To Win Her Back

by Mackenzie Crowne

  I only bite during sex. Lord, what was that about?

  To her relief, he’d left for East Texas U to tender his resignation shortly after she’d arrived this morning. She didn’t expect him to be gone all day, but a smart woman didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. The morning had passed with relatively little stress, and she was grateful for his absence.

  As she had several times throughout the morning, she paused outside the closed door to Sam’s bedroom. So far, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to enter his private domain. Each time she’d talked herself into opening the damn door to pack up his things, her mind had conjured one unpleasant scenario after another. Like Sam returning home at the precise moment she stood in his closet with her nose pressed to one of his sweaters, sniffing for signs of the woodsy musk cologne he still seemed to prefer.

  Or worse, finding some faceless woman’s lingerie tucked into a drawer.

  As if she had any business contemplating Sam Fitzpatrick’s sex life. She was here to do a job, nothing more. She squeezed her eyes shut. Geez, how the hell had she gotten here? Obviously karma was having a good laugh at her expense. One day she was making million-dollar deals, and the next she was packing up her ex-lover’s boxers.

  Her eyes popped open and she gritted her teeth. Not in this lifetime. She might love her job, but she drew the line at Sam’s underwear drawer.

  Hitching the box higher in her arms, she stalked down the hallway. Lucy turned her head as V stepped into the living room. On the floor in front of a media cabinet, the teenager sat with her legs folded beneath her, a half-filled box by her hip. She’d sorted CDs into two piles, and a dozen books and binders were scattered on the floor around her.

  Lucy chewed casually, then swallowed, and V eyed the remains of the donut in her hand. Sam had left a dozen on the counter in the kitchen and, by V’s count, the chocolate-covered pastry was Lucy’s third since he’d left.

  Her lips quirked in a guilty smile. “I got hungry.”

  V shook her head and carried the box to the stack near the front door. “Do you know how much sugar is in those things? Lord, if I ate one I’d have to spend a week in the gym.”

  Another bite disappeared. “Why do you think they taste so good?”

  V laughed and shook her head. “Metabolism is wasted on the young.” She squatted beside Lucy. “What have you got there?”

  Lucy shoved the last bite of donut in her mouth, then plucked a binder from the shelf. “Books and stuff. Some pictures.”

  V selected a photo album from the top of one pile. “Did you look through them?”

  “A little. Mostly it’s football stuff.”

  V opened the album and, sure enough, each page contained photos of various players on the field. Sam stood amongst the coaching staff in several team pictures. From the uniforms, she assumed they were from his years at East Texas U. After placing the binder in the box, she selected another and opened it, then froze. Her heart clenched as she stared at a close-up of Sam mugging for the camera in a garnet-and-gold uniform.

  “Is something wrong?”

  She glanced sideways to find Lucy watching her. Dropping her gaze to the picture, V sucked in a stealthy breath. “Just remembering. This was taken before Sam’s first game in college.” She’d arrived in Tallahassee at dusk the night before and had been horrified when he snuck her into his dorm room, afraid they’d be caught and he’d get into trouble. He’d laughed and said a little trouble would be worth it to hold her through the night. An hour later, he’d proposed. Neither of them had slept a wink.

  “You were there?”

  Shaken by the memory, V nodded. “I took the picture.”

  “Did you know my mom?”

  The breathless excitement in Lucy’s voice and eyes made V’s heart throb almost as much as the question. “Your mother? Did she go to FSU?”

  Lucy shook her head. “No, she lived in Tallahassee. She and Sam met in the hospital after he hurt his knee. Mom was a volunteer.”

  V’s stomach muscles clenched. Oh, God. For three days, she’d remained at Sam’s bedside while hospital staff came and went. Had she actually met Maggie? Spoken to the woman Sam had so quickly replaced her with? Or had Lucy’s mother and Sam met after V had panicked and fled town?

  Breathing became difficult. She closed the binder and set it aside. “No, I’m afraid I didn’t.” She softened her voice. “Sam said she passed away.”

  Lucy ducked her head. “She had cancer.”

  “I know.” V brushed her fingers over Lucy’s arm. “I’m sorry.”

