by Wendy Ely
“Okay, accidents happen,” he said aloud. But not if the mother was drunk and the child wasn’t in a seatbelt.
Innocent until proven guilty? “Not in my book. Always guilty unless by some miracle, you’re proven innocent,” he said while shutting the file. “I’m the miracle.”
He got up to open his office door. It was a little after five in the afternoon and most of the employees had left for the evening, except for Corie, who jumped up when she heard his footsteps.
She fluffed her hair before walking over to him. “Do you need something, Jesse?” she purred.
“Yes, I do actually.” He smiled at the tall, leggy brunette who wore mini-skirts and stilettos to work. She was a good-looking, sexy woman who should have been modeling for a men’s magazine
instead of working in a law office, but she’d improved the scenery.
He’d never admit to anyone else it had been the very reason he’d hired her.
She glanced around as though to make sure the coast was clear before she reached toward the zipper of his slacks. “In your office, or a trip to your house?”
He pushed her hand away. “In my office,” he snapped. “Put all of those files away before you go home tonight.”
“Jesse…” She started walking after him but stopped as if frozen, either by his words or the icy tone.
“Lock the doors when you leave, Ms. Landers.” He had never called her that while they were alone. Since Corie’s first day six months earlier, he’d glorified her name many times over, after hours in the office and in his bed, but had never addressed her in such a formal tone.
Corie Landers wanted two things: money and sex. He expected her letter of resignation in the morning since she wasn’t getting it anymore. Women like her were a dime a dozen and could be replaced as quickly as she left. It was no sweat off his back.
After tossing his ostrich leather briefcase on the passenger seat, he slid into the sleek black BMW. It was Friday night and as always, he was meeting his best friends at the local pub.
“Good evening, Jesse.” The bartender greeted him before motioning where his friends were sitting, although it wasn’t necessary with Jane’s laughter rising above the noisy chatter and music.
Jane, Luke, and Phil looked up from their drinks as he approached.
“Jess, my man,” Luke said as he kicked the chair away from the table so Jesse could sit.
“Jane was telling us about a case she’s busy with.”
Jane was a short, black-haired firecracker Jesse had met in law school. They had tried to date but after two weeks they realized there was no chemistry between them. They’d been best friends
ever since. Of everyone at the table, she was the one Jesse trusted the most.
“You’ll love this one, Jess,” Jane began, but the rest of the words blurred into the background as the image of Samantha took form in his thoughts.
He adored the way her hair was a mass of curls pulled back to reveal her pretty face. The curve of her body… the way she walked. He’d noticed her the moment she had entered the bookstore but decided to play it cool. Jesse had never met anyone like her before. She tried to act sophisticated but her innocence had shown through from the start. And he could tell his presence made her nervous.
As a lawyer, he was trained to read people and knew she’d be someone who wouldn’t try to take him for his money. She’d give him her heart if she had the opportunity.
After leaving the bookstore, he’d sat in his car to watch her leave. Some guy had approached her but he couldn’t hear the conversation.
The man kept his back toward Jesse. Was she attracted to the man’s brawn? He might have been bigger with his sculpted body, but Jesse had a career. He remembered the man’s jeans and dirty work boots. That said it all: a blue collar worker. Samantha deserved better, that’s for sure.
It wasn’t until she had driven away that he realized he had forgotten to get her number. Oh well, he had his own ways of obtaining information.
“Earth to Jesse.” Jane waved a hand in front of his face. “What do you think of this idea for the defense?”
“Oh, right,” he mumbled. He had more important things to think about.
Phil cocked his head in the waitress’s direction. “She’s on her way over. Ready to order?”
“Hi, darling,” the waitress said before planting a kiss on Jesse’s cheek.
“Can I get a rum and Coke?”
“More rum than Coke?” she asked, sliding her shapely butt on his lap.
Any other night, he would’ve loved the attention from the beautiful waitress. He would’ve taken her home like he had done many times before, but not tonight. Because tonight, Samantha Johns was the only woman who made him stiff where it counted.
“My drink?” he asked, patting her. She took the hint and hurried away.
“What’s going on with you, Jess?” asked Phil.
“What do you mean?”
“Any other night you would’ve jumped at the chance to take that sweet little ass of hers,” Luke replied.
“That was before I met Samantha.” He smiled and leaned back in his chair.
“Samantha?” All three of his friends asked at once.
“Yes. Samantha is one hot prize I’m looking forward to winning.”
Chapter 8
The butterflies in Samantha’s stomach felt like they were in hyper-speed mode as she waited for the clock to change. The lunch was packed but cooling in the fridge as she sat on the armchair, staring out the window for his truck.
