River of Love

by Melissa Foster

  “I feel like a voyeur.”

  “Just read the names.”

  “Ty, Shannon, Tex, Tempe...Sam, why am I reading this?”

  “You’ll see.” He navigated to his apps. “What do you see?”

  “Sam!” She wriggled against him, trying to free herself.

  He tightened his grip. She felt too damn good to let go that easily.

  “No Snapchat. No Facebook Messenger. Just regular stuff.” He scrolled to the Internet and showed her his history. “No porn sites, no—”

  She turned in his arms, and a current spiked up his spine at the look of lust and disbelief mingling in her eyes. While he was hanging in a fog, she took a step out of his arms, and he fought the urge to tug her back in.

  “What do you expect me to learn from that?” Determination carried every word again. “It doesn’t change who you are or what you do.”

  She was right, and that slapped something inside him down a notch. She wasn’t a random woman he wanted to hook up with. She was smart, and she respected herself enough to keep her distance from the likes of him. That confidence, that belief that she was worthy of more, made her even more intriguing.

  “I just want you to see that I’m not a pig who has booty call numbers on my phone or uses Snapchat to exchange naked pics, or any of that crap. I am who I am. With me, what you see is what you get. I’m not hiding anything from you, Faith, and I’m not trying to say I haven’t slept around.”

  “Then what are you saying?” She crossed her arms, a barrier between them.

  He remembered what Cole had said, and he knew his brother was right. Faith didn’t need him screwing up her life. The look in her eyes, everything she said, every signal she was currently sending, told him that she might believe that, too. But a voice inside his head told him not to give up. He’d been drawn to Faith since they’d first met, but he’d put her in the too-sweet-for-Sam zone. Now he wanted to breach that zone.

  Maybe Cole was right about him wanting what he couldn’t have. How the hell should he know why he suddenly wanted to take Faith in his arms and kiss the concern off her gorgeous face? To get a taste of the sweetness he’d been trying to resist and prove to her he wasn’t the person she thought he was.

  But so much of what she’d said was true. How was he supposed to reconcile asking her to take a chance on him? Fuck, this was not the way he’d imagined today going.

  “I guess I’m saying you might miss out on a really great story if you judge a book by its cover.” He took one last long look at her before saying, “Thanks for letting me take part in something so important. It was an honor to get to know the girls. I wish them all the best.”

  **

  “HE DIDN’T EVEN try to cover up the fact that he’d slept with so many women.” Faith wriggled into her jeans and pulled on a silky top as Vivian chose earrings from her jewelry box.

  “I don’t know what you expected from him, but I have to say, I’m surprised. How many guys would stick around all day and let you see their phone?” Her eyes widened as she handed Faith the dangling earrings. “Ohmygod. That’s probably his burner phone!”

  “What’s a burner phone?” She slipped her feet into a pair of heels. They were meeting some of the girls from the group for drinks in half an hour.

  “A burner phone. You know, drug dealers use them so the cops can’t track them.”

  “Vivian, Sam is not a drug dealer.” She stood in front of the mirror, surveying her outfit. “Does this say sexy?” Sam had said she should loosen up, and she wanted to prove him wrong on that, too. She was plenty loose. In a non-loose type of way.

  “No. You are not wearing that.” Vivian tugged Faith’s top over her head and threw it on her bed. “What did the womanizer say about our group?”

  She gave Vivian a deadpan stare. She hated linking Sam to the term womanizer after he’d tried so hard to prove that he wasn’t one, but who was she to deny it?

  “He joked that women who had been cheated on were the best in bed because they have something to prove.” Her stomach felt queasy repeating that to Vivian. It had taken her half an hour to pull herself together after Sam left. When he’d held her against his chest, he’d felt like heaven. His big, strong arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her trapped against all his body heat, all those muscles. She’d almost started to believe that rumors about him were false, until he’d snapped those heady thoughts from her head by flat-out admitting to them.

  “He’s got that all wrong. We were the best in bed even before we had something to prove. Shows you how much he knows.” Vivian dragged Faith into the guest bedroom.

