Lost in Amber: Steamy Contemporary Romance (Finding Forever Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  About Lost in Amber (Finding Forever, Book 2)

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Also by Rebecca Raine: This Time Forever (Finding Forever, Book 3)

  Excerpt from This Time Forever (Finding Forever, Book 3)

  Chapter 1

  Also by Rebecca Raine: Our Little Secret (Finding Forever, Book 1)

  Excerpt from Our Little Secret (Finding Forever, Book 1)

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  LOST IN AMBER

  Finding Forever, Book 2

  Rebecca Raine

  Title: Lost in Amber

  Copyright © 2016 Rebecca Raine

  All rights reserved.

  www.rebeccaraine.com

  ISBN-10: 0-9945027-2-9

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

  Cover by Syneca Featherstone

  About Lost in Amber (Finding Forever, Book 2)

  True love should always come with a convenient expiry date.

  Amber O’Hara loves her life as a single woman. She does what she wants, when she wants and never answers to anyone. And when she wants someone to do? As far as Amber is concerned, that’s what friends are for.

  After a childhood marred by casual neglect, Lincoln Zane craves a deeper connection—in life and relationships. He’s not about to settle for Amber’s offer of a friendship with benefits, but he will counter with an offer of his own. He’ll give her the freedom from commitment she desires, but in return he’ll demand she not shy away from the intensity of their passion for the short time they’ll be together. After all, love doesn’t have to last forever to be real.

  In Lincoln’s proposal, Amber sees her chance to experience the depth of a ‘real’ relationship, without compromising her future. It’s a temptation too great to resist. But as the bond between them grows, they discover love doesn’t always play by the rules.

  Now they’re lost in each other, will they ever find their way back to freedom?

  For my sisters, who support me in all that I do

  Table of Contents

  About Lost in Amber (Finding Forever, Book 2)

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

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  Author’s Note

  Also by Rebecca Raine: This Time Forever (Finding Forever, Book 3)

  Excerpt from This Time Forever (Finding Forever, Book 3)

  Chapter 1

  Also by Rebecca Raine: Our Little Secret (Finding Forever, Book 1)

  Excerpt from Our Little Secret (Finding Forever, Book 1)

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Also by Rebecca Raine: Splinter

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1

  Amber O’Hara stood on the footpath with only an umbrella to protect her from the rain and wondered if keeping her job was motivation enough to ruin her favourite pair of heels. Four metres of mud lay between her and the front porch of the almost complete house. Inside the house, her boss waited for her to deliver important documentation that required his immediate approval and signature. If she didn’t have the documents in the post by six o’clock, heads would roll. Her head, specifically.

  Granted, with her current income she could easily afford to buy half a dozen pairs of shoes if she wished. But finding another pair of six-inch heels this comfortable would be like searching for the Holy Grail. Divine intervention would be required.

  “Can I help you?”

  The masculine drawl came from somewhere to her left and Amber turned her gaze from the inconveniently placed mud to see a pair of dirty work boots beside her. As she tilted her umbrella back, a pair of muscular legs came into view, followed by a body that knew exactly how to fill out a set of gardening clothes and did so admirably. Then her slow perusal reached his head and her admiration for his fine form choked up and died.

  It wasn’t the liberal splattering of mud all over him that turned her off. She could appreciate the dishevelment that came from a hard day of manual labour. Nor was he unpleasant to look at. In fact, she would have considered him quite good-looking in a rough, uncompromising sort of way—if he wasn’t smirking at her.

  Amber had no patience for men who smirked at women.

  “I’m looking for Scott Mason,” she said. The rain had reduced to little more than a drizzle, so she closed her small umbrella with a snap.

  The muddy gardener gestured to the house. “He’s inside somewhere.”

  “Yes. That’s what I thought.” She eyed the mud again before asking, “Is there another way in?”

  The smirk grew wider and he crossed his arms over his overly enthusiastic pectoral muscles and favoured her with an amused shrug. “Not currently.”

  Amber sighed. He was not being particularly helpful in her time of need. “Don’t you normally put down wooden boards or something? So you don’t traipse mud all over the client’s new house?”

  “Sure,” he nodded. “But just about everyone is gone for the day and I had to spread the soil before the lawn shows up tomorrow. So I removed them.”

  “The soil,” she repeated. “You mean this mudslide?”

