve of him.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“For not seeing beyond his exterior? Yes. It is.”

“I’m trying to protect you, Amy. That’s my job as a parent. And if you
had
gone to the dance with him last night, you would have been in the car with him when he had his accident.”

“Accident?”

“Yes. That’s what Maddie said last night at the Emergency room.”

Before Amy could set her mom straight, her cell phone rang. She looked at the display.
Darlene.
She toyed with not answering it and instead giving her mom the scoop, but since it didn’t really put Rogan in a better light, she decided not to and clicked the green “talk” button.

Before she could even say ‘Hello’, Darlene burst in with “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. My sugar went high yesterday and Mom dragged me to the emergency room.”

“That sucks. Rogan showed up at the dance looking for you.”

“Yeah. I saw him a little bit ago.”

“How is he?”

“He looks like he got hit by a bus.”

“Try the hockey team.”

“What really happened?”

“He didn’t tell you?”

“He said he’d had a run in with Shane Grundin.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Darlene knew how to weave a story. She was especially good and dragging out the suspense. “You want the short or long version.”

“Long. And don’t leave anything out.”

Darlene took Amy at her word and drew the story out to epic lengths. It took some cajoling but Darlene finally told her what Shane had said about her.

“Ew. He’s such a creep.”

“Yeah. Well Rogan took that as a reason to defend your honor. He pushed Shane up against the wall then Shane’s buddies beat the hell out of Rogan.”

“He looks that way because he was defending me?”

“Yup. I think I finally get what you see in him. He really likes you.”

“Not enough.”

“Why do you say that?”

“’Cause he called things off. Something about him not being right for me.”

Darlene gave Amy a sympathetic “aww”, but she wasn’t paying much attention at that point. Rogan had gotten into a fight defending
her.
She wondered what her mom would say to that. She couldn’t wait to show her mom the kind of person she’d judged so harshly.

“Darlene, I’ve got to let you go.”

When Amy punched the end-call button, her mom looked over. “What was that all about?”

“You know why Rogan was in the hospital last night?” She wasn’t about to sugar coat this. She related the story exactly as Darlene had told her. “‘Cause he took exception to Shane Grundin calling me a slut and suggesting I was out back doing the basketball team. Then Shane’s buddies beat the crap out of him.
That’s
the kind of guy he is. He’s never been anything but a gentleman to me and you’ve painted him as some deviant monster. I never realized you were so judgmental.”

Amy watched an expression cross her mom’s face. It might have almost been one of relenting, but then she took in a deep breath and focused back on the road for a moment.

“Well, yes. It was nice of him to defend you against…
that
… But it still doesn’t make you old enough to date.”

So obviously, she
wasn’t
about to relent.

When they arrived home, Amy went straight to her room, shut the door firmly enough it could be mistaken for a slam, and flipped on her computer.

She checked email, looked at her Facebook page to see if anyone interesting had posted anything—which they hadn’t—and then decided to play
League of Legends
for a while.

It didn’t take long for her to locate some of the members of her guild, including DarkWizard. She opened the messaging screen and typed.

\whisper DarkWizard: Long time no talk.

DarkWizard: Hey. How’s it going?

Tinkas: Life sucks. You?

DarkWizard: Much the same.

Tinkas: So you still want to meet IRL?

He’d been asking for more than a year but she’d always refused. The whole thing with Rogan had given her more of a “Go for the Gusto” attitude. Or maybe she knew how much it would piss her mom off and she’d stopped being the person who refused to make waves no matter what.

DarkWizard: Sure! Why the change of heart? I thought you said your parents would never let you meet in real life?

Tinkas: Who says I’m going to tell them?

DarkWizard: Girl after my own heart.

And there was the difference between DarkWizard and Rogan. Rogan was more interested in Amy following the rules and DarkWizard was all about breaking them.

Tinkas: So where should we meet? I desperately need to get away.

DarkWizard: Get away? What did you have in mind?

Tinkas: Dunno. What about a camping trip?

DarkWizard: Really? You didn’t strike me as the ‘outdoor type’.

Tinkas: I was a Girl Scout, thankyouverymuch!

DarkWizard: So you want to go away for like a whole weekend?

What was she getting herself into? She’d never met him before and he could be a crazy person.

Tinkas: How about one day? Promise me you’re not a nut job, okay?

DarkWizard: LOL. Relatively sane.

Tinkas: *Relatively*?

