by Anthology
When his senses returned to him, Trent rolled to the side and pulled Samantha with him so she was lying with her head on his chest. Her hair, tousled from their romp, spread over his chest and tickled him in a pleasant way. The sexy vixen of only moments ago was replaced with yet another side of the woman he hadn’t seen yet. There was so much to her, it was as if he was always discovering something completely new about her. It was fascinating and very intriguing.
He lifted his hand and stroked her head, letting his hand trail down her back so he could pull her closer into his embrace. As if their coupling hadn’t been enough, the need to be close to her, touching her had only increased.
Dammit. The thought flew through his head. It was supposed to be a scratch. That was it. Just enough to satisfy the itch he felt every time he saw her. Nothing more. He didn’t want a relationship with her. Not with anyone. That whole idea of love and commitment might work for Dylan, but that wasn’t in his future.
Yet he’d just considered the L word.
He tensed. His hand froze on her back and he knew the exact moment Samantha felt it too. She stiffened in his embrace but despite whatever turmoil was going on in his head, he wasn’t ready to let her go. In fact, at that moment, he couldn’t be sure he’d ever be ready to let her go.
Forcing himself to relax and shut off his mind so he could enjoy the moment, he continued rubbing her back, but it was too late. The mood was broken.
Samantha shifted and wiggled away from him leaving behind a cold spot where the heat of her had been.
“In a hurry?” He propped himself up on his elbow, trying really hard to come across as casual and unaffected, even though what he really wanted to do was grab her and pull her back on top of him to show her exactly what her presence did to him.
“I have to…this was…I should go.” She wouldn’t make eye contact with him. Hell, she wouldn’t even turn in his direction. Instead, he watched, unsure of what to do while she scooped up her jeans, tugging them over her legs, not bothering to locate her panties.
“Samantha…” What was he going to say? He had no idea. All he knew was he didn’t want her to go. Even if it had been in a boathouse, sex with her had been…intense was the only word he could think of. But logically, of course she had to leave. Hell, if he was thinking straight, which he so clearly was not, he should be hightailing it out of there, too. After all, he’d told himself it would only be once, and by the frantic way she was moving around the boathouse, that’s all their coupling had meant to her, too.
Suddenly feeling very exposed, Trent hopped off the stack of sails and grabbed his jeans, pulling them on right as she located her t-shirt.
He felt a pang of regret as the cotton slid over her luscious breasts. They’d fit in his hands absolutely perfectly, never mind the way she’d responded to his touch on her. No. He shook his head and forced himself to focus on the moment, which was rapidly slipping out of his control.
Her face was impossible to read as she swept her hair up into a ponytail.
“No.” He grabbed her hand before she could slip the elastic around her hair. “Leave it down. It’s beautiful.”
To his surprise, she dropped her hand and let her tousled hair fall around her shoulders. But he still didn’t release her. With his free hand, he cupped her cheek and traced his thumb across her soft skin. When she sank into his touch and closed her eyes, he asked, “What are you rushing back to? Didn’t I give you an assistant to take care of the details?”
“Shit. Jules.” Her eyes sprang open and she tried to jerk away from him, but Trent held her arm and pulled her against his chest, holding her against his bare skin.
“Not so fast.” Before she could protest, and he knew she would, he kissed her deeply and thoroughly to give not only her, but also himself, something to remember their boathouse rendezvous with.
When she finally pulled away, there was an unreadable expression on her face, and for a split second, he was worried she might cry. But then her face changed, and the tough Samantha he’d come to know was back. “I trust you can find your own way out?”
He nodded, even though it was clear she wasn’t looking for an answer.
“Good.” She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and nibbled on the corner in a way that was so completely sexy, Trent had to shove his hands in his back pockets to keep from grabbing her again. The woman was out-of-control desirable. Even more so because she didn’t seem to have any idea of what she did to him. “I guess I should…” She gestured to the door.
“Yeah.” He nodded again. “I guess you should.” He wanted to take the words back and tell her that she shouldn’t go. That they should stay there in the musty boathouse and hide for a little while longer. But he didn’t. That would be encouraging something he couldn’t follow through on. And that would only lead to trouble.
“Okay.” She nodded. “I’ll see you—”
“At the festival. The band has the details. They’ll check in with you by two tomorrow.”
“Great.”
The awkwardness between them pained him. Samantha had already turned to leave so she didn’t see him step forward and reach out to her. And she was already out the door, walking away from him when he let his arm drop. She was gone.
~ ~
What had she done? It was totally unlike her to give in to such ridiculous urges. Sam quickly glanced around as she put as much distance between her and the boathouse, and Trent, as possible.
Jules was still down at the lake with the other kids. They were close to the boathouse—too close. Would they have heard anything? Seen anything?
“Oh God.”
She ran her hands through her hair, pulling it back from her face. She was such an idiot to think she could have a quickie with a man who made her tremble just by looking at her. Or a quickie with anyone, for that matter. Damn Archer and his stupid advice. But it was done. She couldn’t turn back time and take it back.
