Lucky Streak

CHAPTER FIVE

MIKE DROVE to his father’s place, lost in thought, and Amber didn’t intrude. She wanted him to think about everything she’d told him, but most important she wanted him to realize what it meant that she’d returned. Let him remember how special their wedding night had been and what awaited him if he agreed to give her a second chance again.

Besides, she wasn’t going anywhere. First, she couldn’t return to Vegas until King Bobby was gone and no longer looking for her. And to know that, she needed to track down Marshall. Amber couldn’t shake the memory of Caroline’s comment about King Bobby being “connected.” She couldn’t grow up in Vegas, hanging around the men her father ran with, and now know about the darker side of a gambler’s life. And she couldn’t risk the chance King Bobby had just been bluffing. She’d have to stay hidden.

But there was more to her being in Boston than simply her fear of King Bobby. She wanted to stay with Mike and convince him she wasn’t the kind of person he now thought she was. He needed to accept that his first impression, the gut feeling that allowed him to bond with her in the first place, was the correct one.

She wanted to get to know her husband. She hadn’t been able to put him out of her mind and not just because she had betrayed him and owed him, both an explanation and money. He was as sexy as she remembered, with a day’s worth of razor stubble and the sport jacket he’d worn to court giving him an edgy appeal. But gone were the easy smiles and relaxed aura he wore in Vegas. In their place was a wary man who’d been betrayed.

She gnawed on the inside of her cheek and glanced out the window. The cityscape had long ago been replaced by green grass, trees and open fields, so different from the dry desert of Nevada or the smog of L.A.

She could get used to the fresh new scenery. She definitely liked Boston, at least what she’d seen of it, and starting tomorrow, she’d explore more. It might be a great place to start over. And with luck, she could find a job at one of the big hotels here.

Her grandparents had passed away a few years ago and all she had left of family was her father. She could move him out here, too, so she could spend whatever time he had left with him without Marshall nearby to cause trouble. And she could know, for sure, if this marriage had any possibility of lasting. Not just because she wanted Mike to see she was a good person, but because she needed closure for herself.

She wasn’t a quitter. She’d entered into this marriage; she was going to do her best to make it work out.

Based on the hard expression on Mike’s face and the set of his jaw, Amber knew she was getting way ahead of herself, but that’s how she operated in life. Gung ho and full steam ahead, using her charm and photographic memory to their best advantage. That’s how she’d carved out a job as one of the best concierges in Beverly Hills.

Brad Pitt himself had requested her services, as did the rest of his pals. The only drawback to her life in L.A. was the fact that she couldn’t get her father on her health insurance plan. It had been the only thing that had drawn her back to Vegas and into Sam’s world of underground high-stakes poker.

But it had also inadvertently led her to Mike Corwin. The man was real. Her day with Mike had shown her what had been missing from her life in Beverly Hills. It wasn’t just that she’d been too busy for a social life of her own. Her job had consumed her and at the time, that had been fine with her. But the fear of losing her father, combined with her un-forgettable day-and night-with Mike had shown her that she needed someone to come home to at night. Someone to talk to. Someone who could make her feel as alive as Mike had in the twenty-four hours she’d spent with him.

She just wanted a chance to see if he was the one she was meant for. And she intended to get that chance in the same way she did everything else in her life.

She’d earn it.

“What’s wrong?” Mike asked, breaking the long silence.

“Nothing. Why?”

“You sighed.”

“I didn’t realize I had.”

“Listen, about my father…” He trailed off.

“You mentioned that he’s…off, I think is what you said.”

He nodded. “He’s reclusive and eccentric,” Mike said, choosing his words carefully. There were none to really prepare Amber for what she was about to encounter, but he might as well try.

No doubt Edward would scare her off, either by his crotchety attitude, the way he lived or the fact that once his father realized there was something between Amber and Mike, Edward would do his damnedest to run her off before the curse kicked in.

Mike shook his head and groaned. “You’ll see what I mean soon enough.” They were almost at the exit leading to Stewart, where his father lived in an old house on the edge of town.

“What about your mother?” Amber asked. “Does she live there, too?”

He shook his head. “They’re divorced. Have been for ten years. She’s remarried. She and my stepfather live about an hour from Boston, too, in the opposite direction from here.”

“I’m glad you’re talking to me again.” She curled her jeans-clad leg beneath her and turned toward him, obviously settling in for more “get to know you” talk.

“I just want you to be prepared when you meet my father.”

