Let Me Know Read Free

which is just as well. If he did, I wouldn’t be ready to leave when Emma shows up.
    A few body parts that remember our steamier showers together tingle at the memory. It’s amazing what that man can do, even with an injured shoulder.
    The buzzer shrieks as I enter the living room, showered and ready to go. Chase answers it and Emma’s voice crackles through the intercom. He buzzes her into the building then heads to the bathroom.
    As soon as the door clicks shut, Marcus pulls me into his good arm and we make up for the several days we’ll be apart. The kisses are sweet and tender. Anything more and I won’t be able to leave.
    Chase turns on the shower, and the stream of water hammering the bathtub covers any sound escaping my lips as I tease Marcus with a few sexy noises I know drive him wild. His free arm slides down to my lower back and pulls me closer.
    A loud knock startles us from our kiss. Marcus murmurs a curse against my lips and removes his hand from my back. I instantly miss the warmth of that hand, and wish we could have another hour alone before I have to leave. Even if it’s just to curl up on the couch and discuss our favorite TV shows or our plans for the day.
    He lets Emma in. Like me, her long blond hair is pulled back in a ponytail. She’s wearing a soft pink ski jacket I haven’t seen before, which I suspect she bought in a pricier store than Marcus and I would ever shop in. Even her slim-fitting jeans proclaim “I love to shop.”
    She hands me a brown paper bag with Five Point Café printed on it. “Here’s your special order.” The corners of her mouth creep up as she holds in her laugh. She knows it’s not for me, as much as I love their chicken noodle soup.
    “I got something to help you remember me while I’m away,” I tell Marcus.
    He takes the bag from me. Not a hint of curiosity marks his face. Laughter crinkles around his eyes. “You’re the best. You know that, right?”
    “Hey, you ready?” Emma asks. Although she might be talking about the trip, I know what she’s really asking—am I ready to spend Christmas without Trent and Michael?
    I give Marcus a quick kiss on the cheek. “See you in two days.”
    With his gaze still on me, he says to Emma, “Drive carefully. You’ve got something that’s important to me.”
    Emma giggles. “Yes, Mom.”
    I could have driven home myself, but Emma and I have plenty of catching up to do, which we haven’t been able to start on since I took the first steps toward repairing our friendship two weeks ago. Schoolwork came first for both of us. Emma can’t risk her basketball scholarship, and I’m programmed to want perfect grades.
    Marcus escorts us downstairs and helps load my suitcase into Emma’s trunk. In the side mirror, I watch his building grow smaller as Emma and I drive away. The vanilla-scented air freshener tries to push away the memory of his spicy scent, but I refuse to let it go.
    “Reporters have been calling my parents about the psycho’s trial,” Emma says.
    I take several deep breaths. I’m not looking forward to that part.
    After my ordeal last spring, Mom kept the reporters at bay while I recovered in the hospital from my injuries. I’ve never been comfortable talking to them—or talking in public, period—even when I used to play varsity basketball. After what I went through with Paul, there was no way I could tell the media what happened. Not if it meant the horrific details of what I went through would be splashed across the page for all to see. Fortunately the cops kept quiet on certain details that were being saved for the trial.
    But soon everything will become common knowledge. Every word Paul and I say on the stand could wind up front page news.
    “I’m sorry,” I say.
    Emma shoots me a puzzled look. “For what?”
    “For everything. For what Paul did and for the reporters.”
    “I don’t know why you’re apologizing. You didn’t do anything, Amber. You’ve gotta stop apologizing for what