Devoted to Her (Dream Date Book 2) (33 page)

Amanda spent extra time dressing for the day. She wanted
to give Nathan a surprise. Amanda selected a tight sweater to flaunt her
curves, and her best pair of dark blue jeans. When she was ready, Amanda
emerged from the bathroom. She saw Emmy in the kitchen.

“Gosh, Amanda. You should give me some dress-up tips
now that we live together.”

“Does this look good? Or is it too much?”

“Seriously? You look good enough to eat. Who are you
going to see today?”

“Nathan. Who else?”

Emmy’s mouth opened wide.

“You’ve forgiven him?”

Amanda nodded.

“Yes. I’ve made him suffer for a bit too long. He’s
always been faithful to me, and at least now he’s learned his lesson. I can be
sure he truly loves me.”

Emmy walked forward and hugged Amanda.

“I’m so happy for you, friend!”

Amanda giggled, feeling happy at last.

“Go get him, friend.”

Waving goodbye at Emmy, Amanda left the apartment. She
first went to knock on her bodyguards’ door to let them know she was leaving.
Caldwell answered in about five seconds.

“I’m going to visit someone in this building.”

Caldwell nodded. He went back inside for a moment and
then walked back out. Amanda made her way toward Nathan’s apartment. She
wondered what her bodyguards would think. They went ballistic when they found
out that Nathan had stolen her from right under their noses.

Amanda stopped when she was on the hallway that led to
Nathan’s apartment. He was outside, his back against the door. Erika was in
front of him, talking.

What’s going on now?

As Amanda watched, Erika joined her hands in front of
her. She seemed to be pleading for something. Nathan ran a hand through his
hair. Erika lifted an index finger. Nathan shook his head. To Amanda’s
surprise, Erika reached forward and touched his chest. She then moved to put
her hands on his arms. She tried to close the distance between them, but Nathan
was trying to move away.

Amanda started walking toward them just as Erika stole
a kiss from Nathan. He was taken by surprise, not trying to push her off until
his brain worked again.

Nathan spotted Amanda approaching. He immediately
broke the kiss. Amanda poked Erika’s shoulder. The latter turned around. Angry,
Amanda slapped Erika.

“Get away from my boyfriend, you sorry opportunist!”

Erika was staring at Amanda in disbelief, holding a
hand to her cheek. Nathan stared back and forth between them. He shot Amanda a
pleading look.

“Last time I checked, you didn’t want to have anything
to do with him. So, he’s fair game!”

“Not anymore. Get out of here now, or I’ll have
Caldwell remove you.”

Erika growled, pissed off.

“This doesn’t end here,” she warned Amanda. “Just
because you’re you doesn’t mean you have to win every time. Learn to lose.”

Amanda crossed her arms. Erika looked at Nathan, and
then walked away.

“You were great, baby,” Nathan said, looking at Amanda
in awe.

“Don’t kiss that harpy again, or I swear you’ll lose
me for real.”

“I told you I don’t want her. Erika agreed to only be
my friend. I have no idea what got into her today.”

“Cut her off your life, Nathan. It’s me or her. You
can’t have both of us.”

Nathan smiled.

“Then I choose you,” he said, touching her waist. “No
one else means more to me.”

Amanda’s and Nathan’s foreheads touched. She felt like
embracing him and never let go.

“You look beautiful, by the way.”

“I dressed for you.”

Nathan smiled, and then he tried to kiss Amanda. She
moved her head, and his lips touched her cheek.

“Wash your mouth at least, will you? You’ve had that
opportunist’s lips all over you.”

Nathan laughed hysterically.

“As you wish, sweetheart. Brace yourself, though. You
shouldn’t have dressed like that and expect us to show up early for classes.”

“I don’t mind at all. I’ve spent too much time away
from you.”

Nathan led Amanda inside his apartment. He went to
freshen up while she helped herself to coffee in the kitchen. She sat down,
waiting.

A few minutes later, Nathan returned. He stood in the
doorway, looking Amanda up and down.

“With a girl like you, I don’t understand how you
could believe I would ever want another one.”

Amanda finished her coffee while Nathan walked toward
her. She put the cup on the table and then looked at him. Nathan’s hand
caressed the injured side of her face. Amanda’s skin was almost as smooth as
before that the difference was barely noticeable.

“You did kiss that woman.”

“Not of my own free will.”

“Regardless, you should give her an ultimatum. Better
yet, don’t talk to her again.”

“You don’t even need to ask me that. Erika is a
spoiled rich girl. I saw the real her today.”

Nathan slowly moved toward Amanda. He kissed her,
sucking her lips greedily. Amanda reached behind him, grabbing his hair.

“Nathan,” Amanda gasped when he broke the kiss. She
kept her eyes closed, feeling him kiss toward her chest. “I thought I’d never
feel your kisses again.”

“Tell me about it.”

Amanda’s smartphone began to vibrate on top of the
table. She looked toward it, and picked it up. Nathan looked at Amanda as she
checked a message.

“Who is it?”

“No one important,” said Amanda. She wasn’t about to
let Christopher spoil their moment now.

Nathan tugged at the hem of Amanda’s sweater. He
pulled it up slowly, revealing her skin. She took hold of his wrists, stopping
him.

“Wait. It’s—”

“I need you now, Amanda. We’ve been apart for too
long.”

“But we have classes.”

Nathan got to his feet. He picked up Amanda in his
arms, and then kissed her hair.

“It doesn’t hurt to skip a few. What do you say?”

Amanda smiled, giving him a peck on the lips.

“Okay. Let’s make up for time lost.”

Not needing to be told
twice, Nathan took Amanda to his bedroom. He was ready to show her that no one
else loved her more than he did.

