by Lori Foster
This particular night, Fuller and Isaac were on shift with Sam again and they ran onto the scene shouting orders.
“About time,” Sam complained.
Isaac cuffed the biggest of the two men. Fuller radioed for an ambulance and backup. Seeing he was no longer needed, Sam slumped forward, his hands on his knees while he sucked in air.
The exhilarating rush of adrenaline faded, along with his normal strength. Sam felt shaky and pissed off and so damn weak his knees wanted to give out. Then he saw Ariel standing across the street and he slowly straightened, revived by a new emotion. She had her arms around herself, her bottom lip in her teeth, and her face was etched with fear.
They stared at each other until Fuller said, “Jesus, Sam. We got here as quick as we could, but it wasn’t quick enough, was it?”
He felt Fuller’s hand on his arm, dragging him down to sit on the curb. Sam’s vision swam a little, making Ariel weave in and out of his sight. “Ariel?”
Fuller looked up, saw her, and yelled, “Hey, c’mere, miss. I need you.” Then to Sam, “Just breathe, damn it. She’s coming.”
Though she’d looked as still and pale as a statue up to that point, the second Fuller called her name she dashed forward. Fuller took off his shirt and folded it. “Hang on, Sam. The paramedics are on their way.”
“Yeah?” He didn’t take his gaze off Ariel’s rapid, wild-eyed approach. When she was near, he reached up a hand and she clutched it in both of hers. “What for? I didn’t do any real damage to them. Just didn’t want them creeping away.”
Fuller snorted. “They’ll both be fine, minus a working bone or two, but you’re bleeding like a stuck pig. The bastard got you. Jesus man, I’m sorry.” He pulled up Sam’s shirt, cursed again and pressed his folded shirt against the wound.
Ariel was so silent, Sam couldn’t stand it. “Sweetheart?”
Big tears swam in her eyes and she gulped. “What?”
“I’m amazed.” He would have liked to have more conviction in his voice, but even to his own ears he sounded weak and raspy, damn it. “I didn’t know you could show such considerable restraint.”
Not quite so pale now, she dropped to her knees in front of him. “What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t interfere.”
“No, of course not.” She tried to pull her hand free. “Let me see your back, Sam.”
He held tight. “Fuller’s taking care of it.”
“But…” Her voice shook.
“You stood off to the side like a good civilian instead of playing my White Knight. I’m impressed, really I am.”
She frowned at him, shook her hand free and crawled behind him. “Ohmigod.”
“It looks worse than it is,” Sam told her.
“You can’t even see it,” she snapped back.
Sam laughed.
An ambulance’s siren sounded in the distance, nearly drowning out Ariel as she said, with renewed calm, “You’re a condescending, patronizing bastard, Sam Watson. The way you fight…well, I didn’t think you needed my help. You fight dirty.”
“But despite all that, you love me anyway?” He waited, breath held, his heart aching much worse than his back did.
Fuller whistled low.
As if trying to offer comfort, Ariel kept smoothing his shoulder. She stayed so close to him, Sam could smell her sweet soft scent. Then she whispered, “Yeah, I love you.”
Sam’s eyes closed. “I suppose that’s only fair.”
“What does that mean?”
But Sam couldn’t do anything other than concentrate on not passing out like a girl. The ambulance raced onto the scene. Paramedics swarmed around him, gently moving Ariel aside and working efficiently over both him and the man he’d struck in the knee.
Within moments, they helped Sam to his feet. He saw Ariel wringing her hands and he whispered, “Come to the hospital with me. We need to talk.”
“Sam…”
“Fuller, make sure she—”
Ariel huffed. “I’ll be there, all right?”
Both Sam and Fuller smiled at her worried, waspish tone. Then he was inside the ambulance and they shut the doors and Sam couldn’t see her anymore. He let out a long shuddering groan of intense pain.
It had been a real bitch holding it in.
Ariel waited with a crowd of Sam’s family in the emergency room. They’d been notified by Fuller, who’d stopped in to see that Sam would be all right before getting back to his shift. The family had shown up minutes later, rushing in like a small battalion.
