“What, sweetie?” Leti’s pretty friend, whose name I kept forgetting, asked. I felt like a jerk for not remembering, but I was too tipsy to retain anything other than how I was feeling about Sam.
“I’m just… I’m over the games. You know?” They nodded, and it made me a little dizzy, so I looked away, “College was for games and stuff… I’m graduated. Wait, I graduated.” There. I corrected myself.
“Oh brother,” Leti mumbled under her breath.
“I shouldn’t have to deal with bullshit. You know?”
“Babe, there are issues with Sam that I don’t think you—”
“I know all about it. Well, sorta. He’s shared some.” I sighed, resting my chin on my hand. “And I get it. I do,” I confessed, ignoring Leti and her friend’s confused looks , but it wasn’t my story to share. “I’m not asking for forever, like you and Brandon! You know? I’m not asking to be wooed on crazy dates like they do on The Bachelorette. I just…” I swallowed and blinked away the tears. “I want someone to care enough about me to try to be there.” How sad was that? “Being there isn’t about money or having your shit together. It’s about giving a shit. Especially when it’s hard.” My voice quickly lost its volume. “I didn’t have that after my mom died. My dad…”
“Was a dick.” Leti filled in, and the tears that were starting to pile up faded away and a smile crawled up on my face.
“Jesus, Leti!” Nina scolded, and I smiled, wiping away the wetness from my eyes.
“What? It’s true! Her dad’s a huge asshole,” Leti argued. “Macie is the shit, and he didn’t even go to ger graduation. No offense, Mace.”
“None taken.” I shrugged, smiling. “Anyhow, we hooked up with boundaries set up, and it made sense. It was only for the trip.” My tongue was way too loose.
“And now the lines are blurred?” Nina clued in, and I nodded.
“I know better, you know? You know I know better!”
“The heart wants what the heart wants,” Leti weirdly added. It surprised me because she wasn’t the sentimental type.
“Stupid, stupid heart,” I mumbled, finishing off my martini. When had I gotten to the bottom of that glass?
“You know what we need?” Leti’s friend, whose name again, for the fucking life of me, I couldn’t remember, chimed in. “We need to go dancing!” she said too excitedly, and I tilted my head in her direction, her suggestion marinating in my mind.
“Dancing? I don’t know…” Leave it to Nina to be the party pooper.
“Vegas has amazing clubs!” she shared. Rosalee! That was her name!
“We could go get new dresses and get all dolled up together.” Leti shrugged.
“And dance until our feet fall off!” Rosalee added, and I pointed at her.
“I like you.” I turned to my bestie. “Come on, Nina! Please! That sounds like so much fun!”
“Is this a girls thing or—”
“You can invite the guys.” Leti shrugged. “Brandon is going to be my bro-in-law, so he might as well know what kind of crazy comes along with you,” she teased, and Nina rolled her eyes.
“Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll call B and let him know.”
“YAY!” I cheered loudly, catching some stares from the other tables around us but not caring.
“But first you need to eat something,” she ordered, and I hugged her.
“Whatever you want, bestie friend ever.”
“Yeah, let’s get an extra breadbasket to soak up her lunch,” Leti mumbled, looking over her shoulder.
The men in my life might have been a hot mess, but thankfully the women in my life, my sisters from another mister, were the shiznit!
Chapter Eight
Macie
BY THE TIME we were done shopping and back at Leti and Rosalee’s hotel room, I was sober and smiling. Shopping had been a blast, but getting ready was even better! We got dressed and did one another’s hair, helping with makeup and hard-to-reach clasps. Before we knew it, the day had turned to night and we were meeting the guys at one of the bars downstairs.
“You sure?” Nina asked, and I smiled.
“Go have fun,” I reassured her. They wanted to gamble a little, and why not? It was Vegas after all. I just wasn’t in the mood. I’d already gambled enough with my heart the past week. A drink and a moment to think were exactly what I needed, and thankfully Nina could see that.
“Okay. If you change your mind, text me and we’ll find you,” she urged, and I nodded.
