“Sam, what would that change?”
“Maybe nothing.” He straightened and turned her to face him. “No pressure, V. I’ve heard everything you’ve said, but there are some things I’d like to say.” He glanced over his shoulder, snorted, and turned back. “Without an audience.”
Intrigued, she peeked around him, and nearly burst out laughing at the more-than-a-half dozen faces pressed against the kitchen window. Lucy held the center spot, an expectant smile on her face. V straightened and shook her head. “I told you. They’re insane. You should probably keep your daughter far away from all of them.”
He smiled and held out his hand. She couldn’t resist. She placed her fingers in his.
Chapter 23
Fifteen minutes later, Sam pulled his truck into the driveway of his new home. V stared at his profile as he switched off the ignition. He didn’t move to open the door. His jaw tight, he flexed his fingers around the steering wheel before turning his head to look at her.
“We can stay right here or go inside. It’s up to you.”
A muscle jumped in his cheek, surprising her. His obvious case of nerves should have ratcheted hers into the red zone but, for some reason, knowing he was unsettled calmed her.
“I could use a cup of tea.”
His chest expanded on a deep breath, and he nodded. Opening his door, he climbed out and turned, then held out his hand. A sense of déjà vu washed over her. How often had he offered her his hand in exactly the same way during that short, sweet summer they’d shared?
A laugh murmured deep in her throat. “I feel like I’m back in high school.”
She placed her hand in his and slid over the bench seat to exit through the open driver’s door. He held onto her fingers as he eyed the knot of curls she’d wrapped in a scrunchie at the top of her head. Then his gaze moved down, over the casual sweater beneath her open coat to the jeans covering her legs.
He smiled. “Makes sense. You look like you’re still in high school.”
She smirked. “Liar.” Lifting her free hand to her head, she fingered the easy hair style. “I thought it was just dinner with friends, but thanks.”
His wince made her laugh, and it felt good. She knew where to lay the blame for tonight’s agenda. Until lately, she hadn’t been a victim of one of Gracie’s stealthy matchmaking schemes, but V had witnessed her friend in action several times with CC and Jessi. Gracie was nothing if not thorough. When the Marriott debacle hadn’t produced the desired results, V should have seen tonight coming.
“Relax, Sam. Gracie is a formidable force. I know how difficult it can be to derail her once she’s taken up a cause.”
The tense line of his shoulders eased, and he shook his head. “She doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”
“Not very well, anyway.”
She instantly missed the warmth of his fingers as he released her and held out a hand to indicate the walkway to the front door. He followed her, reaching around her to let them inside. Light filled the foyer with his flip of the switch, and he shrugged out of his coat. She handed him hers, then trailed him to the kitchen.
As he gathered the makings for tea and flipped on the burner beneath the kettle, her nerves made a vicious comeback. She didn’t sit. Couldn’t. His continued silence rang in her ears, and she wandered over to stare out the French doors.
Winter moonlight illuminated the deck enough for her to make out the row of dormant planters rimming the inviting space. She pictured them in the summer sun, full of colorful flowers, green herbs, and possibly a tomato plant or two. The low square table edged by four long benches hadn’t been there when they’d first looked at the house. A black dome took up its center.
Sam spoke behind her, and she jumped. “Lucy picked out the table. It’s got a built-in fire pit.” His voice held a wry laugh. “She said, in case I get homesick and needed a little Texas outdoors in the city.”
V smiled and glanced over her shoulder.
The humor slid from his face as he met and held her gaze. He spoke in a hoarse facsimile of his usual drawl. “I love you, Red.”
The breath backed up in her throat, and she slowly turned to face him.
“When you left, I didn’t know what to do.” He dropped his hips to lean against the thick, stainless steel handle of the industrial stove. Eyes full of remembered pain, he shook his head. “I was hurt. Confused.” He scrubbed a hand across his flat stomach, then dropped it to his side as if he wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“I should have come looking for you.” The kettle began to whistle behind him. He shoved straight and turned around. Snapping off the burner, he braced his hands on the stove handle and dropped his chin to his chest. “But I was so pissed, I couldn’t see straight. A week later, I went home to Barlow to recuperate.”
