Sam's Surrender

by Elle James

  “Kind of. I’m supposed to be on vacation to learn how to relax, unwind and quit taking so many risks.”

  Kinsey leaned back and stared into his eyes. “Really?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry to be the reason for you failing so miserably.”

  “You didn’t ask to be abducted or drugged.”

  “And you didn’t ask to be my rescuer. I promise to get out of your hair tomorrow. As soon as I reclaim my suitcase and arrange a ride back to the mainland.”

  “How will you do that if you have no money?”

  “I’ll figure out something. The main thing is that I’m not your responsibility. You’re here on vacation, not on a mission to babysit a sad sack like me.”

  Though she sounded optimistic, the confidence didn’t quite come through in her voice. Sam’s chest tightened. Tomorrow, he’d help her sort out things. He wouldn’t rest until he knew she would be all right. So much for relaxing on the island paradise of Santorini.

  They’d arrived back at the B&B.

  “Sneaking me by your landlady would be easier if I’m walking on my own,” Kinsey whispered.

  Sam opened the exterior door and set her on her feet. Tomorrow, he’d buy her a pair of shoes and something besides that dress to wear. She couldn’t go around in the warm island sunshine in a cocktail dress.

  One fact was crystal clear. With Kinsey around, he wouldn’t be bored. But what would he report to his commander the following day? He sure as hell wasn’t telling him that he’d gotten into a fight over a woman and invited this virtual stranger to share his room. Especially since he couldn’t be certain she wasn’t delusional or hallucinating about a suitcase, a room in a hotel and working for some people named Martin.

  They successfully navigated the hallway and entered his room without being stopped by the ever-present Mrs. Demopolis.

  Sam figured she had finally gone to bed, now that the time was well past midnight.

  One night down on his two-week vacation. The hours had been anything but tedious and had zoomed by rather than dragging.

  Kinsey stood in the middle of the room in her rumpled black dress and her bare feet. Her long, honey-blond hair lay in wild disarray around her shoulders. For the first time since he’d met her, Sam got a really good look at the woman.

  She was medium height, slim, athletic and pretty. Her hair fell down the middle of her back in long, loose waves. And her eyes were as blue as a Texas summer sky.

  His groin tightened. Hell, he didn’t need the complication of being attracted to his little refugee.

  Kinsey pointed to the overstuffed armchair in one corner of the room. “I can sleep in that chair.”

  “Good, because there’s no way I could.” He’d slept in some pretty crappy positions before. But sleeping in the armchair would guarantee a sleepless night. His tall frame couldn’t begin to curl up in that tight of a space.

  She smiled. “I admit, the bathtub wasn’t all that bad with the pillows lining the bottom.” She laughed. “Though waking up to tile walls and a shower curtain was a bit disconcerting.”

  “Sorry. I had to put you somewhere out of sight of my nosy, but kind, landlady.” He retrieved the pillows from the bathroom, tossing one on the chair and the other on the bed. “You’re welcome to go first in the bathroom.”

  “Thank you.” She stopped in the doorway and tilted her head. “I don’t suppose you have a spare T-shirt I could borrow? The dress is pretty, but not that comfortable, especially for sleeping in.”

  He riffled through a drawer in the dresser, grabbed a heather-gray T-shirt with the word ARMY written in bold letters across the front.

  Kinsey smiled. “Thanks.” And she disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door between them.

  Sam paced the length of his room, imagining Kinsey stripping out of the dress and letting it fall to the floor around her ankles.

  Heat washed through him.

  Kinsey’s mere presence would keep Sam tied in knots when he was supposed to be relaxing. He had to get rid of Kinsey. The sooner, the better. Otherwise, he’d be tempted to seduce her and spend the rest of the two weeks of enforced vacation in bed with the woman.

  Assuming she was willing.

  Oh, hell. What was he thinking? Kinsey had been through enough without having some horndog bastard taking advantage of her when she was at the lowest point in her life.