Finally he was there! She hopped up from the chair to grab the lunch. Arriving at the kitchen door, she’d heard her parents talking. Her name stopped her from entering.
“I don’t like it, Martin.” Mom’s voice was low, so low Samantha had to strain her ear to hear.
“She likes him and I think he might like her too.”
“I don’t care,” her mom said.
“They get along great so far, and she needs a friend.”
“I’m neither blind nor a fool. I don’t like it.”
“He’s a good man, Frances. He treats her well and works hard. So why don’t you like him?”
“All you should care about is how I feel and not why I feel it. He shouldn’t be with our daughter.”
“It’s not our decision to make.”
“His employment with our farm is. Fire him.”
Fire Noah? Her father wouldn’t do that, would he? Samantha wanted to stomp through the kitchen door to put a stop to her mother’s craziness.
“That’s something I won’t do,” her father said.
“He doesn’t have any family or friends. Something has to be wrong with him and I intend to find out what it is,” her mother threatened.
“I don’t care about any of that. Do you know today is the first time Noah has taken the day off?” She could hear the smile in her father’s voice and let one of her own peek out before pushing the kitchen door open, stopping her parents’ conversation. Her arrival made tense silence fill the room.
It was true, she’d been on cloud nine since Noah had asked her for the date and she refused to give her mother the power to ruin that feeling. She stalked over to the fridge to grab their lunch.
“Don’t forget our plans this afternoon,” her mom managed to say before Samantha left the kitchen.
* * * *
Samantha watched the few locals rushing down the street, fanning themselves before darting into the comfort of air conditioning inside the stores. Young children held onto ice cream cones licking the melting ice as quickly as they could, but not quite making it before the sticky mess dripped down onto their hands and shirts. This was heaven, she thought as she and Noah drove down Main Street. Alban was the perfect place to live. On the seat between her and Noah sat a wicker picnic basket she’d filled with, what she considered, the perfect lunch for their first date.
“Where are we going?” asked Noah, breaking into her thoughts.
Samantha giggle
d.
“It’s a surprise.”
Noah tried to lift the lid of the picnic basket, but Samantha pushed it back down. “I want to see,” he said in a little boy voice.
“Nope.”
He put his hand on top of hers resting on the lid. “One peek?”
“Nope,” she said.
He lifted her hand and brought it to his mouth, pressing his lips against the back of her hand before letting it go. Fireworks shot through her body. The sensation was new to her and she loved the feeling.
“Where do I go?”
“Turn right at the stop sign. Follow the road until the end,” she said, pointing.
He followed her directions and within minutes they stopped in the woods next to the river. “This must be it,” he said as he grabbed the picnic basket and waited for her to come around beside him. He’d paused at the swimming spot closest to the truck.
She carried a blanket with one arm and held his hand on the other side.
“Where do you want to sit?” He motioned to the sandy river bank with his free hand.
“In an hour, this place will be packed.” She started walking toward the trail that disappeared into the woods. “I know somewhere better.” They passed several clearings but she didn’t stop at any of them.
All of these spots got crowded quickly and she wanted as much privacy as she could get. Finally, they walked around the bend in the trail.
There it was. It was the spot her father had brought her to as a child and she’d hung out at as a teenager with her friends. Some day she wanted to bring her own children there to swim and play.
Noah waited as she spread out the blanket. When she was finished, he put his arms around her waist while his lips found the curve of her neck, making her relax against him. She loved the way he kissed her. Since they had only shared a few, each one was a new adventure.
After pulling away from his embrace, she slid her tank top up over her head and tossed it on the sand next to the blanket. She could feel Noah’s eyes focused on the cleavage peeking out of her bikini top as she slid her jean shorts over her thighs. The shorts dropped to the sand by her feet. She ran past him and jumped into the water.
Since it was early summer, the water was still cold. A few rocks studded the bottom of the river floor but it was mostly soft sand beneath her bare feet.
They spent the morning swimming, chasing each other, and wrapping their bodies around each other. Floating along with the waves, they flirted, splashed each other and acted like teenagers in love.
They stopped for a delightful lunch once the sun was directly over the river. Each of them tore into the food as if they hadn’t eaten in a week.
“That was delicious,” he said as he threw the napkin and paper plate into the picnic basket.
“Thank you.” She threw hers in as well. “I’m so glad we came here today.”
“It has been a perfect day.” He gently kissed her lips. “We should do this again soon.”
Samantha rose from the sand and walked back to the water. She sat down on the water’s edge, her lower half barely in the water.