  “He was kidding, and hey! I’m not dressed.”

  “You’re wearing my clothes. Tonight we’re going to stir up every man in that bar and leave them all high and dry. And they can blame it on Sam Braden’s stupid comment.” Vivian grabbed a black leather miniskirt from the closet and tossed it to Faith. “Put that on.”

  “On what? My left leg?”

  “On. Now.”

  As Faith stepped into the miniskirt, Vivian looked through her suitcase.

  “Perfect.” She held up a cream-colored, slightly see-through cotton shirt. “It’s rock chic. The boatneck will show enough skin to look hot but not slutty, and paired with the leather miniskirt and wedge sandals, you’ll look like you wear this shit all the time.”

  Faith pulled the loose shirt over her head and it immediately slid off of her shoulder. She kicked off her heels and glanced in the mirror.

  “Wow. I feel good in this. Hot. No wonder you dress like this. It’s insta-confidence in a slinky little outfit.”

  “Want to really kick up the sexiness?”

  Faith looked down at her outfit. She was a little out of her comfort zone, but not so far that she wouldn’t wear something like this. If Vivian wasn’t there, she’d probably pair the shirt with her jeans, but the skirt definitely gave her a confidence boost.

  “If I kick it up any higher I’ll be showing my you-know-what.”

  “Wear your black-framed glasses. You look so hot in them anyway, and with this outfit? You’ll look like a smart sex kitten.”

  “Do I want to look like a smart sex kitten?” She bit her lower lip, thinking about how she wanted to look. The glasses weren’t even prescription. They’d bought them just for fun last summer.

  “Yes, so you can be ogled by a club full of guys and forget about Sam.” Vivian fluffed Faith’s dark hair. “You could wear a Hefty bag and you’d look sexy. You’re gorgeous. This outfit just amps it up. And your glasses give you an edge we normal gals don’t have.”

  Faith laughed. “Normal? You’re a dead ringer for Julianne Hough. I’ve got nothing on you.”

  “You have glasses that say ‘back off’ but a body that says ‘climb on.’ Plus, if we’re getting technical about it, you’re smarter and you have a better job.” Vivian worked in the marketing department of a clothing store in Oak Falls.

  “You could have bought the exact same pair,” she reminded her. “You love your job, too, and I’m not smarter. I just spent more time in school than you did. Anyway, let’s just say we’re both hot, even though you’re hotter.” They played this one-upping compliment game all the time, as Faith assumed all women did. “None of that matters. What matters is that you and I make a great team, and because of our excellent planning skills, everyone had a good time today.”

  Vivian followed her into the bathroom, where Faith fixed her makeup and slipped on her sexy-librarian glasses. She’d only worn them twice last summer, but Vivian was right—with the outfit, they definitely gave her a little wicked edge.

  “Lira asked if I knew of a free therapist, and I was thinking about expanding WAC’s resources.”

  Vivian looked at her over her mascara brush. “You can’t hire a therapist, if that’s what you’re thinking. That takes a lot of money. The kind of money you don’t have. It’s a free forum, remember?”

  “Not hire one, but maybe we can connect with other groups
that help women and find therapists who might be willing to give one free phone consult and then offer reduced or group prices.” Every thought sparked another angle. “Or maybe we can find a therapist who’s willing to do Skype sessions, individual or group.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “I think so. I mean, not everyone can afford help. Poor Lira barely had gas money to come to the event, and she doesn’t even have health insurance. I would really like to help her find a job.”

  “Now you’re getting way ahead of yourself.” Vivian put her makeup away and said, “How can you do any of that? She lives in another town.”

  Faith couldn’t quell her excitement at the prospect of growing the forum into something much bigger and more helpful. “How can we not try to help? Imagine how many others on the forums are in the same situation, or worse? I’m not talking about making a big organization or anything, but maybe we can create a resource page on the site and offer listings for jobs in each state. I don’t have it all figured out yet, but I think I’m onto something.”

  Vivian pulled her out of the bathroom and grabbed their purses from the table. “You have that ‘I’m doing this no matter what Vivian says’ look in your eyes. Let’s talk on the way.”

