My Everything - Seth & Amber (9 page)

To this day he still missed her. Every day he
missed her.

“Just got a text from Amber, she should be by
any minute,” Katie announced, instantly drawing Seth out of his
melancholy thoughts. “I thought coming and seeing the baby would be
a nice distraction from the break-in.”

As he scanned the room, all eyes appeared to
be on him. He wasn’t sure what they were waiting for him to say,
but they were going to be waiting awhile. He didn’t have anything
to say on that subject, and Seth made it a practice not to say
anything at all unless he had something of value to contribute.

“Has anyone heard if they are any closer to
finding who trashed her shop and knocked her out?” Sophie asked the
room at large.

Hearing the words ‘knocked her out’ started
Seth’s blood boiling. He hated how helpless he had felt walking in
and seeing Amber grimacing in pain, an ice pack pressed to her
head. He had wanted so badly to pull her in his arms. He had needed
to feel her heart beating against his so that he knew she was
alive, that she was okay.

“As far as I know, with no eye witnesses and
no surveillance footage, all leads have pretty much dried up,” Alex
said.

“Have you seen her?” Bobby asked Seth, his
tone making the question sound dangerously close to an
accusation.

The room grew quiet waiting for Seth’s
response. He could sense Sophie and Katie waiting with bated breath
for his response. Again, Seth thought, they were going to be
waiting a while.

“Wow, everybody’s here.” Amber stood in the
doorway of the waiting room.

Seth looked up at her and he felt the same
way he did every time he saw her. Wrecked.

She was just too beautiful. Too sexy. Too
stunning.

Her dark hair hung loosely around her
shoulders, framing her face perfectly, complementing her flawless
olive skin. Long, full lashes outlined her huge hazel eyes. Her
full red lips balanced out her large eyes, creating an enticing
symmetry that uniquely set her apart from anyone he had ever
met.

Everyone spoke at once, greeting her and
asking her how she was doing. Seth remained quiet.

His dad got up and moved over to sit beside
Jason, asking him about an account that Jason had just landed for
Sloan Construction, leaving the seat right beside Seth's as the
only chair available.

He didn’t think his dad had done that on
purpose. Had he? The entire room seemed to be caught up in their
own little conversations. The only two people not speaking were
himself and Amber.

“Hi, Seth,” her soft voice rolled over him
like a sensual wave.

He loved hearing the sound of his name on her
lips. He had waited so many years for that to happen and now every
time she said his name, even in general conversation, a primal
feeling welled up inside of him.

“How’s your head?” he asked. She had seemed
to be in quite a bit of pain the last time he had seen her. He had
been worried about her the last two days.

“Better. The bumps almost gone.” She reached
up and placed her long slender fingers in her hair rubbing up and
down.

She lowered her eyes and tilted her head
towards him. “See, feel - the bump is barely there.”

His hand instinctually moved, reaching for
her, before he had even made a conscious decision to do so. The
moment his fingers touched the silky softness of her hair he
remembered what it had felt like when he had gripped it, hard, his
hand wrapping around it in a fist as he drove inside of her.

He tried to push that memory down as his
fingertips grazed over her scalp. There was a slight bump there. He
hadn’t felt it a couple of days ago but it did seem small now. He
let his hand linger there, lightly brushing over it.

Her eyes lifted to meet his as she breathed,
“See?”

Being this close to her was dangerous. His
fingers continued to softly stroke her scalp as she stared into his
eyes. He felt himself moving closer and closer to her. Her lips
parted as she sucked in a breath. He could hear his heart pounding
in his head.

“Here she is,” Riley announced proudly,
standing in the doorway and holding a tiny bundle of blankets.

The interruption caused Riley to snap out of
whatever had come over him. Was he really about to kiss Amber? In
the waiting room? In front of his whole family?

He glanced over at Amber’s chest rising and
falling at a more rapid pace than normal and he knew the answer
was…yes. Yes, he would have absolutely done just that if Riley had
not come in.

Damn, she was just too potent.

If he was near her, he didn’t seem to have
the ability to maintain control. He needed to stay away from her.
Distance. That was his only option.

