Scarred (15 page)

Now he’s got you confused enough to use double negatives, Amelia?

That’s not a good look for a well-known author.

Dinner was a simple affair, just a couple of jars of stew she had canned earlier in the year tossed into the crock pot to warm for a while. She would have enough time to take her much needed shower. But when she came back Ben sat in bed with her latest novel in his hands.

“I hope you don’t mind, I saw it on top of the night stand. My copy is in the truck.” Her mouth dried up into a pasty thing, dry and sticky. He was going to figure it out eventually. There was too much of the area in this novel as the story was about a local grocery owner who finds a body in the store. The owner was the prime suspect and enlists the detective’s help. The store owner looked like Ben, so much so, that she may as well have put his picture on the cover.

And unlike her usual novels, this one was more about the owner than the Detective himself. She had already received a few emails from fans about the change. Most liked the new guy, but who she really worried about was just across the room from her. He still watched her expectantly.

But she had no idea what to say.

Chapter Twelve: Four Can Only Keep A Secret If Three Are Dead

“Amelia?” Ben called her name as he watched the adorable woman across from him nervously shuffle her feet and bite her lips. He could hear how sticky her mouth was, a dry click from her tongue the only sound coming from her direction.

“Uh… yeah, it’s okay.” She ducked her head.

There was much to laugh about. He already knew why she was so nervous.

Let her flounder for a little bit.

Ben had already read and enjoyed Amelia’s latest novel. He waited for her to bring it up and she never said a thing. He liked the idea of being a hero in her book. In fact, the literary version of him was better than the actual man she used to pattern the character behind. Ben could throw a punch or two, but he was no brawler. He could do a quick two step for about five minutes, but he was far from a ballroom dancer. And he had no idea how to make a bomb from kitchen supplies either.

But he hoped that she would like him as he was. Imperfections and all.   

The same way he liked her and all of the traits that made her beautifully human.

He flipped through the fresh pages, found the place he sought and began to read. It was time to shake things up a bit.

 “…the grocer was unlucky enough to be the sole person with a grudge against the woman. After all she was his ex-wife, and the alimony payments were high.” 

“They were pretty expensive. Come on, Baeren paid her ten thousand a month, plus child support.” Amelia replied to his recitation and Ben laughed.

“Yeah, that was pretty steep. Worth killing over? Maybe.”

“Well, Ben, at least the grocer didn’t do it.” Amelia shrugged her shoulders in an imitation of innocence.

“Yeah, I would have had a hard time swallowing the pill of murder, Amelia… Or actually should I say Ambrose?”

She sighed. “Guilty as charged.”

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

“I don’t know for sure. All I can say is that I would have kept it a secret as long as I could.”

“Really?” She was telling the truth. Ben was fairly sure that she would have kept it a secret for ever, but she was her own worst enemy. Now that he thought about it, the cadence and speech in the books even sounded like her. He should have put that together a long time ago.

“Yeah. You are the only person to ever meet Ambrose Jenner and just one of four people who knows my real name. So yeah, it would have taken a while.” She didn’t seem sorry, more like sorry that she got caught. Ben smiled and thought that he could have plenty of fun with this woman.

“Damn Amelia, I love the way your mind works.” He really did. She was smart, witty, beautiful…amazing. Everything that he had attributed to Kylie, the so called perfect woman for him, he had found in Amelia.

“Thanks.” She seemed shy, as if embarrassed. The concept was cute. Amelia was usually so secure and self-contained. Ben liked the change, liked that he could see the woman beneath the turtlenecks and stiff demeanor she used to brush people off.

Ben crooked one finger to ask her to come to him.

She shook her head and backed away from him. “Nu uh. I have to take a shower.”

“That sounds like the best invitation I’ve had in the last few hours.” He stood up, even as she backpedaled, his every step towards her was matched by two of hers in the other direction.

Before he could blink twice, Amelia bolted. She ducked into the bathroom, but he was too quick and her attempts to shut the door behind her were quelled with his shoulder. She laughed and fell away from the wood as he strode inside the well-appointed space. He couldn’t help chuckling at the picture the two of them made in the large oval mirror on the other side of the room.

Amelia was half-way onto her knees and weak with cachinnation. Though, he wasn’t much better, half-bent over and his chest locked in a vicious cycle of chuckles as well.

“Okay…” the breaks in speech were accented with huffs of air filled with mirth. “Okay. But I wasn’t inviting you with me. It was planned to be a solo event.” She had one hand held up and the other cradled the middle of her abdomen.

“Haven’t you heard Amelia?”

“What?” She looked askance at him.

“Save water, shower with a friend.” That was all she wrote. Amelia fell to her knees and he watched two tears escape her left eye.

But being the environmentally conscious man he was, Ben was really happy to save water.

After lingering in under the water for thirty minutes, the output of warmth had dwindled to a lukewarm temperature and he shut the spray off. They dressed, if underwear and robes could be called actual garb. Although, there were many jokes about the options he had for his robe. Amelia didn’t own a single one that was plain. His choices were a pink plaid, red with hearts, or a lavender cloud theme, and all seemed to threaten his masculinity.

Amelia’s homemade chili was delicious and Ben devoured half of the crockpots contents on his own. She joked that his hearty consumption of the meal was to compensate for the less than manly options offered for clothing. He was lucky that she ate considerably less than he did or there would have not been enough for the two of them.

                Ben cleaned up as Amelia was kind enough to make sure that there was a hot meal waiting for him. Afterwards, Ben wanted a replay of the morning, but no sooner than he got the erection, realized that there were no more condoms.

                “Damn it!” Ben cursed.

                “What is it?” Amelia forehead scrunched the rest of her face into a frown.

                “I was about to pounce on you, but I forgot.”

“What?” She seemed even more perplexed than before.

“Condoms.” Just mentioning the lack of latex sheaths made his mouth droop south into a frown.

                “Oh… yeah.” Amelia didn’t look any happier about the dearth than he did.

                She turned her hands up. “Well, how about a game of Parcheesi?”

                That was the beginning to a beautiful relationship. They did play a laughable game of Parcheesi, along with a game of Twister that led to a night to remember.

He never got those condoms that evening, but neither of them minded. There was much they could explore without them, although, he did make a promise to carry his sorry behind to get some the following morning.

Although, the funny part was, he had to open the store and needed to be there anyway.

Jennifer Willows is the pen name of a romance author who prefers the Multicultural and BDSM genres. She is a newbie single and a pro at being a mother of two. She still fixes other people’s mistakes by day, but she makes plenty of time to write at night. No website yet, but just be on the lookout it will be coming
soon
(okay, she really has no idea, but she’s working on it). Also she wants to give a reminder: Don’t forget that reviews are an authors’ best friend and please feel free to speak your mind or tag her books as needed. If anyone would like to hit her up for a chat, complaint, or questions feel free to email or Facebook at
jenwritesureadATgmail.com
or tweet her @wildinthewillow

Happy reading!

Jennifer

Also by Jennifer Willows:

Another Man’s Woman

Loganne’s Run

One Night Stand

Please Me: Parisian Passion (Pt. One)

Please Me: Parisian Punishment (Pt. Two)

Scarred

The Virgin Chronicles

Published by Siren Bookstrand:

Bound by Accident (Book One of the Moreland Brothers)

Lust for Life (Book Two of the Moreland Brothers)

A Harem of One (Book Three of the Moreland Brothers)

Coming Soon:

Not Just a One Night Stand (February 2013)

The Laughing Assassin (April 2013 available at Siren Bookstrand)