  Lucy nodded, then looked up. “But, are you sure you didn’t know her? You knew Sam.”

  V swallowed. She was tempted to ask why the girl used Sam’s first name instead of “Dad” simply for a chance to change the subject, but the memory of his reaction the other day stopped her.

  None of my business, anyway.

  “I grew up in Barlow. Everyone knew your father.” She jerked her chin toward the CDs. “Are these sorted for a reason?”

  Disappointment flashed in Lucy’s eyes at the obvious shift in conversation, but she pointed to the first pile. “Those must belong to his girlfriends. Sam doesn’t listen to anything but country.”

  “Girlfriends?” Lord, would this day ever end? The thought of facing dirty looks and snide remarks from Sam’s friends and neighbors was beginning to sound almost pleasant compared to this bizarre peek into Sam’s virtual black book.

  “TJ says he’s dated half the women in Smith County, Texas, but the only one I’ve met is Patricia.” Lucy’s lips turned down in a frown. “Her daddy owns an oil company.”

  Patricia Amandola? Sam was dating the Barlow Oil Princess? V stiffened against the stab of pain piercing her heart.

  Suck it up, V. You made him a free agent a long time ago and have no right to question whom he spends his time with.

  “You don’t like her?” V plucked one of the CD’s from the “girlfriend” pile. The cover featured a well-known pop artist in his early twenties who had been slammed by the press just last week for a drunken tirade on YouTube.

  She grimaced and returned the case to the stack.

  Lucy shrugged. “I’ve only met her once, so I don’t really know her. Sam likes her, but she seems kind of snobby to me.”

  V held back a smirk. The word she’d use to describe the princess of Barlow was far grittier. Patricia and her “It Girl” minions might have spared V the derision they’d aimed at so many of her female peers, but only because of her close friendship with Jake. Any pretense of acceptance, however, had vanished the day after her first date with Sam. Patricia had shown her true colors throughout that spring and early summer, and they were all shades of bitch green.

  The irony of Sam turning his eye Patricia’s way shouldn’t sting so much, but it did. Pointing out his horrendously bad taste in women would help ease the bite, but wouldn’t say much for V since she’d once been one of them. She would never do that in front of Lucy, however, and singing Patricia’s praises was equally impossible. V settled for diplomatic and hoped she didn’t gag in the process.

  “It takes time to get to know new people. Given time, you may like Patricia as much as Sam does.”

  Lucy’s face closed up like a door slamming shut. “Maybe, but I don’t see the point when I won’t be around much longer.”

  What the hell? V knew what fear looked like. She’d seen it reflected in her own mirror often enough as a child. Lucy’s eyes simmered with it.

  V dipped her chin. “I’m not sure I understand, sweetie.”

  Lucy looked away. “Forget it. It’s stupid, anyway.” She leaned forward, picked up the binder V had set aside, and opened it to flip through the pages. “Maybe there’s a picture of my mom in here. If you see her, you might remember.”

  Oh, for heaven’s sake. Apparently V wasn’t the only one who knew how to direct a conversation and, for some reason, Lucy was intent on sticking with the subject of h
er mother. V bit back a sigh and began loading Sam’s CD’s into an empty box. He could sort out the “girlfriend” disks himself.

  “Hey, this is you.” Lucy looked up from the photo album, her eyes wide with surprise. “Why were you kissing Sam?”

  V’s stomach did a spinning roll as she jerked her gaze to the picture on the page. She remembered the day the photo was taken like it was yesterday. FSU was flying Sam to Florida that morning, and she and her mother had a terrible fight. The plan was for V to leave the next morning and drive to Tallahassee, meeting him at the end of the week. Anita was convinced V was ruining her life, and to keep that from happening, she’d hidden the keys to V’s rat-trap car.

  V rode to town on a bike she’d borrowed from the rancher’s wife so she could kiss Sam goodbye. The next morning, after collecting her spare keys from Jake, she’d left Barlow for good—and Sam’s daughter didn’t need to know any of that.

  “That was nothing.” She waved her hand airily. “Just a case of friends joking around.”

