Sam couldn't remember the last time he had this much fun. It was so long ago he'd forgotten. He was glad he'd allowed himself to be a slave to attraction today and didn't say no to Lexie. Apart from robbing himself of spending more time with her, he would have robbed himself of a truly amazing day.
They had a fantastic time at the festival where a blend of different cultures from all over the world came together. They went to food tastings where they both ate far too much, watched all kinds of performances, and played games. It was really enjoyable. But, he had to admit that the highlight of the day for him was going to the marina.
Sam hadn't stepped on a boat in three and a half years. That was how long it had been. Lexie had breathed a new life of thought into him at the prospect of sailing again, and now he was thinking about it.
He'd had such a great day with her. However, on the drive back to her apartment he noticed that she'd gone quiet on him. She seemed to be deep in thought about something and was still like it when they got back. She loosened her hair from a ponytail, and he watched the vast mass of silk wash over her delicate shoulders, covering the straps of her floral summer dress.
He leaned his behind against the edge of the kitchen worktop while he watched her setting her bag down with a few of the things they'd bought at the festival. When she finally turned to him, she gave him a little smile, but her eyes looked troubled.
"You ok?" he asked.
"Just tired."
Of course. She must have been, and she'd only just gotten over being sick days ago. It was time for him to leave and allow her to get some proper rest. Besides, he needed to go home and gather his thoughts.
At the very least Sam needed to go home so he could get away from this magnetism that pulled him towards her and threatened to break down all the barriers of reasoning that should stop him from wanting her.
"I'm gonna go and change. I'm sure my clothes must be more than ready by now." He pointed towards the laundry room. Earlier she'd insisted on washing his clothes and drying them so they'd be ready for when they got back.
She'd thoroughly taken care of him, giving him more care than he'd had since he was a kid living at home with his parents.
"Yes, I hung them over the heated rack. Let me know if you need anything pressed." She offered.
"Lexie why don't you relax and go put your feet up. I'm okay." He smiled at her. "I'll go get ready, and you let me know if I can do something for you before I go."
It was the least he could do.
Lexie watched the lazy smile she'd grown accustomed to inch across Sam's handsome face. Then he left the room, without his cane, and turn the corner into the laundry room.
What was the matter with her? Just last night she'd warned herself about being careful with him. Now she couldn't stop thinking of ways to keep him here longer.
She'd thought of dinner earlier, but it wasn't the right time to ask. But maybe now she could. She could have dinner ready in an hour, and they could watch an old movie or something. Yes, that was a good idea.
She waited for five minutes then rushed down to the laundry room. She knocked on the door before entering, and only did when he told her to come in.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him about dinner and launch into what she could make, but the words turned to mush in her brain as she stared at him. He had on his shirt, but it was unbuttoned revealing a super toned, tanned, six pack attached to a wide well-developed wall of a chest.
Running from the left of his chest and trailing down to the end of his waistband, near his happy trail, were Japanese letters tattooed in thick black ink. Lexie swallowed hard wishing she could go back outside and come back in again with a straighter, more prepared face. It would also help if she could find her voice. If only ... she didn't have a weakness for a man with tattoos.
She thanked her lucky stars he'd been folding up the Quicksilver t-shirt and didn't see her juvenile demise gawking at him. He ran his hands through his hair when he looked at her then started to fasten his buttons.
"Um...you um... have tattoos." She pointed out.
He looked down his chest. "Oh yeah, these." He smiled. "College. I went a little wild."
"Really?" She couldn't imagine him going wild.
"Yeah, it was bad. My friends and I were terrible." He laughed. "Anyway, these I remember getting." He pointed down his chest drawing her gaze back there. "This one though I can't remember." He undid the button he'd done, turned his back to her and shrugged out of one sleeve to reveal an equally toned back with a full-size Chinese dragon tattooed across it. "Way too much alcohol and I'm pretty certain came about as a result of some kind of prank."
