A Little Secret About Love

by Karice Bolton

  “No way.” Autumn shook her head. “And if it ever did slip, I’d tell you immediately.”

  “You sure?”

  “Positive. Why?”

  Dina shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m probably just reading too much into things. A leopard doesn’t change his spots.”

  Autumn rolled her eyes. “No, but a leopard can decide to be a better leopard regardless of what he looks like.”

  Dina stared at her friend, baffled, but didn’t bother to ask for clarification. Her stomach was growling too much.

  “So why didn’t you ever tell me about this buffet?” she asked.

  “You’ve been pretty swamped since you arrived, and if you remember, I did try to invite you to lunch. I just didn’t tell you where.”

  As the guys headed back to the table with full plates, Dina and Autumn got in line.

  “So how are you feeling?” Autumn whispered.

  “Still tired, but not stressed about why any longer. I actually started to think I had walking pneumonia or something.”

  Autumn chuckled as she piled two enchiladas and a scoop of refried beans on her plate.

  “Well, I’m glad that got resolved, but I have a feeling this is going to last a lot longer than that.”

  “You don’t say?” Dina laughed, scooping guacamole onto her enchiladas and chimichanga.

  “I do.”

  Dina followed Autumn back to the table and was introduced to several people who’d joined Sam and Joel. Most worked at the resort, but there was a gal, Sandra, who owned one of the local clothing boutiques down the road. She seemed nice enough, but she also seemed to have a real interest in Sam.

  Which was totally fine.

  No skin off Dina’s back.

  “So Sam told me you used to live in Los Angeles?” Sandra plastered a smile on her face and cocked her head in feigned interest.

  “I did.” Dina nodded and glanced at Sam, who was chatting with his brother.

  “Must be quite the change, living here.” Sandra took a bite of beans. “I could never live in a big city.”

  “It’s a change but a good one.” Dina nodded and glanced at Autumn whose mouth curled slightly.

  “I’m surprised as a designer you’d want to be here, but more power to you.” Sandra glanced at Sam before turning her attention back to Dina. “Being single in a town this small has its downside.”

  “Well, I’ve kind of given up on the whole relationship thing.” Dina leaned into the table and lowered her voice. “I’ve already been engaged five times so I’m burned out on finding that special someone.”

  “Yet, you sell wedding dresses?” Sandra asked.

  “The irony is not lost on Dina, believe me.” Autumn chuckled and winked.

  “Yes, irony has been sewn into every piece of fabric I call my life.”

  “So you have no interest in dating anyone?” Sandra’s shoulders relaxed slightly at this piece of news.

  “Dating isn’t a priority and—”

  “Margarita time.” Sandra clapped her hands as a server brought over a large pitcher and set it on the table. “Here, let me pour you one.”

  Sandra motioned for the glass next to Dina’s plate, and Dina shook her head.

  “No, I really can’t. I’ve got a busy afternoon back at the shop.”

  “Oh, come on.” Sandra motioned for the glass. “Just one won’t hurt.”

  Dina laughed, realizing what it was that Sandra had decided to celebrate. Dina’s apparent lack of interest in Sam North.

  “Nope. I’m a complete fuddy-dud.” Dina shook her head. “Have two for me.”

  “You? A fuddy-dud?” Sam’s blue eyes connected with Dina’s, and her heart nearly tumbled out of her chest. “Not on your worst day.”

  Sandra’s neck nearly snapped off as she watched Sam give Dina his full attention, which only made Autumn pour herself a margarita as she took in the show.

  “Hey, Autumn.” Sam poured a margarita and took a sip. “Do you remember the first day you tried to push me and Dina together?”

  “Huh?” Autumn’s brows flew into her bangs.

  “At your engagement party? You told me I was the one who needed to be careful when it came to Dina? Not the other way around.” A wry grin spread across his expression.

  “I don’t remember that at all,” Autumn muttered, taking another sip as crimson spread across her cheeks.

