up, brushing the hair that had fallen from her forehead back. His skin burned where they touched and he inhaled sharply. “You can tell me anything. I’m your safe place, Amanda.” But he wasn’t and the more time he spent lying to her, the more he hurt deep in his soul. But he couldn’t be away from her.
Forget all the space he wanted to put between them. Forget all the danger his lies were putting him in.
Amanda couldn’t seem to break their locked gaze. Tommy searched her as if she might slap him at any moment. When she just continued watching him, Tommy moved slowly closer to her, cutting the distance between them to mere millimeters.
If she wanted to finish the kiss all she had to do was breathe in and she would press her lips to his. He left the last move in her hands.
Their eyes closed as if in sync and Amanda leaned forward, more than was needed, pushing her warm lips against Tommy’s. She tasted of tears and cinnamon rolls.
Tommy sank into the embrace, shoving his guilt aside.
He had to figure out what he was going to do. There had to be a way he could have both Amanda and save his grandmother’s place. If there wasn’t, then he would have to figure out a way to preserve as much as he could of whatever he could.
Hopefully, his heart wouldn’t take too much of a beating in the process.
Chapter 21
Amanda
If it was possible to clear up her depression with one act, Tommy did it. Amanda reveled in the melding of their lips and almost grabbed him back to her as he pulled away.
Amanda’s chest rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath and then she swallowed. “I… Well, that’s therapy.” Her chest hurt. He wasn’t supposed to make her feel like that. He wasn’t supposed to complete her while stimulating every cell in her being. No, he was simply supposed to be her therapist. If anything more, then a friend was fine.
They’d both agreed on it.
And yet, she’d been pursuing everything else on top of it. She had to accept that about herself. She didn’t want to sit around as a patient, be just a friend. She wanted more with him and she wanted him to admit that he wanted the same thing. Now. Not in a few months or however long it would take for her to get herself back together.
Tommy’s smile lacked humor. He gently swept a mass of curls back over her shoulder, his fingers barely grazing the skin past her collarbone and neck. She suppressed the shivers spreading over her. “Why were you crying, Amanda? What can I do?”
Did she tell him the truth? She didn’t want lies or secrets between them. She sighed and lifted her hand, touching a part of his shirt on his chest with her fingers. “My mother… She’s been causing problems. It sounds like she’s in town and she’s been reaching out to Taylor. Now, the great Jennifer Halliwell is demanding more and she’s put a tight timeline on what she wants from us and no one even knows what that is.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know why she can’t just leave us alone.”
Tommy sat back on his heels, studying her hard with his jaw clenched. “Ms. Halliwell? Your mom’s name is Jennifer Halliwell?”
Blinking at the focus on her mother’s name and not on the actual situation, Amanda nodded. “Yeah, Didn’t I mention that before? Why does it matter?”
Licking his lips, Tommy shook his head. “No. I don’t remember hearing her name. I need to make a note of it in my records. Then I’ll know how to refer to her when we’re talking. The name just took me by surprise because I thought for sure I would have asked you by now. I think I just assumed she went by her married name.” He dropped his hands to the outside of her thighs and continued staring at her. “What does she want? Is it something that you can give her?”
“I have no idea. She hasn’t said anything to Taylor besides wanting a huge chunk of change before a certain date or she’s going to tell everyone everything. When Taylor mentioned knowing about me, Jennifer laughed and said that was only a small part of it.” Amanda glanced toward the ceiling, setting her jaw and inhaling. “Can you imagine? The fact that I’m the product of an affair