chapter Sixteen
It had been a week since Tamara had returned to her apartment in Amarillo. Her car had been found in Steven Bradley’s garage, along with her purse containing all of her identification and credit cards.
She now sat at her kitchen table and tried not to think about the man who had consumed her thoughts since returning home.
She hadn’t seen Seth after he’d left her hospital room that last night. Sheriff Atkins had checked her out of the hospital the next morning and then had taken her into his office to get her official statement. Once that had been done he’d taken her to Linda’s house to get her things and then had driven her to get her car from the impound lot.
Just like that it was over. There wasn’t even expected to be a trial as Steven had confessed to everything, including the murders of Rebecca Cook and Vicki Smith.
The first thing Tamara had done when she’d gotten home was write a long, heartfelt note of thanks to Linda and Samantha for welcoming her into their home when she’d had no memories of where she belonged.
After that she kept busy catching up on her web work, cleaning her place with a vengeance and working past the grief of the past so she could begin to find some sort of happiness in her future.
If there was one thing her time with Seth had taught her, it was that she was capable of loving, that she was ready to have the family she’d once dreamed of. The grief of the little girl she’d called Danielle would always be in her heart, but it no longer was an obstacle working against her as she tried to move forward.
All she had to do was forget all about Seth Hawkins.
He was still too fresh in her mind to even begin to think about another man. She still tasted him, still felt his arms around her. Life would be so easy if she could repress her memories of him as easily as she had repressed her memories of Steven Bradley and the horrendous events that had happened to her at his hands.
Seth had thought her love was just gratitude. He’d believed that her love had been born solely due to the circumstances they’d found themselves in, but he’d been wrong.
She hadn’t loved him because he’d saved her life and she didn’t love him because he’d been the one person she’d trusted during the most stressful time of her life.
She’d fallen in love with his charming, sexy grin, with his sense of humor and those gray eyes of his that made her want to fall into them.
Taking a sip of her iced tea, she stared out the window where her view was of a perfect, cloudless blue sky. Seth had told her to go home and find her happiness, but he hadn’t realized that he was an important component of her happiness.
She got up from the table, dumped the last of her tea down the kitchen sink and then went down the hallway to her office. Work. It had been what had gotten her through the loss of her baby, it had taken her mind off her failed marriage and now hopefully it would snatch thoughts of Seth out of her brain.
She didn’t know how long she’d been working at the computer when a knock sounded at her door. Probably the delivery man with the new fancy backlit keyboard she’d ordered.
She opened the door and her breath caught in her chest. He leaned against the doorjamb, clad in a sinfully tight pair of jeans and a white T-shirt that showed off his biceps. As Seth smiled at her, that achingly sexy grin, she didn’t know whether to scream or cry.
He was probably here to tie up something to do with the case, a little voice whispered inside her head. Just because he’s here doesn’t mean he’s here for you.
“What a surprise,” she said, pleased that her voice held none of the tumultuous emotions his very presence wrought inside her.
“I was in the area and thought I’d stop by. Are you going to invite me in?” He raised a dark eyebrow.
“Sure...of course.” She stepped backward to allow him entry. The scent of his familiar cologne wrapped around her and made her remember once again what it had felt like to lie in his arms, to feel so safe and warm.
“Would you like something to drink? I’ve got some iced tea in the fridge.” She led him into the kitchen.
“That sounds good.”
As she went to the refrigerator, he leaned against the doorjamb between the living room and kitchen. “Are you working a case in Amarillo?” She frowned as her hand shook when she poured the tea.
“Nah, I’m finally taking that vacation that I was going to take when I went to Amber Lake.”
“And you decided to vacation here in Amarillo?” She held out the tea and when he didn’t take it from her she set it on the table, her heart beating faster than it should. “What are you doing here, Seth?”
“When my boss told me to take a vacation I thought of all the places I’d like to be and this was it.” He jammed his hands in his pockets, looking oddly vulnerable as he stared down at the floor. “Maybe now that you’re back here things have changed. Maybe you’ve sorted out your emotions now and don’t feel the same way that you did, but I had to come here and find out.” He raised his gaze to meet hers. “Because, honestly, I can’t stop thinking about you, Tamara.”
Her heart that had been beating too fast seemed to stop in her chest as she stared at him, wanting to...needing to hear the words from him.
He pulled his hands from his pockets and shifted from one foot to the other. “I’d decided a long time ago that I wasn’t going to get married, that I didn’t need the hassle that came with love, but something crazy happened to me from the moment I saw you at the dunes so helpless and vulnerable again.”
She took a step toward him. Her heart beat once again rapidly, leaving her half-breathless with sweet anticipation. “Something crazy?” she echoed.
“I didn’t just want you to be safe. I wanted to smell the scent of your hair, taste your lips, feel your body against mine. But more than that I wanted to see your smile and hear your laughter. I wanted you to be the first person I saw each morning and the last person I saw at night. I love you, Tamara, but I understand if...”
He got no other words out of his mouth for she threw herself into his arms and covered his lips with hers. Their kiss was filled with hunger, but also with a tenderness that found any darkness that might have lingered in Tamara’s heart and lit it with fiery warmth.
“Nothing has changed,” she finally said when the kiss had ended. He tightened his arms around her. “I was hopelessly, desperately in love with you when I drove away from Amber Lake and I feel the same way right now.”
This time his mouth captured hers she tasted home and the promise of love and family and future all wrapped up in his kiss. He moved his lips from hers and blazed a trail of fire down the side of her neck.
“Now this is a vacation,” she whispered.
He gave a low, husky laugh. “No, this is so much more.”
She laughed, knowing that this was a vacation that was going to last a lifetime. She was finally where she belonged...with Seth, the man who had saved her from death and brought love and meaning to her life.
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