“My father-in-law,” she said too cheerfully.

“About that-” Without insulting her or getting into too much detail about the family curse, he needed to figure out how to ask her not to bring up their marriage to his father.

If she’d never stolen the money and bolted, he supposed he’d have brought her back and dealt with his father’s insanity. But she’d betrayed him. He couldn’t trust her, and he really didn’t even know her. And she wouldn’t be around much longer so there was no reason to upset Edward and get him started on the damn curse.

“Listen, I’d rather you not tell my father we’re-”

“Skunk!” Amber shrieked, pointing straight in front of them.

Mike slammed on his brakes, narrowly missing the animal in the middle of the old country road leading to his father’s house.

“Are you okay?” he asked Amber.

She nodded. “Close call.”

He agreed. He was about to drive around the skunk when he caught sight of his father, walking in front of the car.

Mike closed his eyes and muttered a curse. He shifted the car into Park and opened the window. “Dad, what the hell are you doing? It’s a skunk. Get in the car before it sprays us all!”

But to Mike’s surprise, his father bent down and grabbed the animal by the tail.

“What’s he doing?” Amber asked, wide-eyed with shock.

“It looks like he’s bringing it over.”

Before Mike could find the button to shut the window, Edward leaned over and said, “Michael, meet my new pet, Stinky Pete.”

“For the love of…Get that thing out of here.”

“He’s descented. But don’t tell that to anyone in town. It keeps people away.”

“They don’t come around anymore anyway,” Mike said, wondering how his father had allowed himself to descend so far into his own world.

Edward Corwin looked like a modern-day mountain man. His black hair, wiry and sprinkled with gray, hadn’t seen scissors in ages; neither had his beard. He wore khaki shorts, old shirts and beat-up sandals, but they were stylish enough for Mike to know his father still made trips to town from time to time.

The house he lived in had been built back when Edward and his brothers owned their own construction business, in the days before their generation of Corwin men had suffered from the curse, when the brothers had been on speaking terms and life had been as close to normal as Mike suspected his father had ever known it to be.

After the feud over Mike’s aunt Sara Jean, the business had gone bankrupt, the partnership ended and the brothers made their own living doing handiwork. Edward had worked as a plumber, at least until he’d became so strange. Now, no one wanted him in their homes.

But by that point, Mike had been making a decent living and deposited money monthly into his father’s bank account. By silent agreement the men never discussed it, although Mike knew his father used the money for necessities like food and clothing. If he was also bankrolling the odd purchase of voodoo paraphernalia or other items, Mike preferred not to know about it.

“Get in the car. I’ll drive you back to the house,” he said to his father. He didn’t look at Amber, afraid to see the horror in her gaze.

For some reason he didn’t want to own up to yet, he cared what she thought of his father.

Edward opened the backdoor and climbed into the seat.

“He’s descented, huh?” Amber asked.

“Who’s she?” Edward asked Mike.

“I’m Amber. Does he bite?” she asked.

Mike shrugged. “Last time I checked, no. But he didn’t have a skunk last time I was here, either.”

Amber laughed, the light tinkling sound that had enchanted him in Vegas did so again now. “I meant the skunk, not your father. Does Stinky Pete bite?”

Knowing his father wouldn’t talk to her, Mike glanced in his rearview mirror. “Dad, does the rodent bite?”

“No.”

Against all common sense, at least to Mike’s way of thinking, Amber turned around in her seat and faced Edward. “Can I hold him?” she asked.

Any sane woman would have run screaming by now. Any rational human would have insisted they leave immediately.

Amber took the skunk from his father’s hands.

And Edward let her.

Then he did the unimaginable. He invited her inside the house.

Nothing inside the old cape-style structure had changed since Mike’s mother had moved out except the clutter. Mike was used to it.

Amber excused herself to use the bathroom and Mike jumped on the opportunity to discuss the reason for his visit. “Dad, Derek called and asked me to talk to you. He and Gabrielle appreciate your concern for them, but they’d really like for you to stop…” How did he put it politely? “Stringing crap up over their door and sprinkling fairy dust on their walkway.”

“Someone’s got to ward off evil spirits. They’re tempting fate. So who is she?” Edward waved a hand toward the doorway Amber had gone through.

Mike didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Her name is Amber Rose. I met her in Vegas.”

“I thought what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?” his father said, cracking a joke for the first time in…well, longer than Mike could remember. “Yet you brought her home with you?” Edward’s gaze narrowed.

