Forgive Me (Callaway Book 2) (11 page)

"Maybe. What about you and Drew? Is there something going on there?"

Amanda laughed because she didn't know how to answer that. She leaned back against the island in the middle of the kitchen and sighed. "I don't really know. I've seen him almost every day but he hasn't made a move or anything, so I don't know."

"Must be quite a sight to see the four of them working on the house in this hot weather." Amanda laughed with Abby, because that was the understatement of the century.

"Oh, God, you have no idea. When they take off their shirts, I swear the temperature climbs a few hundred degrees." And when the Thompson brothers showed up, she had the making of a hit reality show.
Maybe I
should
start filming them.

"I wouldn't mind seeing John without his shirt." Abby was so cute, blushing like a school girl with a crush.

"It's quite a view, sweetie, but to be honest, I only see Drew. He's just so damn hot. It's like I can't take my eyes away from him." That wasn't a lie either; as hot as Cole, Nick and John were, she couldn't look at anyone but Drew. His body had transformed into something right out of a movie, with a V that made her mouth water every time she saw him.

Amanda noticed something change in Abby's demeanor and when she covered her mouth with her hands, she knew whatever it was, it wasn't good.

And that's when she felt him again. "Oh, no, don't tell me he's behind me again." She already knew the answer, though. She felt his eyes on her, almost like a caress to her skin.      

"Afraid I am." Her whole body came alive at the sound of his voice, her skin tingling with the awareness of him being near her.

"I'm just going to go do…something out there." Abby was babbling, but Amanda couldn't make out was she was saying because it hit her that Drew had probably heard their whole conversation. God, she wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.

"Abby, it's good to see you." His voice was playful and warm; he had a soft spot for Abby, which made her even more curious about her relationship with John.

"Hi, Drew." Abby giggled from embarrassment, and Amanda knew she had to turn around and face him. What she wasn't ready for was the intensity in his eyes, an intensity she'd seen before when he was turned on and on the edge. She gripped the counter, hard enough to make her knuckles turn white, and he just smiled at her, like he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"I'll make sure to tell my brother to take off his shirt the next time he sees you." He looked down at Abby, and her whole face turn bright red.

"Oh, God, no. Please don't." Abby's face turned bright red, and it was adorable.

"I'm joking, Abby." Amanda watched the girl hightail out of the kitchen, and she suddenly felt like she was facing a predator. The instant Abby was out of sight, he closed the distance between them, and she fought to release her next breath.

"You really have to stop eavesdropping on my conversations, Drew," she told him, trying her best to sound convincing when the truth was she didn't mind at all.

"Is that right?" His hands went to her waist, backing her up against the counter. She couldn't hold back the moan that escaped her lips as he touched her.

"Yes." The words were barely audible as they left her mouth.

He bent his head so his mouth was beside her ear. When he licked her ear lobe, her hands grabbed his T-shirt, desperate for more. "Hmmm, maybe you should stop talking about how hot I am behind my back and tell me instead."

"I don't need to tell you that, Drew. You have a mirror." She had no idea how she was still capable of thought when Drew licked her neck. God, he remembered her body like it was yesterday. All week, her body had been hot for him, and God, she wanted more.

"Maybe I want to hear you tell me." He pulled his head back so they were eye to eye.

"What are you doing here, Drew?" His hands travelled down her lower back, resting just above her ass. Her hips tilted forward by themselves and when she shivered, she heard his groan.

"Wanted to see you." He squeezed her ass as he talked to her, and she was so turned on, she wasn't sure she could form a coherent thought if her life depended on it.

"Why?" she managed to ask through the fog of lust in her brain.

He gripped her ass and lifted her onto the counter. Their mouths were so close his breath caressed her lips. "Because after hearing you say I'm hot and that you're waiting for me to make my move, I don't think I can leave without getting a taste of you."

He squeezed her inner thigh with one hand and teased her bottom lip with his thumb, driving her crazy with need. "Oh, God."

He licked her bottom lip and pulled back. "Yeah, I definitely need a taste. Tell me I can have a taste, Amanda. Tell me I can taste those pretty lips."

"Please." She had forgotten how much his need for her permission turned her on, and just like that, a switch was flipped. Her whole body relaxed into his and her legs spread wider, giving him room to step closer to her.

She saw the same switch in him when her body relaxed, and the next time he spoke, his words were harsher, demanding more. "Say it, Amanda."

"Kiss me," she told him, slipping her hands under his tee, desperate to feel him without any barriers.

"With pleasure," was all he said before rocking her world with the most amazing kiss of her life.

Drew didn't need another invitation. He dove right in and took what he was desperate for, her lips. He caged her face with his hands, loving how her body relaxed into his, like it hadn't forgotten their connection. When his lips had their first taste of hers, he lost it. He was kissing her like his life depended on it, and in that moment, he was pretty sure it did. He kissed, licked and nibbled on her lips as his hand tilted her head back, desperate to deepen the connection. "So sweet. So fucking sweet."

He kissed her neck, loving the feel of her nails digging into his chest. He lowered one hand and covered her breast, squeezing hard, making her hips jerk. Before he knew it, her legs were wrapped around his waist and he was spinning them around, pinning her back against the wall.

"Drew."

He rocked his hips into her, showing her how much he wanted her, how much she controlled his body. But it was when he looked into her eyes that he showed her how she controlled his heart. "Mine, Amanda. These lips are mine. Tell me I'm the only one who can taste them. I keep replaying it in my head, and I can't stop hearing you tell me that no other man has touched you. It's making me a little crazy."

