Honey Babe (A Lovely Dearest Series Book 3) Read online

  “And, have we told you,” Aaron said, stepping up, “that one of the girls has a baby?”

  My eyes widened at the word, baby, and my eyes shot to Weston as I whispered, “We didn’t use protection. I’m on the pill, but I don't know how that works...with all this.”

  I snapped my mouth shut, drawing away. He smirked and grabbed my hand to bring me back into his arms. With a finger under my chin, he tilted it up and kissed my mouth.

  He whispered against my lips, “Whatever happens, happens. We’ll be okay with it. All of us.”

  I trembled, and he drew back.

  Aaron took his place, kissing my lips, softly. He groaned, putting his forehead against mine. “I wish I had time with you,” he confessed, and my body came alive with his words.

  I knew it would be soon. I took my gaze from him and looked over his shoulder at Seth. Desire shone in his eyes.

  I sat back and gave a big sigh. “I need to go home and think about this. Just give me a day.”

  Seth shoved his hands into his pockets, disappointed. “You’re going to be mad, and I'm sorry, but you can't go back there to stay. One of us will take you to get your stuff, but at this moment you are now the property of the United States government.”

  I pulled myself away from the other two. Seth was right, I was furious. “What? But you’ve been letting me walk around by myself prior to this! This is a bunch of bullshit. You can't do that. That’s against the human rights law!”

  “Look,” Aaron eased. “The reason we didn’t demand this sooner was because we didn’t have our orders yet. Now, with our orders, we have no choice. The government doesn't want their secret out, and we want you safe. If you need to go back and get your stuff, we’ll use a police escort. You can facetime the girls and get to know them before we head up to the mountain,” Aaron added. “It's not up for discussion.”

  I was upset with them. Mad at Seth, who eventually took me back to my house with two police escorts. If they wanted to make this secretive, they were sure making a big deal about it.

  ***

  I entered my house with Seth close by my side. Mrs. James stood in the kitchen, cooking, while Mr. James sat in his favorite chair, watching TV with the remote in his hand.

  When he noticed us, he immediately stood, his eyebrows shooting upward at the display we made. “What's the meaning of this?” He glanced at me. “What's going on, Amber?”

  I didn't know what to say. I wasn't sure what I could say. “Mr. James”—I stepped away from Seth and fought the tears that threatened to escape—“This is Seth. He’s here to take me back home.”

  Mr. James put out a hand in warning. “Now, wait a minute. This is your home.” He turned to Seth. “This is where she lives.”

  Seth went into military mode. “Sir, due to unforeseen circumstances, Amber has to come with us for the time being.”

  “What? She has rights.”

  “Sir…”

  Sick with it all, I left it to Seth to explain as I went to my room and gathered up whatever I could take with me. I grabbed my memory box. Now, knowing what I did, there were still questions unanswered. Like, the picture of the girl with red hair and the fertility clinic card with the rich colors to attract you to the name.

  Lots of things unanswered.

  I pulled my bag out, gathering up what little stuff I had. Some clothes, my Kindle, my phone cords. Going to the bathroom, I grabbed all my toiletries and anything else I could think of, shoving them into my bag. I stripped my blanket and sheets off the bed and sat on it, holding all the stuff I owned in my arms. I was leaving the only home I'd ever known. I’d gotten to know people. Made friends. This was my family, and now that was all being taken away because my life was no longer my own.

  I walked out to the sound of escalating shouts. Mrs. James came out of the kitchen and hugged me as she worried. “You don't have to do this. You don't have to go.”

  I gave her a squeeze. “Actually, I do. It will be a lot worse for me if I don't. My life is no longer my own. Things from my past have come back.” I drew away as tears filled my eyes. “Our government owns me.”

  A flash of shock raced across her features, not understanding. She put her wrinkled hand on my cheek as it shook. She leaned forward to look into my eyes. “Honey, no one owns you.”