Mike knew there was no way around the truth. Besides, who was he going to tell? “We got married,” he muttered.

“Married!” Edward shouted. “Are you out of your mind? The curse is going to get you yet. Unless…You don’t love her, do you?”

Mike shook his head. “I don’t even know her.”

“Well, praise be, there’s hope for you yet.” Edward raised his hands in the air, then ran to the nearest cabinet and returned with a jar of red dust.

“Don’t come near me with that stuff,” Mike ordered in his sternest voice.

Edward frowned and placed the jar on a table. “You aren’t in love with her, you barely know her, and you just met her this weekend so you wouldn’t know if she was knocked up. That means you married her because she’s hot. Sexy hot.” Edward nodded, seemingly talking to himself and satisfied with his own answers. “That makes sense at least. No love, no curse. Then again, remember your cousin Derek’s first marriage? The curse kicked in there anyway.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “Derek was a workaholic and he wasn’t in love with his wife. That’s a recipe for disaster any way you look at it. There was no curse needed. But back to Derek. Will you promise me you’ll leave Derek and Gabrielle alone? Quit trying to protect them from the damn curse.”

“What curse are you talking about?”

Mike glanced up to see Amber standing in the entrance to the den, watching them, but staring at Mike intently.

“You didn’t tell her about the curse?” Edward’s expression turned to one of horror.

“No, and neither will you. Just like you’ll mind your own business with Derek and Gabrielle. They choose not to believe in the curse and that’s that. Understood?”

“What curse?” Amber asked again.

Mike grabbed her beneath the elbow. “Later,” he said to Amber under his breath. “Dad, we’ve got to go.”

“But we’ll check on you again tomorrow!”

“No, we won’t,” Mike said. “I work the day shift,” he reminded Edward, in case his father thought Amber had any kind of say in his life.

Because she didn’t.

And he had no time to visit his father tomorrow.

“Then can one of you call me tomorrow?” he said to them both. “I want to know more about my daughter-in-law and this quickie marriage.”

“We will!” Amber waved goodbye as she let Mike guide her to the door.

Mike scowled at her. She and his father would not be bonding anytime soon.

“Hey, I just want to know more about the curse,” Amber said, eyes twinkling.

Mike shut his eyes for a brief second and wondered what rabbit hole he’d fallen into when he’d married Amber Rose. And how he was going to climb out when she seemed intent on burrowing in.

AMBER ALLOWED MIKE the solitude of his thoughts again on the ride home.

More than he probably realized, she understood how he felt when he looked at his father and didn’t get the response he desired. Although it wasn’t Alzheimer’s Mike was dealing with, it was probably mental illness or severe eccentricity. In any case, the resulting frustration was the same that she experienced.

But she’d liked Mike’s father. And since he wasn’t her parent and the expectations weren’t there, she could simply enjoy his company. After all, he was more of a presence than she’d ever have again from her own father. Maybe that was something she could teach Mike. A small gift, a way for him to appreciate what he did have in his parent.

For now, she settled for imparting empathy and understanding. As they pulled out of the driveway, she reached over and put her hand over Mike’s.

He glanced at her in surprise. He said nothing, but he didn’t pull away, something she took as a positive sign. Not that she believed she’d overcome any real hurdles, but she was glad she could be there for him anyway.

MIKE WAS EXHAUSTED, but his night wasn’t over yet. His biggest challenge sat in his favorite recliner, making herself at home in his apartment.

If he didn’t have to work tomorrow morning, he’d pour himself a drink.

“I’ve never held a skunk before,” Amber said.

“I bet not.”

“Your father’s an interesting character.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Character’s an interesting way to put it.”

“So tell me more about the curse that seems to drive everything he says and does.”

Mike groaned. “How about you tell me how you plan to pay me back all that money first.” He wasn’t mercenary. The money itself meant less to him than the fact that she’d left him and now he couldn’t trust her.

She pursed her lips, cocked her head to one side and sighed. “Okay, but you first. What curse?”

He tried not to roll his eyes at something his father, uncles and an entire town took too damn seriously. “Legend says that an ancient witch by the name of Mary Perkins cursed the males in my family. Apparently one of my relatives ran off with a woman who was already engaged to another man, William Perkins. William’s mother, Mary, was a witch-keep in mind, this was during the Salem witch trial era-and she cursed the males in the Corwin family line as a way of getting revenge.”

