Sam's Promise: Blackwater, Book 1

by Anne Rainey

  “So, by the time they caught the cancer, it was too late,” he surmised.

  “Yeah,” she said, her voice soft and far away.

  “You miss her, huh?”

  “Sometimes, but she was in a lot of pain in the end.” Her voice trembled as she murmured, “I hated seeing her that way.”

  He patted her thigh, needing to take away her sadness in some small way. “Well, I don’t know if it helps to hear this, but I think my mom considers you the daughter she never had.”

  “Aw, I care about her too.” She shrugged. “I think she needs to hire a full time manager at the diner, though. Of course, I’m not sure she can afford it right now.” Her gaze landed on his, and he could see her worry. “Sam, I’m afraid if something isn’t done, she’ll lose the restaurant.”

  He took one last swig of his coffee, then sat his cup next to hers before saying, “I won’t let that happen.”

  “Short of declaring bankruptcy, I don’t see how you have a choice,” she muttered.

  “I spent a good part of the morning looking everything over, and at first I had the same depressing thought. But I have an idea. I just need to talk to the others first.”

  Her eyes widened. “What sort of plan?”

  “A remodel. I want to turn the restaurant into a bar and grill.”

  “It sounds great, but how will you get the funding? I’m not sure the bank will find that the restaurant is a sound investment.”

  “We might not need a lot. I’ve got a little money saved back. Besides, with Vance and me doing the work and the five of us pooling our resources, I think it might be the best way to turn the diner around.”

  “Our very own version of Applebees right here in Blackwater?”

  “Something like that.” Sam reached out and cupped Julie’s chin, urging her to look at him. “How about we worry about the diner tomorrow?”

  “Okay.” She crossed her legs and glanced over at the fire. “I love this time of year.”

  Sam couldn’t pass up the chanced to learn a little more about her. “Is it the chillier weather or the holiday season you like?”

  “Both.” She plucked at her sweatshirt and admitted, “I do get cold easily, but I love sitting by a warm fire. It reminds me of going to church camp when I was little.”

  Sam imagined her as a young girl in pigtails and smiled. “I can see you roasting marshmallows and eating s’mores.”

  She rubbed her belly. “Mm, there’s nothing better than s’mores.”

  Sam tipped her chin up until he could see her eyes. “Nothing?” he murmured. “Not even gooey chocolate chip cookies with me?”

  Julie clenched her eyes tight and let out a heavy breath. “I have a confession to make, Sam.”

  “Yeah?”

  She opened her eyes and said, “Uh, I’m nervous. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date, but you could probably tell that already.”

  “It’s okay. No pressures or expectations tonight, Julie.” He leaned back into the swing and put his arm around her shoulders. “All you have to do is enjoy the night.”

  She leaned her head on his shoulder and looked up at him. “Are you enjoying the evening?”

  “I have a pretty woman snuggled up close under the stars. It doesn’t get much better in my book.”

  “Maybe we should make a wish. You never know, it might come true.”

  He smiled down at her. “I haven’t done that since I was a kid.”

  Her eyes twinkled in the firelight as she whispered, “I will if you will.”

  “Deal.”

  “Close your eyes. It won’t work unless you close your eyes, Sam.”

  Sam did as she asked. After he made his wish, he opened them again to see Julie watching him. “Did you make a wish?”

  She nodded. “Did you?” she asked in a faraway voice.

  “Hmm, yeah. We’ll just have to wait and see if it comes true or not, won’t we?” he said cryptically.

  She offered him a sexy grin, one clearly designed to fell a lesser man. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to tell me what you wished for, huh?”

  “Nice try, sweetheart.” Julie pouted, and Sam knew he was putty in her hands. God, she was captivating. Sam was desperate to lean down and kiss her. He wanted to undress her and touch every inch of her body with his lips and tongue. “You know that if I told you, then it wouldn’t come true anyway, remember?”

  “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Will you let me know if you get your wish at least?”

  “I will if you will,” he murmured.

  Satisfied, Julie nodded. “Deal.”

  Sam stroked the silky length of her dark brown hair. “We could shake on it,” he suggested.

  Her eyes lit with mischief. “We could. Sounds a little boring, if you ask me.”

  “Or…” He dipped his head and pressed his lips to her soft, warm mouth.

  Julie sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. She moved closer, as if she wanted to spend a good long time sampling him. Damn good plan, Sam thought. He nudged the seam of her lips with his tongue, and her lips parted beneath his. Tongues met in a wild mating dance. She tasted of sweet, warm chocolate, and Sam knew he could easily become a glutton.

  He pulled back a few inches. “Earlier you said that I made you hot and bothered.”

  “Blurted it out, you mean,” she grumbled as she turned away, presenting him with the perfect view of her neck. Sam kissed her there, just behind her ear. Julie shivered.

  Sam’s voice dropped an octave as he admitted, “Either way, I’m glad you said it.”

  “Yes, well, I think you’ve managed to turn the heat up a notch.” She cleared her throat. “In case you were curious or anything.”

  “Still feels a little chilly to me,” he said as he coasted his lips over her earlobe and nibbled.

