Sam sighed shakily, “I know you’re right. I tell myself the same thing. Where it starts to fall apart is that I just don’t know what to say, or how to say it, or even when to bring it up. I just haven’t had the right opportunity.”
Lauren reached across the table and took Sam's hand sympathetically, and they sat that way, in silence, until Sam dropped her head on the table.
God, she groaned to herself, why did this have to be so hard?
The two women heard a quick knock, knock, knock at the door, and then heard the door opening before they could even react. Just as Sam was getting up to see who felt they could just waltz into her house, Amanda and Karina came through the entryway into the kitchen.
“Get your coats,” Karina commanded, “We’re going to JT’s.”
“We’re crashing boy’s night,” Amanda added, jumping up and down a little and clapping her hands.
Lauren’s eyebrows raised, “Boy’s night?”
“Justin took the guys out to thank them for helping with the cabins. Sam and I have been working like crazy too, so I'm taking you ladies out. Amy’s meeting us there. Get your coats, it’ll be fun.”
Lauren looked at Sam, “Well, looks like the opportunity you've been waiting for literally just came knocking at your door.”
Amanda and Karina looked at each other, and then at Sam and Lauren.
“Not following, what did we miss?” Amanda, never wanting to be left out of anything, asked.
Lauren stood pulling, Sam up along with her, “We’ll explain in the car. I’m driving.”
Chapter Eighteen
Luke sat on a bar stool, surveying the small, dark bar. It was full of couples and friends, the smell of beer, the sound of gregarious laughter. Music was playing and several couples were out on the make-shift dance floor, which was pretty much just an empty space created by pushing some tables back. He smiled. He admired the ingenuity.
He had a beer in his hand and was surrounded by guys that he now considered friends. Eric and Jake were chatting up a couple of attractive ladies at the end of the bar. Luke had heard the girls say that they were visiting a friend in a nearby town. The women seemed to be enjoying the attention.
Justin and Ryan were debating the use of steroids in baseball, and this was normally a subject that would have held Luke’s attention. But tonight all he could think about was Sam. Sam and that kiss. Sam and her bombshell. Sam and the texts she hadn't returned.
Jake stood and led his ‘date’ to the dance floor. She was giggling and immediately plastered herself to Jake's chest as soon as they began to sway to the slow love song.
Luke had seen this scenario play out thousands of times - and most of the time, he was one of the participants in the scene.
Guy meets girl, guy and girl flirt for an hour or so, go home together, have a good time...and then guy and girl go their separate ways.
It wasn't the stuff that epic love stories are made of, but in Luke's life, it had been a familiar refrain, and it used to satisfy him. He knew the game and he played it well.
He shook his head. But now? He was done playing. He wanted more. He wanted Sam.
Luke decided he was going to call it a night. As much as he was enjoying the company of the guys, the bar scene was no longer his home. It only reminded him of how Sam's company was so much more thrilling, and more satisfying, than any of these anonymous women's company could ever be.
Yes, he decided, that was it. First thing tomorrow morning he would stop by Sam’s house, and she would have to talk to him. It felt like she had been avoiding him all day, and that was going to stop.
They simply needed to talk, he assured himself. If they could see each other face to face, look each other in the eyes, he knew this would all get straightened out. Not only that, but Luke wanted some answers. It's not as if he planned on grilling her or anything, but he did have some burning questions and he was hoping that she would feel comfortable enough with him to answer them.
As he was taking his last swig of beer, the door to the bar swung open and he heard familiar voices. He looked up to see Amanda, Lauren and Karina walking towards him and the guys he was with.
Amanda and Karina made a beeline to their respective men, and Luke had to smile when he saw how Justin and Ryan lit up when they saw their ladies. That's what he wanted for himself!
Lauren waved to the group, then moved to the end of the bar and sat next to Eric, who immediately turned and seemed happy to see her.
Yeah, Luke thought, further proof that this is my cue to go.