An iron band of self-incrimination tightened around her chest. She couldn’t have said a word if she’d wanted to. He’d asked her why she’d left, but she’d never bothered to inquire after what he’d done once she was gone. She figured she didn’t have the right but, the truth was, she didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to hear a description of the wreckage she’d left behind.
He lifted the kettle from the burner. The muscles of his back shifted as he poured steaming water into the teacups he’d set on the counter. “Most of that time is a blur. You were gone. So was football. I still had my scholarship, and getting my degree suddenly took on a deeper meaning, so I went back. They’d scheduled a second surgery on my knee at the hospital in Florida. Maggie was there, working as a volunteer.”
V’s stomach muscles clamped tight, but not because of Maggie. She was Lucy’s mother and V could never feel anything but grateful Maggie had come into Sam’s life. The dejection in his voice was another story. “Sam, stop. You don’t need to tell me this.”
“Yeah, I do.” He turned his head to look at her. “Tea’s ready.”
He snagged both cups in his right hand and, plucking the honey from the shelf above the counter, crossed to the table. She was slow to follow. Sliding into the chair across from his, she wrapped her cold fingers around the cup he handed her.
His eyes were clear, if a little sad. “Maggie was the complete opposite of you. A wild child from the other side of the tracks, she had a chip on her shoulder a yard wide. At the time, so did I, and I didn’t say no when she invited me into her bed.” He picked up his cup. “I wasn’t surprised when I showed up at her apartment a few weeks later and she was packing her bags. All there’d ever been between us was attitude and sex. LA was calling, and she’d found a ride with a musician playing back-up guitar in a bar downtown.”
Sam sipped his tea, then set down the cup. Crossing his arms on the table, he looked at V. Really looked at her for the first time in minutes. “I don’t regret Maggie. She gave me Lucy and I can never repay her for that. Neither do I regret the women I’ve been with over the last fifteen years, and there have been a few. I can’t regret them because each of them, in their own way, led me back to you.”
The love in his eyes tempted her beyond reason, and she dropped her gaze to stare into her teacup. “I gave up the right to question anything you did when I walked away.”
“Yeah. You did.”
Heart in her throat, she met his waiting gaze.
“But that didn’t change the way I felt about you. The way I still do.” He shook his head. “I love you. There’s nothing I can do about that. The only question is, do you love me?”
Her breath hitched, but denying the truth was impossible as she stared into his eyes. “You know I do.”
His shoulders lifted with his deep, indrawn breath, as if he hadn’t been sure of her answer, and he dipped his chin in an abbreviated nod. “Then make a life with me. With Lucy. A whole and happy life full of love and the family each of us wants.”
God. Didn’t he know how much she wanted to? But pronouncing their feelings aloud didn’t change the facts and never would. “If only it were tha
t easy.”
“It can be, if we choose to make it so.” His shoulders heaved in a harsh sigh. “I want your trust. I need it, for Lucy’s sake and mine, but I can’t go on the way we have been the last week, knowing you’re within reach and keeping my distance.”
He stood suddenly and, slipping his hands over the ribs beneath her arms, he lifted her to her feet. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her gently and buried his face in the crook of her neck. He spoke between sweet kisses.
“I need you. What’s more, I love you and you love me.” He worked his mouth up her throat to her jaw line. “We’ve wasted years because neither of us was willing to bend.” He shifted his head until his heated blue gaze burned into hers. With his mouth hovering an inch above hers, his warm breath bathed her lips. “I’m bending now, like I should have all those years ago. I’ll wait for your trust. Earn it. But I don’t want to spend another day without you in my life.”
Although she expected his kiss, it didn’t come. He waited, making it clear the next move was hers.