Noah stood up from the blanket to follow her over. They were quiet for a few minutes, watching the boats pass.
Letting his hand rest on her thigh, he leaned over to kiss her again. The passion ignited in Samantha as his tongue played against hers. She leaned back on the sand, letting his weight shift onto her. When he pulled away, he played with a strand of her hair as he stared into her eyes. His hand moved down her shoulder and then to her breasts. Her fingers caressed his bare skin, adding fuel to her desire.
A boat went down the river, sending gentle waves over them. Neither broke away. Their hands wandered all over each other. She loved the way his bare muscles rippled under her touch. His shaft throbbed against her leg when he arched his back to let out a soft moan. The temptation to reach down to his erection was hard to resist.
Her eyes drifted shut to imprint this perfection into her memories. Not one of his kisses, touches, or moments should be forgotten. This euphoric phase they were in should be lingered over and not rushed, even though she was tempted. He kissed her neck as she leaned back against the sand, her breaths urgent gasps.
Noah continued to kiss Samantha’s neck, making trails from her swollen lips down her chest and back up again. His hands slid over her barely-covered breasts and the insides of her thighs.
They drank each other in. Neither cared who went by, they wouldn’t…couldn’t let go of each other.
They lay in the warm sand together until the sun started going down. She pulled away from Noah with silent contentment, even though she didn’t want to. She could lie in the heaven of his arms forever. But that wasn’t possible because of the tea with her mother.
Chapter 9
“I got one!” Samantha shouted, running past the house waving the envelope in the air. It should be a happy occasion but instead, anger filled her heart like an over-filled balloon.
Once she reached the side of the house, Noah dropped his shovel and walked toward her. “What did you get?”
“She sent me one! How could she do that?” She flung the invitation at Noah. “Now I have to go.”
He opened the envelope and read the elegant script. “At least you don’t have to go alone,” he said while reading. “You may bring a date. I, of course, would be honored to escort you to this unpleasant event in your life.”
“On such short notice?”
“I need to cancel all my other dates for that afternoon,” he said laughing.
She sighed and playfully punched him in the shoulder.
Samantha took the invitation from his outstretched hand and put it back in the envelope. Jackie was going to marry Wiley Day. She’d have to sit in the church while they pledged their love for each other, then witness their first kiss as man and wife. She kissed Noah, then waved and tramped across the yard back to the house.
She needed to be alone to digest what had happened. She retreated to the safety of her bedroom. The tears were ready to fall and she didn’t want her mother to see. She didn’t want to show weakness to her at all and wasn’t ready for Noah to see her pain. She needed to release the hurt in privacy.
“Jackie and Wiley… married,” she whispered once her bedroom door was shut firmly behind her.
Samantha flopped onto her bed and held the envelope in her hands. She didn’t bother to look at the invitation; those technicalities would matter later. Tears began to flow down her cheeks. Memories of the engaged couple flashed in her mind.
Samantha and Jackie had been sixteen when Samantha first started dating Wiley. Jackie had been the one with a crush on the high school’s football star.
The girls were sitting at the table in the cafeteria finishing lunch when Wiley sauntered over. Jackie had thought he’d be asking her out for sure, since the whole school knew of her crush.
“Hey, Sammy, could we talk a minute?” Wiley had asked.
She’d always found Wiley to be somewhat attractive but not as handsome as everyone seemed to think. The one thing he had going for him was that he was nice to everyone, so she’d gotten up from the table and went along. She shrugged her shoulders and followed him to a deserted corner of the cafeteria.
“What would you like to talk about, Wiley?” She put her hands in her jean short pockets and looked up at him.
“Wanna go with me to see a movie tonight?”
Shocked, she darted her eyes over to her best friend. She could care less if she dated Wiley Day. What mattered to her was Jackie’s feelings. “But Jackie likes you.”
He frowned and looked down at her. “I like you, Sammy, but I understand if you won’t because of your friend.”
“Just a minute.” She walked back to the table. Jackie’s feelings had meant more than a date to Samantha. But Jackie didn’t say no. Jackie had cried out with excitement, “At least one of us gets him!”
Jackie never showed any jealous feelings and seemed to welcome the addition to th
e twosome. The three of them became inseparable best friends.
Samantha knew in her heart she wanted to leave Alban, to go off on her own and get away from her mother. Getting accepted into the highly ranked West Coast University was a surprise. She’d held onto the letter of acceptance, not sharing it with anyone. She was scared to reveal she had gotten in to the college.
A month later, she finally made the announcement.