As Luke was thanking Justin for the beer and getting ready to leave, the door swung open again, and this time, Sam walked through it with a girl Luke had never met before. He heard Eric say, “Hi, sis,” to the girl with Sam and she walked past Luke, continuing on to the end of the bar to sit next to Lauren. That left Sam standing alone, facing him.
As soon as Sam saw him, their eyes locked and a timid smile spread across her face. Luke walked over to her, an answering smile spreading across his own face.
“Hi, beautiful,” he said and kissed Sam quickly on the lips.
“Hi,” she replied, and looked up at him with a sexy smile that nearly knocked him off his feet.
Deciding that a little quickie kiss wasn’t enough, he went in for seconds. The moment her soft lips touched his he felt all the stress that had been building since the previous night magically drain out of his body, as if it had never been there. Sam had that effect on him. She brought him to life.
Speaking of being brought to life, he thought ruefully, feeling his jeans getting snug. He ended the kiss before the situation got out of hand and he embarrassed himself.
Sam blushed a little and introduced him to the woman who she had walked in with, “Um, Luke this is Amy. She's Eric and Jake’s sister.”
Luke extended his hand, “Nice to meet you, Amy.”
Amy smiled knowingly as she looked between Sam and Luke, “You too.”
Luke wondered fleetingly what that little knowing glint had entailed, what Sam had been saying about him. He desperately hoped it was good things. God, he had never cared this much what a woman thought about him, and it really might be making him crazy!
Amanda, who by now was finished with her hello kisses to Justin, turned to the group and said, “We’re crashing boy’s night, but don't worry. We wouldn't dream of putting a damper on all this testosterone-fueled male bonding that's going on here. We won’t bother you a bit. In fact, I think I see a pool table right over there with our name on it.”
Justin smiled, “Well, since you crashed boy’s night, I think that turn-about is fair play. We’re crashing girl’s night. I think we will be joining you on the pool table.”
A huge, happy grin appeared on Amanda’s face and Justin pulled her close to him. He whispered something in her ear that Luke could not hear, but a flush rose on Amanda’s cheeks and she laughed.
Karina and Ryan were still ‘saying hello’ when Jake returned to the group sans his erstwhile dance partner.
“Did I hear a game of pool being organized? If we’re doing teams. I call Amy. My sis has got some serious skills!”
Eric looked at his brother and pulled Lauren off the stool, shooting back, “You’re on baby bro! Lauren and I made a pretty sweet team at mini-golf last month. Loser buys a pitcher.”
Lauren looked a tad taken aback, “I love your enthusiasm Eric, but might I remind you we came in dead last at Putt N’ Stuff.”
Eric flashed a huge smile at her and said, “But neither of us cared, which is what makes us a great team.”
“We get the other table, and no offense, but I want to play Karina and Ryan. At least then we’ll have a fighting chance,” Amanda said, winking at Sam as she pulled Karina off Ryan’s lap and the two couples went to the back to claim the second table.
The instant that Sam and Luke were alone, the energy between them changed. Luke noticed that Sam was not quite making eye contact with him.
He knew that the
y had a lot to talk about, but he also knew that this wasn’t the time or place to go into it. He decided to try to lighten the energy between them.
“Would you like a drink, or would you maybe like to dance?” Luke asked, and he could feel himself holding his breath waiting for her answer. He wanted Sam in his arms almost more than he wanted to draw his next breath.
“A dance sounds nice,” Sam said shyly, and he could see a blush creep across her cheeks.
Score!
As Luke led Sam to the make shift dance floor and pulled her into his arms he felt her melt into him, as if her body had been formed specifically to fit inside of his arms. He believed that she might have been. The sounds of Leann Rhimes' powerful love ballad How Do I Live drifted through the bar as he reveled in the sensation of holding Sam's swaying body.
He gripped her waist tighter and when he did, a small, breathy sound escaped from her. It was the same noise she made the night before when he had her pressed up against her car.