  She’d been clinging to him like she’d never see him again.

  “Then what happened? Why aren’t you friends anymore?”

  The question surprised her, but before she could come up with a reply, Sam spoke from the kitchen doorway. “Who says we’re not friends?”

  Chapter 9

  V’s heart thudded in triple time when she turned her head to find Sam wasn’t alone. TJ Burke stood at his side, her lips pulled up at the corners in what V figured was supposed to be a smile. The attempt looked more painful than pleasant.

  With the exception of Jake, friends had been rare for V as a girl, but TJ had been one. Though they hadn’t had the type of friendship that included weekend sleepovers, TJ often accompanied her uncle on his veterinary rounds at the Double J. Together, she and V would follow him around as he checked on the animals. When they were in high school, TJ’s uncle had occasionally made arrangements with the rancher to allow V and TJ to ride on the ranch’s trails.

  It had been TJ who had cajoled V into accepting Sam’s request for a date. A half-dozen times that spring, TJ and her boyfriend at the time had double-dated with V and Sam. Despite their friendship, or perhaps because of it, TJ had taken V’s betrayal harder than most. Their friendship had died when, not knowing what to say, V had refused to take TJ’s calls in those weeks after she’d arrived in Boston.

  TJ glanced at Lucy before her eyes settled on V. “Hello, V. It’s been a long time.” The coolness in her tone said it hadn’t been long enough.

  Curling her lips in a smile, V rose to her feet. “Yes, it has. You’re looking well.”

  “Thanks. You, too.” TJ’s fake smile morphed into a genuine one as she faced Lucy. “Hey, kid, I’m headed out to the Double J to check on those foals I delivered the other day. Want to ride along?”

  “Yeah!” Excitement lit Lucy’s face, and she scrambled to her feet.

  V tensed, not so much at the mention of the ranch where she’d grown up and become friends with TJ, but at the idea of being left alone with Sam. She flicked a peek his way. His intent gaze clashed with hers as if he’d been waiting for her to look his way. Her stomach sank with the knowledge that TJ’s invitation to Lucy wasn’t an arbitrary one. For some reason, Sam had decided he and V needed to be alone, and TJ had agreed to assist him in whatever mischief he had up his sleeve.

  V cleared her throat, hoping to derail their plan. “Don’t worry about me if you want to go along, Sam. I can finish up here and lock the doors before I leave.”

  He shook his head. “That won’t be necessary. This is my house. My stuff.” A dimple creased his cheek beside a predatory smile.” I wouldn’t dream of leaving you all alone to pack it up by yourself. I’ll stick around and help.”

  Right. He was definitely up to something and, whatever it was, odds were the results wouldn’t be helpful. Not for her, anyway.

  TJ adjusted the strap of the small backpack on her shoulder and addressed Sam as if V weren’t there. “Don’t forget the Christmas Eve open house tonight. Dinner is at five sharp. If you’re late, I’m not covering for you with Mom.”

  He grinned and tugged on the inky black braid hanging over her shoulder. “Have I ever failed at charming my way out of trouble with Aunt Kay?”

  TJ slapped at his hand and glared at V. “There’s a first time for everything, cuz.”

  Sam narrowed his eyes at his cousin, while V mentally rolled hers. She might be guilty of a lot of things, including the death of her and TJ’s friendship, but spending time alone with Sam was the last thing she wanted to do. She refused to accept responsibility for any hypothetical trouble he might get into with his family because of it.

  TJ slipped Daisy’s leash from the hook and fastened it to her collar. “Lucy and I will meet you at Mom’s.”

  Sam nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Lucy paused as she put on her coat and turned to V. “Wait. What are you doing for Christmas Eve? And Christmas?”

  Enjoying a quiet glass of wine back at her hotel sounded perfect for tonight, but she doubted Anita would agree. As for tomorrow, V had specifically selected her hotel because of the five-star restaurant on the top floor. She’d be doing her best to convince Anita that room service and a football marathon in front of the large flat screen in her room was the ideal way to spend the holiday.