  The shower went on in the other room, reminding Sam how Kinsey would be naked, standing beneath the spray, water running over her full breasts and down to the apex of her thighs.

  Sam groaned and spun away from the door where he’d been standing, letting his mind run through every step the woman must be taking in the bathroom.

  The walls of the room seemed to close in around Sam. He needed to get out in the open. Anytime he felt squeezed in, he only needed the liftoff of his helicopter to give his heart and mind the wings to escape the corner he’d been boxed into.

  The shower shut off.

  She’d be exiting the bathroom soon, wearing nothing but that damned Army T-shirt.

  Sam was halfway to the door, determined to be out of the room when Kinsey emerged. He was reaching for the doorknob when the bathroom door opened.

  “Sam?” her voice called out softly.

  “Yeah.” He turned, though he knew he shouldn’t.

  Kinsey stood framed in the bathroom door, wearing the T-shirt, her long, slim legs seeming to stretch all the way from her toes to her chin. She’d washed her hair and finger-combed it straight back from her forehead, making her appear even younger and more vulnerable. The style also exposed the long, regal line of her very kissable neck.

  Sam ran his tongue across suddenly dry lips. “You can have the comforter from the bed,” he said, his voice strained, his pulse slamming through his veins.

  She frowned, her gaze darting to the door. “Are you going somewhere?”

  The fear in Kinsey’s voice gave Sam a jolt of guilt. She’d been robbed, attacked and abandoned by her employers. With Sam walking out the door, she’d probably think he was abandoning her, as well.

  “I’m going to the roof for a few minutes. The walls are closing in on me,” he admitted. “I need air.”

  She nodded. “I know how you feel. I like to get outside when I’m stressed. Mind if I join you?”

  Hell, she was the reason he needed to escape. Nonetheless, he heard the word, “Sure,” come out of his mouth before he could think through his response. Once it was said, he was committed.

  Damn.

  She tugged at the hem of his T-shirt.

  The garment covered her from her neck to halfway down her thighs, but it did nothing to quell the desire surging inside Sam.

  If anything, that damned T-shirt looked sexy on Kinsey. Sexier than the cocktail dress. Perhaps because she couldn’t be wearing anything beneath the shirt. She didn’t have a spare pair of panties or a bra. Since she’d showered, she probably rinsed her underwear and hung them to dry for tomorrow.

  Sam spun and jerked open the door, ready to run fast and far away from the woman standing behind him, practically naked. If he were a gentleman, he’d offer her a pair of his boxers. But his throat closed off, making it impossible for him to force air past his vocal cords.

  He led the way to the patio and started to wave her up the ladder first. Thought better of the offer and climbed ahead of her. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the rungs if he was behind her looking up, beneath the hem of the shirt.

  God, he was lusting after a stranger and practically drooling over the potential sighting of a little naked ass. What did that make him? A pervert? Or a man who hadn’t been laid in far too long?

  His commander’s words came back to him. Hadn’t he told him to get laid?

  On the way up the ladder, Sam paused to adjust himself in jeans that had become uncomfortably tight.

  Kinsey would only be with him for the one night. She’d been through a lot, and she didn’t need him coming on to her and making her feel threat
ened yet again.

  Sam reached the rooftop, climbed out onto the surface and reached back to help Kinsey up the last few rungs.

  She took his hand and let him guide her over the edge of the building and onto the roof, which had been converted into a patio, with decorative tile flooring. She teetered for a second, her foot catching on the last rung.

  Still holding her hand, Sam jerked her into his arms and held her until she got her feet firmly planted.

  “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m so clumsy, lately.” Kinsey’s hands rested against his chest as she looked up into his eyes.

  Starlight reflected off the light blue of her irises, making them shine.

  Sam brushed a stray lock of blond hair off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. “It’s okay. You’ve had a rough day.”

  Kinsey stared up at him for a long moment, her gaze skimming over his face, pausing on his mouth. She drew in a deep breath, her breasts pressing into his chest. If he wasn’t mistaken, the nipples had hardened and poked him gently.