  Tears spilled down my cheeks as I put my hand on hers. “If only that were true.” I wiped my tears away and gave her the best smile I could. “I loved living here with you and your husband. Thank you for taking care of me.” I leaned in and kissed her cheek, then I let go and walked over to Seth, who still argued with Mr. James.

  Mr. James caught my arm. His eyebrows slashed downward, and his mouth pressed into a thin line. “You don't have to go.”

  I gave him a small smile. “I know. Thank you, but I now know who I am, and it's because of the person I am that I need to go. Don't forget about me, but don't worry, either. Seth will keep me safe.”

  When I turned to Seth, he guided me out the door. He paused briefly and turned back to Mr. James. “I will keep her safe, sir. She’s in the safest hands she could ever be.”

  I didn't want to listen to any more of his promises, so I kept walking out the door and to the car. The police escort was gone, which confused me. Why drive us here, then leave?

  Not wanting to sit in the front with him, I slipped into the back seat. When he settled behind the wheel, I turned my gaze to the window and stayed silent. We drove away from the neighborhood and down main street. The bar that the James’s son owned came up.

  “Stop,” I told Seth. “Stop, please. Just stop at this bar. I need a drink. I just need... I need this. Let me call my friend to meet us here. I can't leave without saying goodbye to my best friend. Please, just this. Just this one thing. I'll go with you to the mountain, just let me have this.”

  He gave a deep sigh, his eyes catching mine in the rearview mirror. “Fine, but we only stay for a moment.”

  “Thank you.” Reaching into my bag, I pulled out my phone and quickly texted Maria to meet me there. That it was an emergency.

  We pulled in, and I left all my stuff in the back seat of the car as I got out and walked to the front door of the bar. Seth caught up with me just as I reached for the handle and pulled it open, placing a hand on my back to guide me inside. He bent down as he did and whispered into my ear, “Stay with me. I don't want anything to happen to you.”

  Unnerved, I agreed.

  As we headed to the bar in the center of the room, Tim, the bartender, waved to me. “Hey, if it isn’t Amber. You in here to get your fix?”

  I chuckled at his comment. If anything, it would be my last until I could grab the ingredients myself and play with the amounts of deliciousness each one took to make it the way I liked.

  Climbing up on a barstool, I gave him a small smile. “Hey, Tim. Yeah, do you have it?”

  He shook his head and reached for a glass under the bar. “Boss only tolerates your non-alcoholic ass. You and your sugary drinks. You’re going to get diabetes one day.”

  “What’s the difference between that and cirrhosis of the liver?”

  Seth took the seat next to mine and answered, “Uh, death?”

  Tim’s attention swung to him with eyes narrowed. “And who are you?”

  Seth put his arm around my back. “Her boyfriend.”

  Tim put the glass on the bar and started to mix my concoction, then put his eyes back on me with a single brow raised. “When did you get one of those?”

  I watched him with fascination, like I always did, as he expertly poured in the liquids. “Last week. Tim, meet Seth. Seth, meet Tim.”

  He grunted as he put the room temperature butterscotch and grenadine in the glass first. When he poured in the cold sarsaparilla, the liquids switched places. It was neat to watch. This happened because the colder sarsaparilla was denser. Eventually, they mixed together in a swirling fashion as they combined into the sweet drink I loved.

  I took the drink he presented to
me and took a sip. When the flavors hit my tastebuds, I couldn’t help the moan that escaped. “Mmm.”

  “What the hell is that?” Seth exclaimed, unsure what I was drinking.

  Tim chuckled. “That Amber's special drink. Made for her. She designed it, and you can only get it here.”

  Seth’s face scrunched up. “What the hell did you put in it?”

  “Butterscotch, sarsaparilla, cherry juice,” I muttered through sips.

  Tim turned to Seth with a raised eyebrow. “Want anything?”

  Seth shook his head. “No. Just a glass of water. If you have it.”

  Tim glanced at me before looking to Seth and nodding. He gave him his glass of water. Right after that, Maria came in and hurried over to the bar.