The small sound and the accompanying rush of hot breath he felt against his neck went straight to his groin. He felt his jeans getting snugger by the second.
She snuggled her head against his chest and he felt her soft, fragrant hair tickling his neck. He was rubbing slow circles around the base of her back with his thumbs.
This was what he was missing in his life. This feeling. This connection. This girl.
The song ended all too soon and he felt Sam begin to pull away from him. Damn, she hadn't been gone from him but a fraction of a second and he missed the feel of her against his body already.
“Thanks for the dance,” she said lightly as she made her way back to the bar stools.
“Anytime,” he replied, hoping that he had been able to match her light tone, and hoping that the physical effects of the dance would subside enough to be unnoticeable on the walk back to the barstools. It didn’t help, though, that Sam was walking in front of him, swaying that sexy rear end of hers back and forth.
His hands flexed at the memory of having sweet behind in his hands the night before. He shook his head. He really needed to knock off that kind of thinking if he was going to get himself under control.
As they saddled up to the bar, he motioned to the bartender, a good looking tattooed guy who looked to be in his 30’s who looked like he had seen a thing or two in his day. “Can we get another beer?” he asked.
Seemingly intentionally ignoring the 'we' part, the bartender smiled at Luke in affirmation and then added, “What would you like Sam?”
Luke put his arm around Sam and pulled her close, just to make the point that she was with him, and not available.
Wow, that was new. He had never felt the need to ‘claim his woman’ before. In fact, before this very moment, Luke would have sworn that he did not have a territorial or jealous bone in his body.
Sam gave him a strange look and returned the bartender's friendly smile, saying, “Beer's good, thanks Pete. Make mine light. So, how you doin'?”
“Good Sammi, good. How’s Hope Falls' resident Snow Hottie?” The bartender smiled at Sam, a smile which was a little too long and a little too familiarly for Luke’s comfort.
Luke looked at Sam to see how she would react to this Pete person's flirting. She scrunched up her face in disbelief and snorted, “I don’t know about 'snow hottie' but I’m doing good.”
Oh, man. She really didn't get the effect she had on men.
Pete, to his credit, just shook his head a little and smiled but didn’t push it further, wrapping up by saying, “Bottle or draft, then, Sammi?”
“Draft, thanks.”
“You got it,” Pete winked and turned to retrieve their beers.
After Pete set their drinks in front of them, he moved down to the end of the bar to serve the two ladies who had been abandoned by Eric and Jake. They were both pouting until Pete said something that Luke couldn’t hear and then the giggling returned.
Luke looked back at Sam and was struck by the stark differences between the women.
Those women were dressed to attract attention. They were constantly scoping the bar until they got a man to give them the attention they were looking for. They ate up everything, any little compliment that any ol' man would give them. Sending out the kind of signals that let a guy know that they were a sure thing.
Those women, although attractive and obviously up for a good time, did absolutely nothing for him. Zero. Zip. Nada.
Then there was Sam, wearing jeans and a sweater, seeking absolutely no attention whatsoever from the opposite sex. She looked at Pete like he had grown two heads when he flirted with her, even going as far as snorting. And she was definitely not putting out a sure thing vibe.
His breathing quickened. God, just sitting next Sam was making him hard, he didn't even have to touch her. He had always felt an electric awareness when she was within 50 feet of him that he never felt with anyone else. She had an effect on him that was completely unique…he liked it.
She glanced up at him almost shyly, “What?”
“You really have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?” He rubbed the base of her spine with his thumb and he felt a shiver run up her back.
She slowly shook her head disbelievingly, “No.”
She looked at him with such sincerity shining through her countenance that he knew she was speaking in all honesty, and it broke his heart a little.
He took her face gently in his hands and tilted her head up so that their lips were merely a breath apart. He murmured, “Samantha Holt you are the sexiest woman I have ever known. You. Are. Beautiful.”
