Chapter 9
At seven o”clockon Friday night, Theo pulled into the Phoenix’s parking lot. He made his way up the stairs of the red brick building to Amber’s apartment and rang the doorbell.
“Be right there!” Amber yelled. A minute later, the door opened a crack and Amber peered out.
“Are you hiding a dead body in there?” Theo asked, frowning. He tried to look around her, but she closed the door even more to block his view.
“Only the last dinner date I had. He was annoying. Let’s hope you’re more entertaining,” she said brightly. “I’ll get my purse. Wait here.” She closed the door and locked it, and Theo was even more intrigued. What didn’t she want him to see in there? He pictured sinister things that could be discovered and plastered all over the news while he waited. By the time she opened the door, he was scowling fiercely, anticipation and dread racing through him.
Then the door opened, and Amber slipped out, closed it, and stood framed in the doorway. His scowl dropped and he stared. She was at once the most innocent-looking temptress he”d ever seen. He took in her white dress with a glance, nearly groaned out loud, and vowed to keep his comments to himself.
”What the hell are you wearing?” he said. He knew it was the wrong thing to say. Growing up with a strong, independent mother, grandmother, and sister had taught him that, but it came out all the same. He couldn”t help it. He had never seen a dress that looked like…like…that. And he had been to countless avant-garde black-tie affairs.
She had on some sort of tight, white, corset-looking thing that cinched her waist impossibly small, thrusting her full breasts up, with her round hips flaring below. His mouth went dry. An inch-wide strip of tanned stomach showed between the edge of the corset and the skirt, a filmy, see-through fabric that touched the ground. It appeared she had a short white skirt underneath that saved it from being completely see-through. A small drop pearl on a silver chain around her delicate throat was her only jewelry.
”Do you like it? I made it myself.” She held the skirt out, showing her white satin heels with bows on the ankles. Ah, hell.
”You made it?” he barked. ”What the hell did you buy with my credit card then?”
Amber twirled, letting the skirt flow and settle around her, looking completely unaffected while he felt the need to sit down. ”I bought the white dress that goes under it, silly. And then I tore off the top and sewed on the skirt.”
“I can see your underwear in that.” He waved at the see-through skirt where he could not, in fact, see her underwear. But it was close.
“How do you know I’m wearing any?” she said with a smartass grin.
He fixed her with a look. “I can see them.”
“What color are they?”
“Blue,” he guessed. “And what,” he waved at the corset-looking thing without looking, “is that? A bra?” he asked.
She burst into laughter. ”It”s a bustier.”
”A bustier,” he repeated gravely. What the hell was that? He pinched the bridge of his nose. ”Okay, okay, all right. Are you ready to go?” He was a grown-ass man, and he could keep his urges under control, and if anybody else had a problem with it, he would help keep their urges under control too. He held out his arm to hand her into the car.
“Who are these bigwigs I”m going to meet tonight?” she asked as they drove.
”You”re going to meet the larger donors tonight, and the police and fire department heads, although I assume you know them already?” He saw her nod. “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling are the hosts. They own the winery and the Grand River Hotel. They”ve been supporters of my family since my grandfather”s time in office.”
”All right, got it. Charm him, chat up his wife.”
”You don”t have to charm anyone. Just be yourself.”
She snorted. “That is myself. I’m charming. Relax, boss. This is going to be fun.” She punched a button on his dashboard, and loud music filled the car.
”Would you mind?” He turned it back to talk radio.
”Yes, I mind. We have to get in the mood.”
”Get in the mood?” He raised his eyebrows.
”I’ve never been to a fancy dinner like this, and I haven’t eaten all day to save room. Plus, I spent a lot of time sewing this dress.” She held up her fingers and wiggled them. ”I”ve got pin pricks all over.”
”You really made the dress?”
”Of course, I made the dress.”
He looked at her with new appreciation. ”Nice work,” he said gruffly.
”You like it?”