"Yours, I'm yours, Drew. Please…." She didn't wait for him that time; she lowered her lips to his and kissed him, showing him exactly what she was feeling. He groaned when she bit down on his lower lip, pushing her tongue inside, teasing him. When she started rocking her hips and moaning, he knew this was getting out of control, but he couldn't stop.

She threw her head back, and he had never seen anything more beautiful than how she looked in that moment. Lips swollen form his kiss, face flushed, hair tangled, she looked like a wild child. "What do you want?"

"More, I want more. God, please touch me." He had his hand on the base of her T-shirt when he heard the kitchen door open, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Oh, hmmm…I'm so sorry, but there's a problem out front." He could hear Abby giggle, but all he could feel was Amanda's warmth as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"I'll be right there, Abby." He lowered her to the ground slowly and fixed her clothes, and he knew by the way she was avoiding making eye contact that she was embarrassed. He hated seeing that look on her face, but he was also aware that he didn't have the time to say everything he wanted to say, and he knew they needed to talk.

He kissed her hard enough to leave her breathless, then kissed her forehead and whispered, "This isn't over," before walking out the back. If anyone asked him the moment his life changed, that was it.

Chapter Six

To say that
the last couple of weeks had been busy would be an understatement. Between pulling his weight at the ranch, working on Amanda's house and getting things ready for Cole's wedding, Drew was exhausted. The one good thing in the midst of crazy long days was that he got to see Amanda almost every day. The more time he spent with her, the more she opened up to him about her life in the city and how she felt about being back home. Their extensive chats had made his days longer and his nights shorter, but he wouldn't trade any of it for a couple hours of sleep. Slowly, he was getting a glimpse of the woman he loved.

The day had been brutally hot, and he knew his body would make him pay in the morning, but he didn't care. It was well past 9 p.m., yet he was still working on the roof. His brothers had insisted on staying and helping him, but he didn't want them around; he wanted time alone with Amanda. As if his thoughts had conjured her, she stepped out on the back porch holding two beers.

"Are you trying to get me to drink on the job, Amanda?" He really liked teasing her. It was one of the things he loved most about her; she was so easy to tease but unlike women who got offended, she just laughed it off.

"It's almost ten, Drew. I think you've done enough for today," she shouted before sitting down on her front steps.

"All right, I'll be right down." He climbed down from the roof in record speed, making sure everything was safe. When he sat down beside her, the scent of her perfume lingered in the wind. God, he wanted to drown in it.

She gazed around the house, and he could tell she was taking everything in. "I can't believe how fast you guys got things done. The house looks amazing." When she turned to look at him, the emotion he saw in her eyes took him back.

To him, this wasn't something he needed to do; this was something he
wanted
to do. He took a sip of beer, clearing his thoughts before saying something that would send her running for the hills. "Your safety is important, Mandy."

"Apparently, sleep isn't all that important to you. You look like something out of
The Walking Dead
." She sounded amused, and he'd missed that about her so much. But this, just talking, was one of the things he'd missed most of all.

He took off his baseball cap and ran his fingers through his hair. "Is it that bad?"

"Don't worry, you're still the most handsome brother." She smiled at him and for the first time in weeks, he saw it radiate through her eyes.

"Straight to the heart, sweetheart," he told her, his hand over his heart. When she shifted on the stairs, he grabbed her by the hips, pulled himself back a little farther and sat her down between his legs, her back pressed to his chest.

He smirked at her intake of breath and waited for her to protest or move away from him, but she didn't. Instead, she dropped her head back on his shoulders, letting out a sigh that made it seem like she'd just found something she'd been missing. Hell, he could relate to that himself.

Her eyes went up to look at the stars, and a smile covered her face. "I forgot how peaceful it was out here. So quiet."

"Bet you couldn't get that in the city." He remembered how much she used to enjoy lying out in the fields at night, just spending hours looking at the stars. She used to say that every person we'd ever lost could be found in the stars. When he saw the longing on her face, he knew she was thinking about her dad. They had spent so many nights out in the middle of nowhere, talking about their families and how they would raise their own kids someday. To sit there with her and see everything she still wanted written on her face took him for a ride he wasn't sure he was ready for.

"Definitely not." Neither of them said anything more. They stayed there in each other's arms like they didn't have any history, only the present. As much as Drew wanted that to be true, it wasn't. They
did
have a history, one that ended in heartbreak. If they were to have any chance to move forward, to give this relationship another try, there were some things they needed to talk about.

He could no longer avoid their past, like they had been for the past weeks. "Can I ask you something?"

She pulled away from him, and he silently cursed the loss of her body against his. "Would it matter if I said no?" she asked.

He took a sip of his beer and went straight to the point. "Probably not. Why did you leave without saying goodbye?"

He watched her face, trying to see what she was thinking but he couldn't struggled read her. There was something blank about the way she was looking at him, something he didn't like, not one bit. She didn't say anything for a few moments, and just when he was about to tell her to forget it, she spoke up. "I didn't think I would be able to get in my car and drive away if I saw you before I left. I don't think I could have walked away from you. You'd have tried to talk me out of it, and you would have won. I needed to leave, needed to go and find something more."

"When I came over to pick you up and saw your car leaving, and your dad told me you were gone, it almost killed me."