She couldn't help herself. It was the blackness of the ink against his taut muscles and the intense definition of the creature. She felt herself move towards him, her brain so far away that it could no longer function. She reached out and touched him, coming into contact with hard muscle as she traced the outline of the design right down to the curve of the tail that ran along the lower side of his waist. At that moment he tensed and caught her hand in his.
He turned to her but didn't let go off her hand, his eyes darkening as he gazed down at her. Standing this close to him was overbearing, and she found she could no longer keep her thoughts together.
"Do you... have any?" he asked, adjusting his arm back into his shirt sleeve.
Her with tattoos, the thought was laughable with her fear of needles and pain. But she needed to say something cool.
"No, um," think Lexie, what else was cool? "Piercings." She decided to say. Her ears were pierced, and she'd braved the pain of that. But he didn't think she meant her ears. People didn't usually tend to refer to standard ear piercing as piercings.
"Where?" He asked with that sexy grin.
"You can't see it." It was one of those times when she wasn't thinking first before she spoke. Now her imagination was running wild without her brain because that was somewhere else.
He narrowed his eyes looking at her mischievously. "Belly button."
"No."
Curiously he looked down to her crotch in deep fascination, and she realized with horror what he must have thought.
"No, it's my nipples." She blurted too quickly in an attempt to bring his eyes back up. Lexie didn't know what made her say that. Again she wasn't thinking, and now instead of looking at her crotch he was staring at her breasts, which she supposed was only a fraction better.
"Really," he said with deep fascination. His eyes never left her breasts.
Desire pulled at her insides and tightened her groin from taking in the way he was looking at her. "Sam."
"Hmmm."
"You're staring at my breasts." She pointed out.
"What? Oh." He looked back up to her face, "you seriously have nipple piercings?"
She decided to come clean. "No. I was joking...my ears are pierced." She replied on a nervous breath.
He reached out to the side of her face and smoothed her hair behind her ear to reveal the tiny diamond studs in her ear. His hand lingered at the edge of her throat as he shifted his focus to her eyes.
"Sam," back to dinner. That was a safer thought. "If I asked you to stay for dinner would you say yes?"
His gaze intensified and weakened her knees.
"As much as it's say yes to Lexie day, I'm going to have to say no."
"Are you busy?" She couldn't hide her disappointment. He twirled a lock of hair around his fingers and trailed it down the side of her throat. His eyes darkened once more.
"No, but thanks to you I need a very cold shower to get the image of your breasts out of my head." He replied with a lascivious grin. She offered a small apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry. You could have a cold shower here. There's plenty of cold water. In fact, sometimes I have no hot water."
Realization seemed to have hit him. "You don't want me to leave." He stated.
She sighed and shook her head. "No."
"Lexie, realistically, if I stay fo
r dinner, then I'll still be here tomorrow, and it'll be harder for me to leave."
"Harder?" She regarded him with hopeful eyes seeing he was attracted to her, but wondering if he really felt the way she did. Like she couldn't be without him.
"Yes. Then I may stay forever, and you'd have to make me hot chocolate every day." He tried to joke.
"But I wouldn't mind, and it would never be boring, we could watch old movies and eat fajitas, and I'd sail around the world with you." She babbled. She wasn't sure how she'd flair out sailing around the world, but she would try. That last statement seemed to take him aback.
"Don't tempt me."
"So, you can be tempted?" She asked optimistically. To her surprise, he looked her over and momentarily froze at her breasts before he looked back up to her eyes.
"You mustn't try." His voice was barely above a whisper.
"What would happen if I did?" She couldn't help her curiosity, and she couldn't withstand the intense need that washed over her entire body. He ran his finger along the edge of her collar bone and leaned closer and lowered towards her so that his face was inches away.
"You really want to find out?"
"Yes." More than she'd wanted anything else in her life. Sliding his finger under her chin, he moved her face towards his.