And she wouldn’t even if she could. Sam knew that in her bones. Even if it had been a mistake, sex with Trent was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. There was a connection between them. She could see it in the way he looked at her, in the way he—
“No,” she chastised herself. “No more.” She had to stop because if she didn’t, she’d be running right back into the boathouse and into his—
“No more what?”
Sam jumped and would have screamed if it wasn’t her best friend standing next to her. She hadn’t even seen her coming across the lawn toward her. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
Beth laughed and rolled her eyes. “I hardly snuck up on you. I was right in front of you.” She waved in the direction she’d come from. “You look a bit…preoccupied,” Beth finished with a raise of her eyebrow.
“I am.” Sam glanced back toward the boathouse, hoping the move was subtle, and hoping even more that Trent didn’t choose that moment to leave. Especially if he didn’t have his shirt on yet. She shook her head clear of the thought of his hard, smooth chest. She had to focus. “Come on.” She grabbed Beth’s arm, spun her around and headed toward the bar. “Did you come to help?”
“I came to pick up Jules, actually. Where is she?”
“She’s down at the beach. I pointed out some kids for her to hang out with.”
“And she did?” Beth stopped short, causing Sam to jar her arm. She released her friend and rubbed at it.
“She did. It’s good for her.”
Beth spun to see if she could catch a glimpse of her daughter hanging out with kids her own age. “That’s great. She looks…happy.”
“She is.” Sam took Beth’s arm again and walked. “We should go.” The kids were skipping rocks right beside the boathouse. If they stood and watched much longer, there was no doubt Beth would get an eyeful of Trent. He had to come out sooner or later.
“What’s your hurry anyway?” Her best friend eyed her suspiciously, but walked with her. Her friend knew her too well, and unless she wanted to out
herself, which she didn’t, there was no other way around it.
“It’s the festival.” It wasn’t totally a lie. “It’s got me all worked up.”
“Oh, really?” She batted her eyes innocently. “And I suppose this tousled look you’ve got going on here, along with that very gorgeous man who happens to be my boss who I just saw sneaking out of the boathouse, has nothing to do with getting you all worked up.”
Sam stopped in front of the Grizzly Paw and stared at her friend. “What are you—”
“Don’t even try to deny it.” Beth smiled and fluffed Sam’s hair. “You have ‘I just had wild passionate sex’ written all over you.”
Sam shook her head away from Beth and headed up the stairs without bothering to respond. She went straight to the bar and poured herself a shot of whiskey.
“That bad, huh?” Beth caught up with her and plopped herself down on a stool, leaning on her elbow.
“Yes. I mean, no.” She raised the glass. “I mean, I don’t know.”
Beth’s hand reached out and gently brought the shot glass down. “Spill.”
There was nothing to spill, but only because Sam couldn’t sort through the swirl of feelings herself. But Beth waited for an answer. “It was amazing,” she said, her voice quiet. The idea of whiskey had lost its appeal, so she pushed it away. “I can’t even explain it but it was…”
“What?”
She released a sigh and searched for the right word. “It was like he knew me. Like, really knew me.” She waved her sentimentality away with a huff and straightened her shoulders. “It’s stupid. I’m being such a girl about it.”
“You are a girl.”
“But not like this. It was supposed to be a one-time thing. Just to get him out of my head, you know?”
“I don’t. But that doesn’t mean anything.” Beth shrugged and Sam was reminded that her friend was a single mom, and she probably shouldn’t be talking about random sex with someone who was probably too busy to even think about sex. “Seriously.” Beth leaned forward on her elbows in rapt attention. “Tell me. I need to live vicariously through you. And I have a feeling this is going to be good.”
“What’s going to be good?” Archer appeared from the kitchen, a towel slung over his shoulder.
There was no way she was going to talk about it with Archer. Especially because it was his fault she was feeling whatever it was that she was feeling in the first place. If she hadn’t listened to him and just kept ignoring Trent and how he made her feel, she wouldn’t be standing there contemplating how exactly she was going to be able to see him again without wanting to drag him right back into bed. And that was not okay.
“Well?” Archer looked between the two women, but Sam kept her mouth firmly shut. Beth broke the silence.
“Sam was just about to tell me about sex with Trent and why it has her all twisted up in knots.”
She tossed a paper coaster at her supposed best friend, which had the not so dramatic effect of falling flat in front of her.
“So you went for it?” Archer asked. “I can’t believe it.”
“Neither can I.”
“No, I mean, I can’t believe you took my advice.” Archer nodded in self-satisfaction. “After all these years, finally something rubbed off.”
“And it had to be this.” The room was too hot. She tugged her hair back into a messy ponytail. It didn’t matter if Trent liked it down; in fact, maybe that was the point. She needed to clear him from her head. “Of all the stupid advice you’ve given me, I had to listen to that.”
Eyeing the shot of whiskey, he picked it up and quickly tossed it back, earning a glare from Sam. “It wasn’t stupid. You had sex, didn’t you?”
“I don’t think I need to answer that question.”
“I’m still waiting for details.” Beth leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.
