Portrait of Jealousy (The Art Models Club Book 2) Read online

  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.

  Chapter 6

  “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.”

  “You're not making me feel better,” Amber moaned. “Here, help me get my bra hooked again.”

  “I don't think you need it,” Hunter said, moving to kiss a breast.

  Amber gave him a gentle smack.

  “Stop that! That was your one shot.”

  Hunter shifted and pulled up his jeans.

  “I guess I can't complain,” he said, smirking.

  Amber adjusted her clothes and pawed at her hair.

  “Do I look like I just had backseat car sex?” she asked anxiously.

  Hunter only laughed.

  “You look gorgeous as always, Baby.”

  He hopped out of the car and got into the driver's seat.

  Amber finished adjusting her clothes. She seriously considered staying in the backseat. But that would lead to some weird looks when she got out of the car. It would be just like the professor or her husband to be in the driveway when the got back to the apartment. Sighing, she hurried out of her side of the car and into the front passenger seat.

  “Now I feel like I can drive home safely,” Hunter announced cheerfully. “You know my motto.”

  Despite her best intentions, Amber had to smile.

  “I know. Safety first!”

  Chapter 7

  The next several weeks passed much too quickly. Before Amber was mentally prepared, it was time for Hunter to leave. The morning of his departure, she woke in his arms, not wanting to move. She opened her eyes sleepily and found Hunter staring at her, his emerald eyes soft.

  “Good morning, Gorgeous,” he whispered.

  “And good morning to you to,” Amber whispered back.

  If only she could freeze time so that she could always be lying in Hunter's arms like this.

  Hunter seemed content to simply cuddle against her without speaking. The moment was only ruined after Amber's traitorous stomach rumbled and gurgled.

  “All right, all right,” Hunter said at last, laughing and kissing her belly.

  “I'll get us some food.”

  Amber watched him slip on a pair of jeans. As Hunter left the room, she snuggled lazily in the covers, thankful that at least she had not been scheduled to work that day. She couldn't believe that it had only been a matter of weeks since she had moved in as a roommate. The guys had been great about making her feel welcome. Particularly Hunter, she thought with satisfaction. Although she still had her own room in the apartment, she spent most nights in his bed.

  Of course, now Hunter was going away for twelve weeks. Amber groaned and reluctantly threw off the covers. She sat down, staring at Hunter's tee shirt she had thrown on in the middle of the night. It still smelled like him. An ache filled her chest. She already missed him and he wasn't even gone yet. If she didn't get away from this bed, she was going to start bawling like a baby.

  Her eyes misted as she hurried through the living room.

  “I'm just going to take a quick shower,” she said brightly, scurrying by Hunter before he could notice her expression.

  Hunter was slicing the tops off of strawberries.

  “Take your time, Baby,” he called. “There's no rush.”

  Safe in her own room, Amber pulled off the tee shirt and stuffed it under her pillow. She wanted to have at least some small part of him near while she slept. She stepped into the bathroom, willing herself to keep her emotions in check. But when she checked her face in the mirror, her eyes were already a bit pink.

  Damn! She didn't want Hunter to think she was emotionally unstable. She turned the shower on full blast and stepped in, not allowing the water to warm first. Maybe icy water would shock her out of her moodiness.

  Bloody hell! The water was so cold that she had to suppress a yell. She gasped, not able to breathe regularly. The water was freezing. But it worked. By the time the water warmed, Amber had control of her emotions. In addition she was fully awake. She showered quickly, not wanting to waste any of her precious time with Hunter.

  By the time she finished, Hunter was sitting on the sofa flipping through a magazine, his hair damp and a small smudge of shaving cream behind one ear. A breakfast tray rested on the leather ottoman.

  “And here I thought I was being quick in the shower.”

  Amber plopped down beside Hunter and picked up a strawberry.

  “If you didn't dry your hair, you could compete with my time.”

  Hunter flipped his hair so that one floppy wet strand drooped over his forehead.

  Amber was actually quite jealous of Hunter's thick, luxurious hair. He could simply get out of the shower and maybe run a comb through it and it looked good.