The nurse had promised them all that it was a mere flesh wound. Yes it required numerous stitches, would indeed leave a scar, but he really, truly was fine. She’d even smiled, bobbed her eyebrows, and stressed the word fine, when she said it, making Ariel want to smack her. They were stitching him up and he’d be ready in no time.
And then what? Ariel wondered.
Pete continually paced, but then Pete was young enough and energetic enough that he seldom managed to be still anyway, even when he wasn’t worried.
Gil sprawled in a chair sipping a cup of coffee and staring blankly off into space. Ariel assumed his mind might be divided between thoughts of his brother and his new responsibilities as a parent.
Sam’s mother, Belinda, sat beside Ariel, pretending to read a mystery novel while fretting nervously.
Ariel put her head in her hands.
“He really is okay,” Belinda said to her. She patted Ariel’s knee, and Ariel could hear the amusement in her tone—a tone so like Sam’s. Apparently, it wasn’t only his mother’s bright blue eyes that Sam had inherited.
Ariel nodded, but didn’t uncover her face. She felt exposed, sitting with all these people who now, thanks to Pete, knew she was in love with Sam.
Gil had amazed her, giving her a big hug and saying, “Fate is the damndest thing, isn’t it?” Ariel wasn’t certain if he meant her predicament in loving his brother, or his current state of fatherhood.
Pete kept grumbling, saying, “I hate that he’s so bullheaded and aloof and damn it, he deserves to be settled.”
Belinda patted Ariel again. “Are you really so worried? Sam’s tough you know. This won’t be the last time he gets hurt, so you ought to get used to it.”
Ariel finally gave up the dubious privacy of her hands and lifted her face. “I probably shouldn’t be here.”
“And why not?”
Because I told Sam I loved him but he didn’t tell me anything of the kind. Ariel shrugged. “I’m not family.”
A commotion came from the room where they’d taken Sam, making Ariel’s heart lurch until the nurse appeared, pushing Sam in a wheelchair.
“It’s hospital rules,” the nurse insisted, “so just be quiet and sit still.”
“It’s a stupid rule and I do not need a damn wheelchair. There’s not a single thing wrong with my legs and—”
Belinda stood. “Be quiet, Sam.”
He shut down in an instant, but he still looked belligerent. Until he spotted Ariel. “You waited.”
Belinda didn’t give her a chance to answer. “Well, of course she waited. What a stupid thing to say. Now, let’s go. We’ll all take you home first and make certain you’re settled and then I need to get to my bed. I have church early and as it is I’m not going to get enough sleep.”
Ariel would have been shocked by Belinda’s tone except that she’d already seen how Belinda hid her mothering behind a gruff show that made it easier for her sons to accept.
En masse, they exited the hospital, Belinda leading the charge, followed by the nurse pushing Sam, then his two brothers talking quietly together.
Feeling like an interloper, Ariel inched along behind them.
At Belinda’s minivan, Sam shoved himself awkwardly out of the chair before anyone could assist him, and stood to look around for Ariel. He looked desperate for escape. The nurse gave up and went away, grousing to herself.
Sam stared at Ariel. “Did you drive?”
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br /> She nodded, cleared her throat, and said, “Yes.”
“Good.” He gave his mother a fast kiss on the cheek. “I’m going with Ariel.”
Pete said, full of laconic insistence, “Oh no. I’m coming with you then.”
Gil shrugged. “I’ll drive Mom.”
Belinda wasn’t having it. “I’ll drive my own car, thank you, and Pete, you’re coming with me.” She smiled at Ariel. “We’ll meet you at his house, dear, all right?”
Ariel found herself nodding before she could give good thought to other possible responses. Sam had said he wanted to talk, but whatever he had to say…well, she wasn’t ready to hear it yet. A week of trying to prepare herself hadn’t gotten her ready.
Muttering under his breath, Sam took her arm and said, “Where the hell’s your car? Never mind, I see it.” And then, just to be ornery, she was sure, he added, “It’s kind of hard to miss.”
