Free THE GIFT by Brittany Hope Page A

what was wrong and I told her. She reminded me that I could no longer wear these things now that I was getting bigger and that
    Carmella needed them much more than I did. I felt bad for having forgotten that so soon and went to bed thinking about how sad Carmella must be without a Mom or any nice things to at least make it a little better,” Amanda told him. It felt like she was there all over again as she remembered Carmella.
    “How did she end up with the dolls then? Did your Mom do it?” he asked, thinking that Juan might not have realized it wasn’t Amanda’s decision when he told the story.
    “I couldn’t sleep. I got out of bed and began pulling dolls and stuffed animals from my closet. I packed them in the box my mother had left sitting on the floor for my father to take to Juan the next day. I gave her everything and when my Mom objected the next morning, telling me I had nothing left for myself, I told her that I had the one thing Carmella didn’t and that was all I needed,” Amanda said solemnly.
    “You had a mother,” Jagger said softly.
    “Yes, I had a mother,” Amanda said, breaking the spell and looking down at the fruit mix in her hand, stirring it lightly.
    “What became of Carmella?” Jagger asked, causing Amanda to laugh a bit.
    “Carmella and I played together all the time after that in the back room of the shop after school. After all, she had all my toys. She just graduated high school recently and has started the police academy. I know it sounds like a bad plot in a low budget movie, but Carmella has a dream to return to Juarez and find the men who killed her mother and bring them to justice while keeping other children from suffering the loss of their mother and father at the hands of the gangs that roam freely where she grew up,” Amanda said with a smile.
    “Do you think she will do it?” Jagger asked, strangely curious about the subject.
    “I think she will do it or die trying. I just hope it is the former,” Amanda said solemnly.
    It barely registered as Jagger covered the distance around the table and kissed her again. This time, she didn’t pull away. She felt emotional from the story about Carmella. It was something she hadn’t thought of in years and it made her realize that Juan was more like her than she had ever considered, having lost his wife in a horrible way, but all of that was pushed aside as she felt a tingling sensation spreading throughout her body.
    His kiss was urgent, his tongue twisting lazily with hers. His fingers tangled in her hair as she dug her own into his back, pulling her toward him, aching to feel his body pressing against her flesh. For a while, nothing existed but the two of them as they became lost in a kiss so intense that she wasn’t sure she could stop herself from letting him thrown her across the table full of dough and flour beneath them and have his way. Right now, that would suit her just fine.
    Much to her chagrin, he pulled away, releasing her and looking deeply into her eyes. His gaze said everything that she needed to hear, as she could see just how much he wanted her in his steel eyes. Then he was laughing, breaking the bond between them, as Amanda looked at him in bewilderment.
    “Your hair is white,” he told her.
    “What?” she replied, not grasping what he was saying. In her mind, she was still recovering from the ripples of lust pulsating through her body and here he was, laughing at her for some reason.
    “I had flour on my hands and now it is all in your hair. I’m so sorry,” he told her. Amanda looked at him blankly for a moment and then a slow smile crawled across her face.
    “It’s okay. It was totally worth it,” she told him.
    “Was it?” he smiled, inching back toward her as if to move in for another kiss. As much as Amanda would like that, she knew that she had to get finished here and clean up. Plus, wasn’t it too soon to take this too far? They hadn’t even been out on a real date yet.
    “Oh, yeah.