  “Yes. That’s what soil turns into when it gets wet.” He wasn’t actually laughing out loud at her, but she figured it was a close thing.

  Amber scowled at his condescension. “Well, it’s a very level mudslide. I’ll be sure to let the head gardener know how industrious you’ve been.”

  “Would you?” he replied with a blatantly false look of sincerity. “That would be great. I really want to impress the boss.”

  She felt the corner of her top lip lifting in a clear show of distaste and yanked it back down. It would be unprofessional of her to get into an argument with this man and since she’d inherited this job from her best friend, Julia, less than six months ago she wanted to be as professional as possible. Julia had been unflinchingly professional in every way and so could she. “Of course,” she said with a wide not-so-convincing smile of her own. “Well, I’ll be heading inside now.”

  Her weight shifted from one foot to the other as she considered the
best form of attack. Maybe she should take her shoes off before crossing the mud. Except then she’d have muddy feet and wouldn’t be able to enter the house at all—or put her shoes back on.

  “You’re going to ruin your shoes.” Another drawled comment from Captain Freaking Obvious.

  “I’m aware of that,” she snapped. Why, oh why, had she offered to bring these papers to Scott after she left work? She’d thought it would be a quick matter of popping into a construction site so he could approve the changes his partner, Derek, had made and add his signature to the bottom. Then she could pop the envelope into the post box on her way home. It had all sounded so simple. Until she found herself confronted with a river of sludge. Damn it. She loved these shoes.

  “Come on, princess.” The gardener stepped forward, grabbed her wet umbrella with one hand, and scooped her up into his arms before she had a chance to react.

  Her feet flew up in the air and she squealed as she gripped onto him for dear life. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  He adjusted her in his arms before taking a few long strides over the mud. His step was sure and steady, despite carrying her squirming self in his arms. “I’m saving you the tears you’ll shed over the destruction of those torture devices you call shoes.”

  “How dare you? Put me down!”

  Coming to a stop, he leaned forward to peer over her body at the ground. The move shifted her balance in his arms and she squeaked in horror and gripped onto him tighter.

  “Are you sure you want me to put you down?”

  Amber peeked over her shoulder and saw the muck surrounding them. The front porch of the house was now a mere two metres away.

  “Yes,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster. “I want you to put me down, right there.” She pointed at the safety of the porch with one manicured finger.

  He started to laugh. The full, deep sound reverberated through her body until she could feel her own mouth twitching at the corners, despite her fear his continued mirth would cause him to lose his balance and drop her. She gripped onto his arms and felt the shift of heavy, corded muscles beneath the tanned skin. Yeah, okay, it was time to get out of his arms before she started to lose her head.

  “You’ve had your fun. Can you please get on with the saving part now?”

  A few long strides later, he stepped up onto the porch. One arm slid out from behind her knees and her legs swung down toward the wet, but relatively clean, wood. She held onto his shoulders as her feet touched down and she regained her balance.

  His hands shifted to her waist, steadying her, and for a moment, their gazes met. The late afternoon light fell across his face, showing his eyes to be a pale green. Compared to the rest of him, which suffered the ill effects of toiling with dirt in the heavy rain of an hour ago, his eyes were crystal clear.

  Yes, he was more than a little good-looking under all the dirt. Rough. Roguish. But hot all the same.

  Realising she was staring, not to mention the fact they had yet to let go of each other, she snatched her hands away from his shoulders and stepped back so his hands slid off her waist. She took a deep breath in an effort to recover her composure.

  “Thank you for your assistance, Mr…?”

  “Linc,” he said as he handed the umbrella back to her.

  “Mr Linc,” she repeated. “Though next time you decide to put your hands on a woman be sure to ask permission first. Do you understand?”

  There was that maddening smirk again. “Sure thing, princess,” he said, placing his hands on his hips.

  She paused in the process of flattening out the envelope she’d crushed in her hand to look up at him. “I’m not a princess. I’m an accountant.”

  “My mistake.” He licked his lips and laughed as his gaze travelled the length of her—twice. “You sure do look like a princess.”

  Amber frowned as she checked her outfit. She was dressed in a tailored navy blue skirt suit, paired with a cream knitted top. Her jewellery included a trendy coral necklace with matching earrings. It was a clean, modern look, but nothing was going to stop her ensemble from screaming ‘office worker’ to anyone within a fifty metre radius. In no way, shape or form, would she ever be mistaken for a princess.