  A night out with the girls and her new project might be exactly what she needed to forget about Sam.

  Chapter Five

  WHISPERS WAS LOUD and crowded, just the way Sam liked it. It was exactly what he needed to get his mind off of Faith. He hated the way they’d left things earlier. After making an online donation to her cause—because he was sincere in wanting to help the girls he’d met at the car wash and, equally as important, to help Faith—he’d spent the better part of the evening trying to convince himself that he should back off, that Faith didn’t need him in her life.

  It had been hours, and she was still front and center in his mind. The feel of her smooth skin remained on his palm, as if she’d branded him.

  Sam tried to concentrate on the band playing at the far end of the dance floor. He and Ty had been there only a few minutes before they were barraged by a group of friends. Now, packed in a booth like sardines, Sam was squished between Jennifer, a mouthy brunette, and Tia, one of her equally mouthy friends. He was dying for a drink, but there was barely enough room in the booth for everyone, and his arms were stretched out along the back of the bench.

  “Dance with me, Sam?” Jennifer ran her finger down the center of his chest.

  He wasn’t in the mood to dance with anyone but the one woman he wasn’t supposed to be thinking about, which put him on edge, but it would get him out of that tight booth.

  With an arm around Jennifer, Sam pushed through the crowd to a spot closer to the band. Jennifer wrapped her arms around his neck and swayed her hips, brushing against him, despite the fast beat of the music. Normally Sam would be into her seductive moves, but Faith had gotten under his skin. The things she’d said had punctured his gut like jagged little pills. It doesn’t change who you are or what you do.

  Goddamn it. What was wrong with him? She was one girl out of a million.

  One sexy, smart, ambitious girl who’d probably used her pain to drive her to create WAC. He hated thinking about someone hurting her. Faith wasn’t like Jennifer or Tia or the other girls he hooked up with. They put themselves on the line with no expectations. Offered themselves up expecting only one thing in return. Sex for sex. And they couldn’t hold a candle to Faith.

  Faith was classy. She valued and respected herself. She was the type of girl a guy married. The others were the types of women a guy fucked. Which was exactly why Faith was staying away from him. Marriage had never been on his radar. Yet since he’d seen her at the wedding he’d wanted nothing to do with any other woman.

  Could he talk himself further into a frigging black hole? He was supposed to be getting Faith out from under his skin, not wanting her even more.

  He wrapped his arms around Jennifer’s sexy body and tried to lose himself in her. She was warm, soft, and curvaceous. But she had on too much perfume, and she was a tall woman, at least five ten, which normally wouldn’t bother him. It put their mouths closer together, which was always hot. But after holding Faith, so petite, so feminine, so perfect, everything about Jennifer felt wrong.

  Someone bumped him from behind, and he glanced over his shoulder, then down to the woman who had consumed his thoughts, in the arms of another man. Sam’s gut fisted. She wasn’t his to claim, but just knowing she was there, close enough to touch and looking hot as hell, made him want to do just that.

  “Sorry.” Faith lifted her beautiful dark eyes and gasped. “Sam.”

  Even her voice did weird shit to him. Made him think. About the things she’d said and what he felt when he’d held her. And she wore a pair of black-framed glasses, which might detract from most women’s appeal, but on Faith? They looked rebellious and sexy as sin.

  “Faith.”

  “I didn’t mean to…”

  Jennifer’s hand crawled up Sam’s cheek, drawing his face back toward hers.

  “Sam, I’m over here.”

  He was all too aware of the woman in his arms as she forced his face away from Faith. He looked over his shoulder again, registering the back of the guy’s head Faith was dancing with. Faith peered around the guy’s shoulder, meeting Sam’s gaze. He could barely restrain himself from cutting in on her dance. But Jennifer was in his arms, and Faith’s guy—Date? Boyfriend?—turned, sizing him up.

  Sam wasn’t in the mood to piss off some dork or the clingy chick in his arms. When the song ended Jennifer continued swaying against him, which Sam would normally be totally into. But Faith was disappearing into the crowd, and he quickly lost the battle of trying not to care, boyfriend or not.