She stared into his earnest face and battled the doubts that came at her like flying stones. Could he truly overlook what she’d done to him? Be content to move forward without knowing what had gone wrong in the past? Could they succeed at building the life she saw shining in his long-lashed eyes? Or would her father’s insidious legacy fester like a cancer, eating away at their love and killing them both in the process?
Her greedy heart screamed at her to take the chance. He stood before her, offering everything she’d ever wanted. How could she step back and deny her heart’s desire? Deny the love in his eyes? And if she did, how could she go on with her life, standing in the shadows and dreading the day she’d be forced to watch him give his love to another?
Lifting her mouth to his, she sealed their fates and prayed they would survive with their hearts intact.
His arms crushed her to him the moment her lips brushed his. A deep groan vibrated through his chest to her breasts, and her feet left the floor. Lifting her, he spun and wasted no time traversing the hallway to the foot of the staircase.
He released her mouth, and the scalding desire in his eyes sent fire coursing through her veins. “Hold onto me, Red. Don’t let go.” His arms contracted as he began the climb to his bedroom on the second floor.
The irony of his comment drew a wry laugh from her. She’d remained alone for fifteen years because no other man had ever been capable of excising the memory of Sam from her mind and heart. “It seems I never could.”
His lips kicked up in a smile. “Neither could I.” He slid his right hand down her spine to cup her butt cheek and squeezed. “The feel of you under my hands has haunted me for years.”
“It’s the same for me. I need to touch you.” She slipped one hand under his sweater and spread her fingers over the smooth muscle of his back.
He stopped at the landing and covered her mouth with his in a hard-and-fast kiss. Moving again, he passed through the open doorway to his bedroom. In three long strides, he’d crossed to the edge of the big bed near the window. He lowered her to the mattress, then straightened. “Hold that thought.”
A tug and a twist, and his sweater landed on the floor at his feet. Sprawled on her back, she stared at the muscled expanse of his broad chest and swallowed.
He toed off one loafer, then the next. “I can’t go slow, Red. Not this first time.”
V didn’t want him to. When his fingers went to the snap of his jeans, she jackknifed to her knees. She reached out to cover his hand with hers. “Let me. Please. It’s my turn.”
He dropped his hand, and a slow smile curled his lips. His Texas drawl made an appearance. “My pleasure, ma’am. I’m all yours.”
Overwhelmed at the concept, she slid her feet over the edge of the bed. She blinked and leaned forward to press her forehead to his stomach while wrapping her arms around his waist. “Thank God.”
“Hey.” He tucked his knuckles beneath her chin and lifted her face. “What’s this?”
Her arms dropped away, and she shook her head. Staring into his concerned eyes, she battled the sudden tears that wanted to come. “I’ve made so many mistakes.”
A low croon sounded in his throat. Dipping his knees, he squatted until they were at eye level. He took her hands in his. “We both have, but we’ve been given a second chance. The past can only hurt us if we let it.”
That was a truth she knew only too well. If they were to build the life he described, there would be no room for fears and past mistakes. Nodding, she shoved her remaining doubts to the back of her mind and grabbed with both hands at the happiness she never thought she would find again.
* * * *
Relief rushed through Sam. He’d taken a chance, laying it all on the line the way he had. The odds had been fifty-fifty she would turn him down flat, but he hadn’t gotten anywhere playing it safe. Committing himself and Lucy when he still didn’t know what had sent V running was a gamble as well, but Jake was right. Her life was here. She wasn’t going anywhere. He had plenty of time to convince her to trust him, with the added bonus of holding her in his arms every night.
He made a mental note to send Gracie and the Triple Gs a big box of chocolates. Tomorrow.
“There’s my girl.” He grinned and stood.
The moment he did, V’s nimble fingers went to work on the button of his jeans. She tackled the zipper next. He held still as she curled her fingers in the belt loops at his waist and tugged the worn denim down his hips. His jeans hit the floor with a whoosh. He kicked free of them and she blinked, staring at the bulge of his erection tenting the soft material of his boxers.