He paused, considering. It was outrageous, bordering on scandalous, and vastly different from anything they would see tonight. And, yes, he liked it. He loved it, actually. It was the epitome of Amber. “Yes, I like it,” he said simply, and smiled at her.
She grinned bright enough to light up the car. “Thanks.” Theo felt himself staring, an unexpected warmth surging through him.
Lights glowed softly as Theo pulled into the driveway of a beautifully restored mansion on Canandaigua Lake. He tossed the keys to the valet and went around to help Amber out of the car, strangely excited to walk in with her on his arm.
Generally, he disliked these events, although he attended them regularly. They came with the position, fundraising and networking, getting to know the most powerful and influential people in the city, but he tolerated them more than anything.
Theo held out his arm to Amber, leading her in. Elegant couples in pure black and white filled the ballroom, creating a stunning picture as they stood in the entry. As eyes turned toward them curiously, Theo felt a slight tremor in Amber’s fingers that made him glance down. He was so used to the attention and the media that he sometimes forgot how overwhelming it could be. A fierce, protective urge took him by surprise, and he closed his hand over hers, squeezing gently. Her little stubborn chin came up, and the crowd swallowed them.
“Hello Amber, Theo,” Charlotte said a while later. Theo looked down and did a double take.
“Charlotte?” he asked, as if he didn’t know his childhood friend. Because he didn’t. The woman standing in front of him with Neal at her side wasn’t the shy, retiring woman he had grown up with. Charlotte had undergone her own transformation. Her black silk dress hugged her body like a second skin, and her hair fell softly around her face. Had he ever seen her wear her hair down like that? He stared in surprise while her face flushed prettily. “You look...” words failed him.
“She looks stunning,” Amber said firmly. She looped her arm through Charlotte’s and gave them a wave. “We’re going to get a drink.”
“I was going to say lovely,” Theo said thoughtfully as they walked away. The back of Charlotte’s dress was another surprise. It was cut down to a deep V in the back, exposing miles of her bare skin. He blinked. It was true. She did look lovely. Charlotte had always possessed a soft, fuzzy, cozy attractiveness, but tonight it appeared as though all the blurry edges had sharpened, and she had come into clear focus. The effect was profound. Theo grinned, inordinately pleased that his friend had tried something new.
“Who knew she was hiding that body under those grandma suits,” Neal said under his breath.
“Take it easy, Neal. Isn’t she the same age as your daughters?” Theo asked. Neal had two daughters with his ex-wife, both only a few years younger than Charlotte.
“Ah, but she’s not my daughter,” Neal said. “At least she’s got a dress on. Your new assistant is wearing lingerie,” he snickered.
“She made it herself,” Theo said shortly. He was in no mood for Neal. He searched the crowd for honey-colored hair.
“I know it was a terrible idea to bring her,” Neal was saying. “She looks like a stripper in that, and now she’s got Charlotte looking like one too.”
Cold fury filled Theo and his fist clenched around the champagne glass in his hand, almost tight enough to shatter it. “Keep your observations to yourself. They’re not welcome,” he said icily.
Neal looked up, surprise on his face. “I’m not saying anything that anybody else here isn’t thinking, and you know it. She’s got a reputation for sleeping with most of the Northfield police and fire departments, and now it looks like you’re next. I told you that first night she was a disaster waiting to happen. It’s your career that’s at stake, Theo, not hers. Women like her are a dime a dozen.” He tossed back his glass of dark amber liquid. “Don’t kill the messenger,” he said stiffly before walking away.
Almost immediately another couple took Neal’s place and Theo found himself in a steady crowd of people while fury ate at his insides.
Neal had been a close family friend since Theo could remember. There wasn’t a time when he had visited his father in the mayor’s office and Neal hadn’t been there. Family dinners, even some vacations, were all entwined with memories of Neal Barclay and his then wife and daughters.
But over the years, Neal had changed. His divorce and then Theo’s father’s and mother’s deaths had hardened him to a point that Theo didn’t recognize him anymore.
