by Alison Bliss
Warm and encompassing laughter filled the air around them.
Her mom waved her hand at Leah. “Don’t worry about it. We wear the same size. I have an extra pair I brought that you can have. I’ll pull them out of my suitcase when I go upstairs. In the meantime, why don’t you two join us?”
Leah glanced at Sam, then bit her lip. “Ah, not tonight, Mom. I got up at four o’clock this morning to prep for my shift at the bakery. I’m tired. I think I’ll just go up, take a quick shower, and then hit the sack early.”
“What about you, Sam?” her father asked. “You want to sit with us for a while?”
“Thanks, Bill, but I think Leah has the right idea. I was up pretty early this morning myself.” He smirked and dropped an arm across her shoulders. “Probably better for me to go to bed with your daughter now instead of waking her up later.” Sam leaned in closer to Leah. “Right, baby?”
She stiffened at the sexual connotation and gazed back at him with incredulous, I’m going to kill you eyes, while the awkward silence of her family members forced her to respond. “What Sam means is…he, um…has a bad back.”
His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t speak. He had a feeling where she was going with this, and he didn’t like it one bit.
Leah continued. “When I lost my shoe, Sam had to piggyback me off the jetty, and his back started acting up again. I told him I would rub it for him before bed so he could fall asleep pain-free. It’s the least I can do since it’s my fault anyway.”
White-hot flames of anger swept through him, but he doused them to keep from saying something he would regret and giving away their ruse. “Oh yeah. Right. That’s what I meant.” He grinned sinfully though, because there was no way he’d let her get off scot-free for making that remark about her size. “And I believe that wasn’t the only thing you promised me,” he said, rubbing his thumb across her bottom lip as her mouth fell open.
“Good night, everyone,” Leah said to the others, steadily shoving Sam toward the stairs.
Her face had turned several shades of red by the time she guided him into the house and straight into the bedroom, where she slammed the door behind them. Her head snapped to him, and judging by the way she glared at him, he wasn’t going to stay “pain-free” much longer if he kept saying shit like that in front of her family. But he couldn’t help himself. It was fun to see all of their reactions. Especially hers.
“Jesus, Sam. You just made them think I was going to…to…”
He wore a shit-eating grin. “To what?”
She didn’t speak.
“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you can’t say that one out loud either,” he said, shaking his head at her. “Just say it already. I made them think that you were going to give me head. Or you can use: blow job, playing the skin flute, smoking a pole, or sucking a dick.”
“Why can’t I just call it oral sex?”
“Because you aren’t a doctor,” he said with a chuckle. “And if you think for one second that they bought that bad-back bullshit, you’re wrong. Right about now, they’re all wondering if we’re going to screw like bunnies in your grandparents’ house.”
She stared at him wide-eyed, then sighed heavily. “God, why did I ever let you talk me into agreeing to this stupid plan?”
“Hey, just be glad I didn’t stay down there with them. You never know what might have come out of my mouth without you around to shut me up.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Leah reached for her overnight bag, then eyed him suspiciously. “I’m going to take my shower now. But if you dare to make a single sexual noise or even so much as squeak the bed while I’m in there, I’m going to throw my shampoo bottle out the door at you.” When he sat down in the chair and folded his hands innocently in his lap, she smiled. “By the way, you could have stayed downstairs with them if you wanted to. You didn’t have to come up just because I did.”
Sam shook his head. He wouldn’t have minded hanging out downstairs with her family for a little while longer, which was exactly why he chose not to. “It’s okay. I’m really tired anyway. It’s been a long day.” As Leah rooted through her bag and pulled out some clothes, a thought burned through him. “Did Gavin ever stay down there…with your family, I mean?”
Leah glanced up, twisting her head toward him, seemingly surprised by his unexpected question. “Actually, Gavin’s never been here before. I invited him once, but he said he didn’t want to spend his weekend sitting around with a bunch of old people so he didn’t come.”