Nathan and Amanda didn’t head to school until it was
lunchtime. They wanted their friends to see that they were back together.

“You know what’s the only inconvenience we’ll make?
Guys will be disappointed to see you’re no longer in the market.”

“Ha. I was never in the market. When your heart
belongs to someone else, you can never have it back.”

Nathan reached toward Amanda, grasping her hand. He
squeezed it gently, liking to touch her skin.

“How’s Kellan doing? The last thing I knew is that he
was still in the hospital.”

“He’s going to be okay. I had Kellan transferred to
another hospital. There, they can take better care of him.”

“I can’t believe someone tried to kill you and I
wasn’t there,” Nathan said. “Have they caught the driver?”

“No. Although, there’s something you should know.”

Nathan waited for Amanda to continue speaking.

“What is it that I should know?”

“I’d rather we get to the campus first, okay? What
I’ll tell you is a bit of a shocker. It would be better if you didn’t hear it
while driving.”

Nathan didn’t have to speed to get to Cornell, as it
was so close to the apartments. He found parking and killed the engine.

“All right. What is it?”

“Mr. Hayden is back on Kellan’s request. He’s aiding
the police on the hit-and-run investigation.”

“I know. He came to visit me the day that you left to
Arkansas. We talked about the so-called robbery attempt, trying to find out
who’s after you.”

Amanda nodded, thinking.

“I went over to the station as well. Detective Sutton
and Mr. Hayden think they know who wants to kill me. They’re working on finding
out if she’s here.”

“Who is she?”

“A woman who may have had something to do with
Hilbert. The only thing they know about her is that her name is Rebecca.”

Nathan frowned, thinking about the name.

“That doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Well, brace yourself. They’re currently investigating
two women who may be the Rebecca we’re looking for. You know one of them.”

Nathan looked at Amanda, alarmed.

“Who is it?”

“Your friend, Erika Jenkins. Hayden combed through her
online profile and found people calling her ‘Rebecca’. We’re assuming that’s
her second name, or she just prefers the name Erika.”

“Erika?” Nathan asked, incredulous. “Are you serious?
Why would she want to kill you? I don’t think she’s the woman they’re looking
for.”

“It doesn’t hurt to investigate her. Hayden must be
stopping by her door anytime soon. If Erika’s got nothing to do with trying to
kill me, we’ll just keep looking.”

Nathan thought hard, recalling every moment and every
conversation he’d shared with Erika. She’d never given him any reason to think
she would harm anyone. Erika seemed too snobbish to get her hands dirty.

“There’s something else,” Amanda said. She reached
into her purse. Nathan saw her pull out a folded printout and hand it to him.
He unfolded the page. It was a police sketch of a woman wearing sunglasses and
a head scarf.

“This is the woman they’re looking for?”

“Yes. I got a brief, but good look at her when she
tried to run me over. The police had me consult with a sketch artist. He came
up with that.”

“She doesn’t look familiar,” Nathan said. Amanda
pulled out another printout.

“How about this one?”

Nathan looked at the second sketch. It was mostly the
same, except the woman didn’t have her eyes or head covered. Her hair was dark,
and wavy. Her eyes had been drawn medium-light in shade. They could have been
any color, given that no one had seen her without glasses.

“They’re assuming that she has light-colored eyes,”
Amanda said. “Does it look familiar now?”

“I’m not sure,” Nathan said, studying the portrait.
“Her eyes don’t look familiar. And her hair could have been any length. This
isn’t much to go on.”

“At least it’s something.”

Nathan handed the sketches back to Amanda.

“I hope Erika isn’t behind any of this, or I’m going
to be furious.”

“Let’s just wait. Mr. Hayden and the police will find
whoever’s responsible.”

Nathan nodded. He took a deep breath.

“We should go now. Lunch time’s going to end in twenty
minutes.”

Before getting out of the car, Nathan texted Ashton to
ask where he was.

“They’re in Starbucks.”

Amanda smiled.

“Let’s go meet them.”

Nathan found a parking spot closer to Starbucks. He
and Amanda then walked to the café. They saw their friends at a table near the
corner. Amanda waved at them.

After getting their food, she and Nathan walked over
to the table. Their friends were looking at them with slightly wide eyes.
Ashton was actually gaping.

“Hi, guys,” Amanda said, sitting down. Grecia and
Claire exchanged glances.

“Did we miss something?” Nathan asked, feigning
ignorance. Oswald spoke.

“It’s just…great to finally see you two back
together.”

“Yeah,” said Ashton. “Nathan without Amanda isn’t too
pleasant to be around.”

The two of them both laughed.

“We’ve…worked things out,” Amanda told them. “Get used
to seeing me around a lot more often now.”

“Yay,” Claire said. “I missed being friends with you.”

“Me, too.”

The group started a
conversation while they ate, catching up on stuff. Nathan could hardly take his
eyes off Amanda. He was so happy that she was back with him. Now he had no
intention of losing her again.

A quarter hour had passed since Christopher waited on
a bench. He was at the South Hill Town Recreation Way Park. He’d finally
managed to score a date with Judith. Amanda had been right. Her friend was a
tough nut to crack.

Christopher had decided to abandon his efforts to
seduce Amanda. He didn’t care anymore what his sister wanted. Christopher
wanted Judith and wasn’t going to risk losing the little trust he’d managed to
earn. Besides, he didn’t want to disappoint Judith and kill her faith in love.

Just then, Christopher spotted Judith walking toward
him. She was coming from the direction of the parking lot. He stood up.

“I’m elated that you came, Judith.”

“Sorry if I took a little late. It’s been forever
since I’ve been on a date. Emmy and Amanda kept bombarding me with makeup and
dress suggestions.”