Amber felt herself slowly returning to consciousness. The sun was streaming in through the window. She could hear soft, unidentifiable sounds filtering through the apartment, and she could feel a warmth that could only be attributed to sleeping next to someone.
That last point caused her to open her eyes in surprise.
She was half-laying on top of Emilia Lund.
The sounds were the cutest half-snore she’d ever heard emanating from the body beneath her.
Her sleep-deprived brain raced to catch up with events. She remembered sleeping in the airport, flying home, seeing Caroline, the live news of the attack. She swallowed. Then there was half a day of work, Bronwyn firing her, Emilia turning up at the office.
Talk about a hectic day, she thought.
She gently moved herself away from Emilia. It was obvious that she had been the one to instigate the sleepy hug. It wasn’t as if Emilia possessed the strength to lift Amber and place her on top of her.
She felt guilty that her feelings had risen and demonstrated themselves while Emilia had innocently slept. Then again, she had to pull herself away from Emilia’s legs that had intertwined with her own. Maybe it wasn’t as one-sided as she thought.
No, don’t go there, she told herself.
Thinking for even a moment that Emilia might want more than friendship led to heartache. She didn’t want to forget that Emilia had tricked her, lied to her, and foisted herself upon Amber’s mercy. The woman was a nightmare.
She stood up and looked down at Emilia’s sleeping features.
An adorable nightmare.
She shook her head. She was living her worst dream: unemployed, days before Christmas. She needed to get up, get dressed, and go to see the local recruitment consultants. Calling them was a start, but turning up at their doorstep was bound to prove more effective. It wasn’t like she had anything else to do to fill her time.
She went into her bedroom and grabbed some clean underwear before entering the bathroom to have a shower.
As the hot water hit her skin, she tried to make sense of the multiple turns the previous day had taken. Arriving at Heathrow in the morning, she had still harboured a tiny hope that she might be able to keep her job. A hope that Bronwyn might have found a speck of Christmas spirit.
Less than five minutes after being fired, Emilia had reappeared in her life. Her evening was supposed to be filled with working on her CV, panicking about employment and money, and counting down the hours until the next work day begun, but Emilia had quickly turned that on its head.
She hadn’t had time to think about being unemployed, which had been a blessing. But then she’d spent that time worrying about Emilia. Someone who had a panic attack in a shopping mall was not an ideal candidate to suddenly fly to another country, something that Amber knew she had never done before—planned or not.
Amber turned off the water, stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself up in a fluffy towel. She was looking forward to winter being over, even though she knew the worst had yet to come. January and February would be much colder than it was now. She wondered if she’d be able to afford heating then.
She pushed the thought to one side. She couldn’t allow herself to be disheartened. She had to think positively and assume she would get a job, a well-paying, good job. And soon.
She turned on the hairdryer, thankful that the noise of the device was able to drown out her negative thoughts.
She’d become so skilled at her morning routine that a shower, full hair and makeup, and underwear on took just under twenty minutes. Now she needed to raid her wardrobe and decide on clothes. Did she want to dress up in one of her Ted Baker suits, or might that put her out of the running for a lower-paid job that she’d quite happily do on a temporary basis?
She was still thinking about outfits when she opened the bathroom door and saw Emilia standing on the other side of it.
Amber had obviously worn underwear, and far less, in front of women before, but she still felt a little uncomfortable in such a state of undress with Emilia staring at her.
And she was staring at her.
“Um. Are… are you… going out?” Emilia asked, her eyes unashamedly roaming over Amber’s body.
She had to admit, she enjoyed the attention. Emilia was obviously not as oblivious as she first appeared.
Amber placed her hands on her hips, casual but still in control. “Yes, I need to look for work. I’m going to hit up some recruitment agencies,” she explained.
Emilia licked her lips and dragged her gaze up to meet Amber’s.
“Already?”
“Yes, I need to get back into work immediately. I can’t afford to be unemployed for more than a couple of days.”
“Days?” Emilia balked. “Don’t you have savings?”
Amber took a deep breath and reminded herself that Emilia came from another world, one where money arrived in royalty cheques from stories written by her grandmother half a century ago. She had no clue about getting a job or paying bills.
“Not enough. Rent is expensive, everything is expensive. If I don’t get back into work soon, I’ll lose my home. I’ll have to resort to credit cards to get by, and then I’ll get into a spiral of debt that will take me a long time to get out of. I pretty much live month to month.”
Emilia would have looked more surprised if her eyes hadn’t resumed their journey down Amber’s torso.
As nice as it was to feel attractive, she had things to do.
“Maybe you could… step aside, so I can get some clothes on?” Amber suggested.
Emilia blushed and quickly moved out of the way.
“Thank you.” Amber entered the bedroom and opened her wardrobe. She mentally continued her debate over what to wear. “You’re welcome to stay here, of course. I don’t know what your plans are.”
“Neither do I, yet,” Emilia admitted. “I’m still a little shaken up. Thank you, for last night.”
Amber stopped and turned around. “For?”
“For cuddling in front of the television. I felt much better, I must have because I fell asleep.”
Amber smiled. “You’re welcome. As I say, you can stay here if you like. I don’t know when I’ll be back, though.”
“I think I’d like that,” Emilia said.
Amber turned to her wardrobe. She decided on a simple black suit, classy and yet middle of the road enough to allow her to apply for any job that was available.
“Great, I’ll give you a key and show you how to lock up in case you want to go out. And how to deadbolt the door after I’ve gone.”
She slipped on the skirt and zipped it up, shuffling it around until it was positioned correctly. A white blouse was next, quickly buttoned, with a black jacket thrown over the top. She looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror and was satisfied. Slipping on some heels, she turned to leave the bedroom.
Emilia was still gaping at her. Amber smothered a smile. It was surprisingly pleasurable to be objectified by Emilia. She’d have to investigate this further, at another time when she wasn’t in such a hurry.
“There’s leftover takeaway from last night, and some stuff in the cupboards,” Amber explained as she walked out of the bedroom. “Help yourself to whatever you find. Which isn’t much as I’ve not had time to go shopping since I got home.”
“I’ll be fine,” Emilia reassured.
“Just… be careful. Don’t open the door, even if someone knocks. And if you go out, don’t talk to strangers.” She stopped when she realised that her extensive safety list would probably terrify Emilia. “You’ll be fine. Oh, and help yourself to clothes from my wardrobe if you want to shower or whatever. Just… help yourself to anything.”
“Thank you, you’re very kind,” Emilia said.
She supposed she was. Considering what had happened, she didn’t think she ought to be giving Emilia carte blanche to her home and belongings, but the anger she’d been holding onto had slipped away.
She wondered if it had simply been replaced with worry about her job situation, and the anger was still lurking in the background. Although, the warm feeling she got when she looked at Emilia’s face told her that probably wasn’t the case.