  Holy hell.

  He let go of her suddenly and stepped away.

  She swayed and would have fallen, but he reached out and steadied her, and then dropped his hand.

  Turning away, he stared out over the view of Imerovigli, bathed in starlight, the whitewashed buildings glowing a soft blue. Lights from the many pools shone like turquoise gems terraced down the side of the hill.

  “It’s beautiful,” Kinsey said, coming to stand beside him.

  The clean scent of shampoo and soap drifted up from her wet head. A breeze stirred a few strands of hair that had already dried, lifting them up to flutter around her cheeks.

  “Beautiful,” Sam repeated, and then realized he wasn’t looking at the cityscape, but at the woman standing at his side.

  “I didn’t have much of a view from my room. Not anything like this.”

  Sam chuckled. “I can barely see the courtyard from the bathroom in my room. I reserved this B&B because of this view. I didn’t realize I’d have to scale a ladder to get to it.”

  “But the vistas from here are so worth it.” She sighed. “I don’t know how I’ll manage to get myself out of the mess I’m in, but I can’t regret coming to Santorini. If for nothing else, I’ll always have this image in my memories.”

  Sam shook his head. “Are you always this upbeat about being robbed, attacked and abandoned?”

  She looked up with a frown. “You saw me. I cried like a baby.”

  “But only for a minute. Then you were all happy again. I’d want to hit someone.”

  She faced the sea. “A person gains nothing by dwelling on the things they have no control over. I couldn’t save my parents when they died in that car accident. But I know they wouldn’t have wanted me to grieve away the rest of my life over their loss. They were firm believers in getting on with your life. Grieve, yes. Forever, no.” She squared her shoulders and stared over the rooftops and the sea beyond. “I’ll figure out a way to get back to the States. And, if not, I’ll find work here in Greece.”

  “Without a passport and visa?”

  She shrugged. “I’m nothing if not resilient.”

  For a few moments, he stood in silence. He liked that she didn’t dwell on the negative and that she knew how to be lighthearted. He could use a dose of her optimism and calm in his life. His commander would like this woman. Hell, he was liking her far too much. “I’ll buy your ticket back to the States,” Sam said.

  “What?” Kinsey dragged her gaze from the view and frowned up at him.

  “You heard me right. I want to help.”

  Before he finished speaking, she was already shaking her head. “No. I can’t let you do that. I earn my way. I don’t take charity.”

  “You can pay me back.”

  She frowned. “I might never see you again. How will I pay you back?”

  “I’ll leave you my address.” Why was she being difficult? He was giving her a solution to her problem. One that would get her off the island and out of his life the soonest way possible. “You can send a check when you have the money, if it means that much to you to pay me back.”

  “No. I’ll get a job and earn the money to buy my own ticket.”

  “Fine.” The idea came to him in a flash. “I’ll hire you.”

  Her frown deepened. “Hire me for what?” Then her eyes widened, and she backed away. “Look, I’m not that kind of woman. I don’t trade sex for money.”

  Sam laughed out loud, and then clamped his hand over his mouth when he remembered they were probably above Mrs. D’s bedroom. “Sweetheart, I don’t need to pay women to have sex. They come willingly.” He held up his hand to stop her next words. “I need a companion. Not one that sleeps in my bed, but one who will spend the days with me, go to dinner and maybe even be a dancing partner.”

  She stared at him in the starlight, her eyes wide, her brow wrinkled. “Why would you need to pay someone to do this? I’m sure you could find women who would line up to be with you.”

  “I don’t want the hassle. All the work involved to get to know someone, or the trouble men have to go through to ask someone out. I have no intention of starting a relationship with a woman I will be leaving at the end of my stay. I just want to relax and take it easy while I’m here. No females stalking me. No commitment, just rest and relaxation. Having a woman with me will discourage those women standing in line for my company from coming on to me.”

  The frown remained etched on Kinsey’s brow. “You want me to pretend to be your girl to keep other women at bay?”

