“I know. But I’ve tried nearly all the drinks and they’re great.”
“This one is my favorite. It’s a Juicy Screw.” Lovey giggled. “That’s Marc’s favorite too, right?” She nudged Marc and he laughed.
“Ugh. They’re always talking about sex.” Duncan grimaced.
“Not just talking about it.” Lovey reached over and patted his arm.
Amber laughed.
“Besides, I wasn’t talking about sex, I was talking about the drink.” Lovey gave her brother an evil smile. “You’re the one with the dirty mind.”
“Can’t deny that.”
Amber met his eyes and smiled.
“I’ll wait for you and take you home, right?” His hand slid around and gave her ass a brief squeeze.
“Right.” She kissed his cheek and got back to work.
—
When the buzzer sounded in the apartment the next morning, Amber shifted in Duncan’s arms and mumbled, “What the…?”
“Ignore it,” he muttered. “Let Easton get it.”
Amber made a face. “It has to be someone to see him. Don’t know who else would show up here.”
She drifted in and out of sleep, a sleepy smile curving her mouth as she snuggled in closer to Duncan. She’d missed him and she’d been anxious about seeing him after that crappy blog post, but it had all been good.
The knocking on her bedroom door worked its way through to her consciousness, and her smile fell off her face.
“Amber? Boo, you awake?”
Then the doorknob turned and the door opened. Amber jerked the covers up over her naked body, and her head whipped up to glare at Easton.
“Easton! What are you doing?”
Duncan growled and pushed himself to sit, not caring about his bare chest.
Easton slipped into the room and closed the door. “God, I am so sorry, boo, but you need to get up.”
“What’s going on?”
“Your mother’s here.”
Amber shook her head like she was trying to shake off water. “What?” She blinked in the dim room, the heavy blinds blocking out the morning sun. “How can that be?”
“I don’t know, but she’s here.” Easton bugged his eyes out at her. “I didn’t tell her you, uh, weren’t alone.”
“Whatever.” Like that mattered. She was a big girl now. She let out a breath. “Okay, I’m awake. Now go, so I can get out of bed and get dressed.”
“Ah. Yeah.” Easton shrugged. “Not like I haven’t seen it all before.” He disappeared out of the room. Amber pushed the covers down and moved off the bed, but before she got far, a big hand clamped around her arm.
“What the hell?” Duncan grumbled. “He’s seen it all before?”
Amber had to laugh. “He’s exaggerating. Some. I’m a model. He’s a photographer.”
“You posed nude for him?”
She looked at Duncan’s dark scowl and smiled. “Not completely nude. You saw the pictures on the Internet, for God’s sake.” She shrugged, one corner of her mouth kicking up. “It’s part of the job. Plus…he’s gay. Remember?”
“Don’t care. Don’t want other guys looking at your naked body.”
“How cute and possessive.” She leaned down to brush a kiss over his mouth. “Now let go, I have a little issue to deal with. Good God. What the hell is my mother doing here?”
He released her and she rose. Her robe would have to do for now. She belted it at her waist and scooted out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Only a few steps down the short hall she spied her mother sitting on the couch.
“Mom. What are you doing here?”
Mom jumped up and moved toward her. “Amber! Sweetie! It’s so good to see you!”
“Um, yeah, good to see you too.” They hugged and Amber swallowed. Damn. This was her mom, she should be happy to see her. “I just…why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
Mom laughed and framed Amber’s face with her hands. “I wanted to surprise you! Oh honey…you need to start using a better night cream. And what happened to your beautiful highlights?” She lifted strands of Amber’s hair.
Amber blinked. “Night cream?” Oh my God. “And I do have highlights, I just decided to go a little closer to natural.” And cut down how often she had to pay to have it done. If it weren’t for the modeling jobs, she wouldn’t have bothered at all. No, that wasn’t true. Her naturally dark blond hair would be mousy if she didn’t do something, but she couldn’t afford pricy foils every six weeks.
“It looks so pretty when it’s lighter. Oh well.”
“Did you come here to criticize my hair and my beauty routine?”
Mom’s eyes widened. “Of course not! I’m just trying to help!”
Amber sighed and forced a smile. “Then why are you here?”
“Sweetie! I heard about your new boyfriend!”
Amber shook her head, feeling like it had gone fuzzy. “What?”
“Your new boyfriend! I’m so excited! Amber, honey, you did it! You found a rich guy. All our problems are over!”
Amber’s eyes bugged open so wide it hurt. What the hell was her mother talking about? Then she heard a noise and turned to see Duncan standing there.
Chapter 23