Amy's Advantage Read Free

closer to him. She was grateful for the distance he kept. The sheer
intensity that constantly radiated from him was far more intimidating than size
could ever be alone. He took up too much space just by breathing.
    He reached for the extra knife and fork on the tray and
looked up at her, catching her frowning at him. “Something wrong?”
    “You’re breathing too much.”
    If he was insulted by her comment, she couldn’t tell. His
expression remained neutral, as if what she said made perfect sense in the
course of their conversation. God, she needed sleep. Pretty soon even she’d
think she was crazy if she kept this up.
    He cut up his steak with quick, definitive strokes. “When we
were coming into the room, Chloe called the birds on the wallpaper fluudas. Where did she learn that?”
    Amy shrugged. “I don’t know. I think she just made it up.”
    “Does she make up a lot of words?”
    Jordyn’s tone was as expansive as it probably ever got, but
she had a sneaky suspicion that he wasn’t simply attempting casual
conversation. “No more than any other child, I suppose.”
    “Do you remember any of her other made up words?”
    Amy stopped eating and set down her fork. “No. Why?”
    “It’s just a question.”
    “Right.” She waited for him to expound, but he just held her
gaze, not flinching or giving anything away. She might as well be trying to
read a book through a solid steel wall.
    They finished their meal in a silence that made Amy
extremely grateful and able to regain some semblance of control over her
nerves. The quiet had given her a chance to think and she realized she could
have already given away too much information about herself simply by the way
she had reacted to this man’s presence. If he knew who she really was, it could
seriously complicate her plan to get away from him and the so-called destiny Ellen had warned her about. She’d already learned what a fickle bitch Destiny
liked to be.
    A quick, sharp pain pierced her heart, its familiarity
making it no less cutting. Three years ago, she had been standing on a
Charleston pier on a late June night, sure her future was drawing her in quite
a different direction. The humid, salty breeze had been blowing her unruly
curls into her eyes as Andrew flirted with her and made her laugh, the promise
in his dark eyes as irresistible as his tall, muscled body.
    When he’d finally gotten around to kissing her, she’d
already been half in love with the man. He’d been home on leave, and by the
time he was shipping back out, she was sure she was in love with him. It
had happened before she knew it.
    Another sharp pain shot through her at the memory of
Andrew’s sweet words and sweeter touches. Just as fast, it had ended. She had
gone with him to the airport, and as she watched him toss his backpack over his
shoulder and greet friends preparing to leave on the same flight, the love she
held for him flooded over her. Rushing up from the soles of her feet, the
feeling swirled through her lungs and made her lightheaded with the force of
it.
    Surrounded by strangers, friends and family gathered for
their own good-byes that afternoon, Amy had watched Andrew shuffle through the
long line at the security screening, wishing she had told him how she felt the
night before as she lay wrapped in his arms. Just when she had convinced
herself that she had blown it, Andrew had turned and found her in the crowd.
The hardened expression of a man whose mind had already begun to return to the
battlefield immediately softened when his eyes met hers.
    The noisy terminal and crush of people all dimmed, the one
bright spot in the world illuminating the man holding her in his gaze as
tenderly and thoroughly as he had in his arms for the last weeks. Emotion darkened
his already deep brown eyes. Catching her bottom lip between her teeth, she had
to blink back a sudden rush of tears when he mouthed the words I love you. Before she could say the words back, wave or even fully