His gaze was drawn to Amber throughout the night, watching how she interacted with people easily. She was charming, always the center in a group of people, always smiling and laughing in genuine delight. Men and women alike were drawn to her. She was a mix of genuine warmth and wicked humor that was hard to resist. Lord knew he was failing.
He thought about their lunch earlier in the week and how she had refused to talk about her life before working for him. Was it embarrassment? He knew she hadn’t finished college, but what had she done after, and why was she so evasive?
It irritated him that he wanted to know. She was his assistant, and he had never been overly involved with Kelsey. Yet, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering what her life had been like in the years since he first met her.
She had been so small in the backseat of Grant’s patrol car, her gown torn and tears streaking her cheeks with a look on her face that dared anyone to feel sorry for her. He had admired her courage then, just as he did now, and he remembered thinking that the world was going to feel the impact of all that determination one day.
She was the same woman now, yet the layers she’d wrapped herself in intrigued him. She was smart and a hard worker, yet she showed up late to work. She was witty and funny, and fearless, and yet her work history was abysmal. She was a contradiction he couldn’t figure out. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to, he thought irritably.
A while later, Theo looked up from the couple he was talking to when he heard her voice. Amber was holding court, unsurprisingly, on the balcony. Johnny stood next to her, dressed in a tux, grinning down at her. His hand rested familiarly on the small of her back. Theo put his drink down and headed toward her.
”I was hoping you”d be here,” Pippa said, stopping him with a hand on his elbow. She was elegant and lovely in a strapless black ball gown, her dark hair glossy against the silk.
“You’re looking well tonight,” he said, trying to hide his impatience. His eyes went back to the balcony, but Amber wasn’t there anymore. Theo’s gaze scanned the crowd for a scrap of a white dress.
Where had she gone? And with who?
”You look handsome yourself,” she said. “I was hoping you would call me this week.”
Theo looked at her blankly. ”It was a busy week. Excuse me,” he said. “There’s something I have to take care of.”
He was just going to make sure she was okay, as he would any friend or employee.
He followed a long hallway and stuck his head in the first room, a salon; it was empty. The next room was an empty sitting room. The third door down the hallway was mostly closed. Behind it, he heard a familiar peal of laughter and his stomach clenched. He knew that laughter; his ears had been tuned into it all night.
”Open your mouth wider.” A low, husky man’s voice. Theo stiffened.
Amber”s smoky laughter followed. ”I can”t take anymore.”
”You can take it. Open your mouth.”
She moaned. “The juices make it too slippery.”
Theo”s eyes nearly crossed with rage. He jerked the door open and stared. Amber sat on the couch in front of a wall of books, her head tilted back, with Johnny in front of her. His back was to the door, one hand on his hips, the other near Amber’s cheek.
Theo”s heart thudded to a complete stop and dropped to his feet.
”What the fuck is going on here?” he demanded.
Amber peeked around Johnny, who turned more slowly. He seemed to assess the situation with a knowing smirk on his lips. Both of them fully clothed.
Amber looked up, teasing laughter in her golden eyes. “Come in, Theo. Oysters on the half shell. Want to try?” she asked. “I’ve never had one before.” She took a sip of champagne and sighed. “I could get used to this life.”
”No, thank you,” Theo said stiffly. His heart was still thundering in his ears. ”Are you ready to go, Amber?”
She took another delicate sip of champagne and stood. “Have you met John Rossi?” she asked politely.
Theo nodded at Johnny, who grinned knowingly at Theo.
“I guess we’re blowing this popcorn joint,” she said cheerfully. She hugged Johnny goodbye. ”Wait, before we leave, we didn”t get to see the lake,” she said as they left the room. “Come with me.” She took his hand and tugged him through the French doors leading to a balcony overlooking the lake.
Suddenly, she bent over laughing, holding her stomach.
“What are you laughing about?” He asked irritably, even though he knew.
“Oh, boss,” she wheezed. “You should have seen your face.”
Theo walked away to look out over the lake. “What did you expect me to think?”
“You thought I was giving him a blow—” she broke off into peals of laughter again.
