Bachelor Number Five (The Bachelor Series, Volume 1) (20 page)

Down so low

I’m climbing up

To where I was before.

“He’s pretty good,” Peter whispered.

Amanda nodded in return.  He
was
good.  She might have been uneasy knowing she had to follow him, but surprisingly she was beginning to feel all right.  She looked around at the crowd.  They were a healthy mix of ages, races and genders.  The one thing that they all seemed to share was a genuine joy at being there to experience this social and musical gathering, out in the world on a Sunday evening.  Besides, at least Amanda had Josie to clap for her.  Peter too.  She glanced at him, fully engaged in the music himself.  It wasn’t a nightclub.  He wasn’t chasing after sleazy women, yet he seemed to be having a pretty good time.  Maybe Amanda didn’t quite have him figured out after all.  It was almost enough to make her forget about Grant Hutchinson.  Sitting here as she waited to go on, Amanda was filled with joy herself; more than she’d known in a very long time.  She only hoped that she’d feel the same when her own set was done.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Amanda was downright giddy as she skipped along the sidewalk with guitar case in hand.  “Can you believe it, I played six songs! 
Six
!” she said to Peter, who walked a few steps behind her.

“Yeah, I know.  I was there,” he deadpanned.

“They even let me go long.  Nearly
thirty minutes
!”  She spun around to face him.

“Everyone seemed to like you.”

“Wow,” Amanda turned back and started walking directly beside him as they headed toward his car.  “That was amazing.  Truly incredible.  I felt such a… such a
rush
being up there like that.”

“I thought you’d done this kind of thing before?”

“Yeah, at Rusty’s!  That’s totally different.  That was just in front of my friends and a few other people I already knew.  This was a whole room full of total strangers!”

“I knew you’d be great.”

“I just feel so
amped
!”

“Funny, since you didn’t use one.”

“Oh no, tell me you could hear it ok!  It wasn’t too quiet in the back was it?  Tell me it wasn’t too quiet!”

Peter laughed as he shook his head.  “You sounded great, honestly.  Better than I expected even.  I was a little bit blown away.”  He pulled his keys out of his pocket.  The alarm on his car chirped as he pushed the button.

“I was a little worried, you know, since the other guys plugged in.  Maybe I should get a guitar with pickups.”

“Everyone could hear you just fine.”  Peter opened the passenger door and then helped her maneuver her guitar case into the back.  When Amanda had settled into her seat he closed the door and walked around to climb in on the driver’s side.

“Thank you for bringing me down here, really.  I never would have come on my own.”

Peter started the car and then pulled out onto the boulevard.  “I’m just glad that I finally got to hear you without a wall in the way.”

“I can’t wait to do it again.  I should come up with a new set list.  Maybe I should write some new songs…”  Amanda’s mind wandered as she imagined the possibilities.

“And here I thought you were shy and insecure,” said Peter.

“Insecure!?  Why would you think that?”

“Oh, no reason.”  He gave her a sideways glance to indicate his sarcasm.

“Ok, maybe a little bit.  I just need some encouragement.  Once I get going, look out!”

“It does seem that we’ve got you going.”  Peter drove the streets to their apartment building and pulled into his space in the back.  When they’d wrested the guitar from its cramped space, they walked through to the courtyard and on up the stairs.

“How about that couple?  Andy and Josie?” Amanda said.  “How funny was that?  They thought we were together!”

“Yeah, we seemed to pull it off.”

“I can’t believe they invited us out together.”

“Maybe we should go?”

“You think?  How long could get away with pretending?”