“God, your ex is a fucking jerk.”
“Tell me about it. My weight has always fluctuated by about twenty pounds, and one time Gavin thought it would be a lovely gesture to tell me I looked better when I was on the lower end. He’s a peach, isn’t he?”
Damn. He really wanted to kick the shit out of that jackass now. “That’s a dick thing to say. Leah, as nice as you are, I can’t figure out why the hell you were with someone like him. You deserve way better than that.”
She lowered her head, not allowing her gaze to meet his. “Yeah, well, being with a jerk is sometimes better than being alone.”
With her silky dark hair, emerald eyes, and those killer feminine curves that would drive any man wild, she should never have been made to feel that way about herself. And he knew exactly who to blame. She can thank that prick Gavin and her nitpicking mother.
Sam’s hands fisted on his knees. “That’s a crock. You have this screwed-up mentality, all because of his fucked-up perception of women. Gavin wouldn’t know a damn thing about a real women. He obviously was trying to form you into the Barbie doll type I saw on his arm at the reception. Because what he said about you…it’s not true.”
“Thanks,” she said, heading to the bathroom with a bundle of clothes under her arm. “I appreciate you saying that, but you can’t know for sure.”
Outrage sloshed in his veins. He glared at her back as she set her clothes down on the bathroom counter and turned back to close the door. “Wait a minute,” he said, his frustration straining his voice. “You won’t take what I say at face value, but you’ll listen to what your dumbass ex tells you?”
“Yes,” she said as she started pushing the door closed. “Because Gavin has seen me naked.”
Lucky bastard.
Chapter Thirteen
Damn, she just wanted to get it over with.
Frustrated, Leah heaved out a breath, flipped over onto her back, and slammed her head back against the pillow as if it were a brick wall. It was bad enough she was going to be sharing a bed all night long with the guy she liked. But did he have to make it worse by staying in the bathroom so long and drawing out the inevitable weirdness that was sure to rear its ugly head the moment he crawled under the covers?
What the hell was he doing in there—avoiding her until she fell asleep?
Actually, she’d considered the idea herself except, in her version, she had planned to be in a deep sleep before he came out. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to manage it. Her anxious nerves twitched beneath her skin, electrifying her body and her mind.
She apparently wouldn’t be able to nod off until they got the initial awkwardness over with and out of the way. Once that was no longer an issue, then she would get down to the business of sleeping…if that was even possible with Sam’s sexy body lying next to her.
She sat up and listened for any sounds of movement coming from the bathroom. Beyond the shower water running for twenty minutes straight, Sam had been completely silent the entire time. As if he had hit his head and was lying unconscious on the bathroom floor while bleeding to death. Or what if he’d fallen asleep in there and drowned?
God. Maybe she should check on him. “Sam, are you okay in there?”
He gave a guttural and very male, “Yeah.”
Okay, so he wasn’t dead. That was a good thing.
“Well, are you almost done? I…uh, need to brush my teeth.” Again. Leah cringed at the lie. She had already brushed her teeth once, but maybe one mo
re time wouldn’t hurt. They were going to be sleeping in close quarters after all.
“I’ll just be a minute. I’ve still got to wash my hair and bathe.”
Leah squinted at the door in confusion. Wash his hair and bathe? Then what the fuck had he been doing in there for the last twenty minutes—shaving his legs?
She dragged herself out of the bed and inspected herself in the full-length mirror on a wooden stand that sat in the corner of the room. The navy blue cotton shorts she wore weren’t nearly long enough to hide the slightly dimpled skin on her upper thighs. And the thin white tank top hugged tight across her chest, the flimsy fabric showcasing an unsightly underarm bulge and her enormous-looking puckered nipples.
Damn. Why hadn’t she brought something else to sleep in? Like a sweater. Or possibly a jogging suit. Maybe even a tarp.