--- ~ ---

Amber was desperately trying to get her
breathing to slow down as everyone jumped from their seats to go
look at baby Mya. Well everyone except Seth, of course, who had
risen no more quickly than normal. Seriously, you just could not
rush that guy!

Standing up, Amber quickly realized her legs
were a little shaky, no doubt due to the fact that Seth had just
touched her. It didn’t matter that where he had touched her was
completely innocent. It didn’t matter that his whole family had
been in the room. It didn’t matter that it had only been for a
brief moment. The second she felt the contact of his fingers, her
body had come alive. Alive with passion, desire, and lust.

Not exactly the top three things you want to
be feeling as you wait in a small, confined, crowded room with the
person inspiring those inappropriate feelings and their entire
family. She had only herself to blame since she had been the one to
initiate the contact. She had naively assumed that she could handle
a brush of his fingers against her scalp with some class, maybe
even a little dignity. Instead, she had gotten more than a little
turned on and started panting like a dog. Well done, Amber, she
thought to herself. Well. Freaking. Done.

She moved beside Katie, who was holding the
tiny bundle wrapped in blankets. Katie could not look happier as
she cooed and made kissing noises down at baby Mya. Amber looked
over Katie’s shoulder and spied the most perfect, beautiful baby
girl she had ever seen.

Katie passed the baby along to Jason, who
looked prouder than a peacock. Jason, in turn, passed her to Bobby,
who smiled lovingly down at his baby niece before handing baby Mya
to Seth. As soon as Seth took the baby in his arms, his face broke
out into a huge smile and Amber almost stumbled back from the power
of it.

It was as if the heavens opened and a light
shone down on his strong profile. She could practically hear angels
singing. Watching him, holding his niece and smiling, was a
glorious sight.

She couldn’t believe that, before this
moment, she had never seen Seth smile. The night they had met had
been…intense. There wasn’t a ton of smiling (other than her nervous
ones) going on. Even before they had gone up to his room, the
situation had not been a happy one. Once they had arrived upstairs,
well...even 'intense' seemed like a mild description of the
atmosphere in the room.

Seth looked up at Riley and asked, “How is
Chelle feeling?”

Seth’s deep timbre sent a shiver dancing down
her spine. Before Seth, she could honestly say that a ‘voice’ had
never turned her on. After Seth, she could not make that claim.

“Good, just a little tired. She wants to see
you, Katie. Eddie is in with her now, so as soon as he leaves, you
can go on and head back there.”

Eddie was Chelle’s brother and Riley’s best
friend. Amber remembered he hadn’t been thrilled to find out that
Chelle and Riley had hooked up, but he quickly got on board when he
saw how much Riley loved his sister and how happy he made her.
Amber was glad it had all worked out.

Seth looked up at Amber, his smile still in
place. Whoa, he had dimples. Incredibly sexy dimples. Her knees
felt even weaker at the sight.

“Do you want to hold her?” his baritone voice
hit her square in the chest.

Amber nodded as she squeaked out, “Just let
me sit down.”

As soon as her butt hit the chair she reached
out and Seth placed baby Mya in her arms. Looking down at her
perfect little lips, her chubby little cheeks, and her long dark
lashes Amber felt herself begin to tear up. Even the weight of Mya
in her arms felt perfect.

She sniffed, “She is perfect.”

“She is. She’s beautiful just like her mama,”
Riley said proudly.

Eddie came around the corner, “Let me say
goodbye to my niece before I go get her cousin to come and meet
her.”

“Ooh goodie you’re out! I’m gonna go see
Chelle.” Katie clapped her hands happily as she headed out to go
see her best friend.

Amber stood and handed the tiny baby to her
Uncle Eddie. Looking around the room she was taken aback for a
moment at the sheer amount of testosterone in the small, confined
space. Man with five uncles like these, no guy had a chance with
this little girl.

With Katie, who had invited her, gone, Amber
suddenly felt a little like an outsider. Everyone else here was
family. She decided that now that she had seen baby Mya she would
take off. She grabbed her purse and gave Riley a hug,
congratulating him and asking him to send her love to Chelle. Then
she said a general goodbye to the whole room.