When they reached the top of the stairs, Amanda stopped along the railing in front of her apartment.  It was that awkward time again.  The end of another evening out with Peter.  Why was her anxiety spiking yet again?  It wasn’t like she was going to make the same mistake twice.  She wasn’t going to just haul off and kiss him.  Still, she couldn’t deny that there was something going on between them.  The more time she spent with Peter, the more exhilarated she felt in his presence.  Or was it just the lingering excitement of her Los Angeles musical debut?  No, it was more than that.  Playing to strangers was a thrill, but this was different.  This was the heightened sense that she and Peter were about to part.  It was the bittersweet understanding that their time together for the evening was drawing to a close and she didn’t want it to end.  She wanted to loiter here on the landing, to extend this moment just a little bit longer.  “You know, I feel a little bit bad for Andy and Josie.”  Amanda placed her guitar on the ground.

“Why is that?”  Peter stood facing her, inches away.  Close.  Maybe too close.

“Because,” Amanda answered.  “They think they found some new couple friends.  I hate to disappoint them.”

“So what are we going to do about that?”

“We
could
pretend, I guess.”

“We could.”  He moved closer.  “What would that entail?”

Amanda felt like her heart might explode.  “I don’t know.  What do you think?”

“I don’t know.”  Peter reached up with one hand and gently brushed aside a few strands of hair from Amanda’s face.  “I think we got a good head start this time last night,” he said.

Amanda laughed, if only to hide her terror.  “I thought you forgot about that.”

“How could I?”

“Well, I’m not about to do that again.”

“That’s a pity.  For their sake.”  Peter and Amanda stared into each other’s eyes, both understanding that they were nearing a point of no return.

“Yes,” Amanda answered.  “For their sake.”

This time it was Peter who leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.  This was no quick peck goodnight.  She felt his arms embrace her and she reached out to grasp him around the waist, pulling his body close to hers as they lost themselves to the passion, pent up and denied, yet now unstoppable.  His strong yet tender lips, his tongue caressing her own.  She’d wanted this so badly, more than she’d even realized, even as she knew it was wrong.  Maybe that was part of the allure.  He was the bad boy, the womanizer, the breaker of hearts; everything Amanda feared, yet her desire was indisputable.  She wanted this man.  Pete, Peter, Petey.  She was going to have him, consequences be damned.

It was Peter who pulled away first, leaning his head against hers, his warm breath on Amanda’s neck.  They clung to each other, unable to let go.  “I swore to myself that I wouldn’t do this,” he said.

“Don’t worry.  It’s all right.”

“But…”

“Shhh…!”  Amanda leaned her head away and placed a finger on his lips to cut him off.  “No buts.”  She kissed him again and then abruptly let him go, lifting up her guitar case before walking to his door.  Amanda stopped to look back.  “You coming?”

Peter followed after her, pulling out his keys as he went.  He unlocked the door and stepped aside to let Amanda enter first.  When he’d followed her in, Peter closed the door behind them.  Amanda dropped her guitar onto the couch and then took Peter by the hand and led him into the bedroom.  “I didn’t think you were this kind of girl,” he said.

“I am tonight.”  Amanda leaned close and kissed him again.  With one hand she reached down and rubbed between his legs.  Her effect on him was evident.  “Hello, neighbor,” she added.

“Hello to you.”  Peter pulled off his coat and tossed it onto a chair before tackling her onto the bed.

“Easy, cowboy!” she laughed.

“Pardon me, ma’am, but this rodeo is just getting started.”

“Oh, please.  Just shut up and kiss me.”

Peter obliged, one hand gently exploring her right breast.  Amanda rolled over on top of him, pinning Peter to the bed.  She sat up, straddling him with one leg on either side, and hung her long hair in his face, sweeping her head back and forth in rhythm.  With her two hands, she undid the buttons on his shirt one at a time and then pulled the halves apart to reveal his smooth, muscular torso.  Leaning back to take it all in, she placed her hands directly on his body before moving close to kiss him on the chest and then again, and again on down to his belly.

“Your hair tickles!” he laughed.

Amanda sat up straight and looked him in the eye.  A mischievous smile crossed her lips.  “You want me to stop?”

“I didn’t say that!”