Lexie remembered this part. It was fresh in her memory, kept alive by her dreams. She closed her eyes to prepare herself for his delicious lips, remembering exactly how he tasted. He slanted his lips over hers, taking the breath out of her lungs and making her go limp from the effect. He tasted just like the first time. No... this was a million times better, maybe because she craved him. Craved him like nothing else. His tongue sent shivers of desire throughout her, leaving her mouth burning with fire, and she drank in the intimacy of him. The impact of his kiss sent her spinning into the swirls of ecstasy. When he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, she allowed herself the pleasure of reaching up to the thick muscles of his shoulders, up the back of his neck and into his gorgeous hair. Her skin blazed from the heated passion that consumed them and the ringing in her ears was almost deafening. It didn't help that the door bell had started ringing too.
The doorbell?
No, she thought as the sound broke them apart. Who could that be?
Hayley and Tamar had told her they'd be busy today and her parents wouldn't just turn up. Neither would Tim or Gina, so who....
Oh.
It dawned on her with the weight of a ten-ton truck.
Oh no. No, no, no.
Ed. She just had a feeling it was him, and she felt terrible that she'd totally forgotten about him and worse that she hadn't broken up with him yet. She hadn't given a second thought to him all this time she'd been with Sam. What kind of person was she?
"You ...should get that," Sam told her when the bell rang again.
"Yeah." She couldn't even look at him as she walked out of the room. The bell sounded a third time before she opened it revealing that it was indeed Ed. With the biggest smile on his face, he held out a box of Godiva Chocolates, her favorites. In his other hand, he held a shopping bag.
"Hey. I thought I'd surprise you. You are such a hard person to get a hold of." He beamed.
As she beheld him, she could feel her eyes filling with tears and had to blink several times to hold them back. Ed came in and put the shopping bag down by the door. He started to say something and stopped mid- sentence as he peered over her shoulder.
"Oh. I didn't realize you had company."
Her face heated as Lexie turned to see Sam. He was dressed properly and looked more like a casual version of himself at the office with his shirt and jacket back on.
"I was just leaving. I'm Sam, Lexie's friend. We work together."
"Oh hey. Nice to meet you." Ed looked a little thrown by Sam's presence and probably his appearance too. The two together were distinct opposites. Ed with his thin, lanky body who looked like he would be more at home in a small town library, and Sam... well Sam always looked like he'd just stepped out of a Hollywood film. He'd be the hunk that was chosen to make all the ladies melt. "I'm Ed. Lexie's boyfriend."
She had to struggle not to cringe. Just from that intro, she could tell that he'd been thrown by Sam's appearance. Ed had never introduced himself as that before, and it just made everything that happened five minutes ago so much worse.
Sam chanced a look at Lexie. His eyes were still that darker shade of green.
"Good to meet you," Sam told him.
Lexie looked like some kind of cheater. Ed wasn't her boyfriend, and it was her fault for not setting him straight. She'd acted so loosely with Sam, flirting with him, kissing him, and tempting him telling him she had nipple piercings. And then there was Ed who thought they were in a relationship.
"Well, I won't take up anymore of your time. Lexie, I'll see you Monday." He offered a smile, his business smile.
"See you Monday." She hid the disappointment in her voice well this time. And kept herself together as she watched him leave and walk back into reality.
Chapter 13
"Where have you been?" Zane's shrill voice echoed throughout the apartment as Sam stepped through the door. Foot tapping and arms folded, he reminded Sam of an overbearing girlfriend, except with a five o' clock shadow and wild messy hair. "Do you know how worried I've been. I was just going to call the police and report you missing."
Sam tried not to laugh but couldn't help it.
"This isn't funny. Sam, it's Saturday evening. Saturday evening. You're normally tucked in bed by now with your pop tarts watching some flaming old movie. And me, I have a life. I'm not normally here waiting on you hand and foot, tearing my hair out with worry."