  “You told him he was the one who had to be careful of me?” Dina laughed and shook her head.

  “She also told me that you knew how to ski.” Sam nodded. “Do you believe that? Let’s see, she said she met you up at Lake Tahoe because she’d accidentally spilled a drink on you.”

  “Well, that part was true, but as you know the skiing part isn’t.” Dina glanced at her best friend who looked completely guilty.

  “I thought you’re not interested in dating?” Sandra piped up.

  “Oh, I’m not.” Dina grinned.

  “She says that now, but she just hasn’t fallen for the ol’ Sam charm yet.”

  “I tend to avoid dating people who refer to themselves in the third person,” Dina confessed, while Sandra scowled at her.

  “Sam’s not sure what to make of that.” Sam laughed.

  “And neither is Joel.” Joel patted his brother’s back. “Better luck next time.”

  “Let’s just hope there is a next time for poor old Sam.” Sam let out a sigh, and Sandra stood up abruptly.

  “I’ve got to get back to the shop.” Sandra’s eyes darted to Dina’s. “It was nice meeting you.”

  “You too.” Dina smiled but Sandra had already left the table.

  “You’re making friends all over town.” Autumn giggled.

  “What did I miss?” Sam asked, taking another sip of margarita.

  “Quite a lot.” Autumn grinned at him. “But don’t worry. Autumn will give you the Cliff Notes version later.”

  “Guys, please stop it, or Dina will become very confused,” Dina teased.

  She peeked at Sam who was watching her carefully, and she wondered if he suspected something or if she just wanted him to so she didn’t have to face the hard part of telling him everything he’d tried so hard to avoid all these years was about to pop up in his life. She dropped her gaze to the pile of guacamole and suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to be sick.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “You feeling any better? You don’t look as green.” Autumn sat at the end of the couch with a sympathetic expression.

  “I’m feeling a lot better.” Dina scooted up the couch and let out a heavy sigh. “You don’t think they know, do you?”

  “No. I don’t think the men know that you’re pregnant or that you weren’t feeling good.”

  “What makes you sure?” Dina asked, rubbing her forehead before taking a sip of water.

  She couldn’t believe the nausea that had slammed into her with such force and so out of the blue. Although, she was pretty certain she’d never be able to look at an avocado the same way again.

  “If Sam or Joel even had an inkling you were feeling ill, they would have shut the whole buffet line down. Now, Anton…” Autumn chuckled. “I’m not sure what all he figured out. He was watching you pretty carefully.”

  Dina laughed and nodded. “Makes sense. Nothing seems to get by Anton. I can’t believe how bad I felt.”

  Autumn grimaced and tucked her left foot under her. “It might only be the beginning.”

  “What? You think it might be morning sickness?”

  “Possibly.”

  Dina shuddered. “I thought it was because I was worried about ruining Sam’s life.”

  “Ruining his life?” Autumn repeated in shock. “You could never ruin Sam’s life. If he’s not smart enough to embrace what’s about to happen to him that’s his problem, not yours.”

  Dina shrugged and let out a deep breath. “That sounds good in theory, but that’s not how life works.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  Dina�
�s brow rose and Autumn laughed.

  “Well, maybe the news will be a little surprising to him at first.” Autumn sucked on her bottom lip.

  “Surprising? More like ripping away his freedom and—.”

  “We can’t automatically assume he won’t be at least a little excited,” she interrupted.

  “I hope so.” Dina’s shoulders collapsed in exhaustion at the thought of the conversation.

  “When do you think you’re going to tell him?” Autumn tucked her other foot underneath her and grabbed a pillow to hug.

  “I thought I’d wait until I went to the doctor. The OB/GYN couldn’t get me in for six weeks. I guess that’s kind of typical.”

  “So around Thanksgiving.” Autumn nodded and silence sat between them for a few seconds. “The North brothers are all responsible. You’ll be taken care of. Both of you will be taken care of.”