Leah paced the room restlessly, waiting for him to finish. When he finally opened the door, steam billowed out into the bedroom. A shirtless Sam appeared through the fog, wearing only a black pair of athletic shorts. His hard, well-muscled chest held a smattering of dark hair, while the hair on his head dripped water onto his broad shoulders, leaving droplets dotting his smooth, tanned skin.
Her mouth went dry.
Sam with a shirt was hot. Sam without a shirt was fucking orgasmic. But she couldn’t stand around there staring at him all day so she rushed into the bathroom and tried to clear her mind of anything involving orgasms. Especially where he was concerned.
It was never going to happen. She knew that.
Leah brushed her teeth—for the second time—and hoped he was in bed with the lights off before she returned.
No such luck.
Sam stood at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed against his magnificent chest, waiting for her return. “Since you messed up the covers on both sides of the bed, I wasn’t sure which one was yours.”
“Doesn’t matter to me.”
“Okay, then just pick one. I don’t care either way.”
Leah choose the side closest to the bathroom and quickly slipped beneath the covers. Then she lay there staring up at the ceiling while her heart hammered relentlessly against her rib cage. Sam flipped off the light switch and slid in next to her, the scent of his soap loitering on his warm skin and clinging to the air around him.
She closed her eyes and inhaled the scent, reveling in its richness and admiring the citrus undertones. Both of them lay there quietly with only the awkward sounds of their synchronized breathing filling the room.
If she had thought the bed looked small before, it now seemed more like a twin bed with Sam lying next to her. He wasn’t touching her, but that didn’t matter. He was still way too close for comfort—hers specifically.
“Um, Leah?”
“Yeah?”
“Is this as uncomfortable for you as it is for me?”
Okay, so apparently she wasn’t the only one thinking about it. “A little,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. If you want, I can go sleep in Ethan’s room or on the couch. I’ll just make something up and tell them we got into an argument.”
Sam lifted his head off his pillow and looked at her, though she couldn’t see his expression in the darkened room. “I think you totally missed the boat on that one. I just meant I’ve never slept in the same bed with someone before without touching them. I feel like I’m sleeping with my brother or something.”
Oh. Well, okay. “I didn’t even know you had a brother.”
“I don’t. I’m an only child. But if I did have a brother and I slept in the same bed with him, I’m pretty sure this is what it would feel like.”
Lovely. So sleeping with me reminds him of sleeping with a brother he doesn’t even have. That’s comforting to know. “Do you want to talk about something? Would that help?”
“Couldn’t hurt, I guess. You don’t sound like my nonexistent brother,” he said, chuckling. “What do you want to talk about?”
She hesitated for a moment but decided to go for it. “Well, since I’ve already told you personal things about my relationship with my ex, why don’t you tell me about the last girl you dated?”
“You don’t want to hear about that disaster.”
“Oh, come on. You know all about my past with Gavin, but I don’t know anything about your dating history. Fair is fair. Tell me.”
“All right, fine. Just remember you asked to hear this stupid bedtime story.” He paused to clear his throat. “Once upon a time, I decided it was time to settle down and get serious about finding someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Then I met Sylvia and changed my mind. We didn’t live happily ever after. The end.”
Leah laughed, which made her body relax and feel a little more at ease. “Okay, back up. What made you change your mind about her?”
“We had been dating for only a month when I found out she planned to marry me.”
Leah blinked rapidly in the dark, then asked, “But wasn’t that what you just said you had wanted at the time—someone to spend the rest of your life with?”
“Fuck, I knew better than to open my big mouth. All of this makes me sound like a prick, doesn’t it?”
“No, no, it’s not that. I guess I just don’t understand the situation. I mean, if you both wanted to get married...I don’t know. It just doesn’t make any sense. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“The big deal is that I figured I’d eventually get married. Not after only a month of dating someone. It’s a little quick, don’t ya think?”
Ah, so that’s his problem. “So, in other words, you got cold feet about getting married?”