  “Yes. And I’ll need pictures of us together to send to my commander.”

  “Whoa. Wait just a minute there.” Shaking her head, she raised her hands. “I’m not into posing for porn.”

  “I’m not asking you to take nude pictures.” Obviously, his jet lag impeded his ability to talk. He sighed. “My commander ordered me to rest and relax for two weeks, and he wants a daily report on how my kinks are unwinding. If I hire you to be my companion, you can help me prove to my commander I’m following his orders.”

  “Your commander can order you to have fun?” Kinsey’s eyebrow rose. “They can do that?”

  “He can. If I don’t come back relaxed, he’ll ground me from flying.” The more the thought of the idea, the better he liked it. The only downside was he’d have to keep his hands off Kinsey. “So you see, you can help me out and earn your ticket back to the States in the process.”

  The frown descended again. “You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”

  Oh, he’d like to pull her very sexy leg and run his hands the length of both of them. “I’m not. This offer is legit. Do you accept?”

  “And you don’t want sex for the money you’ll be paying me?”

  “If I want sex, the activity has to be mutual with the party involved. No money will exchange hands.”

  “Good, because there will be no sex.”

  A stab of disappointment jabbed him in the groin. But he had to resist touching her or the arrangement would be the death of him. He held out his hand. “Deal?”

  She hesitated a moment longer and then took his hand and shook it. “Deal.”

  “Good, tomorrow morning will be your first day on the job, and we’re going shopping.”

  “Shopping?”

  He grinned. “I can’t have my girl running around in one of my T-shirts when we’re supposed to be on vacation. And, as for that matter, we have to think about what to tell Mrs. D, the landlady.”

  She released his hand and rubbed hers on the T-shirt. “Will she have a problem with me staying in your room?”

  “I’m almost positive she will, unless we go with what you told the hotel manager.”

  “I told him you were my fiancé just so he’d let you upstairs,” she said.

  “Then we’ll tell Mrs. D the same. She shouldn’t have a problem if she thinks we’re engaged.”

  “Okay then,” Kinsey smiled, her whole face shining in the starlight. “I h
ave a job.”

  “And I have a decoy. These two weeks might not be as onerous as I originally thought.” The solution was perfect. What could possibly go wrong?

  Sam started down the ladder and realized to late that he should have let Kinsey go first. The entire way down, he fought to keep his gaze on the rungs, not on her perky bottom beneath the T-shirt.

  Though she tugged at the hem with one hand to keep the fabric close around her, her efforts weren’t enough.

  Was he insane to think he could last two weeks without touching Kinsey? Oh, hell yeah.

  5

  Kinsey paced the floor of the little room she’d be sharing with Sam. She couldn’t believe she had a solution to her problem. All she had to do was work for Sam for the next two weeks, and she’d earn the price of her flight back to the States.

  Once there, she’d figure out how to start over with no money and no place to live. Maybe she could find a room in a homeless shelter until she landed a job and earned enough to put down deposits on an apartment.

  But that would be when she arrived back in the States. For now, she had a job to do in Santorini, and she’d better do well to justify the pay. Plane tickets weren’t cheap.

  Working for Sam wouldn’t be difficult if all she had to do was be a companion. She could make the reservations for their dinners and excursions, tidy his room and beat off all the women who would be vying for his attention. That shouldn’t be too hard.

  But, then again, he was a handsome man with all those muscles and a tight ass she was sure she could bounce a quarter off.

  The trick would be to rein in her emotions and not let herself get attached. Two weeks was enough time to get to know someone and maybe even fall in love.

  Not that she was ready to fall in love. Been there. Done that. Had the emotional baggage to prove it. She’d been in love with Travis Biggley back in Virginia. They dated for three years, long enough to know everything possible about each other.

  At least, she thought so. What she didn’t know was that he was seeing his secretary at the same time. When Kinsey pushed for the next step in their relationship, Travis said he needed time apart to think about what he wanted.