  “I don’t doubt it.” Dina let out a sigh and grabbed her own pillow to hug. “But that’s not the position I want to be in. I never thought that I’d have a child and the dad may or may not be happy about it. I’ll take care of me and my baby no matter what.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a second. I know this isn’t exactly how you imagined your happily-ever-after.” Autumn shifted on the couch. “But you’ve always wanted kids.”

  “True.” Dina nodded. “But I also wanted to be married. Isn’t it ironic the one time I decide to throw caution to the wind and have a one-night stand, I get pregnant?”

  “Ironic, maybe. Typical for you? Completely.” Autumn laughed as Dina smacked her with the pillow. “Boy, I have never seen that side of Sandra before.”

  “Really?” Dina leaned forward to grab her pillow back. “Do you think Sam’s slept with her? Not that it matters. I mean we’re not attached.”

  “No. I know for a fact he never has. He looks at her as a friend.”

  “Seems to be a theme.”

  “What do you mean?” Autumn asked, shaking her legs out in front of her.

  “I think he collects female friends.”

  “You think you’re in the friend pool?” Autumn laughed. “Not even close.”

  “It’s not like he’s beating down my door.”

  “Have you really cleared the path for him to do so?” she asked, standing up and stretching.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It wasn’t until recently that you’d even hold down a conversation with him.”

  “And look how far I’ve come.” Dina giggled, patting her belly. “From zero to sixty in a nanosecond and with a child.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Autumn walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Want an avocado?”

  Dina flashed a dirty look in Autumn’s direction as another wave of nausea washed over Dina. “Not even a little funny.”

  “Seriously? That made you sick? Just mentioning the little green fruit? Or is it a vegetable?” Autumn laughed, and Dina clutched her stomach.

  “Really not funny.”

  “Oh, my word. You’re not kidding.”

  “No, I’m not kidding.” Dina stood up and walked over to the fridge that Autumn was staring into and grabbed the milk.

  “Want some?” Dina asked.

  “Nah. I should probably get going or Joel will start to wonder what happened to me.”

  “Did you really tell Sam I knew how to ski?” Dina asked.

  “I might have fibbed a little about that.”

  “A little?”

  “Okay, a lot.” Autumn laughed.

  Dina polished off her milk and set the glass on the counter just as she saw Sam walk up the porch.

  “Oh, no,” Dina whispered.

  “What? Is it the avocado again?”

  “Quit talking about the avocado, Autumn. I’m not kidding,” Dina said sternly. “But no. It’s not. Sam’s here. Do I look okay?”

  “You look beautiful.”

  “I would have settled for okay at this point.”

  “Then yes. You look okay.” Autumn gave Dina a quick hug before wandering to the door and opening it wide.

  “Fancy running into you here, Autumn.” Just the sound of Sam’s voice made Dina’s world a little brighter.

  “I could say the same thing,” she teased, sliding past him. “Go on inside. I was just leaving.”

  Sam gave a quick nod and glanced at Dina. He looked a little apprehensive as he stepped inside.

  “You left so suddenly, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “Doing great,” Dina lied. “I’d remembered I had to take care of something back at home.”

  Sam nodded and shut the door behind him.

  “So, I feel really bad.” Sam slid his beanie off and rolled it up in his hands.

  “About what?” Dina sat down on the couch and invited him over.

  He took a seat in the chair near the fireplace and kept his gaze on Dina.

  “I didn’t know Sandra…” He cut himself off.

  “Sandra what?” Dina prompted.

  “That she might have a thing for me.”

  Dina laughed and shook her head. “Sam North, I’m beginning to think just about everyone has a thing for you.”

  “Do you?” His voice lowered, and there was something so sensual about the way he looked at her that she could barely stand it. “Do you have a thing for me, Dina?”

  “I—” She grabbed the pillow again and held it close.

  This wasn’t where she thought the conversation was going to go.

  When he realized she had no plans to finish her sentence, he started again.