They both ignored her. “Then mission accomplished,” Archer said. “Like I said, you’re young and beautiful. What’s the harm?”
“Especially when there’s so much heat between you,” Beth chimed in.
Her face burned, remembering just how much heat there’d been. But it was more than that. It was the way he looked at her, and caressed her back, not wanting her to go.
“Why are you so upset?” Archer continued. “It’s just sex.”
“That’s just it.” Sam shook her head and looked up at her friends, unshed tears blurring their faces in her vision. “I don’t think that’s all it was.”
CHAPTER 9
Trent looked at his watch for at least the dozenth time. Only eleven in the morning. Way too early to go down to the festival. Heck, the festival wouldn’t even start for another six hours or so, and with the band organized and set to arrive around two, there was nothing for him to do. Except wait. And pretend to work when all he really wanted to do was see Samantha. Besides, things weren’t really going to start up until the sun started to set.
He stared at the papers in front of him. Carmen had brought in the latest bookings an hour earlier, and he liked what he saw. Some well-placed ads in the health and lifestyle section of some of the top newspapers in the United States were obviously working. The Springs was just far enough away in Canada to be exotic, but close enough to keep traveling expenses down. Besides, people were willing to pay for the healing powers of the natural hot spring water, especially when it was offered up in an elegant and comfortable atmosphere. And that’s exactly what he had to offer. The Braxtons would be happy to see the numbers. In fact, there was no point waiting to tell them the news.
It was the perfect distraction to get his mind off Samantha and the way she’d moved underneath him, responding to every touch, every—enough. With determination, Trent punched in the numbers to his direct line and lifted the receiver waiting for Sam Braxton, the patriarch of the family, to pick up. It would probably be easier if he skipped over Les and went straight to the top.
“Harrison.” The man’s booming voice traveled over the line. “I was just thinking about you.”
“And I, you.” Trent smiled at his easy lie. The truth was, the Braxtons were good investors. They kept their nose out of the general operations, for the most part anyway. But their working relationship was a good one, and Trent liked and respected both of them, even if they did get in his way sometimes. “I have some good news for you.”
“There’s nothing I like better. Except maybe a single malt scotch and a beautiful woman.”
“I think you’ll like my news better.” Trent chuckled and forced his mind away from one very specific beautiful woman. “How about the fact that for the first three months of operation, the Springs is on target to see almost eighty percent booking?”
“Eighty?”
He heard the hesitation in the other man’s voice. “That’s above industry standard, Braxton. And that’s just the projected number. The way the bookings are coming in, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that number go up by the end of the month. All in all, things are looking really good.”
“And you boys are on track for opening tomorrow?”
Tomorrow. Wow, that had snuck up. Especially since his primary focus had been on Samantha.
“Of course.” He tried to sound more confident then he felt. “Dylan’s taking care of most of the last-minute details, but I have no doubt it will be perfect.”
“I agree,” Sam said. “I’ve never had anything but the utmost confidence in you both.”
Really? Trent shook his head, happy they were speaking over the phone and the other man couldn’t see him rolling his eyes. It wasn’t long ago they’d had a conversation about building trust within the community and how they’d better get their numbers up. Trent shook his head and smiled. It didn’t matter.
“And you’ll be happy to know the Springs is playing a pivotal role in the town solstice festival tonight,” he couldn’t resist adding. “We’ve provided the band and of course most of the staff will be in attendance to show support.”
“
Sounds great. I wish I could be there but I know you’ll handle everything.”
“Yes sir, I will.”
“Good. Now stop wasting your time talking to me and go take care of something.”
Trent smiled as he hung up and his mind immediately went over his mental to-do list. But the temptation to blow it off was strong. Especially because all he really wanted to do was find Samantha. But she’d be busy with her own stuff, and the festival was important to her. He needed to leave her alone to get her work done.
But that was all he was going to leave her alone for. The decision had hit him sometime in the middle of the night. He may not know what it was with Samantha, but he knew what it wasn’t. It wasn’t a one-time thing. She was definitely not the type of woman to have a casual fling with. Even if she had tried to act tough the day before in the boathouse, he’d seen through it. And more than that, more importantly perhaps, he wanted more with her.
Somewhere around four in the morning when he’d finally given up on any chance of real sleep, the solution to his problem had come to him. He was trying way too hard to keep her at arms’ length when all he really wanted to do was wrap her up in his arms and kiss her until she dropped all her defenses. He’d heard his father’s voice in his head telling him to stay away from relationships long enough. It was time to listen to his heart. Just because it hadn’t worked out between him and Britt, years ago, didn’t mean his father was right. He’d been a kid. And Britt wasn’t Samantha. Not by a long shot. This was different. He knew it in his gut.
Once he’d made the decision, his mind settled and sleep came to him. Now all he had to do was make it through the day. He slid a pile of papers across the desk. But first, before any work, he had one more call to make.
He dialed the number he’d memorized and wasn’t surprised when it wasn’t Samantha who answered the phone, but her cook, Archer. His first impression of the man had been a good one, made even better after eating the burger he cooked. And Trent knew that his message to Samantha would be in good hands.