Lowering his head, he kissed her lips, softly and sweetly.
He was lost in the sensation of Sam’s pillow-soft lips when he was brought back to reality by the harsh sound of someone loudly clearing their throat.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Karina said, with a twinkle in her eye, “but you are both needed on the tables. Ryan and I beat Amanda and Justin AND Jake and Amy, now it’s time to take on the champ. Come on Sam, get ready to lose the title belt!”
“Oh, OK. Yeah, we’re coming,” Sam said, flustered.
“Hmmmm...that's quite a reaction, there, Sam. I thought I just interrupted a little kiss. Luke, you must have skills.”
Luke chuckled and Sam hit Karina in the arm. They started making their way to the back where the pool tables were.
Karina smiled, “Hey Sammi, I’ve been thinking of doing a cover of our favorite song in Middle School.”
Sam tilted her head curiously, “That’s cool, which one?”
Karina smiled as she began singing, “I liiiike the waaaaay...you kiss me when we’re playing the kissing game.”
Sam tried to hold in a laugh as she swatted Karina on the arm again.
Luke was enjoying the chance to see Sam like this with her friends, relaxed, totally at ease, no walls up.
He knew he had a lot of work to do to scale those walls, but hey – he was always up for a good challenge.
Chapter Nineteen
Sam leaned against the kitchen counter and inhaled deeply. She loved the smell of freshly-brewed coffee. It represented a new day, and it felt fresh and full of possibilities, which was exactly what this day felt like to her.
After completely sweeping the floor with Karina and Ryan, Luke and Sam had gone on to demolish Jake and Amy and Lauren and Eric in the impromptu pool tournament. It was not only fun because they won – although Sam was the first to freely admit that she did love to win – it was fun because, with Luke by her side, she did not feel like a third wheel, for the first time in her life.
She had always felt like one of the guys. Like good ol’ Sam, everybody’s buddy. Well, not last night!
All through the evening, Luke kept brushing up against her, or kissing her on the nose and forehead. He had this amazing way of making her feel…special. Her favorite part of the whole night had been after they beat Eric and Lauren. Luke had picked Sam up, swung her around and kissed her – really kissed her, hard �
� in front of everyone, and said that she was amazing.
She knew it was silly. She as good at playing pool, so what? She was good at a lot of things. But the way he said it felt like so much more than just a compliment of her skills on the pool table.
When Luke looked at Sam, it felt like he saw more than what other people saw. It felt like he saw her as a woman. And she wasn't too proud to admit that it felt good.
Sam had always been an outsider looking in at people in relationships, she had never been in one. She had started to feel, subconsciously at least, that she just wasn't cut out for it, that it was just never going to happen for her. Last night had changed all that, though. Now she knew what being one half of a couple felt like, and it was better than she had ever dreamed.
She had felt like she was on a high as the group was walking out to leave. Luke had offered to drive Sam home, but since that meant that he would have to go up the mountain and then back down – and Karina and Ryan were, after all, her neighbors – Sam said that it made more sense for her to ride with them.
Plus, when it came down to it, she really didn’t want to take the chance that she would do something stupid and ruin what had been a perfect night.
Luke had looked a bit disappointed, which (if Sam was being honest with herself) had made her more than a little happy. He had hugged her and gave her a mind-blowing kiss, then asked her if he could pick her up at 8 the next morning and take her to his favorite place to eat breakfast in Tahoe.
So now, here she waited. She had been up since 4:30 am, filled with anxious energy, equal parts excited and nervous.
She was pretty sure that the subject that she had been avoiding talking about was probably going to come up. And, yes, she was nervous about that, but after last night she actually felt ready for it.
It could be that she had simply had time to come to terms with the fact that he knew, but she thought it was more than that. She felt like after last night, something had changed between them. Things felt more…solid. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was that had shifted, but whatever it was, it had somehow given her more confidence to face the ‘virgin’ issue with him head on.
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