  She looked nice in her work outfit. Not the usual clothes I saw her in. She pointed at me, giving me attitude. “Chica, you better be in some kind of trouble for you to be marking a text as an emergency.” She slid up on the other side of me at the bar, and her eyes widened as she noticed Seth. “And, who are you?”

  Seth grinned and gave his name. “I’m a friend of Amber's.”

  Tim jumped in, gesturing to Seth with a thumb. “Friend? I thought he was your boyfriend?”

  “I am,” Seth answered. “Amber and I met at the gym last week and hit it off.”

  Maria cautiously glanced between the two of us. “Well, I'm the best friend. Now, tell me, girl”—her gaze coming back to me—“what's going on?”

  “I'm leaving. I finally know who I am.”

  She reached in and gave me a warm hug. “That's wonderful!” Letting me go she said, “But I don't understand why you have to leave. Just get on with your life. Go do what you need to do, then come back here.”

  I shook my head. “It's not that easy.”

  “Look,” she said, her eyes going to Seth and then back to me. “You need to go to the bathroom?”

  That was code-talk for us whenever we needed to get away from someone or something. The bathroom stop was it. Seeing this as a moment to explain in private what was going on, I took it.

  Turning to Seth for permission, he looked at his watch and nodded. “I’ll give you eight minutes.”

  Maria scoff. “Eight minutes? You do know we’re women, right? We take a hell of a lot longer than eight minutes.”

  His gaze hardened. “Fine, you get ten. But any longer than that, I'm coming in.”

  “Ooo,” she sassed, shifting her shoulders from side to side. “A macho man.”

  My lips curled up. I was going to miss her.

  “Come on, girl.” She grabbed my hand. “Let's do our bathroom thing before muscle man here gets off his high horse.”

  As we walked across the semi-crowded room, I felt him watching me the whole way.

  She pulled me inside the bathroom, spun me around, and put a finger in my face. “Now, tell me what's going. Because that man out there,” she whispered harshly as she pointed to the door, “thinks he owns you. And I have to say, girl, I don't like this. Not one bit.”

  Tears filled my eyes. “It’s difficult to explain.” Then, I bit my lip, not sure what else to say.

  She shook her head and grabbed my arm. “That’s it. I’m getting you outta here.”

  I shook my head. “No, I'm pretty sure I’m fine.”

  She put a hand on my forearm, her eyes worried. “Chica, I don't think you're fine. You’re in way over your head, and you don't know what to do. Let me help you.”

  I huffed. “How can you help me? He’s right outside. There's no way out besides going to the front door or the back door, and he would see us coming out of here if we did either of those.”

  She nodded to the small window on the far side of the wall that led out to the back parking lot. “We could always go that way.”

  My heart stopped for a brief second with the thought of running. But what would that accomplish? No insight into anything on the run, but then again, were they telling the truth? Yes, they knew about me. They knew my past.

  I shook my head. “No, Maria, I'm fine. They’re the good guys. Police already escorted me to get my stuff. I have to go with him to find out what's going on. To be safe. I promise you, whenever I get to where I'm going I'll call, okay? I have my phone.”

  Maria shook her head. “Chica, if you're in that much danger, they’re going to take your phone. Here.” She pulled out her own phone with the sparkly rhinestones on the back. “Take this.”

  Tears stung my eyes as I reached out and grabbed her free hand. “It won’t matter. Your phone, my phone, either way, they won’t let me keep it.” I let go of her hand and leaned in for a hug. “I promise you, when everything gets settled, I’ll call,” I vowed, drawing away. “I will, Maria.”

  She put her hand to my cheek. “With as much intensity as he looks at you, I don't think you’re coming back. He has some kind of hold on you. I don't like it. But if you say he's on the right side of the law, that he’s trying to protect you, then fine, but don't let him consume you. Don’t lose yourself.”

  Giving her a small smile and a short nod I promised, “I won't.”

  But the other two might.

