The kiss was burning hot, both of us wanting more than we were going to get tonight, but knowing the promise was there for more the next time we saw each other. And there would be a next time. Amber Larson was more than I ever dreamed of dreaming about when I thought about my perfect partner. I had steered clear of relationships for years, too afraid to repeat the same mistakes I made with Sam. I swore that I would never let my libido lead me again, but this soft, unbelievably beautiful woman under my lips was making that resolve extremely hard to keep. It was making other things extremely hard, too.
My thumb caressed her cheek while I slowed the kiss, and finally, with deep regret, let my lips fall away. I lowered my forehead to hers and gazed into her soulful grey eyes. “You’re incredible, Amber Larson, and I mean that exactly the way it sounds.”
Her eyes danced with the smokey hue of a turned-on woman, but I also saw fear and uncertainty in those eyes. I couldn’t make that disappear with just one kiss, but maybe, after one thousand more, the fear and apprehension would float away and leave her eyes clear and bright again.
“I think you’re rather incredible yourself, Bishop Halla. I admit that it scares me, but I can’t deny the truth. Now I have to try not to think about you and your lips for the rest of the night.”
“I will have to do the same, but the memory of your soft lips on mine will make that as hard as other parts of me are right now. Good night, Amber. Sleep well,” I said, dropping her hand and walking up the pathway. I turned to make sure she made it into the house safely. She slid the door closed and offered a wave through the glass that I returned before I walked back to my house.
She made my body throb with desire and want in ways no woman ever had before. That wasn’t an exaggeration or dramatization of what just happened. That was the truth in ways that cut to my core and forced me to rethink my life. I had spent the last eighteen years alone, save for a few relationships that I knew would go nowhere, which made them safe. I was focused on my work and raising my daughter to be a decent human being. Now, my job was established, and my daughter was a wonderful woman who made me proud every day.
It hit me that I was just given a new assignment to teach. That realization dawned when I walked back into my house, and the scent of Amber’s perfume still lingered there. It would be the most demanding assignment I’d ever taught, but if I did it right, the rewards would last a lifetime. I hadn’t known Amber long, but I knew she was worth the effort it would take to heal her. She would always suffer the consequences of that night, but she didn’t have to suffer them alone anymore.
I grabbed a fork and my computer then sat down at the table and opened the laptop. The cake still sat on the table, so I stabbed a piece, bringing it to my lips before I typed information into the computer. It wasn’t hard to find the brace that she was talking about earlier. I chewed and read, clicking through on videos and spec pages until I was well-educated about the product. She was right. It was ridiculously expensive, but what it could do for her pain and her mobility was startling and obvious. She needed that brace.
I surfed through some articles about the rods and nails they had put in her bones, so I had a little bit of background information about those procedures, too. Looking at some of those pictures, I couldn’t imagine the pain she must have been in after those surgeries. Needing one rod looked painful enough. I couldn’t imagine needing three. I had to force myself not to think about the asshole who decided to kick her just to hurt her more. His abuse was the reason Amber’s leg had gone downhill so quickly over the last few months. I could see why Brady and Haylee were scared shitless for her. When you love someone, you don’t want to see them in pain.
Yes, loved someone. It didn’t matter that I’d only known Amber a few weeks and only spent a handful of hours with her. Those few hours had been some of the best hours of my life. She made me think. She made me smile. She made me want more out of this life. That was the most surprising part of all. I had found in that little tart all the things I’d been searching for over the years but just couldn’t find. There is love there, and where there is love, there has to be action.
I rubbed my temple as I chewed absently on the sweet cake. I wanted to help Amber, but there wasn’t much I could do. She wasn’t going to accept money from me to help pay for the brace. I couldn’t bully her into going to the doctor to get the leg checked when her best friend couldn’t even convince her to make an appointment. All I could do was support her and try to understand the position she was facing. Her position was precarious, and that was the problem. It wouldn’t take much to push her over the edge, and she’d be lost
