His Southern Sweetheart (13 page)

With the pad of his thumb and forefinger, he massaged her outer lips, rubbing them together. Hot, liquid moisture coated his fingers. Slowly he sunk one finger into her flesh. Her upper body rose off the bed. Nate, not wanting to break his concentration, eased her back down onto the mattress by circling her left nipple with the palm of his hand.

Nate drove his finger deeper into her wet flesh and pulled out. He did it again, deeper, and let his thumb trace circles on her throbbing nub. A cry escaped Amelia's throat as she began to quiver. His body trembled, knowing how ready she was for him. He sighed at the view and swallowed down his desire. The pads of his thumbs traced the delicate skin of her inner thigh. Her hands pawed the air toward his chest, willing him to come closer. He obliged.

Two full weeks had passed since he'd last touched her body, with a week of her teasing him with visions of her sexy body. But not tonight—he could no longer wait.

“I need you,” Amelia whispered. She arched her neck and turned her head to the side as she thrust her lower back toward him.

In seconds Nate kicked off his pants, rolled on a condom from his wallet in the back of his pants and joined her naked body with his, entering her swiftly. They both sighed, clearly satisfied with the reunion. Her tight walls clamped around his shaft. He closed his eyes and tried to maintain stability.

Amelia gasped in satisfaction. Nate nuzzled his mouth against the crook of her neck and began to lick and suck. Her fingernails scratched the length of his back. Not wanting to come too soon, Nate held Amelia's hands over her head and drove into her. Like the first time they were together, she matched his thrusts with one of her own. They were a perfect fit. They moved in harmony. Nate dipped his head lower and captured her mouth with his. The tongues danced again to the sound of their bodies pounding against each other. Nate let go of Amelia's hands and balanced himself on his own hands to watch her face as he drove into her over and over. As her back arched in anticipation of another orgasm, Nate drove faster. The moment her eyes tightened, he let go of his pent-up desire with a yelp, thrusting until he was spent.

He could never find bliss like this with anyone else.

Chapter 9

T
he elegance of the Keaton-Marshall wedding almost made Amelia want to get married.
Almost.

As promised, Amelia helped out Lexi's employee, Chantal, with the video. She was quite impressed with the amount of money Lexi had invested in her quality cameras. Amelia's fingers itched to take control but she let the young woman handle everything. She made mental notes of how she'd do things differently. She might have placed a GoPro camera on the baseball caps of the groomsmen from Sam's fraternity. Maybe next time, she could talk Lexi into getting some battery-pack microphones for the next bridal party to better catch all the conversations.

Next time?
Amelia gave her head a little shake as she jotted her notes in the small notepad she kept in her handbag. There'd be no next time. After Grandmamma came home, Amelia would be around for a few more weeks and then she was out of here. Hell, wanting to hold a boom mic was proof she needed to get back to work.

“You look like you're in your element.” Nate's deep voice vibrated against her spine as he snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

A slow smile spread across her face at the memory of Nate just a few hours ago. She'd thought that after staying up all night making love to him, she'd be tired by now, but at the moment of his touch she was recharged with desire. “I am now.”

Out of view from everyone, Nate's hand snaked around to her backside and roamed across the curve of her behind. “Admit it, life is better
living
reality than
filming
it.”

Amused with the idea, Amelia half nodded and half shook her head. “I've been doing film for a while now. I've only been doing you for a couple of hours.”

“And already you're contemplating staying,” he retorted.

Had he read her thoughts? No, not possible. Amelia shook her head and spun around. With Nate's arms still on her body, she was flush against his chest. The pale lavender scoop-necked tea-length dress Lexi's niece had picked out for her crushed against Nate's dark suit, pressing her breasts forward and drawing Nate's attention to them.

“You believe one night of passion can...” Whatever she wanted to say was drowned out in the back of her throat when Nate dipped his head lower and kissed her. The sweetness of his mouth made her knees buckle. Thank God for his hold.

“Are you crazy?” she asked breathlessly. “Anyone can see us.”

Nate shrugged without a care in the world as they stood in the back of the church. Maybe there was something in the water. All the other couples they'd hung out with last night were cuddled up. Stephen snatched Lexi's clipboard from her hand and drew her close for a kiss. Cay and Greg slipped out from the church to the hallway connected to the back room for a few stolen kisses. “Is something in the water?”

“The pastor's running late, so we all have a few minutes to misbehave.”

As she prayed that the pastor going missing during a wedding was not a bad omen, Amelia sunk into Nate's embrace and enjoyed the moment.

During the wedding, she took a quiet seat in the back pew away from prying eyes. As nice as Emily and Sam were for extending an olive branch to her, Amelia did not trust the elders who had been affected by her exposé on the peach tree famers to not have something negative to say during the wedding.

