Wanting More (Mitchell Family #5)(45)
Author: Jennifer Foor

She wasn’t looking at what would happen if this plan of hers backfired. She was putting herself in danger and I didn’t like it. It wasn’t exactly as easy as pretending to like a girl to get information from her. This man was violent and he could seriously hurt her if he found out. “I’m not okay with this plan of yours.”

“Well, you’re really not going to be okay with the rest of my plan.”

“Don’t you dare say what I think you’re goin’ to.” I wasn’t going to let her do it alone. It was out of the question.

Amy stood up and put her hands on her hips. “We need to keep our distance for a couple of months. Heather knows who you are and she already has a huge problem with you and your family. If she finds out you and I are doing this together, she’ll tell Rick.

As much as I want to be with you, I can’t take the chance. You telling Heather the truth has made things impossible for us to sneak around. He thinks you moved back to Kentucky. It has to stay that way.

We’ve waited this long. Isn’t it worth a couple more months to be able to never have anyone threatening us again.” She walked into the bathroom without letting me respond. I heard the water turn on and knew she was getting a shower.

I didn’t like anything about her idea if it meant I couldn’t see her. I thought that after I dealt with the Heather shit and got my family on the right page again, we could start our future. Now, there was something else standing in the way.

When I climbed in the shower behind her, she didn’t welcome me like she had in the past. There was animosity between us now and it was going to drive me crazy.

I reached for the tiny bottle of shampoo that came with the rooms and started washing Amy’s hair. She kept her back to me, but didn’t fight me when I touched her. I leaned into her body, massaging the shampoo into her hair. “I’m sorry for last night.”

“Which part?”

Since I could barely remember anything, I had no idea how much I had to apologize for. “For everything except the times where I talked about how I felt about you. I know how I get when I’m messed up and I always say the truth, so I know at some point, I told you all about how I felt.”

She sighed loudly and turned around to face me. She was crying again. “Before you called last night, I was picturing the worst possible scenarios of you being with Heather. I kept telling myself that you loved me enough to not sleep with her; that there was no way you could go through with it knowing how much it would hurt me.” She let her head lean into my chest. “I’m trying so hard to let it go. I just hate her so much. How could you kiss her and touch her? How could you go through with it, Conner? I just want to hate you for having sex with that witch.”

I pulled Amy into my arms and held her close to me. Her hair was wet, but I kissed it anyway as the water splashed against her back. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

She sobbed in my arms. “Why did she have to get you too? I don’t care about her being with him. They can have each other. I just didn’t want her to have you too.”

God, I felt horrible. Being with Heather was a mistake before it happened, but even with me finding out the truth for Ty and Miranda, I had damaged something dear to me. Even though I knew I still had Amy’s heart, I had done something that she was never going to forget.

I cupped her face with my hands and looked right into those teary eyes. “She never had the real me, Amy. All I ever felt for her was hatred. You have to know that. I never touched her the way I touch you. I didn’t kiss her the way I kissed you and I sure didn’t f**k her the way I make love to you.” I wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her forehead. “Please don’t cry darlin’. I can’t stand to see you so sad and knowin’ I’m the cause.”

“I don’t think you realize what you did for your family, Conner. I can’t think of one person that would do something so completely crazy to help out another person. It was selfless and the most thoughtful thing I will ever see in my entire life. Conner, my feelings may be hurt, but I love you for what you did for your sister. I’m sorry too. I’m just having a girl moment where I want this all to be about me when I know it’s about a family with three children and a brother that would do anything he could for his sister.”

I kissed her softly on the lips. “I don’t want to ever hurt you again, darlin’.”

“I’m afraid of losing you. I’m so afraid that if we stay away from each other, you’re going to find someone else or go back to your life in Kentucky.” More tears fell down her cheeks. I reached down and turned off the water.

After I climbed out, I grabbed her a towel and wrapped it around her shivering body. When we got back into the bedroom area, I sat her down and kneeled in front of her. “First off, you’re not goin’ to lose me and second, my life is wherever you are, so I won’t be goin’ back to Kentucky unless you’re with me.”

“Promise?”

I kissed both of her hands. “I swear it. I hate this idea of yours, but you stuck by me and let me do what I needed to do. I respect your decision and I’ll give you the time to get your life straight. I can’t ask you to leave everything, because I know you wouldn’t be happy in the long run. I want what you want, so I will wait.”

She finally smiled that beautiful smile that I’d been waiting to see. I didn’t want to have to wait any longer, but taking away what she loved just wasn’t fair. I would be okay with her plan, until he tried to lay a hand on her and then I was going to take matters into my own hands, with or without her approval.

Chapter 28

Amy

I’d like to say that the next couple months went by fast but they didn’t. The morning I dropped Conner off at his truck after his devastating night with Heather, I went home to find Rick waiting for me. Of all the freaking times he never came home early, he picked the one damn time I didn’t come home.

Conner and I had come up with a good plan and we promised to stick to it, so calling him on my secret phone wasn’t an option. I didn’t want to be in this marriage with this awful cheating, abuser. I wanted to be with Conner.

I walked into the house ready to face him. I didn’t back down or hesitate as I entered the house. Rick was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. A plate was sitting across from him and he even smiled when I approached. “We need to talk.”

Honestly, I really thought he was going to tell me that he was going to let me leave. Perhaps he and his whore Heather wanted to be together and I was the only thing standing in the way. I pulled out the chair across from him and sat down. He offered me orange juice and even got up to make me a plate of food. “I’m listening.”