DarkWizard: I promise you’ll be safe with me.

She felt some measure better… not that he would have said so if he were a mental patient.

Tinkas: Where do you want to go?

DarkWizard: Let me get online and do a little research. Will your mom flip if I email you?

Tinkas: She’ll never know… she’s not exactly a technical genius.

DarkWizard: Ok. I’ll find a place and send you the details.

Emma knew it was time to put her plan into action. Fantasizing was all well and good, but it didn’t give either of them what they needed. Rob had been grouchier than a bear wakened before spring and she needed him to see her in a different light.

And soon.

Her stomach tightened as she heard the front door open. She walked down the hall to meet him. She could see the stress in him by the stiffness in his shoulders, the lines bracketing his mouth which were deeper than usual as were the dark circles under his eyes.

“Another late night?”

He nodded. “I told you I’d be showing houses all evening,” he said, his voice defensive.

She gave him a censuring look, fearing her plans might be cancelled before they ever got started. “Did I sound like I was getting on your case?”

He paused for a long moment. “No.” Rob sighed. “I’m sorry. I guess I’ve been getting on my own case and expecting you to do the same.”

She stretched up on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. “Well stop it. How much work do you have tonight?” She crossed her fingers as she waited for the answer.

He dropped his briefcase and laptop on the hall table. “Tons,” he said with more resignation than she’d ever heard and she felt the disappointment streak through her entire being. “But I’m not up to it. Maybe we can have a quiet night in?”

Renewed hope flowed through her. “That’s the perfect answer. Why don’t you go take a hot shower to relax and I’ll throw something together for dinner?”

“Oh, hell. I forgot to call. I already ate. You and the kids didn’t wait for me, did you?” He looked around as if realizing how quiet it was. “Where are the kids?”

“At your mother’s house.” She winked at him suggestively.

His left eyebrow went up, as he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her into the warmth of his body. She snuggled in, loving the feel of his hard body against hers. “Oh?”

She sensed definite interest in his tone. “I thought we could use a night to ourselves.” She gave him a squeeze around his middle and then dropped a love pat on his butt. Even that was tense. She dug her fingers into his spine, working her way up the steel bands of muscles. “You are so tense.”

He moaned as her fingers located and massaged out a tight knot of muscles. “Ah. That feels good.”

“Take a hot shower and I’ll go find something that will work as massage oil. I’ll try to cure what ails you.”

He made another noise that might have been pain at her digging in his taut muscles or disbelief. She did have plans to cure what ailed him, but she after the conversation she’d overheard between him and Maddie, she knew as well as he did that a massage probably wouldn’t do it. Looking back on it, she could recall that he always got tense toward the middle of the month, and then after he left for the evening on the second Saturday of the month, he seemed much better.

“Sounds good.” He disengaged from her almost reluctantly. He dropped a kiss on top of her head before hanging his coat on the coat tree and trudging up the stairs.

She followed him, watching him with a great deal of nervous anticipation. “I have a surprise for you when you get out.”

“Really?” He stopped on the stairs and turned around to gaze at her for a long moment. The look in his eyes was almost feral. Suddenly, he seemed a lot less tired. “I’d better hurry, then.”

As soon as she heard the shower come on, she raced into the bedroom, pulled his bag of naughty toys from under the bed and yanked the kinky outfit she’d bought from the back of the closet. She’d never worn real stockings before and she struggled with the little clasps on the garter belt. The thong panty she wore was little more than the suggestion of fabric, with small ties over each hip that kept them on. The leather corset she’d put on wasn’t as tight as it was meant to be worn, but the effect on her psyche was still considerable. She felt… different. More powerful. Definitely naughtier.

That feeling of power and sexiness was significantly enhanced by the four and a half inch heeled black PVC boots that stopped above her knees.

Then a mean little voice in the back of her brain warned her that he was going to be more freaked out by her attempt at being a bad girl than he would be turned on.

Her stomach tightened. What made her think that she could pull this off? Other than a few books, she had no idea what she was doing.

She heard the water turn off and she faltered. She could toss the bag back under the bed, race for the hall bathroom and change back into normal clothes. She rocked back from foot to foot, wondering what she should do. Then she caught her reflection the long mirror by the door. She looked… well,
hot.
Her reflection bolstered her confidence. She picked up one of his toys from where she’d left them on the hope chest at the end of the bed, leaned against one of the posters of the bed and waited for him to come out.