“Stop stressing. I’ll be right here. Go have fun. Put twenty”—I took a bill out of my clutch—“on red for me.”
“You got it.” She winked and walked away, the two girls ahead of her and Brandon waving bye before taking Nina’s hand as they disappeared into the crowded casino.
Sam hadn’t made it down for whatever reason, and it didn’t surprise me. We had left things on a weird note. For all I knew he had completely changed his mind about me. It wouldn’t be the first time a man had decided I wasn’t worth the time or effort.
I took a sip of the pretty drink I’d ordered and zoned out. Minute by minute passed as I people watched. People went and came in different states. Laughing and celebrating, somber and in between. Then the air shifted, and I knew he was near.
“You look fucking beautiful.” His familiar voice had my breath catching in my throat.
My hands clasped tightly around my Tequila Sunrise. I fought against the need to look at him, but I lost. I turned and I licked my lips. He was handsome. Masculine beauty to the umpteenth power. He hadn’t shaved, his scruffy jaw giving him a rugged appearance.
“Not so bad yourself, handsome.” I cleared the thickness away from my voice. God, he did things to me.
Sam Santino had style and swagger. In a light grey dress shirt that fit him like it was painted on, accentuating his broad shoulders and narrow waist, and navy-blue dress slacks with a great belt, the man could grace the pages of GQ without trying. He leaned in, and when his lips met mine, I relaxed. He’d kissed me. That had to mean something good, right?
“I missed you today,” he mumbled before nipping my bottom lip.
“Good,” I teased, feeling a little sassy and more confident with every kiss he stole.
He wouldn’t say he missed me if he didn’t mean it, right?
“We need to talk,” he announced, pulling away, and my smile stuttered, but his fingers held my chin up so I wouldn’t look away.
“Uh oh.” We need to talk were the words of death. It was never a good sign, and it might have made me an idiot, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to what could have been. “Sam…”
“Macie—” But I put my fingers to his lips. The confidence I’d felt was dwindling, and I didn’t want to lose it. Not completely.
“Can we leave the heavy to morning?”
“Baby?” He searched my eyes, and I shrugged.
“Whatever happens… I’ve had a great time with you. This week with you… I know this is going to sound stupid, but I’ve never felt more on the same page with anyone in my life.”
“Same, Cap.” I grinned.
“I’m not ready for it to end,” I whispered softly, but by the way his eyes softened, I knew he hadn’t missed my words. “Can we have one more night before we have to talk?”
“Anything you want, Cap.”
“Thanks.”
“Why are you at the bar alone?” he asked, searching my eyes.
“Just needed a drink.”
“Macie, are you feeling lucky?” he asked, twisting my barstool over so my body was in front of his. Something about the warmth and playfulness in his beautiful blues made me feel sassy.
“I don’t know, do I?”
“Oh, you are one lucky girl.” He leaned forward and nuzzled his nose against mine. “Tonight, Macie Marks, is going to be a night you will never forget,” he promised, and I leaned into him, letting him help me off my barstool. I let him take the lead because hell, he already had my heart.
Sam
The night had been a blur of drinks, dancing, and gambling.
I could still hear her laughter in my ears. Her smile and joy were burned into my memory and locked into my damn heart. I could see the sparkle in her eyes filled with warmth and affection in my mind’s eye. The feel of her body pressed up and tangled up with mine after we stumbled into the room and I ravished her body over and over, long past the sun rising. We’d both been insatiable, clinging to last moments of our trip.
“You’re up,” she whispered, and I smiled. I was dressed and sitting on a chair next to the bed where we’d shared magical moments together.
“I am.”
“You’re dressed.” She pulled the sheet up, covering her beauty from me, and I nodded.
“I don’t think we need to talk then,” she whispered, giving me a small smile. The defeated tone in her voice made my own heart hurt.
“Macie, baby—"
“It’s cool. I get it.” She took her eyes away from mine, and I knew she was building up her walls.
“I don’t think you do.” I grabbed her hand, and she didn’t pull it away. “I’ve never had roots anywhere.”
