Devoted to Her (Dream Date Book 2) (8 page)

Nathan stopped when he reached Amanda’s cleavage. She
reached behind her to unhook her bra. After Amanda tossed it aside, Nathan went
for her lips again. His hands simultaneously caressed her body.

“I want to be always yours,” Amanda whispered.

“You’ll always be.”

Nathan pushed Amanda onto
her back. He kissed along the top of her abdomen. Then his mouth reached her
breasts. Amanda closed her eyes. Her back arched involuntarily, loving what
Nathan could do to her. She let out a sigh.

“You’re certainly to die for, Amanda.”

Amanda heard stuff like that all the time, and it
still made her blush. She nodded to Claire.

“Thanks.”

The two of them were having breakfast with Oswald,
Nathan, Grecia, Ashton, and Emmy. Claire was reading a copy of next month’s
issue of
InStyle
. It was the same one that Amanda had autographed for a
guy not long ago.

“Nah, my girl’s the one that’s to die for,” Ashton
said. He kissed Grecia on the spot between her neck and shoulder. She raised
her eyebrows.

“Never question a lovesick man,” she commented.

“That’s just what I was thinking!” Amanda said.

Claire and Oswald looked at each other, smiling. Emmy
was trying not to grin.

After a bit of banter, Claire changed the subject.

“What classes are you taking this semester, Amanda?”

Amanda took a sip of her latte before answering.

“I’m just getting some more basics out of the way.
Among them, I have geometry and world history.”

“Impressive. Are you taking geometry with Mr. Thorne? They
told me that he’s the best instructor of his subject at the school.”

“Yes, I’m taking it with him. I’ll see how he measures
up to your evaluation.”

Amanda finished her breakfast. She stood up.

“Are you leaving so soon?” Nathan asked her.

“Yes. There’s one textbook I have left to buy. I’ll be
at the library.”

“Okay. I’ll catch up with you.”

Nathan watched Amanda go. He then turned back to his
friends. They walked some more. When there was a quarter hour left to class,
Nathan got on his way. He walked to where his first classroom was.

Just as Nathan reached the building, he heard a voice
behind him.

“Hi, Nathan.”

Turning around, he saw Erika. She stopped when she
caught up with Nathan.

“Hi, Erika. How are you?”

“I’m great. Quite sleepy, though,” she replied. “Next
semester I won’t schedule my classes so early.”

Nathan laughed. He subtly checked Erika out when she
wouldn’t notice. Erika dressed as if she’d just arrived from a fashion show.
Even Amanda didn’t do that at school. Nathan wondered if Erika had a lot of
money or if she simply liked to show off.

“Do you have class right now?” Erika asked.

“Yes. I was just heading there.”

“Mind if I walk with you? My class is also in the
building you’re heading to.”

“Okay.”

Nathan and Erika started walking together.

“Did you just wake up?” he asked.

“No. I have classes earlier, which didn’t give me much
time for breakfast. I downed a couple of Pop-Tarts.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed. You don’t have a single hair
out of place.”

Erika laughed, looking down at her clothes.

“Well, I don’t know at what time the rest of you wake
up. But seven thirty is awfully early for me.”

Nathan’s eyebrows furrowed as he smiled.

“You’re a night owl.”

“Not really. I’m just not into waking up early.”

Nathan and Erika stopped outside the door to his
class. There was no one waiting yet.

“This is your class, right?” Erika asked.

“Yes. The instructor should get here in the next ten
minutes or so.”

“Oh. My class is around the corner there,” she said.
“I think I’ll be going now.”

“I’ll see you later. Oh, wait. I wondered if you’d
like to meet my friends.”

Erika, who had already started walking, stopped to
look back at Nathan.

“That would be nice. Do you think they’ll like me?”

“I’m sure. They won’t bite.”

Erika laughed.

“That would be nice. When’s your lunchtime?”

“Twelve fifteen.”

“My last class ends at twelve thirty, but I guess you
guys have an hour of lunch, right?”

“Yeah. I get back to class at one.

“I’ll try to meet you guys, okay?”

“All right. Good luck.”

“See you,” Erika said.
She left toward her class. Nathan didn’t fail to notice the way she walked, as
if showing off her back side. Nathan smiled to himself.

Amanda was checking the shelves at the Cornell
bookstore. She was close to finding the textbook that she needed.

After she found the book, Amanda walked to the school
supplies section. Just as she was checking the legal pads, someone walked up to
her.

“It’s my home girl again.”

Amanda turned to see Christopher. He looked as tidy as
usual, but his hair had a few droplets from the light, misty rain outside.

“Hi, Christopher. You can call me Amanda.”

Christopher nodded.

“Cool. Amanda.”

Amanda smiled, closing her eyes. At first, Christopher
had struck her as the type of guy Ashton used to be. Only, Christopher didn’t
seem to be sex-crazed. He appeared like a suave, confident charmer, akin to
D’Artagnan from the Three Musketeers.

The only question: was Christopher trying to charm
Amanda, despite implying that all he wanted was to be her friend?

“You exceeded my expectations, you know.”

Amanda raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Some of the guys I know seemed to think that you’re a
spoiled rich girl.”

Amanda scoffed at that.

“My boyfriend spoils me a little. Still, I don’t care
that much about money.

“I didn’t mean to judge you.”

“I know. You seem pleasant enough to me.”

“Pleasant pleasant, or just pleasant enough?”

Amanda rolled her eyes.

“Fine. You’re pleasant.”