  He took Jennifer by the hand and led her toward the table.

  “I wasn’t done dancing,” she complained.

  “I’m sorry, Jen.” At the table he caught Ty’s eye. “Ty, buy Jen a drink?”

  “Sure. Slide right up there, honey.” Ty nodded to the other side of the booth.

  “Thanks, bro.” He took a step away, then thought better of it and whipped out his wallet. He dug out a few twenties and handed them to Ty. “Just in case.”

  “Seriously? Don’t forget lunch at Mr. B’s tomorrow. Shannon’s leaving Wednesday.” Their parents owned Mr. B’s, a microbrewery by the marina, and their youngest sister, Shannon, had returned from her job in Colorado for Cole’s wedding.

  “I’ll be there.”

  Sam made his way through the crowd. At over six feet tall, it was easy for him to scan the sea of people in search of Faith, but his search was made even easier when her lovely laugh danced through the air. Sam followed the melody across the dance floor to a round table where Faith sat with several of the girls from the car wash. The guy she’d danced with was nowhere in sight. Maybe there was a God after all. Her sun-kissed skin shimmered against the dim lighting. Her hair was loose and tousled, flowing sexily over her shoulders, and those glasses...With that outfit she had on, she looked like a playboy model slash scientist, and the combo was smokin’ hot. But it wasn’t the twitch beneath his zipper he was focused on at the moment. It was the urge to get her alone, have her undivided attention, and talk to her again.

  What the hell kind of spell was she casting on him?

  He couldn’t let her stay in that too-sweet-for-Sam zone. Maybe he should, but not without first proving to her that he wasn’t the guy she thought he was.

  “Hey, Sam’s here!” Brittany jumped up from the table and hugged him.

  He returned the embrace, wishing Faith had given him the eager greeting instead. “How’s it going, Britt?”

  Faith looked up from her conversation. The air between them sizzled and burned, obliterating the sweet zone completely.

  **

  FAITH CLUTCHED THE edge of the chair, trying to make her brain remember that the stud standing in front of her wasn’t the right man for her. But that smile, that dimple, and t
hose fierce dark eyes were locked on her, bringing her back to the parking lot and the claims he’d made about not being a cheater. She’d said all those harsh things about him. How could she have been so brazen? He was her boss’s brother. What was she thinking?

  She’d felt cool and sexy in her outfit when they arrived, but now she tugged at the hem of her slinky little skirt. She was dressed like one of his entourage—would he see her like that? Do I want you to?

  Her pulse quickened at the thought. He was making her go all sorts of crazy again.

  Vivian leaned over and whispered, “No. Do not get pulled into his hotness.”

  Faith tore her eyes away from Sam and looked out at the dance floor. She’d seen the woman he’d danced with. Tall, stacked, gorgeous. Why was he here instead of with her?

  “We’re having a great time,” Brittany said.

  “We’re having a girls’ night,” Vivian corrected her. “Right, Faith?”

  Faith glared at her when she should be thanking her for trying to keep her in line. She loved Vivian to death, but she didn’t need a babysitter. She could handle herself around Sam. Probably.

  He strode around the table, openly studying her, pinning her in place with his smoldering dark eyes. She was barely breathing, barely thinking. Maybe she needed a babysitter after all.

  He held out a hand. His beautiful, long, strong fingers beckoned her. “I won’t steal you away for too long,” he said confidently, as if she had no choice but to go with him.

  She stared at his hand as it came down over hers, sending thrills up each finger.

  “Dance with me?”

  Silence echoed in her ears. The girls seemed to be holding their breath, too, as he lifted her hand with gentle authority, bringing her up beside him. She struggled to get her synapses to work—not an easy feat with that beautiful creature looking at her like he wanted to devour her. Yes, please.

  His arm circled her waist possessively as he guided her to the dance floor with an enticing air of self-confidence. The crowd parted for them, and suddenly they were amid a swarm of couples grinding to the slow beat of the music. Sam’s powerful arms drew her against his hard body. Lord help her, she was right. She felt feminine and protected in his arms.