“Sam—"
“Please, let me say this, yeah?” I insisted, using my free hand to bring her face in my direction, her weary stare on me.
“Okay.” She swallowed hard, and I could see the fear. Fear of rejection and who knew what else.
“I’ve never had roots to anywhere or anyone. Not once did I want them.” When she glanced away, I knew what she was thinking, so I moved her chin up so she couldn’t look away from me. “Until you.” Her eyes widened and became glassy. “Until you, Macie Marks.” I moved her, wrapped up in a sheet, and sat her down on my lap, her sweet body warm and pliant. “Minute by minute, you got deeper and deeper under my skin. Making me want shit I have no business wanting.”
“Sam,” she whispered.
“I don’t want to say goodbye. Not even close, Cap. But I am man enough to tell you what I need. I need you to give me time. I need time for you to get to know me. Time for me to get my shit together. A job and a place of my own.”
“Let me guess, during this time, it’s okay for us to see other people and—“
“Fuck no!” I growled. The idea of any asshole even looking in my girl’s direction made my blood boil. Her brows rose at my reaction. “I’m an all-in kind of guy, Mace.”
“I haven’t had coffee yet, Sam, and after last night, I’m a little tired. So, you’re gonna have to explain it to me like I’m five.”
“That means I wanna be able to hand you the world, and it kills me I can’t,” I confessed.
“And I told you I didn’t need that. I’ve been around money my entire life—"
“Shh, Cap, breathe. Relax. You might not, but I do. Growing up, I knew the people watching me only did it for the money or credit. I need to be in a slightly better place. All I’m asking for is some time. I’ve never let myself dream of having anything like what I know I could have with you.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself,” she mumbled. I wasn’t able to read her expression, but I wasn’t fucking around. After she’d left with the girls, yesterday I’d sat and stared out the floor-to-ceiling window and thought about what she’d said. Processing what I knew about her and what I wanted. I’d made a decision.
I was going to keep her.
I’d create roots and a home with her because she owned me. Heart and fucking soul she owned me so much I was talking about happily-ever-after. I wasn’t sure how the hell it happened, but it had. After talking to Brandon, I decided how to approach the situation. I hadn’t planned on a woman like Macie Marks entering my life, one who with every minute that ticked away seemed to engrain herself into me and burrow in deep. A woman who, minute by minute, chipped away all my defenses and made me want to be a better man. All without even trying!
“When it comes to you, how I feel about you, Macie, I’m being real with you. I don’t have any fucking doubts. If you have them about me, Mace, it’s okay. I’ll work on helping to clear them up. I just need time.” I was done playing games and was ready for more. Her hand squeezed my shoulders and moved to the back of my neck.
“So, you want time?”
“Time,” I repeated. “Time to spend with you, get this thing between us off with a solid foundation. And get my stuff straight,” I said honestly and waited.
“I can do that,” she whispered, light burning bright in her beautiful gaze.
“When I was planning my life, I didn’t see you as a possibility, Macie. Great fucking things happen without you planning on them, honey.” My voice was thick with honesty, and she exhaled slowly. Tears and a smile on her face were the last thing I saw before she kissed me.
Epilogue
Macie
Three months later . . .
“WILL YOU DANCE with me?” he asked, looking incredibly handsome in his tuxedo. He was incredibly irresistible. But somehow in the last three months, I had been good and had kept my hands to myself.
“Sam,” I started, trying to explain how if he held my hand I might automatically self-combust into an orgasmic puddle of putty. It might have sounded a tad dramatic, but the man was one hundred percent a walking, talking sexual temptation.
One I hadn’t had in three months.
But I understood why, and I appreciated what we had on a whole other level. A very real level. One I didn’t know was possible.
Three months of both of us getting our lives started in California and starting a very solid relationship hadn’t been easy. But there we were. Three months later, solid and happy. No games, just honesty about what we felt. We butted heads sometimes, but oddly enough, we handled it like adults and talked them out.