Theo didn”t feel amused. In fact, he was still battling the rage swelling in his chest. He looked around at the people watching them curiously and cursed softly. He was angry with himself for feeling anything at all when he walked into that room. He should have felt the same way he would have if it were Charlotte he had interrupted, instead of this still-simmering anger at another man he didn’t even know. It wasn’t like him to be jealous or suspicious, and yet here he was.
“I can”t wait to tell that story,” she finally said, wiping her eyes.
”I think that”s one story you want to keep to yourself,” he said stiffly.
”Why is that?” A wary look replaced the amusement.
Theo didn”t like where this was going, but he was almost helpless not to say it. ”I”m sure you know why.”
The laughter in her eyes was gone now. “I’ve been labeled a lot of things, but ‘concerned about opinions’ isn’t one of them. Especially yours,” she finally said. For once, she wasn’t laughing. Her shoulders were straight, her chin high. She turned her back to him and looked out over the lake.
“It doesn”t matter what I think or what anyone else does,” he said to her back. “It matters what you think. Does it bother you?”
She was silent, still looking at the water.
”Is he your boyfriend?” he asked abruptly.
”Wouldn”t you like to know?” She turned slightly until he could see her, a familiar, dazzling smile on her face.
“Yes,” he said simply.
She studied him, a teasing grin tilting her pink lips up. “Race you to the beach,” she finally said before picking up her skirt and running lightly down the stairs.
Theo watched her white skirt float down the steps and take the lighted path down to the lake. He wasn’t going to follow her. He was going to go back inside and network with the people who supported him and trusted him with the next four years. He owed it to them and to his family to do the right thing.
“Fuck,” Theo muttered, right before he took the stairs two at a time.
“You came.”Amber stood at the end of the lantern-lit pathway, watching the lake when Theo joined her. She tipped her head and let her hair tease her bare back, enjoying the caress of the wind and the heat radiating from Theo’s body. She knew he was watching her, could feel his tension and it excited her, a tangible reminder of the heat that seemed to simmer between them.
Theo was the most uptight, straight-laced, responsible man she knew, and none of those were flattering. There was no good reason on earth why she continued to tease him as she did when she needed to keep this job, and yet she couldn’t seem to stop herself.
“Yes,” he said, a low rumble in the quiet. The lights of the lake house and the dim noise of the party felt far away from where they were, even though it couldn’t be more than a few dozen feet.
“I didn’t think you would.” She turned her head to find him watching her. His eyes were darker than before, and his hair tousled from the wind so close to the lake. His cool reserve was firmly in place again after the fire in his eyes when he had walked into the study to find her with Johnny. Theo’s judgment had cut deeper than she expected.
Hurt. Attraction. It was a dangerous combination. One made her rebellious, and the other made her risky.
“I came to see you after that night too,” he said, and dammit if the sincerity in his voice didn’t cut right through the facade they’d built over the years. She knew exactly what night he meant. How could she forget the night she had first met Theo Clairmont.
“I know,” she said after a while. She lifted her chin. “I didn’t want to see you.”
When Grant and Theo Clairmont had pulled up in a Northfield police cruiser that night ten years ago, Amber knew immediately who they were, and she’d wanted to melt into the road rather than see them.
Everyone in town knew the Clairmont family, if not for their history of philanthropy, then for the regular media attention their dad garnered as mayor.
Even back then, Theo had been larger than life, handsome and broad shouldered, tanned from weekends at his family’s lake house. He’d told her later as they drove her home that he was on summer break from college.
He had seemed to her to be from a different planet than her, sitting in the back of a cruiser, still slightly drunk, wearing a gown that was ripped down the side. Certainly, Theo Clairmont appeared more sophisticated and well-mannered than any of the guys she was used to in Cedarwood Village, and it made her even more uncomfortably aware of the contrast in their worlds.
