Page 6 of Hide My Heart
“Need any help?” A man’s deep voice sounds behind me as my backpack is lifted from my shoulders. “This is heavy. What do you have, rocks?”
It’s him. Nate Riley. My heartbeat thumps, and heat flushes my face, but I keep my eyes averted and my head down so he can’t see me. The last thing I need is for him to recognize me in front of the clerk, a gossipy-looking girl with a thin, inquisitive face.
Beck lets out a wail, and I cover his head with a kiss, shushing him and rubbing his back.
“Looks like you have your hands full,” Nate says. “Which room?”
“She hasn’t paid yet,” the desk clerk says. “She was getting her wallet.”
“That’s okay. Let me help her get settled and then we can square everything.” Nate hefts the backpack over his shoulder and gestures for me to follow.
“By the way, I’m Nate, the owner of this hotel. What’s your name?”
“Sharon Williams.” I say, still concealed in the depths of my fur-lined hood. It’s one of my fake identities. One of the ladies at the shelter is a pro at making ID cards.
“Sharon, what a beautiful name.” Nate leads me down a corridor and stops in front of a door. “Here’s your room.”
He slides the keycard and opens the door for me. I slink past him when Beck decides to let out another loud yowl.
“Can you take out my wallet and get the money? I need to feed this little guy.” I head for the bathroom.
“Let me hold him,” Nate says. “I feel funny going through your wallet.”
“Oh, no, I trust you.”
“You need to be more careful about trusting folks,” Nate says. “Your jacket’s damp. Let me get it.”
“No, that’s fine.” I’m so jumpy, you’d think he’s an axe murderer and the motel’s name is Bates.
Too late. Nate lowers my hood.
Our eyes meet.
“Amber?” His whiskey-brown eyes widen, and his bushy eyebrows arch. He’s more handsome than I remember, his face rugged and dark with a full beard curling over his chin. His voice has deepened, and a teasing twinge spreads from my insides, something I’ve never experienced in his presence.
I swallow and lick my dry lips. “You can’t tell anyone I’m here.”
“What’s going on? You in some trouble?” He steps to my side, cornering me between the bed and the bathroom. “Who’s this little guy?”
“Beck, my son. But you can’t tell anyone. This is a small town. Please, I’m begging you. My grandmother’s sick.”
“I know. Cancer.” His Adam’s apple lurches. “You’re back to see her.”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t want them to know about him?” Nate extracts Beck from the sling and holds him as if he were a puppy with its paws over his forearm.
Beck’s mouth is still moving, looking for food. He scrunches his face and any moment now, he’s going to let out a loud wail.
“He’s hungry, if you don’t mind.” I take Beck from him.
“Sure, I can heat up a bottle.”
“No bottle.” My face heats, and my chest flushes while my breasts tingle, leaking milk.
“Oh, sure, go ahead.” He steps back, but doesn’t turn toward the door. His face is a question mark, but his lips curl downward, as if he’s disappointed in how he finds me. The last time we talked, I had bragged about someday going to college and becoming a teacher.
“You sure you won’t blab?” I rub Beck’s back as I shrug off my jacket. “Everyone hates my dad. And your mom’s a gossip.”