She lifted her gaze to his. The sultry hunger in her eyes as she traced a fingertip down the engorged length of his cock, then up again, nearly brought him to his knees. She slipped her fingers inside the waistband of his underwear and shimmied the material down until she’d exposed the tip. Sighing softly, she slid from the bed onto her knees, and his rapidly increasing pulse pounded a tango beat in his head.
Rocking forward, she licked the tip of her tongue over the head of his straining erection, paying special homage to the slit. He swallowed heavily against the sudden dryness of his mouth and throat. To keep from dragging her to her feet and burying himself inside her, he tangled his fingers in her soft hair. It didn’t help.
Sam sucked a harsh breath in an attempt to slow the inevitable. His self-inflicted foreplay sessions had seemed like a good idea at the time, but they’d left him so fucking primed he was about to blow.
“Red.” Her name was a hoarse plea on his lips. “I wasn’t kidding when I said this first time would be fast.”
“Mmm hmm.” Cupping his sac in her palm, she kneaded him. He couldn’t prevent his guttural moan, and she looked up, smiling knowingly. “I see you still growl when I touch you here.”
His cock jumped even as a pained laugh worked its way up his parched throat. Payback was a bitch. She was killing him, but fuck. What a way to go.
She repeated the caress, dragging another groan from him. The rumbling in his chest had yet to cease when she closed her lips around him. Wet heat sucked at him as she took him deep then drew back, gently raking her teeth over him in the process.
The base of his spine tingled and his balls contracted. He clenched his teeth, and his hiss was loud in the quiet room. Gently tugging on the stands of her hair, he eased her mouth clear of him before it was too late. She lifted her desire-glazed gaze to his, and it was all he could do to speak.
“Inside you. Now.”
He bent over her and tucked his hands beneath her arms. Tugging her to her feet with more speed than finesse, he gripped the hem of her sweater. She lifted her arms as he peeled it over her head. If he was in a hurry, so was she. She unzipped her jeans, shoved them over her hips, and kicked the denim aside, along with her heels.
He wanted to take his time. To savor the mouthwatering mounds of her breasts beneath her red lace bra. H
e needed the feel of her soft skin beneath his fingers as he explored the sweet curve of her hip. Yearned to peel back the triangle of lace concealing the dark curls at her mound and feast on the sweetness of her. All of that would have to wait, however. He had the rest of his life to immerse himself in rediscovering the beauty of her body, but if he didn’t slide inside her in the next minute, he’d embarrass them both.
He wrapped her in his arms and lifted a knee onto the edge of the mattress. Without releasing her, he lowered her to her back. He came to rest cradled between her thighs, eliciting a half-crazed moan. He wasn’t sure if the sound had come from him or her, but it didn’t matter.
Her eyes gleamed in the low light. Shifting her hips, she tucked her hands between them. He lifted slightly so she could tear her panties down her legs. She kicked one leg free of the lacy strip of cloth and wrapped her calf around his upper thighs.
The delicious friction of his cock jammed against the heat of her was nearly his undoing. “Fuck. You’re killing me, baby.” He closed his mouth over hers, and her tongue tangled with his in a frantic mating. Blindly tossing out his arm, his knuckles rapped against the drawer handle of the bedside table.
V twisted her head away, breaking the kiss. Her chest heaved on erratic breaths. “What?”
“Condom.” His fingers closed around the knob, and he wrenched open the drawer.
“Oh. Good.” She tangled her fingers in his hair and tugged his mouth back to hers.
Condom in hand, he shifted his hips, shoving his boxers down as far as he could one-handed.
She whimpered in frustration when he lifted his head. “Hurry.”
“I am.” He tore at the packet with his teeth. Her fingers joined his as he balanced on one elbow to cover himself. Breathing so hard he was nearly panting, he resettled between her thighs.
“Now, Sam,” she pleaded.
To Win Her Back Page 21