And Pete said from behind him, evil intent lacing every word, “Yeah, ain’t it, though? Even in the dark, and even when you’re in a hurry with other things on your mind.” With that cryptic remark, he crawled into the backseat of the minivan and slammed the door, leaving Sam to scowl at him in confusion.
Ariel fretted and worried as Sam crossed the lot and eased himself into her car. Plenty of bandages padded his back, but he still looked mighty uncomfortable as he tried to get his seat belt fastened.
She leaned over him. “Let me.”
Sam stared into her face, only inches from his, while she pulled the belt over and hooked it around him as gently as possible. She tried not to look at him, but when she started to settle back into her own seat, he caught her. They were nearly nose to nose.
Sam leaned forward and kissed her. “I missed you.”
“You did?”
He searched her face and nodded. “Let’s go. The sooner I deal with my family, the sooner I can have you alone.”
Ariel didn’t know what to make of that, but she did as he said, driving slowly and trying to avoid any bumps.
Sam watched her, his gaze unwavering, setting her on edge. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” he finally said.
Ariel glanced at him, then brought her attention back to the road. “You move so fast.”
“I didn’t have much choice. It was move or get stabbed.” She gasped and he rushed to say, “But it didn’t happen because I can handle myself. And it worked out for the best. The big guy, the one with the pipe? Fuller says he started spilling his guts, looking to cut a deal, as soon as he got him alone in the cruiser. Seems the other man, the old geezer who sliced me, he’s the one who ran the show. By now Isaac and Fuller should have all the info they need.”
Relief washed over Ariel. “I’m glad that’s done then.”
Sam gave her a long look. “I’m still undercover though, babe. There’ll be other jobs.”
“I know.”
He waited as if he expected her to say more, but what else was there to say? Sam loved his job and he excelled at it. He was a cop through and through. That wouldn’t change.
When they reached his house, they found his family congregated on the front porch along with Hesper, Booth, and the elderly bulldog. Sam groaned. “Jesus, can’t a man find any peace?”
“They care about you.”
“Yeah, well they could care about me tomorrow instead.” He gave her another searching look, and seemed annoyed when she turned away. But she just couldn’t bear it.
She’d meant to leave him alone, to let him get beyond his brother’s ridiculous insistence on marriage. Then she’d hoped to go to him, to see if he wanted to continue seeing her, no strings attached. Despite what she’d originally told herself, she’d rather have Sam any way she could, than not at all.
Her trip to the bar had been impromptu, one last-ditch effort to get her mind off him for a few minutes.
And fate had stuck her in the same bar where he was working.
She’d been heartsick at the first sight of him, then terrified because she knew what would happen, why he was there. In a dozen different ways, loving Sam was going to be tough.
Sam didn’t say anything else as he grunted and groaned his way out of the car. His family merely stood back, watching his progress without offering help. They seemed to know how he felt about assistance—not that Ariel gave a hoot. She took his arm and led him along the walkway that had thankfully been swept clean.
After helping him up to the porch, Ariel took his keys from him and opened his front door, but Sam didn’t go in. He put his arm heavily around her and turned to face his family and neighbors. To Ariel, he looked pale and pained and her worry escalated.
Until he said, “I’m fine and while I thank you all for your concern, I’d really like to speak to Ariel. Alone.”
Ariel felt her face turn bright red. Now they all knew that he was going to read her the riot act for being in the wrong bar at the wrong time again. Odds were, he’d tell her she had no place in his life, too.
Pete crossed his arms. “Got wedding plans to make?”
Ariel gasped at such a ludicrous comment. “Pete Watson, that is enough.”
“No, it’s not,” Sam told her, and his arm tightened. He looked very put out with her attitude. “I’d like to explain about the other morning…”
“There’s nothing to explain,” she assured him, unwilling to have him forced into saying things he shouldn’t have to say, especially with an audience. “I told you, I’m an adult. I knew what I was doing.”
“What’d she do?” Booth asked his wife in confusion, and Hesper said, “You don’t remember our youth?”
“Ahh.” Booth gave a toothy grin. “No wonder the boy’s riled.”
