My phone rang from its place on the coffee table and I groaned. The last thing I wanted to do was go back to the real world. Just for a little while, I wanted to be with Peter and enjoy every moment of the time that we had together.
"Don't," he whispered against my lips.
"I have to," I mumbled. "It could be important."
"Or it could be bullshit."
"You want it to be bullshit so we can go back to doing this, remember?" I laughed.
"Very, very true."
I chuckled and leaned off of his lap to grab my phone. Amber popped up on the screen and I inwardly groaned. Not now. The last thing I wanted was to talk to my boss. I quickly stood up and answered as I wandered away for a bit of privacy.
"Hello?"
"Joanne! Thank goodness. I've been trying to reach you like crazy. Where has your phone been?"
"Reception is spotty here," I said as I glanced back and watched Peter collect up his clothes and walk down the hall.
"How's packing up the house going?" She asked, even though I knew she didn't really care about that. "When are you coming back?"
There it was.
I knew as soon as I left that she'd go crazy without me. Amber was young, attractive and smart, but when it came to kids she had no clue what to do with them. And she had three of them. I had no idea if she could even do anything at this point without a nanny for support.
"Not for a little while," I said honestly. "As soon as I got into town there was a huge snowstorm and I've been locked in since then at a friend’s place. As soon as the road is cleared we're going to drive back to my place and get it finished up. I did quite a bit of work on it already."
I heard her sigh. "Thank goodness. The children are asking for you and I know they miss you."
I smiled. "I miss them too. How's the temp from the agency working out?"
Amber scoffed. "She's awful! Yesterday she completely forgot Kylie's piano lessons and skipped Kyle's tutoring. I just… cannot with this woman. Please, hurry and come back, okay? I'll throw in a hefty bonus this year if you do."
I nodded. "Sure. I'll see what I can do."
"Really, please do so as fast as possible. If you need me to I'll wire the bonus early."
"Well, my car broke down, Amber. I still have to wait for it to be fixed, you know? Right now we're just waiting on the snow and the plow. Peter says there's a lot of ranches and they can't get to them all so quickly. Part of living in a small town."
"That sounds awful," she said and I could imagine her nose all scrunched up in disdain. "Just please do your best. I'm swamped here. Edward isn't home, the baby doesn't sleep and I'm at my wit's end."
"Try the agency again," I suggested. "That's why I gave you their number. They're good at finding you exactly what you need. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Thanks, darling. Kylie do not climb on that!"
The call ended and I sighed. That was the end of the fantasy. Real-life didn't stop for anyone and I knew that neither would Amber. She barely liked to wait on things that were good, let alone things that inconvenienced her. I knew I had to get back to reality at some point, but not so soon. I'd wanted to fantasize a little longer.
"Who was that?" Peter asked as his arms wrapped around my waist. "Was it important?"
I sighed and leaned back against him. "No, not that important."
"You sure hightailed it across the room when you took it. Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
I turned in his arms and stepped up on my tiptoes before I placed a kiss on his lips. He kissed me back but I felt hesitation behind it for a minute. I pulled away and patted him on the chest before I nodded.
"Alright, time for me to go and take a shower and then we should refuel. I'm not finished with you today."