Portrait of Jealousy (The Art Models Club Book 2) (5 page)

“Remember, green is for jealousy!”

He winked and she fell into those mesmerizing eyes.

Amber softened a bit. Hunter was really trying to be super nice today. She leaned over and gave him a kiss, forcing her tongue between his lips.

“
Whoa!” Hunter pulled away, flushing. “Any more of that and you'll be late for work.”

“
Just don't want you to forget about me.”

Amber pulled away reluctantly and grabbed her purse. She didn't trust herself to say anything else so she just hopped out of the car and blew him a kiss.

He drove away with a small wave.

“
Amber! Oh, thanks so much for coming in,” Stacey gushed. “I'll remember this when you need some time off yourself.”

Well at least Stacey was grateful. The truth was that Amber did want to take a few days off around Christmas break at least. She hurried to the break room to clock in.

The store was packed and carts were jammed in the aisles. Taking a deep breath, Amber marched up to her register and punched in her access code. This was just what she needed to keep her mind off of Hunter.

A couple of hours later, Stacey came over.

“I'll cover your line for you,” she said. “Take a break now while you can.”

Amber headed for the break room, wishing she had thought to bring a snack. She could always buy something but she didn't feel like waiting in one of the lines herself.

She looked in her purse for change. At least there was a soda machine in the break room. She fished in the bottom and laughed as she pulled out one of the vials of glucose pills. Okay, so Hunter had not been entirely kidding when he purchased them. He must have dropped these in her purse this morning.

Another employee, an older woman, was sitting at the break table when Amber walked in. She looked up when she saw Amber and studied her name tag.

“I'm Sonia,” she said, in spite of having her own Identification hanging from her neck.

“
A handsome young man with dark hair asked me to put a lunch sack in the fridge for you.”

“
Oh! Well, um . . . thanks, Sonia.”

Amber smiled at the woman and then checked the refrigerator.

Just as Sonia said, there was a paper sack with her name on it. Amber pulled it out and saw that Hunter had packed a deli sandwich, apple slices, and a zip-lock bag with her favorite animal cookies. Underneath, he had also placed two cold bottles of water.

“
That's some boyfriend you got there,” the woman said, sounding envious.

She turned back to her book.

“Thanks! I think so too.”

Amber took a large bite from her sandwich.

Sonia was reading a romance book with a bare chested man on the front cover. While she read, she was nibbling an egg salad sandwich and washing it down with a cup of coffee. Her ring finger was conspicuously bare. Had Sonia ever known love? Was working at the grocery store and living through the lives of make-believe characters her life?

Amber had a sudden vision of herself at Sonia's age. Had she stayed with her mom, Amber might have ended up in similar similar circumstances. Had this woman known a hard childhood as well?

Sonia looked up suddenly, as though feeling that Amber was staring.

“
Um . . .Is that a good book?”

Amber suddenly felt queasy.

Sonia considered her.

“
It's a way to escape the real world. You know?”

“
I suppose,” Amber said, suddenly feeling awkward.

She jabbed a few buttons randomly on her cell phone, embarrassed. She wanted to throw away the rest of her sandwich but felt uncomfortable doing so in front of Sonia. To be honest, only a few weeks ago, she would have been horrified to see someone throw away food as well.

That was a sobering thought. She forced herself to finish every bite. She saved the apple slices and cookies for later. She was tempted to offer the cookies to Sonia but thought better of it. She was sure that Sonia would take it as an insult.

Then, as quickly, as she could put the bag in the fridge, she politely excused herself. She couldn't wait to get back to work where it would be hard to think.

“
Dinner and a movie?” Hunter asked when he picked Amber up after her shift ended.

“
Sounds great!” Amber said, finally to have Hunter's complete attention again.

While he drove to their favorite casual restaurant, he filled her in on his meeting with Professor Collins.

“So Ben is totally cool with me dropping the TA position for the internship,” Hunter said, focusing on the congestion in the center of town.

Amber studied Hunter as he drove. He was such a careful driver, with hands placed exactly at ten and two o'clock. An instructor would never find fault with his driving. That part of him was so different than the man who was so much more uninhibited in bed.

“What about your classes?”

Amber started to ask about losing money but realized he probably didn't care. What must that be like, she wondered idly. To never have to worry about how much something would cost or when the bill might be due.

“I was just taking a few classes in case this internship happened.”

Hunter switched on his blinker several car lengths before he needed to turn.

“I'll just take them again in the spring.”

Hunter parked the car, effectively ending the conversation.

Amber was happy to leave the topic of the internship behind for a few hours. Happily, Hunter felt the same. Or at least he was thoughtful enough to ask her about her day instead. Even though that conversation took all of two minutes, Hunter kept the conversation neutral by asking her what she thought about the cinematographer of the movie they were seeing later. For the first time all day, Amber felt genuinely happy.

In the movie theater, Hunter reached over half way through the film. Without looking at her, he began to gently stroke each of her fingers.

Amber peeked over at him, but Hunter looked as though he was absorbed in the movie. The pads of his finger barely touched her skin; yest, the sensation was quite powerful. His gentle touch created  playful little pulses of electricity. After he had attended to each finger, he moved on to the rest of her hand.