Belinda shook her head at Ariel. “Let him explain, dear. This might prove interesting.”
Sam glared, but none of them budged. “I suppose you all want to hear it?”
Gil said, “I know I do. Hell, I need a distraction.”
“Fine.” He turned to Ariel and cupped her face. She couldn’t look away from the earnestness in his beautiful blue eyes. “I can’t bear the thought of you being hurt.”
Misunderstanding his meaning, Ariel swallowed, then tried to reassure him. “I’ll be fine, Sam. You don’t owe me anything.” And to try to prove that, she added, “I’m sorry we ended up at the same bar again, but Duluth isn’t exactly a hotbed of social outlets. My choices were pretty limited and I promise it was an accident.”
Very slowly, the pain seemed to leave him and he stiffened. “What were you doing there, then?”
Ariel took a step away from that gritting tone. “I wasn’t trying to watch over you. I promise.”
Her assurances only annoyed him more. “Then why?”
She glanced around at the rapt faces of their audience. No one looked ready to intervene and rescue her, so she scowled and thrust her chin up. “I was there to…well to be sure again.”
His face went blank, then turned red and angry. “Damn it, Ariel. I thought you were already sure.”
“Don’t you dare yell at me, Sam. I’ve had a rough enough week as it is.”
He drew a slow breath, gathering himself. “I’m sorry.”
Her shoulders drooped. “It’s not your fault. I was the pushy one.”
“I don’t mean that.”
Pete laughed. “No, he definitely doesn’t mean that.”
“Shut up, Pete.”
Still grinning, Pete said, “You should be thanking me, you know. I’m the one who got her there in the first place.”
Sam and Ariel turned to stare at him. “How’s that?” Sam demanded to know.
“Why, I got a new girlfriend, that’s how. I finally realized she was waiting for me to do that.”
Ariel’s brows shot up. “You knew?”
He snorted. “Everyone saw you two ogling each other.”
Gil and Belinda nodded.
“You fought it, Sam, I’ll give you that. But any time I brought her around, you watched her more than I did.�
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“I did not.”
“Yes you did, Son,” Belinda told him. “The poor girl couldn’t blink without you noting it.”
Hesper laughed. “If it was anything like the way he looks at her now, I’m surprised she didn’t go up in flames.”
Exasperated, Sam rubbed his face, then suddenly stiffened. His hands dropped to his sides and he stared at Pete. “You saw her car that night. That’s what you meant about it being impossible to miss, even in the dark.”
“Of course I saw it.” Pete snorted. “Why do you think I told you all that stuff about her? Hell, I don’t gossip about women, especially women I love—as friends—so get rid of that evil look, all right? I just wanted you to know up front how she felt about you.”
Humiliated beyond all reason, Ariel tried to inch away, anxious to escape. Without looking at her, Sam caught her wrist and kept her at his side. “Then you came back here the next morning and pretended outrage, reading me the riot act like…”
“Like a brother who loves you, yeah. I was trying to make it easy for you to give up, you know, salvage your pride and all that. I figured you could blame me or something since I pretty much figured you hadn’t told her that you love her.” He elbowed Gil hard. “But Gil here showed up and everything got off track.”
Ariel cleared her throat. “Really, none of this is necessary. I don’t expect Sam to—”
Sam cast her a look. “Get used to it, honey. They’re all pushy as hell, but they’re part of the package.”
“They are?”
His eyes narrowed. “My house, my rules. Love me, love my family.”
Her heart started a furious pounding and she couldn’t get a breath. “But…”
Sam gave up with visible bad grace. “I didn’t want to involve you in my life, all right? I didn’t want you to be at risk for being around me and with me. I didn’t want you always worried and afraid.” He touched her cheek, and Ariel felt the gentleness, the uncertainty. “You’re so soft, Ariel. And so sweet. You aren’t cut out for my life.”
Belinda scowled. “What am I, chopped liver? I’m your mother and I’m certainly a part of your life. You don’t consider me sweet or soft?” The venomous glare she gave her son kept him silent.