A week after arriving and settling in, Nina and I started our new jobs, and I loved my position at U of D. It was exciting and challenging. Sam, on the other hand, had had a tough time figuring it out, but he had landed a great security job with an old Marine buddy of his and was loving his day-to-day there. A month ago, he had moved out of the apartment he shared with Brandon. His own place was only three miles away from mine.
The foundation we were creating was solid. I was his and he was mine. No question about it.
But as his fingers tangled with mine, each step we took taking us closer and closer to the dance floor, I was ready to tell him I needed more. Nina and Brandon’s wedding reception was in full swing. Everyone was dancing and laughing, having a great time as champagne flowed. Right as we slowed and he brought me into his arms, the song changed.
Something slower and familiar.
“It’s the first song we danced to,” he softly said into my ear as we started to sway to the music. The reminder of that beautiful night was so sweet it made me smile. “I don’t know how I didn’t see it, but I think I fell in love with you that night, Macie Marks. I was already far gone as it was—”
“Sam,” I whispered, searching his eyes, but there it was. Clear as day the love I felt for him reflecting right back at me. I’d known I was head over heels in love with him for a while; I just had been too much of a chicken shit to say it out loud. Afraid to mess things up. “I love you too,” I whispered, trying not to cry like a baby.
“Thank you for giving me what I needed so we could be where we are right now,” he rasped, and stupid happy tears flowed. He wiped away each one with the pad of his thumb.
“Thank you for loving me like you do.” And I meant that. It might have been the first time we had said the words, but it didn’t mean we didn’t show one another how much we cared.
The most beautiful things happened when you least expected them. My life with Sam Santino was greater than anyone could ever dream.
Sam
Three months later . . .
I knocked on the enormous door, trying to ignore the frigid Connecticut weather. A case had brought me to the East Coast, and this was something I needed to do before I headed home.
The door opened, an
d a tall older man with Macie’s eyes stood there looking at me through narrowed eyes.
“Can I help you?” he asked, but I could see he knew exactly who I was. Maybe he was less disinterested than Macie was led to believe.
“My name is Sam Santino, Mr. Marks.”
“Dr. Marks,” he corrected, crossing his arms in front of him. “And I know who you are. Come in.” He stepped back, and I walked in. The house was huge and over the top. As I looked at the foyer and the opulent wealth that surrounded them in those walls, it made me sad for Macie. He could have given his daughter everything but the one thing she needed. Love.
“Is she okay?” he finally asked, and I nodded.
“She’s great,” I shared. “I was around here for a job and felt the need to introduce myself. Though you know who I am.”
“She shares pictures on her social media, Mr. Santino. You two are not a secret.”
“Very true, but you’re a ghost.”
“Excuse me?” he bristled, and I put my hand out to gentle the blow.
“No offense, Dr. Marks, but you have been a ghost since Macie lost her mother.”
“Who do you—”
“I get it. The idea of losing what I have with Macie kills me. I wouldn’t have a clue how to live without her. But you two had her. A piece of both of you, of the love that you two shared. If I had that, a child we made together, and lost her, I would protect her. No way would I leave her to the wolves.”
“Look around you, Mr. Santino. She was hardly raised by wolves.”
“No, no, you’re right. She was just raised by ghosts. A shell of the man who was supposed to be there for her no matter what.”
“I don’t need to hear—"
“I love her,” I cut him off. No way I would leave without saying what I needed to say. “I love her with everything I am. I didn’t even believe in love until I met her. You have no idea how easy she is to love. I wish you did. Wholeheartedly, I do. Because life is brighter with her in it.” I swallowed hard and shrugged. “Anyhow, I’m not here to ask for permission because a man like you looking at a man like me, I know what you see. Some punk with no people, no huge fortune or trust fund, and that’s fine. You don’t know me. I’m here because I wanted you to know I love your daughter. I’m going to ask her to marry me. We’re going to have kids and a big hairy dog. The kind she always wanted growing up but your ice queen of a second wife always said no to and you didn’t have the balls to say shit about.”
Minute by Minute (Timeless Series Book 2) Page 6