By this time, Amber was having difficulty focusing on the movie. She was stunned that touching her hand was causing this much sensation. All the while Hunter acted as though absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary. He laughed at appropriate times and seemed tense at appropriate times. Was he even aware of what he was doing? Using one finger, he casually circled her palm. His touch was as soft as a feather and tickled just enough to drive her mad.

Amber angled her body so she was sitting closer to Hunter, giving her more of her arm. She saw him smile but he still wouldn't look at her. Maddening! His finger moved to her wrist, ever soft, ever circling. He was tantalizingly slow, moving at a snail's pace. Worse, he often reversed direction, going back to her fingers and palm when she was anxious to feel his touch elsewhere. She shifted again and was startled to realize that she was growing moist between her legs. Damn! She would not have thought that a hand caress could be so erotic!

She wanted to reciprocate, to make him all hot and bothered in the middle of the movie theater where he could do nothing about it. But Hunter kept his own free hand well out of reach. She searched his face and saw that he was trying not to grin. She thought about jerking her hand away but her treacherous body defied her best intentions.

By the time Hunter had moved up to the crook of her arm, Amber was completely aroused. She couldn't wait for this stupid movie to be over. Then, suddenly, Hunter dropped her arm back into her own lap without notice. What the hell?

Flustered, she sat there in frustration before realizing that his hand had slipped onto her thigh. Oh! Was it her turn now? Using both hands, she mimicked his technique, touching him as lightly as she possibly could so that he would feel the same delicious tingle she had. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that she was having some effect as he sighed deeply and licked his lips.

By the end of the movie, Amber couldn't wait to leave. Hunter must have felt the same way because as soon as the credits rolled, he stood and tugged on her hand, leading her quickly to the exits with a lot of apologies as they hastily stepped around patrons still seated. They both ran for the Range Rover.

Amber slid into the passenger seat and waited for Hunter. But instead of getting into the driver's side he climbed into the back.

“Um. . . what are you doing?” Amber asked.

Hunter grinned.

“I don't think I can drive safely right now.”

Amber gaped at him.

“I'm not putting on a free show for whoever walks by!”

Hunter leaned over the front passenger seat. Gently cupping her head in his hands, he began to nibble on her ear.

“It's dark out and the windows are tinted. You can't see inside,” he whispered, sending shivers up her spine.

“
If you don't believe me, get out and look.”

Amber pulled away.

“Fine!”

She opened the door and stepped out. Sneaking a look around to see if anyone was paying attention, she walked around the Range Rover to see if she could see Hunter inside. As she tried to peer through the front windshield, she heard a door shut.

What the hell? She ran over and pulled on the front passenger door handle. The door was locked.

“
Hey, let me in!”

Hunter opened the back passenger door.

“Come and play with me, Gorgeous,” he said, with a giant smirk on his face.

“
Open the front door, Hunter,” Amber said firmly.

She stared around with paranoia. What if someone realized what was going on?

“I'll open it for a kiss. Right here. Right now.”

Hunter stared at her expectantly.

“No.”

Hunter shrugged and slammed the door shut.

Amber pulled on the handle. It was locked. She tried the driver's side and front passenger side. All locked.

Amber stared. Was he kidding or what?

“Hunter, I know you think this is funny. Open the damn door!”

She tried to peer inside but she couldn't see him. She heard the door opening on the other side and ran over. Before he could shut the door again, she crawled inside.

“I can't believe you just . . .”

Hunter cut off her sentence by placing his mouth over hers. He pressed her against the seat so that she could feel how aroused he was.

“You should not have . . .” she tried again but stopped when he pulled away, lifted her onto his lap, and slid his hands down the back of her jeans.

She found her backside pressed against the back of the driver's seat.

The cramped quarters made every movement push one body part against the other. Amber tried to shift but Hunter simply moved with her. His hands found her hair, tugging gently so that her neck was exposed to his exploring tongue. And then he was shifting, twisting their bodies so that she was beneath  him, her head and back supported by the seat. His mouth found hers. He kissed her long and hard.

His hands moved, exploring beneath her shirt, slipping his fingers between her skin and bra. Then he  shoved her shirt above her belly, his fingers deftly unclasping the front bracket of her bra. His mouth broke away from her lips and took one of her nipples.

Amber gasped and felt her back arch with need.

Hunter didn't waste time. He unbuttoned her jeans and yanked them down to just above her knees. The fabric restricted her legs but Hunter simply pushed her knees up so he could reach with his fingers.

Amber moaned as he touched her. The roughness of Hunter's jeans against her legs and the feel of the leather seat beneath her made her go crazy. She heard panting and saw that Hunter was trying to free a condom from his wallet with one hand. Reaching up, she pulled it away from him and tore it open herself.

When Hunter finally pushed himself inside her, Amber had to suppress her cries against his shoulders. She felt as though she was flying, the pressure building and building until she lost herself, her body jerking under his. When Hunter collapsed against her, she felt his heart hammering against her own.

“Well, that was a new experience for me,” Hunter said softly, chuckling.

Amber groaned.

“I hope no one heard us.”

“
Hmm . . .They would have just been jealous,” Hunter said, nuzzling her cheek. “I'll always have fond memories of this car.”

He chuckled.

“I still can't believe I just had sex in a car.”

Amber still felt mortified.

“Come on, Baby,” Hunter said. “We were probably one of the few people who hadn't already had sex in a car.”