AMANDA SLOANE WAS WAITING for Will when he came out of the field house after practice Thursday night. They didn’t have a date, but it was clear from the way she was looking at him, that she wanted to go out with him again. Figuring it was either do something with friends or go home and have his little brothers—or worse, Kate—pestering him, Will headed straight for Amanda. She was wearing shorts and a halter top. Her hair was in a ponytail. She had one hand on her waist, her hips thrust forward in a provocative stance, her head tilted sideways. She looked as if she was a model, waiting to have her picture taken. If Will hadn’t been so lonely, he would have found her glamour-girl pose a real turn-off. But he was lonely, and she was the one girl in Laramie pursuing him, so….
Amanda smiled as he came nearer. “I thought you might like to see where the popular kids hang out during the summer,” she said.
Noting the envious looks of some of his teammates, Will slid a hand around Amanda’s waist. “Sounds good, as long as we stop somewhere first so I can get something to eat.”
Amanda moved in close, and wrapped her arm around his waist, too. Grinning, she looked up at him. “No problem. We can even take my car, if you want.”
“Nah,” Will said, unable to help but note how good she looked and smelled. “I’d rather take my Jeep.”
“Okay by me.”
They stopped for hamburgers at the drive-in on the outskirts of town, then headed out toward Lake Laramie. Amanda put her hand on Will’s thigh while he drove. By the time they found the spot, her palm had inched from down around his knee up to his groin. And from the way she kept glancing surreptitiously at his crotch, she had to know he had a hard-on that wouldn’t quit. All they’d done the night before was make out a little in the car. Given the way she was coming on to him, Will couldn’t help but wonder what she had planned for tonight.
“I think my mom told me about this place,” Will mused as they got out of his Jeep and walked toward a large clearing next to the lake. The ground was covered with sand. Logs around the perimeter served as benches. A fire glowed warmly in the sunken pit in the center of the clearing. Some kids were dancing, some were talking, others were listening to music being played on a portable stereo. A couple of girls were roasting marshmallows over the fire, and feeding them to their boyfriends. Another couple was making out in the shadows. Will spotted several guys drinking beer. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing, having a good time. Recognizing several players from the football team and some of the cheerleaders, Will lifted his hand in an indifferent wave. They nodded back, then went on with what they were doing.
Amanda nodded at an older guy Will didn’t recognize standing in the corner, drinking beer. “That’s R.J. If you need anything—beer, wine, whiskey—he can set you up. He makes a liquor run to San Angelo once a week. Or—” she smiled at Will seductively “—you can do what I do and…”
She took a small travel-size bottle of what looked to be mouthwash from the pocket of her shorts. “…drink some of this to get a buzz on.”
Will stopped her before she could lift the little bottle all the way to her mouth. He didn’t know if she was toying with him or showing off, but the alcohol in mouthwash was not the kind you drank to get high. If she wanted to do that she’d be better off boosting some vanilla extract or cooking sherry from the kitchen cupboard. “If you drink mouthwash it’ll make you throw up.”
Amanda twisted off the cap with a sly smile. “It’s not mouthwash, Will.”
It sure looked like mouthwash, Will thought, eyeing it warily. And the last thing Will wanted was to take some retching girl home in his Jeep.
Amanda dipped the tip of her index finger into the top of it and slowly sucked the liquid off. Then, her eyes still holding his, she dipped the same finger in and offered it to him by pressing it against his lips. “Have a taste.”
Will inhaled. It didn’t smell like mouthwash. It didn’t smell like much of anything. He opened his lips and let her press her finger all the way into his mouth. He touched his tongue to the liquid. Felt the zing on his tongue. Definitely liquor. “What is it?” he asked. “Some sort of white lightning?” He’d never seen anything in the liquor cabinet at home that was blue.
“Vodka, with a dash of blue food coloring.” Amanda lifted the little bottle to her lips and drank about a fourth of what was in there. “Want some?” She handed the bottle to him.
Will shook his head. “I’m okay.” His dad would kill him if he drank and drove—it was the one rule his dad was hellbent on enforcing, even in the wake of Mom’s death. Besides, the last thing he needed was to wreck his Jeep or get hurt, as even a minor injury could put him out for the season.
Amanda took another sip then recapped the bottle and slid it into her shorts. She looked around to make sure everyone was watching—they pretty much were—then took Will’s hand. “Let’s go somewhere and make out.”
Subtle, Will thought. Real subtle. But he let her drag him off into the woods that surrounded the gathering place next to the lake. “This all must seem so dull to you after growing up in Dallas,” she said.
Will hated to break it to Amanda, but he didn’t see a big difference. Sure, it was a little farther to the mall from Laramie, and there weren’t nearly as many theaters or restaurants, but on the whole, from what he could see, the kids did pretty much the same things. Hang out. Play putt-putt and pool. Swim. See movies. Get something to eat. Besides, there wasn’t any place he was really happy these days.
Evidently deciding they were far enough away from the others, Amanda stopped the forward trek and leaned against a tree. Keeping her grip on his hand, she dragged him closer. “Sometimes I am so bored,” she whispered, and then she took his hand and laid it on her breast. She took her other hand and wrapped it around the back of his neck, guiding his head down to hers. “I just want to do something really wicked and wild and reckless!”