  “I didn’t realize she was so territorial. I thought we were only friends, and I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, if I did. If that’s why you left so suddenly, I’m really sorry.” He rolled up his beanie even tighter as he watched her and waited for her to say something. “I feel like I just keep parading women around in front of you and that’s not my intention.”

  “It’s not intentional. You’ve lived here a long time…your whole life, so it’s not like people aren’t going to be protective of you or possibly have dated you or wished they’d dated you.” She drew in a deep breath and smiled. “You’re quite the catch.”

  Sam’s laughter filled the air. “Catch of the Day. That’s me.”

  “Probably more like Catch of the Century, but whatever.” She chuckled. “But seriously. You don’t have to worry about my feelings at all. I know you’re a single man living the single life. That’s why you were the perfect person to get me to dip my toe back in the dating pond. You’re completely skilled and experienced.”

  Sam smiled and shook his head slowly. “So you’re back in the dating pond?”

  Dina caught a glimpse of something behind his gaze, but she couldn’t quite tell what it was.

  “Thankfully, the pond doesn’t seem all that big in Silver Ridge.” She grinned. “But I don’t have time for any of that, and the thought of having to deal with someone else’s stuff is exhausting.” She wasn’t sure if she totally believed the lines she was delivering to Sam North.

  “Interesting.” He scratched his chin and leaned back in the chair.

  “What’s interesting?” An odd fluttering sensation bounced around in her belly, but she knew it had absolutely nothing to do with the baby and everything to do with how Sam was looking at her.

  “I think I’m still caught up on being…what did you call me? Skilled.” Sam’s smile widened.

  Dina laughed and tossed a pillow in his direction.

  “You know you’re skilled in that area.” She narrowed her eyes on him.

  “In what area in particular?” His brow quirked slightly.

  “Don’t make me say it, Sam. I won’t say it.”

  He stood up and walked over to her on the couch, not taking his eyes off her.

  The current running through the air made it nearly impossible for Dina to focus. He looked really good, and she suddenly wanted a repeat of whatever Sam wanted to give.

  Sam knelt dow
n in front of her and placed the pillow she’d tossed at him back on the couch.

  “I know you’ve been trying to keep things light between us.” Sam cupped her hands in his.

  “It’s the best thing,” she breathed out. “For both of us.”

  “Do you really feel that way, Dina?”

  The intensity in his eyes sent a quiver through her as she tried to find words, any words, to keep him at a distance.

  “Because if you do, I won’t keep bothering you.”

  “You’re not bothering me,” she stammered, feeling his grip tighten around her hands. “I just don’t want to get hurt. I went into that night with you knowing there wouldn’t be any more like it.”

  “I didn’t go into that night thinking that.” He drew a deep breath and lessened his grip, letting his hands fall onto her lap.

  “But you’re used to situations like that.” She shook her head and smiled.

  “Contrary to popular belief, my life isn’t comprised of one big sex act.” His brows furrowed, but a smile touched his lips.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean for it to sound quite like that.” She laughed. “Anyway, I’ve done a lot of thinking and—”

  Before she had a chance to finish her sentence, Sam leaned forward and softly kissed her, sending all the reasons for why she needed to stay away right out the window.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I can’t get a read on her.” Sam sighed and glanced at Joel. “One minute, I think she’s interested, and the next, I think she can’t run away fast enough.”

  “Maybe that’s why you’re so interested in her.” Joel grinned “Finally a woman who doesn’t fall down at your feet and worship you.”

  Sam laughed and shook his head. “I’m not into that.”

  “Really,” Joel said flatly.

  Sam ignored his brother and glanced in his grandmother’s direction. She was dressed as a skeleton. Even though Sam knew it was Halloween, it was always startling to see people wandering around town with their costumes on, and Grandma Martha was no exception. She was busy training a new high school student how to run the cash register for the bakery and, thankfully, was plenty occupied.

  “The worst part of this whole thing is that I swear to God every time I see Dina, she gets more beautiful than the last.”