Christopher smiled from ear to ear.

“To hear that from you means a lot.”

“I’d like you more if you didn’t put me on a pedestal.
The last guy who tried to convince me I’m better than everyone didn’t end up
well.”

“O—kay.”

Amanda walked to the cashier line. She looked back and
saw Christopher behind her. He waved his free hand—the other was carrying
supplies. Amanda laughed to herself, turning back to the front. She didn’t know
why her cheeks were flushed.

After she bought her stuff, Amanda walked toward the
exit. She looked back and saw Christopher. He mouthed “See you.” Amanda waved
at him, and then she left the bookstore. A few feet from the entrance, she
stopped herself.

Maybe this is my chance.

Amanda checked the time on her smartphone. She had to
be in class in ten minutes. When Amanda looked to the side, she saw
Christopher.

“Were you waiting for me?”

“I was just texting a friend,” Amanda lied, pocketing
her phone. She and Christopher started walking.

“That friend’s waiting for you, I assume.”

“No. Just some back-and-forth. Judith’s a nice girl.
She has a hard shell, but she’s kind on the inside.”

“Ah. One of those M&M types.”

Amanda burst out laughing.

“I’m so going to tell her you said that.”

“Don’t bother. I can do it myself.”

“You’re funny.”

“So I’ve heard.”

Amanda shot Christopher a curious glance. He raised an
eyebrow, and she shook her head.

“Where is your class?” he asked. Amanda told him the
name of the building.

“Oh. Since I have class there too, I might as well
walk with you. You might want to introduce me to this Judith when we get
there.”

“Lose that smug look when you see Judith. It doesn’t
work as well on her.”

“Holy shit. It works on you?”

Amanda slapped Christopher’s shoulder.

“If it works on you, it’ll definitely work on any
other girl. Even this Judith.”

“Watch out. That much pride can backfire.”

“I’ve got it, home girl.”

Amanda did a mental
fist pump. She wondered how good of a matchmaker she could be. If Judith didn’t
use her
are-you-for-real
look on Christopher, it would be a small
victory.

About a couple hours after returning from school,
Marissa took a rest from homework. She turned on her computer to check how her
project was coming along.

Marissa signed in to her e-mail account. There wasn’t
anything new. She minimized the browser window and opened her music folder.
Marissa double-clicked on one of the files, and a song played.

There were just a few weeks left for Valentine’s Day.
Amanda was going to have such a nice surprise. Nathan was a genius.

A short beep sounded. Marissa checked her e-mail and
saw a new message. It was from Cam, the indie singer who was working on
Amanda’s song. Apparently, he’d finished the final version. There was an
attachment, which Marissa started downloading.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Marissa walked to
the living room to answer the door. She saw Jonathan standing outside.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted with a smile. Jonathan’s
hair was tousled, and longer than the last time Marissa had seen it.

“It’s great to see you, Jonathan. Come in.”

Jonathan walked inside.

“Are you busy?” he asked.

“No. I was just checking a side project that I’ve been
handling.”

“A side project? Let me guess, it has something to do
with fashion.”

“No. I commissioned an independent musician to compose
a song. Nathan wanted it done.”

“What? That sounds expensive.”

“That’s why I didn’t go knocking on Bruno Mars’s door.
Unknown singers are willing to do this for just a few hundred bucks. What they
want the most is exposure. This song is for Amanda Tilley, so it has a lot of
potential to become viral.”

“Seriously? Nathan had you commission a song for
Amanda?”

“Yes. He’s going to surprise her with it on
Valentine’s Day. It’s so romantic.”

Jonathan looked impressed.

“You should do something similar if you want to dazzle
me.”

“I don’t know. You seem to be plenty enamored with my
muscles.”

“Cocky bastard,” Marissa replied with a smile. “Come
on. I’ll show you the song.”

Jonathan followed Marissa to her bedroom. She opened
her downloads folder and played the video.

“It’s pretty good,” Jonathan said.

“Are you kidding? It’s brilliant!”

“I know.”

The lyrics were captivating. Cameron was singing while
playing a piano. A partner was accompanying the music with a guitar. Together,
they were amazing.

“How did you find these guys? I can’t believe they’re
not famous.”

“They’re just starting out,” Marissa replied. “I do
agree with you. They have what it takes.”

“If Amanda doesn’t marry Nathan on the spot when she
hears this, I don’t know what else he can do.”

The song ended with an extended piano note. Marissa
smiled.

“I’ll let Nathan know
that the song is done.”

Nathan was currently with Amanda and Emmy at their
apartment. They’d finished the little homework they had, so they decided to
watch a movie.

The three were sitting on the sofa. Nathan had his arm
around Amanda. All three of them had their full attention on the movie.

Nathan heard a beep from his smartphone. He pulled it
out of his jacket and saw a new text.
It’s done
. Nathan closed the
message and looked at Amanda. It didn’t look like she’d read the text.

“Who was it?” she asked.

“Marissa. She’s happy because she just finished a…a
project she’s been working on.”

“Oh? What is it about?”

“No idea. I think she’ll tell me soon.”

Amanda looked at the TV, seeming to accept the answer.
The three of them watched for the next quarter hour. Right then, Amanda’s
smartphone rang. She stood up and excused herself. Emmy paused the movie.

“Yes?” Amanda answered.

“Am I speaking to Ms. Amanda Tilley?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“I’m Officer Velásquez  with the NYPD 25
^th
Precinct. Do you remember me?”