"Zane I'm sorry. I was busy."
"I called the office, and the janitor said you weren't there. Don't lie to me, and tell me you were somewhere like... the library." He rolled his eyes.
Sam shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it on the sofa. He couldn't focus on Zane right now. As a matter of fact, he didn't think he could focus on anything besides Lexie ever again.
He kissed her. And that wasn't the only thing he'd planned to do to her. At that moment he'd never wanted a woman more than he'd wanted her. It was like something primal had taken over and made him lose control. Kissing her was like breathing new life into his soul. But, it was a very bad thing that he'd done.
Sam shouldn't have kissed her. It wasn't as if he didn't know she was seeing someone. Regardless to how she'd explained her relationship, he knew she was in one.
"Hey, I'm talking to you." Zane was furious. "And, why was your phone off?"
Sam wasn't aware of that. See what this woman did to him? Who knows who could have been trying to reach him. Amy, his parents, Zane. It actually wasn't funny.
"You could have been kidnapped." Zane shrieked. "You'd better tell me right the hell now where you were."
Yes, Sam had to tell him. Aside from needing to get it all off his chest, he genuinely felt sorry for being unreachable.
"I was with Lexie. Last night I went to her sister's club, then I spent the night at her place. We spent the day together too, and then I kissed her seconds before her actual boyfriend turned up at her house and caught me there." That was a good summary.
Zane simply gawked at him and then burst out laughing. "Now that's funny. I would have believed the library story more."
"If you don't believe me call her. Call her and ask."
At that Zane stopped laughing abruptly and the humor on his face was replaced by shock. Sam sat down on the sofa, grabbed a stress ball and started tossing it up and down.
"It's true?" His gaze burned with intensity
"I wouldn't lie to you." Sam pointed out. Zane rushed towards the sofa and propped himself down.
"Okay. This is ridiculous. I've been patient for long enough. What's the story with you two?" He demanded.
It was time to tell him, and again it would be good to talk.
Sam pulled in a breath
before he began, and once he started talking, he found that the words just poured out of him. He told Zane everything. Not just about how he met Lexie but how he'd felt about her all those years ago, and how he'd thought about her. He even told him how she got him through the time he spent in a coma. He'd never told anyone that part.
Zane listened, really listened, and Sam was glad he didn't appear to think the whole thing was outlandish. After all, who felt like that about anybody after knowing them for only one day.
Today just confirmed his feelings for her. And now he definitely knew it wasn't a case of illusions or flights of youthful fancies.
It was real.
He waited for Zane to comment when he finished talking, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he grabbed the closest cushion and started hitting Sam with it. "Jerk! You told me she was a friend from grad school, and you just said you wouldn't lie to me. What is the matter with you?"
"Hey." Sam held up his hands to block the hits.
"Don't hey me. Are you crazy or something? Go back to her house now and tell that guy he can't have your woman."
"Zane that's crazy talk." Sam couldn't help but laugh as he evaded another blow from the cushion.
"Me crazy? Are you kidding?" His eyes were wild. "How the hell could you meet someone like that and end up with Jessica? And what are the chances of running into her donkeys years later, and you're not doing anything about it."
He was about to protest but realized once again that Zane was right.
Sam pulled in a deep breath to try a clear the confusion that clouded his mind.
"Zane we were in a different place back then." Or, at least she was. She needed to find herself which she did. "And we're in a different place now." This time it was him that was trying to find himself.
"That's a load of bull. Tell me how it's different."
"I have Amy and Jessica to think about, and more importantly Lexie isn't mine to take." Even though she felt like his. That part was still an illusion. "I shouldn't have kissed her. I got carried away." He definitely damned well had.
He'd never met anyone in his life who could rob him of his sense of logic and reasoning with just a mere touch or a look. Lexie could render his ability to think clearly completely useless. When he was with her, he couldn't say no to her, and he felt like he never wanted to leave her.
Complete Me Page 17