The night had begun innocently enough. She’d spent days sewing her dress because she couldn’t afford to buy one, but it had turned out beautifully. When her date picked her up, Owen Masterson, a handsome kid from a good family, they had danced until she was reeling, feeling all the effects of a full-blown teenage crush. When Owen suggested they get out of there early to party privately, she didn’t hesitate.
They were drinking in an empty parking lot when Owen suggested she go down on him. Queasy from the alcohol, she had refused, and Owen got angry, calling her a tease. Nausea and hurt had settled like lead in her stomach, and when she got out of the car, he tried to pull her back, ripping her dress when she resisted.
Owen had begged her to get back in, and when she told him to go to hell, he squealed out of the parking lot, leaving her to walk home, where Theo and Grant found her.
It was one thing to be burned by a high school crush, but it was a life-altering experience to get into the back of a police car and feel the weight of sympathy and maybe a little pity, from two men who had their lives together.
Not that Theo had made her feel that way. Theo had tried to make her comfortable on the ride to her house, but Amber was too raw and exposed. She had fallen back on her old defenses, cracking inappropriate jokes and— it was mortifying to remember—but she had even hit on Grant, who had been quiet and professional as he declined her offer to show her what he could do with his cuffs.
At one point, Grant had taken her aside and asked her gently if she wanted to be taken to the hospital. She had turned red knowing what he thought had happened and told him flippantly he should have seen the other guy, but the damage to her pride was done.
Theo had found out where she lived and came to check on her the next day. She remembered the shock when Allie told her the mayor’s handsome eldest son was standing on their shabby front step.
She imagined him taking in the differences in their lives up close, and she couldn’t take any more embarrassment. Instead, she’d hidden where he couldn’t see her and asked Allie to send him away.
When she went to school on Monday, the aftermath was merciless. Owen’s retaliation was to insinuate to everyone that he broke it off with her because she was too slutty and hit on his friends.
Her natural flirty ways and teasing were twisted until she had picked up a reputation that stuck around right on through adulthood. Eventually, she had learned to lean into them and control them that way rather than fight a losing battle.
She bent down and took off each high heel, setting them on the edge of the path before walking toward the beach. The soft sand still held onto the heat of the day and the lake sparkled under the moonlight. They were alone as far as she could see, although anyone on the lake house balcony could look out and see them down by the water.
“Let me guess. Neal’s afraid I’m going to cause a scandal, and you’re going to lose the election because of me. That’s what this is really about, isn’t it?” She laughed, low and seductive. “Don’t you know I’m a liability, Mr. Mayor? I’ve slept my way around the ranks of Northfield’s bravest, and now I’ve got my sights set on you.”
She turned abruptly and tailed one finger across the perfect bowtie of his tuxedo. “Just imagine the depraved things I’d want from a good, upstanding pillar of the community like you.”
He frowned and leaned back until her finger dropped.
“Don’t do that,” he said.
“Do what?” She turned fully now, her defenses firmly back in place.
Suddenly, he reached out and curled his large, warm hand around her neck. Amber stiffened, feeling the heat and strength in those long fingers. His thumb rested lightly at the base of her throat and stroked there. She held her breath, feeling her pulse beating frantically against his thumb.
“Don’t pretend. This gives you away every time,” he murmured. His eyes were heavy-lidded while he studied her as if he were choosing which part of her body to taste first. Her breathing stuttered, and impossibly, the tiny pulse beat faster. “This little flutter won’t let you hide your emotions.” He stroked it once, twice, up and down, watching it beat faster while the breeze whipped her skirt against his legs, and she stared up at him in the dark.
“I don’t care what anyone thinks about me,” she finally said. “Especially you. You’ve wanted to think the worst of me since I saw you at the pub. Come on, I could practically see you holding up red flags.”
“That”s not fair. I offered you a job, didn’t I?” The warm summer night suddenly felt cold.
“And you’re waiting for the minute I screw up so you can say ‘I told you so’ and fire me.”
Theo looked at her for a long minute. The urge to hide her eyes made her want to squirm. He always made her feel like he could see right through every facade she tried on and she was suddenly, unbearably, exposed. “Do you want people to take you seriously?”