But before she slipped out she turned back to
Seth and smiled. “Bye, Seth, it was good seeing you.”

He looked almost stunned at her words. He
stared for a few moments before a slow smile spread across his
face. “You, too.”

She turned and headed down the hall. Her mind
kept repeating one thought. Damn, he has dimples. He has
dimples
!

Amber sat in her car outside Jason and Katie’s house and ran her
hands down the bodice of her dress. She was dressed a little
fancier than she had originally thought she would be. She had
planned on wearing slacks, but instead had chosen a wrap dress in a
deep caramel shade that perfectly matched her eyes. It hugged her
upper body and flared at her hips. She paired it with her knee-high
black high-heeled boots and simple gold jewelry.

She had blown out her hair and straight
ironed it. Then she had spent over a half an hour meticulously
applying her make-up. She didn’t think she had ever spent so much
time getting ready for a Thanksgiving dinner before. But, since she
knew Seth was going to be here, she decided that she wanted to put
in the time to look her best.

This week had been crazy. With the break-in,
Chelle having baby Mya, and - of course -the return of Seth (aka
her Mystery Man) she had barely had time to catch her breath. She
had, however, made a decision. Since she had seen Seth two days ago
in the hospital, she had decided that life was too short not to go
after what you want - and she wanted was to see where things could
go with Seth.

Amber had noticed Seth’s motorcycle parked
beside Jason’s truck as soon as she had driven up. Glancing between
the house and the bike an almost giddy sensation filled her because
she knew that Seth was inside that house. It may have taken her a
little bit to come to terms with the arrival of her Mystery Man,
but she was going to take the positive route and solely look at it
as an opportunity.

It was go time.

Her hands shook as she picked up her
store-bought pumpkin pie. She hadn’t had time to make anything from
scratch, not that she would have, even if she had had the
opportunity. Amber had always assessed her own strengths and
weaknesses without judgment, and baking was
not
one of her
strengths.

As soon as she stepped up to the front door
it swung open. Sophie’s grandfather, Grandpa J, opened it as he
whistled loudly, “Well, now, don’t you look just as good as you
can.”

Amber smiled and hugged him tightly. She
loved Grandpa J, or as the boys all called him The Colonel. She
hadn’t lived in Harper’s Crossing that long when she had lost her
brother Aaron. Grandpa J had run into her at the grocery store
right after she had heard the news and he had pulled her into his
arms and let her cry for at least an hour, maybe even two.

He had made sure to stop by and check on her
a couple of times a week that first year after Aaron was killed. He
took her out on ‘breakfast dates’ and would ask her questions about
Aaron. He gave her the opportunity to mourn her brother. She would
never forget it.

“How’s my girl?” he asked as he hugged her
tightly.

“Good, Grandpa J. I’m good.” She smiled as he
pulled back and took the pie from her hands.

“Pumpkin, my favorite,” he said as he headed
to the large table that was set out in the middle of the room. It
looked to be overflowing with a dish of deviled eggs, a vegetable
tray, chips, brownies (hopefully Jamie’s, Amber thought, because
she makes ah-may-zing brownies), and several pies.

She said her hellos to everyone in the front
room. The crowd was pretty evenly dispersed between the big screen
TV that had a football game on and the pool table in the garage.
She immediately took note that Seth was out playing pool in the
garage with his brothers. He looked insanely gorgeous. He was
wearing dark wash jeans and a V-neck black sweater with a white
t-shirt underneath.

Her entire body tingled with excitement at
just the merest glimpse of him. The tiny hairs on the back of her
neck rose and she could feel her heart pounding against her
ribcage. She needed a moment to pull it together.

Glancing around, she didn’t see any of the
girls, so she figured they were in the kitchen. Amber decided she
would go see if she could help with anything. Hopefully that would
distract her mind and give her a chance to regroup.

Pushing through the white wooden swinging
door that separated the front room from the kitchen she found
Katie, Jamie, Sophie, Haley and Katie’s mom Pam and Aunt Wendy all
bustling around. The second she walked in she was hit with the most
amazing
smells of vanilla, cinnamon and spice, turkey, gravy
and fresh bread. She inhaled deeply and her stomach growled.