Amber leaned forward in her seat, revealing the ample cleavage he’d held in his hand. Tasted in his mouth.

Mike broke into a heated sweat.

“And what was that curse?” she asked, oblivious to his desire, enthralled instead by the story that had haunted his family for generations.

He could repeat it by heart. “Any Corwin male who falls in love will be destined to lose his love and his fortune.”

“Nasty curse,” Amber said.

“Yeah. Just because I had a horny relative, every male down the family line has suffered unimaginable pain and misfortune.” He shook his head.

“But your cousin Derek is married to a woman he loves now, right?” she asked.

Mike raised an eyebrow. “Just how long were you standing there, listening to the conversation I had with my father?”

She waved her hand, dismissing the question. “Are they happily married?”

“So far…but my father’s convinced Gabrielle miscarried because of the curse and he’s been trying to protect them from future harm with his voodoo and hocus-pocus.”

“Then those were juju dolls I saw hanging from the trees by the house.”

Mike nodded, preferring not to go there. “Gabrielle is a famous author whose research dispels paranormal belief for a living. Ever hear of Gabrielle Donovan?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes! I’ve seen her books!”

“She’s convinced Derek that all the family misfortune has been a combination of circumstance and coincidence. Frankly, I’m inclined to believe her, too. Now, does that answer all your questions?”

“It does,” she said, sounding surprised he’d leveled with her.

“Now, about my money…?”

She made a tsking sound. “You do have a one-track mind, don’t you? I’m your wife, remember? What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine.” She held up her hand and the big gaudy diamond flashed at him from across the room.

He hadn’t realized she’d kept the ring, let alone continued to wear it.

Seeing it dangle on her finger again brought everything crashing back. The fun, the rush of excitement and most of all the desire he’d felt the moment he’d laid eyes on her. And their wedding night, something he hadn’t been able to forget, no matter how angry he’d been.

That same desire had enveloped him from the moment he walked into his apartment and found her nearly naked on his bed, as well a yearning he’d been tamping down during the visit to his father’s, watching her accept Edward as if he and his descented skunk were normal. He’d felt it again as she’d held his hand during the hour-long ride home in silent understanding.

“My wife?” he repeated her words.

She nodded. “Legally.”

He started toward her in a deliberately predatory way. “If you’re going to insist on calling yourself my wife, I’m going to want something more from this marriage than the aggravation I’ve had so far.”

She met his gaze without backing down. “I think the time we spent in your hotel room was pretty darn good.” Her eyes widened. “I’d even call it aggravation free, if you ask me. Don’t you agree?”

The memory of consummating their marriage was potent and his body hardened at the reminder. It suddenly didn’t matter that she’d betrayed him. He still wanted her as badly as that first time.

Wanting to make sure she understood his intentions, he stood over her chair, grasped the armrests and leaned over her, his lips inches from hers. Her warm, feminine scent tempted him, aroused him, drew him in.

“We have unresolved issues,” he said, staring into her beautiful blue eyes. “The money and the marriage.”

“I know we do. But you need to know I didn’t want to leave you and I came back-”

He didn’t let her finish, cutting off her words with his lips. She was his wife and she was willing and he kissed her hard and deep, branding her as his.

Amber kissed him back, but let Mike take charge. She wasn’t going to pass up the chance to be with him again, to remind him how good they were together. To feel it for herself.

His large hands cupped her face and he tipped her head, giving his tongue better, deeper access to her mouth. He thoroughly claimed her, leaving no place untouched. All she could do was hold on to his shoulders and feel.

His hands slid from her face to her neck, his thumbs caressing her skin, tracing the line of her collarbone, his fingertips moving lower to the swell of her breasts beneath her T-shirt. He teased her with his touch, dipping lower, but not quite touching where she needed it most. The throbbing tips of her nipples pressed harder against her shirt, begging for him, while moisture trickled between her legs, building an empty, aching pressure only he could fill.

She arched her back, silently imploring him to stop teasing her with featherlight strokes of his hands on her breasts.

He raised his head and met her gaze, his eyes dark and intense. “What do you want?” he asked, his voice gruff. “You need to tell me.”

She swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her chest, desire swamping her, yet not fulfilling her needs. “You. I want you.”

“I want you, too,” he said, not sounding at all pleased with he admission.

“And it makes you angry that you do.”

A muscle ticked on the side of his face. “That about sums it up.”

She knew it would take time for him to believe in her again and that was okay. That he still wanted her was enough. It gave her something to work with.