  “Oh, like that would be attractive,” Amber said. “I'm sure you would appreciate me looking like a drowned rat while my hair air dried.”

  Hunter leaned over and kissed her softly.

  “But you would be my little drowned rat.”

  “Hmm . . . I don't think so.”

  Amber reached for another berry. She was hungry but really didn't feel like eating at all. But she had to admit that sitting here, eating breakfast with Hunter now seemed like the most natural thing in the world. It was incredible how fast she had felt comfortable here in the apartment and how quickly she had allowed herself to forget about how dire her circumstances had been only a few months earlier.

  The previous week she had watched with growing sadness and apprehension as Hunter methodically packed his luggage. Hunter's impending absence was bringing back some feelings she would have rather kept shoved in the back of her mind.

  She shook her head, trying to clear it. This was supposed to be quality time with Hunter. She looked over to watch him as he chewed slowly, caught up in an article. She stared at him hard, trying to memorize every angle of his face so that she could think of him clearly while he was gone.

  Suddenly he looked up, startled.

  “What, do I have something on my face?”

  Amber flushed.

  “Um . . .no, I was just thinking about you not wearing jeans and tee shirts for twelve weeks.” She smiled. “I'm going to need physical evidence to believe you're really wearing a suit and tie every day.”

  Hunter laughed.

  “Yeah, well, I need to at least fake being a professional.”

  Amber gasped.

  “What? You're going to look like a real adult? How shocking!”

  She clasped her hands over her mouth dramatically.

  “Yeah, I suppose it's good practice for when I graduate.”

  Graduation. Amber hadn't put too much thought into that. Well, here was one more thing for her to worry about.

  “Will you still be on schedule to graduate next spring?” she asked, hoping he would say no.

  Hunter smiled.

  “Oh, I was so busy getting things together this week that I forgot to tell you. I'm actually going to get credit for my classes after all. As long as I finish my portfolios while I'm gone, and have Isabelle write critiques, both Ben and Professor Stevens will give me credit.

  Amber feigned a matching smile.

  “Hey, that's wonderful!”

  Inside, though, she was wondering where that left her once Hunter finished school. Perhaps a place to live if she got roommates. She couldn't even get her
head around this relationship being permanent. Her secret fear was that Hunter would wake up one day and realize that he could have another girl – a girl who didn't come with a trailer park, beer drinking, welfare abusing mom.

  “Hey, Baby, pay attention!” Hunter teased, tugging on a lock of her hair.

  “You look like you're a million miles away.”

  “Sorry,” Amber said, smiling up at him. “Must be hunger related. Didn't you hear my stomach rumbling a little while ago?”

  “I could have heard that little belly roar in Paris.”

  Hunter laughed until he examined the breakfast tray.

  “Hey, you've only eaten a couple of strawberries. No wonder you're still hungry.”

  Tossing aside his magazine, he picked up a multi-grain bagel and slathered it with cream cheese.

  “Open up,” he commanded sternly.

  What the hell? Had Hunter actually counted the berries and bagels on the tray? But she couldn't refuse when he looked so anxiously at her like that. She obediently took a small bite and took the bagel from him.

  Hunter stared at her with those hypnotizing eyes until he could have asked her anything at all and she would have complied.

  “Promise me that you'll eat properly while I'm gone.”

  “Okay, okay!” Amber said, laughing.

  She put her bagel down and impulsively threw her arms around Hunter's shoulders. She put her lips to his ear.

  “I get the message. Do you realize that this is the third time in two days I've had to promise you the same thing?”

  Hunter reached up to cup her face in his hands.

  “I'm going to miss you something fierce, Gorgeous,” he whispered, his voice husky.

  “It's going to be a long twelve weeks not being able to touch you.”

  Amber tilted her head kissed him slowly on the lips.

  “So, how much time do we have before the car service picks you up for the airport?”

  Hunter moved the cuff of his sleeve to check his watch.

  “Enough time.”

  His dazzling green eyes glittered.