  Tilting her head back, and now she was this close she realised how far back she had to tilt to do that, she narrowed her eyes at his amused countenance and pressed her lips into a thin line. “Good day, Mr Linc. Enjoy your dirt.”

  She walked into the house and slammed the door behind her, but she couldn’t block out the sound of his laughter echoing in her ears. For all his supposed chivalry, the man was still a condescending bastard. No amount of sex appeal could make up for a bad attitude.

  When she exited the house twenty minutes later there was no sign of the dirty gardener. There was, however, a path of wooden boards stretching from the porch all the way to the footpath. Her shoes would live to see another day, after all.

  Chapter 2

  “This is it,” Amber whispered in awe, her heart beating faster. “I’ve finally fallen in love.”

  “Are you sure?” Her best friend, Julia, stood beside her with her head tilted at a sceptical angle. “I thought you wanted something suitable for work.”

  Amber dismissed the common sense she was in no mood to hear. “Don’t you listen to her, my lovelies. You and I were meant to be together and I would never think of abandoning you to that undignified sale table.”

  She turned the shoes this way and that, admiring the way the silver material sparkled beneath the shop lighting like a scattering of diamonds in the sun. It was true she’d been shopping for some sensible black flats she could keep in the trunk of her car, in case she was faced with a repeat of last Friday’s debacle. She didn’t often have to visit the sites of the houses that were designed and built by the company she worked for, but it did happen upon occasion. There wouldn’t always be a strong gardener hanging around to cart her over stray puddles of mud. These beauties did not fit the bill, but they were so pretty she couldn’t bear to part with them. She’d have to demote a pair of her existing shoes to mud-walkers and be done with it.

  Decision made, she headed for the shop counter before Julia had a chance to talk her out of it. “I know what I said, but these are beautiful, comfortable and they’re on sale. It’s the shoe trifecta. Besides, love at first sight doesn’t happen every day.”

  “Maybe you have a point,” Julia said with teasing grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this infatuated before.”

  “Exactly.” She smiled as she reached into her purse to withdraw her credit card.

  “You know, if you found yourself a real live human to be infatuated with you’d probably care less about your shoes. Then you wouldn’t have made me walk the entire length of this shopping centre searching for boring flats only to end up with bling.”

  “I can’t help it if my feet are hard to fit. And I don’t believe in being infatuated with men, it’s unbecoming. Besides all the good ones are taken.” She accepted a bag with her new purchase from the salesperson and together they left the shop. “After all, how are the rest of us supposed to find a suitable man when some greedy wenches insist on taking two?” She smirked at her friend and watched her sigh with contentment.

  Julie had been firmly ensconced in a three-way relationship with Derek and Scott, her partners and Amber’s employers, for the past four months and Amber had never seen her friend happier. “This is the problem with happily attached people,” she said. “They always want everyone else to be as attached as they are.”

  “Not necessarily.” Julia shrugged. “Just the happy part. I want you to be as happy as I am.”

  “That’s exactly my point,” Amber replied with a laugh. “I am perfectly happy, just as I am. No attachments necessary. Besides, if I walked around wearing the love struck expression you have on your face these days no-one would recognise me.”

  “I’m not that bad,” the other woman cried, burying her face in her h
ands to hide her embarrassed laughter. “Am I that bad?”

  “Don’t worry,” Amber assured her friend. “Love makes you even more beautiful.”

  Julia beamed at her compliment. “I think so too. I suppose as long as they’re good for my complexion I’d better hang onto them.”

  Walking into one of the less crowded cafes the shopping centre had to offer, they took a few minutes to place their orders and then found a quiet table in the back corner.

  “Don’t you ever get lonely though?” Julia asked as their drinks arrived. “I used to get lonely.”

  Amber paused in the act of pouring a sachet of sugar into her latte. “Not at all. I have my career and lots of friends. What else do I need?”

  Julia snorted. “I can think of one thing.”

  Amber winked. “I have a small selection of friends for that too.”

  They broke up into giggles, only regaining their composure when their lunch was served at the table.

  “You know what I mean and it’s about more than having available friends with benefits,” Julia said. “It’s the little things, like lazing in bed on Sunday morning, having someone to bring you a cup of coffee just as you realise you want one. It’s having people you know will always be there for you and put you first.”