“One step at a time,” she told him, referring to their relationship. “Then you’ll see how good things between us can be.”

Never breaking eye contact, she took his hand and placed it on her breast. Over her shirt and through her thin bra, his touch burned and aroused her, but she was more concerned with breaking through his self-directed anger. He wanted her and was furious with himself for it.

“One step at a time. Starting here and now,” she said, encouraging him.

He curled his hand tighter around her breast. She felt her nipple tighten, turn rigid against his palm. Unable to control her reaction, a low moan of satisfaction rumbled from deep inside her. She watched the fight he waged within himself and she saw the minute he lost the battle.

The angry tension in him eased. He kissed her again, more gently, more accepting, yet still demanding in intensity. She shifted her body and his hips settled around hers, the hard length of him fitting directly between her thighs. The thick, bulging pressure hit her at exactly the right point and she moaned aloud.

His hands cupped and molded her breasts while, attuned to her other needs, he rocked against her, each thrust of his body bringing her higher and closer to a fast-coming climax. She needed to feel him harder against her and bent her knees, seeking more intimate contact.

Without warning, the chair tipped back and Mike lost his balance, nearly toppling over her and onto the floor.

“Oh my God, that scared me half to death,” she said. “Are you okay?”

Mike drew a deep breath, still trying to calm his twisting stomach. “Too damn close to a roller coaster for my peace of mind.”

She met his gaze. And laughed.

They’d been both caught off guard and the shock of being jolted back by the recliner interrupted the moment, yet it sent her into a fit of laughter.

He began laughing, too.

He couldn’t remember the last time a makeout session had turned into something fun. Amber, her blue eyes dancing, her curls a mess around her face, gave the most normal things a unique spin.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Too funny. I thought for sure you were doing a header over the chair.”

“With our combined weight, I’m surprised I didn’t.”

“Mike?” she asked, no longer laughing.

He stood beside her. “Yeah?”

“You left me hanging. You?”

He shook his head and grinned. “Yeah, I’m a little unsatisfied myself.” He scooped her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom where he had protection stashed in the back of one of his drawers.

He lowered her to her feet by the side of the bed, which was still-stupidly-covered in cold hard cash. He began to scoop it up and toss it into a bag, trying like hell not remember that she’d walked out on him. At least, not now, while his body still throbbed with need. Finally he finished and placed the bag aside. He’d organize it and take it to the bank first thing in the morning.

He turned back to Amber and discovered she’d undressed. And Amber nude was enough to make him forget all his misgivings.

He couldn’t draw his gaze from her rounded curves and incredible beauty. With her damp lips and tousled hair, she looked like sex personified. It took him only an instant to shed his clothes, grab and roll on a condom and meet her in the center of his bed.

He laid back against the pillows and let her take control, which she seemed only too happy to do. She swung one leg over him and while holding his hands and staring into this eyes, she lowered herself over him.

She was dewy and wet, ready for him. Her body accepted him, inch by hot inch. He lay still, letting her set the pace. And though he wanted to take it slow, savor how tight she was around him, he needed to feel more of her and he thrust upward until they were joined together in the deepest possible way.

The sensations quivered throughout his entire body and he let out a low groan. “You feel so damn good.”

Her eyes were wide and heavily glazed as she managed a nod. Her hips began to rotate, clenching him tighter in her heat. Her eyelids fluttered closed. As he thrust in and out again, she picked up a familiar rhythm. One that belonged to them alone.

He had a second to realize that sober sex with Amber was a helluva a lot different from the last night they’d spent together. Hotter. More intimate.

And then his body couldn’t wait and he began to push upward, inside her, searching, reaching higher. Thought fled. Only feeling mattered.

She matched him thrust for thrust, grinding into him. She moaned and the sexy sound brought him higher, closer. Somehow he held off until she came-her body milking him for all it was worth, her soft cries triggering his release.

But it was the sound of his name on her lips that caused everything inside him to burst open. Taking him up and over with the strongest, sweetest climax he’d ever experienced.

They lay in silence, the only sound his heart pounding in his ears. He rose and headed for the bathroom. When he returned, he climbed back into bed. Amber curled around him as if she’d been sleeping beside him for a lifetime.

“Mike?” she asked sleepily.

“Yeah?”

“Next time you’re on top,” she said, tossing one leg over his, and immediately falling asleep.

His wife locked him in for the night. In his bed, in his apartment, in his home.

What the hell was he going to do with her?