  Charmed by the obvious concern in Lucy’s eyes, V smiled. “I’m covered, sweetie. Mom and I will probably grab something to eat for dinner tonight, and we’ll figure something out for tomorrow. Which reminds me.” She walked to the entry table near the front door and pulled a small box from her purse. Ignoring Sam’s questioning gaze and TJ’s frown, she held out the box to Lucy. “Merry Christmas.”

  Pleasure danced over Lucy’s face as she accepted the box, plucked off the ribbon, and opened it. She cooed with delight and held up a delicate silver bracelet with its blinged-out dance-shoes charm.

  Lucy looked up at V. “I saw this in the theater gift shop.”

  “I know.” V returned her infectious grin. “I thought you should have it as a reminder of your first theater experience in New York.”

  Unprepared for Lucy’s lunge forward, V almost stumbled as the girl slammed into her and wrapped her arms around V’s shoulders in a tight squeeze. A huffed snort came from TJ, who spun away to walk out the open door.

  No surprise there. Knowing TJ, she probably thought the gift was some kind of bribe aimed at manipulating the teenager’s affections. Though TJ’s low opinion of her stung, V had no one to blame but herself. Since there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it, she shoved the hurt from her mind. Sam’s opinion, however, was a different story. Whether she liked it or not, they had to work together, and she hoped she hadn’t made that more difficult by crossing an imaginary line.

  Hesitantly, she met his gaze over Lucy’s head, but the judgment she expected to find wasn’t there. Not at first, anyway. He briefly dropped his gaze to Lucy’s arms, clinging to V, and the pain in his eyes hit her like a fist to the belly. He swallowed audibly and his jaw tightened, as if he’d gritted his teeth. She didn’t wait from him to look up. After returning Lucy’s squeeze, she let go and stepped back.

  Lucy looked embarrassed. “I didn’t get you anything.”

  Still shaken by Sam’s reaction, V managed a small smile for Lucy. “That hug you just gave me is the best gift I’ll get this Christmas. Go on. TJ’s waiting. Have some fun with the new foals, and would you do me a favor and take some pictures? I’d love to see them.”

  Lucy nodded, grabbed her phone off the coffee table, and disappeared out the front door.

  As soon as the door shut behind Lucy, V turned to Sam. “There is no secret agenda behind the bracelet. I saw her drooling over it in the gift shop before the ballet and thought—”

  “I didn’t think it was part of an agenda.” Sam moved deeper into the living room.

  O-kay. Then what was up with the clenched jaw? “T
J did.”

  She watched as he peeled out of his coat and tossed it over the back of the couch.

  “My cousin is overly protective of the people she cares about.” He turned to face her and shrugged. “Plus, she doesn’t like you very much.”

  “There’s a news flash.” V bared her teeth in a saccharine smile. “You don’t have to sugarcoat things with me, Sam. By all means, be blunt.”

  He chuckled. “I thought I was.” Slipping the button on his suit jacket, he dropped to sit on the arm of the couch, his thighs spread wide in one of those blatantly male postures that wreaked havoc on a woman’s system.

  V tried not to stare, but with faded denim molding various muscles and one very impressive bulge, it was almost impossible not to. She jacked up her chin. “Then why the ruse to get Lucy out of the house?”

  “It wasn’t a ruse, exactly. TJ really does have a few new foals to check on.”

  “And Lucy?”

  He propped his palms on his thighs and sighed. “She likes you, V. I’ve got no problem with that. In fact, I’m glad she has at least one other person in New York she feels comfortable with.”

  An unexpected flood of pleasure tightened her chest—which wouldn’t do. He hadn’t arranged to speak to her alone so he could hand out compliments, and she preferred he get to the point. “I assume there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

  A small smile tugged at one corner of his mouth, then quickly disappeared. “But, because she cares about you, I didn’t think she should be here for this conversation.”

  Pleasure crashed beneath a wave of trepidation. “That sounds ominous.”

  He cocked his head and held her gaze with an intensity that only made her apprehension worse. “It doesn’t have to be.”

  Her heart had begun to pound, and her legs were suddenly weak. She slid into the wingback chair across from him. “Why don’t you just say whatever it is you have to say.”