Amelia didn't get another chance to enjoy Nate's touch until after the vows were sealed with a kiss and the wedding party was on its way to where the reception started. The reception was held in Down Park, the area connecting all four bordering counties. A white gazebo shaded the guests from the grueling late-summer heat and any threat of rain. Guests sat on white wooden folding chairs at the twelve-top royal-purple-and-cream themed tables. Everyone who was anyone was attending the event. Apart from Brittany Foley, Amelia did not receive the hate she expected. The bridesmaid shot as many daggers as she possibly could at Amelia during the wedding but Amelia didn't care. She was on cloud nine, dancing with Nate.

“For the record,” Nate said as he twirled Amelia around, “the girls adore you.”

Amelia glanced over at the table where Kimber, Nate's sixteen-year-old niece, sat under the watchful eye of Stephen Reyes, having turned down an offer to dance with one of the boys in attendance. “Is she shy?”

“No,” Nate scoffed, “she's just grounded.”

“For how long?”

Nate shrugged his shoulders. “How long before the end of time?”

Amelia winced for the girl and understood her pain. “Poor kid.”

“Poor kid? My brother had a full head of hair before we moved here.”

“What?”

“Joking.” Nate winked and tightened his grip around her waist. “How long before we can leave here?”

“They haven't even cut the cake, Nate.” Though she wanted to be the mature one in this scenario, Amelia knew her desire mirrored his. How did a suit make a man so sexy? It didn't matter what Nate wore: a pair of denims with no shirt and the sweat off his back, or a dark, tailored suit. She inhaled deeply. She'd already missed the county fair, which was always held at the beginning of the summer, but she pictured him in a nice green sweater to match his eyes in the winter months or even an orange shirt for pumpkin patch season. The farmers were probably tending feverishly to their crops now, given that Halloween wasn't too far away from here. Hell, September was a few days away. And then what? She'd report back to work? Maybe she could stay at least through next month.

“You okay?”

“I'm fine,” she said.
More than fine
, she thought, with a new plan in mind now. She'd give Rory Montgomery a call later on this weekend and let her know.

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Nate realized bringing a date to a wedding was not complicated at all. For once he liked the feeling of being in a secluded relationship. Is that what they were? Secluded? The idea brought a smile to his face.

“I'll have whatever you're having,” said an elderly gentleman stepping up to the bar next to Nate.

“Nothing but tonic water for me,” Nate said, raising his glass, and turned. His grin widened at the sight of Enzo Gravel, Kimber and Philly's grandfather. Earlier this year Betty's parents had made the heartbreaking decision not to file for custody of their granddaughters. Nate's brother, Ken, had made the arrangements for Stephen and Nate to be the girls' guardians after each birth. No one expected Ken and Betty to die, but Nate and Stephen had the courts on their side. Enzo and his wife, Jeanette, admitted they were too old to run after the younger girls. They'd had Betty in their midforties and were pushing the seventies when their first grandchild was born. Now in their eighties they did what most grandparents did and spoiled their kids every chance they had with them, without having the responsibility of disciplining them.

“Hey, man.” Nate extended his hand. “I didn't see you there.”

“Ah, that must be the young lady you've been dancing with the whole evening?” He gave Nate a firm handshake. The kind of shake his father, Esteban, had taught him. “Who is the lucky lady?”

“Amelia Marlow.”

Enzo tapped the white goatee on the chin of his mahogany face. “Where do I know the name?”

“You may remember her. Her parents owned—”

“The Scoop, an ice-cream parlor off Main Street. Yes, I remember Amelia. Inquisitive young lady.”

His choice in words caused Nate to chuckle, especially as he recalled the way she always tried different angles of getting to the truth about Stephen's meeting with Natalia. Nate had stood firm on his word. If Natalia wanted to share with Amelia that she was ready to leave the business, then it was Natalia's story to tell. Nate loved Amelia, but not enough to betray his friends and family.
Wait—love?

“Amelia did the city a whole lot of good,” Enzo went on. “Although what a shame she didn't stick around to see what good she did.”

Over many of their conversations, Amelia often chalked her reason for not wanting to return to Southwood up to everyone here hating her. So far, except Brittany for obvious reasons, everyone seemed to be so friendly. She'd never said why she felt they hated her, other than they did. Nate took a swig of his water as Enzo went on.

“Amelia was investigating the issue of how migrant workers were treated in Peachville. Initially, her high-school report ruffled a lot of feathers.”

“Why?”