  We went back out and found Seth with his gaze fixed on the door. On us. Probably for the whole time we were gone.

  “He watched us go in, and now, he’s watching us come out,” Marie whispered my thought aloud.

  She was right. He was intense. A part of me wondered if he knew what Maria had planned. If he had any idea that there was a chance I’d go with her.

  He watched us walk all the way back to the bar, only taking his eyes off to glance around briefly before settling back on me. I slid up to the stool beside him and took my straw to sip my drink. He placed a hand on the back of my neck.

  When I lifted my lips from the straw, he leaned in and kissed me smack dab in front of Maria and whispered against my lips, “You made the right choice.”

  My body warmed at his approval, and I wondered briefly if Maria was right. Was I losing myself to him?

  When I finished my drink and said goodbye to my best friend, Seth took me back to the hotel where Weston and Aaron waited. Aaron drew me away from Seth as the other two went to collect my belongings.

  “Hey.” Aaron gave my shoulder a squeeze. “I promise you this isn’t bad.” He drew me over to sit on the chair by the desk and placed a laptop in front of me. “We told you we’d let you talk to the other girls so they can give you some sort of peace on everything, and you can get to know them a bit more before we head off.” He clicked on a button and a screen popped up. In the background, two women sat on a couch. One held a little baby boy. They both smiled and waved. My eyes widened when I realized the red-haired woman with the baby sparked recognition. The red hair in my memory box must've been from her.

  “So glad to see you again,” the redhead said as she bounced the baby boy on her knee. Her smile was genuine. “I'm Melissa. Before, when you were in the hospital, I visited you there every so often. Just so you had someone around. You sure do look different. All healthy now.”

  The other woman nodded, her black hair shifting forward slightly to cover her eyes. “It's good to see you this way.” She drew back her hair and striking violet eyes met mine. My own widened, and she gave me a smile. “You have a glow about you. I’m relieved Seth found you. Glad you're safe.”

  Melissa glanced at her friend and chuckled as she bumped the other woman's shoulder. “Trisha used to visit you, too, like I did.” She shifted forward, her blue eyes bright against the computer screen. “I’m sure you have tons of questions. So, lay them on us. Anything you need to know, we’ll try to keep up.”

  Nervousness made my hands sweaty. Except for the red hair on Melissa, the two of them didn't strike a memory with me. Despite that, I slowly began to ask questions. The guys piled my stuff from the car into the room, then they went out to let me talk alone with the girls.

  I learned from them almost exactly what the guys already revealed about the experiment and abou
t my father. How he wanted the best for me and tried to save me, but in the end, had died. They didn't explain how he died; it was in sealed records. They talked about the mountain and how they were working on getting things together and a room set up for me. They were excited to have another woman in the fold.

  Feeling more comfortable with them, I asked how it worked between them and their guys. The two of them glanced to one another and chuckled. “They have their days.”

  They mentioned an indoor pool, a full basement that could be converted into anything they wanted. They planned to build up the mansion as a compound to keep their family safe, and I was part of that family now.

  With most of my questions answered, I felt better and said goodbye. My stomach growled with hunger, and I realized I hadn't eaten much today. Actually, I’d only had a drink today. I hoped they brought food when they came back. I crawled up on the bed and grabbed my box, sifting through all my memories within to see if any of them would strike new ones.

  The guys came back with what looked to be Chinese food. My stomach growled, and Weston chuckled. “Told you. She’s had nothing today.”

  Weston came over to deliver me food while I put everything back in the memory box and slid it off my lap and onto the bed.

  “What's that?” Weston nodded to the box as he set the styrofoam Chinese box on my lap.

  “My memory box.” I took hold of food and whispered a small, “Thank you.”

  Aaron plopped next to me on the bed. I felt out of sorts with them, unsure what to do. Opening up the food, I quietly ate.

  I briefly watched Weston lift up his shirt and removed a gun out of a holster from his side, putting it into the side table drawer. I was slightly taken back as I hadn’t realized he was carrying one.