It hadn’t taken long for Buckley to leave once he realized his exclusive, live interview wasn’t going to bash Roper. He and his crew had wrapped up and taken off, leaving Amy alone with her applauding mother and aunt. Of course, they had gotten their own exclusive, realizing Amy had come to her senses about Roper.
Had he seen it? Did he know?
“Mom, you and Aunt Darla need to make yourselves scarce. Go to a movie or something,” Amy said, rifling through her purse for money.
“Don’t worry, we’re leaving. And we won’t be back here tonight,” her mother said pointedly.
“So you and Roper can do whatever you want,” Aunt Darla said. “We’ll end up back at his apartment. Anyway, we have to pack. We have a flight tomorrow early in the afternoon.”
“You do?” Amy turned to her family, surprised. “You didn’t tell me you were going home.” To her surprise, despite the chaos their surprise arrival had brought with them, Amy was sad to see them go.
“We didn’t have definite plans. But after our talk tonight, we realize you need more privacy. We’ll be sure to give you a heads-up before we come next time. At least we can leave knowing that you and Roper are fine,” her mother said.
“You are fine, right?” Aunt Darla asked.
Amy, not wanting to worry them, merely nodded. “It’s all good. Now, go out. Keep busy, behave and we’ll have breakfast before you leave tomorrow. Will that work out timewise?”
“Yes.”
They opened the door to the apartment and bumped into Roper on his way in. Another ten minutes of conversation passed, and by the time she shut the door behind her mother and aunt, nerves took over. Her stomach was in knots, her throat raw and dry.
“So.” She spread her hands out beside her, then clasped them together. “Alone at last.”
He glanced around the empty apartment and grinned. “Very.”
“You saw the interview?”
He nodded. “I did. Shocked the hell out of me to see you in front of the camera talking about yourself.”
“I bet.” She bit down on the inside of her cheek. “I realize I’ve been driving you a little crazy with all the ‘I want you but I can’t be with you’ stuff.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Do tell.”
“I tried to explain it to you through Buckley. I was living up to an idealized version of me I thought my father would have had. That’s why I became a social worker, to make a difference in the world. For him. But it wasn’t really right for me. Working at the retirement home was a blast. I could be myself but I had no social life. When I came to New York and started working for the Hot Zone, I found myself. I love my job. I love organizing and compartmentalizing, strategizing and finding solutions to problems like yours.”
“You do it well. Just look at how you fixed me. So go on. Tell me more.” He needed to hear everything she had to tell him. He wanted to understand what motivated her, her hopes and dreams, her fears and mistakes. He needed to know so they could go forward.
“Well, you know I don’t want to be as out there as my mother. It’s a deep-rooted fear of mine. You’d have the same one if you’d rescued Lady Godiva from jail.”
He nodded. “I suppose I would.”
“But I also don’t want to be so repressed anymore.”
“You’re over it?” The wary tone in his voice told her he didn’t want to live the roller coaster anymore.
Neither did she. “I’m over it. I realized that even if we’d been caught at the lodge, what’s the worst thing that could have happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“Some sleazy photographer could have posted naked pictures of us in the papers or on the Internet. The worst has already happened and I survived,” Amy said. “My family loves me no matter what.”
“I’m sure it helps that it wasn’t really you in those photos.”
“No, but the public thinks it is. I swear to you, I’ve come to terms with who you are and who I am. I know it seems like a fast turnaround, but it makes sense to me now. Almost as if I’ve come full circle today.” She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him hard on the lips. “You need to trust me. Want to know why?”
He inclined his head. “Why?” Roper asked, going along with her.
“Because I love you, John Roper, center fielder for the New York Renegades. I can live with being plastered on the pages of the Post and the News if that’s what it takes to be with you.”