“This is Georgia, son. The peach tree is our everything. If I'm not mistaken, the initial findings halted the harvesting and put a lot of businesses in the red, including her family's shop.” Enzo closed his eyes and let out a sigh of nostalgia. “Man, what I wouldn't do for a scoop of her father's fresh peach ice cream.”

What Nate wouldn't do for a bite of her peach. Libido racing, Nate glanced at his watch and wondered how long they needed to stay. Neither of them were a part of the wedding party, so they did not have to stay for photographs. Nate cleared his throat. “So, are the girls going home with you tonight?”

“Philly asked.”

“And Kimber?” asked Nate. With him being gone all week, Nate had worried about Stephen handling his time with the girls and was grateful for Lexi being around. A feminine presence was necessary in the household and while Stephen and Lexi were not married or engaged, it was only a matter of time. Nate typically enjoyed his nights off and away from the household to socialize. Having the grandparents take the girls for the weekend helped Nate avoid
the talk
with his nieces. Before Amelia, there'd been no desire to introduce the girls to whomever kept him company.

“She wanted to know if she'd still be grounded if she came over,” Enzo said, giving Nate a wink and a nudge in the rib cage to jar him out of his thoughts, “but you guys know Jeanette and I always follow your rules.”

“Sure.” Nate returned the wink. “Which is why I have a tracker on all of her phones. She can try and go out with her friends, but I'll be watching. I should have weighed Philly this morning.”

“Now you can't blame the sugar on me today. Philly's been eyeballing that six-tier cake all afternoon. You should have all week,” said Enzo, “but from my understanding you haven't been home much.”

Not sure how to answer the question, Nate shook his head. “Well, you see...” He still did not have a proper answer. How did he explain their meeting in Atlanta or what happened when Amelia returned to Southwood?

“Save your excuses,” Enzo said with a chuckle. “I am hard of hearing, not hard of hearing gossip.”

“Gossip?” Nate's jaws clenched. If Amelia got wind of that, she might hightail it back to the reality TV world.

“Don't worry.” Enzo waved off any fret. “Pastor Rivers informed me of the work you're doing for Helen Marlow. Bless your soul, have you met her yet?”

“Briefly.”

“And you're still living?”

The memory of her prickly demeanor did bring a chuckle to Nate. “Yes, sir.”

“Good for you. Well, looks like my blushing bride is waving me over.”

Enzo nodded and shook Nate's hand before excusing himself to rejoin his wife at a table filled with other pillars of the community. Nate's green eyes scanned the gazebo for any sight of Amelia and found her in the arms of Parker Ward—again. He took a step toward the laid-out dance floor and over the greenery of the park.

“Dance with me.”

The latest obstacle to get in Nate's way was the five-foot-five bridesmaid dressed in purple and accented with jealousy green. “Hello, Brit. I'm in a bit of a hurry.”

“Dance with me,” Brittany repeated like one of Philly's broken dolls. She glanced over her shoulder. “She seems pretty busy catching up with her first love.”

She'd voiced what he'd already suspected. Nate shrugged his shoulders. “So?”

Brittany reached for Nate's hand and dragged him to the edge of the dance floor. At least he'd be a few steps closer to Amelia.

“I'm disappointed in you, Nate.” Brittany stated the obvious.

“Why?” Nate tried not to sigh. Other wedding guests began to crowd the floor, causing Brittany to get closer. In turn, Parker was probably trying the same move.

“You've been ignoring me.”

“Correct me if I'm wrong—” Nate cleared his throat “—but we never made each other any promises.”

Brittany's fingers, with their purple acrylic nails, walked their way up the buttons of his shirt. “We've always had an unspoken bond between us.”

“Brittany, please,” he begged before she humiliated herself. Philly craned her neck to watch them dance. She was always hinting around for Nate to invite her favorite teacher home for dinner. “Stop.”

“You forgot already?”

“Forgot what?” Nate jerked his head away from her approaching face.

“The safe word.”

The one time Brittany had gone into the padlocked room at her apartment, she'd mentioned something about a safe word. How the hell did she expect him to remember? Jaws twitching with irritation, Nate inhaled deeply and glanced around the dance floor and made eye contact with Amelia. Instead of the pissed-off glare he expected, she winked with confidence, almost as if she found amusement in his predicament.

“Did you forget the safe word, Nate?”

Nate ducked his head out of her grasp before she placed her dominatrix fingers on his chin to force his attention. “Brittany, I told you I don't do—”

“Complicated.” Brittany motioned with her hands in front of his face with air quotes. “Yes, yes, I understand you have a family to take care of and an image you want to uphold for your nieces, which is why I am the logical choice. No one has suspected our relationship so far with all the parent-teacher meetings.”

Making a turn on the floor, Nate shook his head. “You've made yourself pretty damn clear to every single woman in town.”