How did he manage to pierce through all her nonsense when no one else could? She didn’t know, but she realized she was going to cry if she didn’t stop the flood of emotions. And she would never, ever let Theo Clairmont see her cry. ”Truth or dare?” she asked suddenly.
For a moment, she wasn’t sure if he would let her distract him, but he dropped his hand. She wanted to grab it and hold it to her. She wanted his hands all over her body, the heat keeping away the chill she felt inside. He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Truth, of course.”
“Truth again. How predictable, Mr. Mayor.”
Theo’s eyes dropped to her mouth and lingered. “You keep assuming things about me,” he murmured. “Why is that?”
She held his eyes, her breath coming in fast little pants, and wondered suddenly if he was going to kiss her. She wanted to feel those firm lips against hers. She wanted to taste him and see what burned under his cool exterior. “You don’t strike me as the kind of man to give in to impulse,” she said huskily.
“Don’t underestimate me, Amber,” he said, holding her eyes steadily. “I’m not always a gentleman.”
She held his eyes in challenge. “Prove me wrong, then. Pick dare.”
For a moment, she thought he would. His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared, and heat crackled between them so thick she could almost feel it pulsing between her thighs and in the tightening of her nipples. His eyes were a deep, heated blue. Theo glanced behind him at the party in the distance and when he met her eyes, they had cooled again.
“Truth.”
She let out her breath. “I saw you talking to that reporter, Pippa Shelton.”
Theo looked at her. ”Is that a question? I”ll answer yours if you answer mine. What’s Johnny to you?”
”That”s not the game.” She made a pouting face. ”Truth or dare. That”s our game. Which one do you want?”
”Truth,” he said again, firmly.
“Tell me,” she said, leaning in, “what is the most scandalous place you fantasize about having sex?”
Theo”s eyes flared, and before an evasive answer could spring from his lips, she crossed her arms and looked at him challengingly.
For a long minute, she didn’t think he would answer. “My desk,” he said abruptly. “After hours in my office, against it, bent over it, or on your knees under it.” He raised a haughty eyebrow, but she couldn’t even protest.
Yourknees, he’d said.
Yes, that was exactly how she wanted him. Seated at his desk, professional and reserved, until she dropped to her knees in front of him.
She closed her eyes, imagining the look on his face as she slid her hands up his muscular thighs to unbutton and untie the clothing that made him a respectable leader in the community, revealing inch by inch the beautiful man beneath.
She would take her time stroking him, feeling the thick length of him harden under her teasing hands before finally tasting him with her mouth. He would be a gentleman even then, she knew, carefully holding her head as if she were fragile while she took him apart at the seams.
She would sit back and slip her dress over her head, revealing the garters she’d worn just for him with the high heels she’d caught him staring at and give him something to look at as she took him deep into her throat. Liquid hot need pulsed in her, and she nearly moaned.
“Your turn. Truth or dare?” She opened her eyes to see him with his hands on his hips, waiting.
Amber laughed to cover her desire. “Dare, of course, and I don’t believe you,” she said confidently. ”What could a lights-off, bedroom-only kind of guy like you dare me to do?”
”Give me your panties,” he ordered.
Amber”s mouth dropped open, and the air between them instantly throbbed again with intensity. His words from earlier in the night echoed between them.
I can see your panties.
How do you know I’m wearing any?
She backed up a step and grinned, wickedly delighted by this new naughty side of him. She lifted the filmy white skirt slowly to the shadowy top of her thighs while Theo watched her, hunger on his face.
One inch. Two. Three inches of silky-smooth thigh bared to the night sky.
She looked up and caught his gaze. A wicked smile on her full lips, she slid the dress up that last inch to show him what was under it. Theo let out his breath in a sharp, gratifying hiss.
Smooth, beautifully bare skin, pale against the tan lines from her bikini. Amber in all her confident, naked glory.
”I told you I wasn”t wearing any,” she said cheekily.
She dropped her dress and ran back toward the balcony, her laughter trailing behind her.