“Hell no. There was never any ‘getting married’ to it. I barely knew the woman, and she decided on her own that we were getting hitched. It’s not like I proposed to her or something.”
“Okay, so she fell for you hard and fast. Doesn’t sound like such a bad thing. People tend to do that when they’re in love.”
“That’s the thing though.” Sam repositioned himself, which shook the bed. “Sylvia didn’t love me any more than I loved her. She just wanted to keep her stupid timeline on track.”
Giggling, Leah squinted at him in the dark and crinkled her nose. “Is that something like a biological clock?”
“No, I mean this crazy-ass woman had an actual timeline for everything—dating, marriage, kids, buying a house. We hadn’t even had sex, but she had already picked out our children’s names. Apparently, we had two—a boy and a girl. Derek and Jasmine. Derek had my dark eyes, and Jasmine had Sylvia’s blond hair. They were both honor roll students, and Sylvia wanted to start college funds for them already. I’m telling you, the woman was as fruity as they come.”
Leah stifled a laugh. “So you broke up with her?”
“Hell yeah, I broke up with her. Best thing I ever did. But you want to know the really odd thing? She didn’t care that I dumped her. She was just pissed that I fucked up her timeline.” He breathed out a sigh. “That’s when I decided I should probably back up a little and figure out exactly what I want in a life partner before trying to find her. I’m not always known for thinking ahead. I tend to act in the moment.”
“Oh, you mean like when you announced that you’re engaged to a woman you barely knew?”
Sam nudged her with his elbow. “Yeah, like that, smart-ass.”
Leah giggled. “So basically you’re afraid of ending up with another Sylvia on your hands? Is that it?”
“Pretty much.”
“But isn’t that the whole point of dating—meeting a few wrong ones so you’ll know what the right one looks like when you meet her? I mean, how else will you know what to look for in a partner?”
Sam paused thoughtfully. “I have no idea. But I do know what I don’t want. My first wife taught me that lesson well.”
“I didn’t know you had been married before.” Leah couldn’t stop the surprise in her high-pitched voice. “When was this?”
“Years ago,” Sam said on another sigh.
; “What happened?”
“Back when I was twenty-one, the girl I was dating at the time ended up pregnant. We hadn’t known each other very long, and it wasn’t planned. Just a careless mistake on our parts. I couldn’t even say I loved her, but she still wanted to get married.”
“And you didn’t, I take it?”
“Well, not exactly. I didn’t think it was a smart idea because we hardly knew each other. She kept pressing the issue though. I was trying to be a stand-up guy and do the right thing by her and the baby so I eventually agreed to marry her. It was a stupid mistake, and I’ll always regret that decision.”
“Why’s that?”
He blew out a long, slow breath. “She lost the baby a few weeks after we got married and was having a hard time coping with the loss. Hell, we both were. I had planned to stick it out with her and try to make the marriage work, but…well, I didn’t.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear about the baby. I can only imagine how much of a strain that probably put on your relationship.”
“It did, but that wasn’t why I left. I had put aside all of my own sorrow about the baby in order to help her through her grief. But when I came home from work early one day and caught her with another man in my bed, that put an end to putting her needs before my own. I packed my shit and left, then filed for a divorce soon after. We haven’t spoken since.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be. We didn’t belong together. If I hadn’t been such an idiot for letting her talk me into marrying her so fast in the first place, I could have saved both of us the trouble of going through an ugly, senseless divorce. After all that, I figured out real quick that rushing into a relationship wasn’t a smart idea on any level.”
“What about Sylvia? Did you explain all of that to her? Surely, after hearing that, she would understand your reluctance to jump into marriage.”
“Yeah, I tried, but she still wouldn’t stop going on and on about how I messed up her big life plans.” He lifted his head off the pillow again. “I’m telling you, Leah, that was the strangest fucking relationship I’ve ever been in.”