Will didn’t really want the pressure of having to call and pay attention to her and see her all the time, but the feel of Amanda, so soft and warm and pliable, rubbing up against him—the sweet-hot taste of her—was too good to resist. He would do anything—anything—to be able to forget his mom dying and the mess his life was in. And being with Amanda this way, he learned swiftly, made him forget.
KATE’S CELL PHONE RANG at three in the morning. Finding it where she’d left it, plugged in beside her bed, she picked it up and murmured a sleepy hello.
“Kate, honey, is that you?”
Kate’s eyes flew open at the sound of her fiancé’s voice. She sat up in bed, struggling to wake. Obviously he had gotten her e-mail asking him to call her much later—not this late—but hearing from him was better than not, especially since the last time they’d talked they’d exchanged words. Since then, he had apologized via e-mail for taking her dad’s side and telling her to move out of Sam’s. And she had apologized in a return message. But Kate knew she wouldn’t feel that they had really made up all the way until they had talked again.
“Craig,” she murmured happily, knowing if ever she had needed and wanted to hear his voice, it was now.
“I got your e-mail,” Craig said, the smile in his voice as clear as the international connection. “Congratulations, honey. Winning the attention of the Graham Foundation is some coup.”
Kate beamed at the pride in his voice. That was one thing she liked about Craig—unlike her parents, and now Sam, who had felt free to voice their doubts about what she was doing— Craig had always encouraged her heartily in her choice of careers. Kate leaned over and switched on her bedside lamp. Still basking in his praise, she sighed wistfully as she thought about the impromptu meeting that had taken her back to the hospital. “I just wish I could actually take them up on their offer to expand my grief counseling program to two other rural hospitals.”
Craig paused, then clearly not understanding her point of view, said, “Why can’t you?”
Kate shrugged and as she sat up above the covers, quickly found herself shivering in the cool air blowing out of the vent above her bed. Kate clasped her bedcovers with one hand and pulled them up against her breasts. “Maybe because a little thing called our wedding and marriage just might get in the way.”
Without hesitation, Craig empathized firmly. “I know how hard you’ve worked to create a program that will keep other families from suffering the way yours did after your brother died—how hard it was for you to get, and keep, funding. If this means even half of what I think it does to you, I think you should go for it.”
Kate was tempted, especially when she thought of all the other families in crisis she could potentially help. But even as she considered it she knew she couldn’t delay getting started on her future—her marriage to Craig—any more than she already had. Not if she wanted a family of her own. And she did. “You mean something to me, too, Craig,” she said softly.
“Honey, I know that,” Craig said gently. “Believe me, no one understands commitment to a cause greater than ourselves better than we military men. But I also know you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” he said firmly. “And if that means waiting another six or seven months before we tie the knot, so you can use Graham Foundation money to expand your grief counseling program to two other rural hospitals, then I say do it.”
Kate tensed, not sure why his willingness to sacrifice their own needs for the sake of her career, or his, suddenly rankled. In the past it had been one of the things she had loved most about him. “We’re talking a minimum of a year here, Craig…maybe even longer…”
“Our love is strong enough to endure separations, Kate,” Craig returned matter-of-factly. “It always has been.”
“I don’t want to wait anymore, Craig. I want to get married so we can finally be together all the time.” She wanted to sleep by his side and make love every night. That wouldn’t be possible when he was off flying missions or busy doing peace-keeping tours in hot spots around the world, but when he was stationed stateside it would be possible. And it was those very opportunities Kate didn’t want to miss, certainly not for any career-oriented goals of her own.
“Honey, I know how you feel,” Craig soothed. “I’m anxious to hold you in my arms, too.”
Kate lowered her voice. “Are you?”
“Oh, yeah.” Craig’s voice was filled with a wealth of longing, both physical and emotional. His tone dropped a sexy notch. “You haven’t forgotten I booked a room at the Mansion On Turtle Creek, have you?”
Kate closed her eyes dreamily. “No. Of course not.” It was one of the most elegant hotels in all of Dallas and it would cost Craig a bundle, but it would be worth it, given the ultra-romantic homecoming and passionate reunion Kate envisioned for them.
“Good.” Craig laughed softly, his anticipation evident. “Did you get that knock-’em-dead dress?” he teased.
Kate grinned, aware she had been building up his expectations on that score for months now. “You bet,” she drawled. Besides being expensive as heck and designed by Jenna Lockhart, one of the hottest new clothing designers around, it was without a doubt the sexiest garment she had ever purchased in her life. Just thinking about the way it made her look had Kate feeling sensual, sexual and ready for action. She knew when Craig saw her in it he would quickly feel the same. And if not…she’d simply take off the dress and matching jacket and show him the equally expensive and to-die-for lingerie she’d bought to go under it.
“Just seven more days and I’ll be there,” Craig promised.
Kate closed her eyes. “I’m counting the hours, the days, the minutes…”
“Me, too, hon,” Craig said, a smile back in his voice. “Listen, I gotta go. Love you.”
Kate sighed and snuggled back under the covers. Before she knew it, all the waiting, all the loneliness, would be over. She just had to be strong a little longer. “I love you, too.”