Amanda reached down and grasped her shirt and sweater with one hand on each side.  She pulled them up and over her head in one fluid motion, revealing her bare breasts.  Peter licked his lips as Amanda threw her sweater across the room and onto the floor.  She hadn’t expected any of this, but nothing could stop her now.

Peter reached up and put one hand on Amanda’s waist, gently caressing her bare skin.  Slowly she lowered herself on top of him, her warm body pressing on his, their faces inches apart.  She brushed her lips against his and then kissed him fully, the fingers on her right hand tightly entwined in his hair.  Amanda knew only one thing for sure.  At this moment, she was wildly, inexorably happy.  The rest would work itself out, one way or another.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Amanda sat up in bed to get a better look, propping herself against Peter’s headboard.  She pulled up the sheet, covering her naked body even as she watched his.  Peter stood in the middle of the bedroom, picking his clothes up off the floor.  “Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning to you.”  She eyed his ripped abs, impressive pecs and his muscular arms.  This man kept himself in shape.  As he turned to dump the clothes in a hamper she gazed upon his firm, bare butt.  It was a view she never would have expected to see just the day before.  Peter seemed fairly nonchalant about it all.  No big deal.  A typical morning, with a naked girl in his bed.  To Amanda, it was a big deal, though she could never let on as much.

“I’m going to hop in the shower if you don’t mind.  I’ve got to head in to work in a bit.”

“No problem, go ahead.”

When he’d gone on into the bathroom, Amanda slid back down under the blankets.  She peered at the alarm clock by the side of the bed.  It was 7:04 a.m.  Next door Lauren would be getting up herself, preparing for her own day in the office.  Amanda ran through her options.  She could throw on her own clothes and wander back home smelling of sex and Peter’s cologne.  Or she could stay right where she was for another forty minutes until Lauren was gone.  Better make that forty-five, just to be safe.

From her warm, comfortable place in bed, Amanda looked around the rest of the room, taking it in fully for the first time.  It was all quite plain.  Clean and neat, but plain.  The walls were white and bare, with no artwork adorning them.  The carpet was white and plush.  The bedspread was black, as was a dresser and two bedside tables.  It needed a woman’s touch, Amanda thought.  At least a picture or two…   Then again she wasn’t one to talk.  The only thing on her walls so far was a cutout photo of Grant Hutchinson.  Was it time to take that down?  No, Amanda knew better than that, though another night or two like this last one might not be so bad.  Perhaps it could even turn into something more over time?  Maybe Peter’s freewheeling ways all came down to the fact that he just hadn’t met the right woman yet…

When he came back in after his shower, Amanda continued to watch as Peter toweled off and got dressed.  Blue boxer underwear, grey suit slacks, white shirt, black belt, shoes and a watch.  “Would you like something to eat?  Maybe some coffee?” he asked as he fastened his watchband.

“Sure.”  She climbed out of bed and scavenged her rumpled clothes from the floor, feeling a bit scandalous as she pulled them back on.

In the kitchen, Peter picked up his coffee pot and took two mugs down from his shelf.  “Milk and sugar, right?”

“Yep.”

He filled the mugs, handed one to Amanda and then put milk and sugar on the kitchen table.  “I don’t usually do much for breakfast on workday mornings.  I can offer you some cereal if you want, or toast with Nutella.”

“The coffee is fine.”

“Ok.”  Peter took down a bowl and pulled a spoon from a drawer.  “I’m going to have some cereal if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind.”  Amanda placed her coffee mug on the table and scooped in some sugar, then poured in a bit of milk.

Peter moved to a cupboard and opened the door.  He was looking up at his cereal options when Amanda snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest.  “I never got a proper kiss good morning,” she said in his ear.  When he spun around to face her, Amanda’s reverie was shattered.  Where she’d hoped to see affection in his eyes, she saw only fear.  Amanda let him go, dropping her arms to her sides.  She took a big step backwards.