  “W-we can’t have that,” she whispered, tilting her head to the side and giving him better access to her neck.

  Sam caved in to temptation and licked the smooth line of her neck. He could feel the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she pressed her body closer to his. Sam’s cock pulsed with the need to be buried inside her soft pussy. Damn, he hadn’t even taken off Julie’s clothes and already he ached for release. Sam was desperate to tear off her sweats, to see the full curves she kept hidden, but he didn’t want to rush her. She’d admitted her inexperience earlier, and Sam knew it would be better if he took the time to coax Julie’s passion to the surface, not demand it.

  “I’m out of my element here, Sam,” she softly confessed, confirming his conviction that he needed to take it slow.

  Nervous tension creased her brow, but the fingers tugging at his hair spoke of how turned on she was. The very last thing he wanted was for Julie to be shy and reserved. He wanted her to let go of her shyness, to feel free to explore him a little, because he sure as shit planned to explore her.

  Sam nudged her face toward his. “Sweetheart?”

  “Hmm?” she asked as her pleasure-filled gaze snared his.

  “Kiss me,” he urged.

  “Good idea.” She leaned into him and barely touched her lips with his.

  Unlike the mating of lips before, this kiss was light and fleeting but enough to have Sam’s blood pounding hot. He dipped his head and tasted the V-shaped bit of skin exposed at the front of the hoodie. He licked the warmth he discovered there, enjoying the beat of her pulse pounding out a staccato rhythm beneath his tongue.

  Lifting a little, Sam asked, “More?”

  He watched her swallow hard, and even that seemed sexy. “It’d be oh so wrong to stop now,” she said, her voice not quite as steady as before.

  “Christ, you’re turning me on here.”

  She mumbled something unintelligible, but it was her responsiveness that sent a wave of primitive satisfaction through him. He wanted to be the only man with the privilege to hear that particular husky tone of voice from Julie. He brushed his lips across her throat one more time before placing a hand on the back
of the swing next to her, caging her in.

  Sam ran a hand down her arm, then let his fingers drift over one cotton-covered breast. Through her bra and the thick material of the hoodie, he couldn’t tell if her nipples were hard little points or not, but if her breathing was any indication, she definitely liked his ministrations. As he cupped one full, round breast, shaping and kneading, he heard her beg his name. Sam stopped and looked her over. With her hair all around her shoulders, eyes half-closed with desire and her lips swollen from his kisses, she looked like an offering.

  Sam reached down with one hand and cupped her pussy through the sweats. “You want to come, sweets?”

  “So very badly.” She moaned. “I just might implode if I don’t.”

  Sam tsked. “We certainly can’t have that.” He kissed her cheek and breathed in her delicate scent. Sam took her hand in his and pressed it against his cock. “Feel what you do to me, Julie,” he gently ordered.

  “Oh, God. You’re so big, so hard.” When she wrapped her fingers around him and squeezed, Sam had to bite back a curse.

  He left her fingers to play, then journeyed beneath the hem of her sweatshirt. As he nudged the bra upward and encountered the pillowy softness of her tits, Sam knew he’d never touched anything softer in his life. He pinched one turgid peak, relishing the sounds she made with each of his teasing caresses. As Julie pumped his cock through his slacks, all rational thought scattered. She was a powerful mix of inexperience and aroused woman.

  As Sam glided his palm down her ribcage to her belly, he felt her tremble.

  “More?” he asked, giving her a chance to call a halt. It would kill him to stop now, but he wouldn’t push her.

  “Please, you feel so good,” she breathed out. “So right.” She spread her legs wider in obvious invitation.

  “Jesus,” he growled as he reached beneath the elastic of her sweatpants and came into contact with the satin material of her panties. He was curious what color they were, but not curious enough to stop and look. He didn’t want to risk breaking the sensual spell around them.

  At last Sam touched her damp curls, and the head of his cock swelled. “Lean back a little for me, sweetheart.”

  She hesitated, and Sam could feel her stiffening a little. “Wait, what if someone sees?”

  “Our clothes are staying put, I promise.” He flicked her clit. “And you do have a privacy fence.”

  She glanced around, then bit her lip and slowly surrendered. She leaned back in the swing and gave him better access to her pretty body.

  “Mm, yeah, that’s it,” he praised her. When Sam caressed her tiny bud, Julie moaned his name and released his cock. She gripped on to his forearms instead, as if needing the support.

  Sam watched her toss her head backward, her fingernails digging into his shirtsleeves. “Don’t stop,” she begged.

  “Not a chance,” he murmured as his fingers continued to stroke and play. When he delved his middle finger into her wet opening, letting his thumb slide over her swollen clitoris, her moans turned to cries. “Damn, you’re wet. I want a taste of some of that cream, Julie.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Soon, sweetheart.”

  Every whimper and shudder drove him higher and higher. Her pussy tightened around his finger, and he closed his eyes, reveling in the delicious torture.

  “So fucking hot and tight,” he said, as he pushed two fingers deep. “God, I want my cock here.” He curled his fingers upward, hitting a particularly sensitive spot, emphasizing his point.

  “Sam,” she cried as her hips lifted off the seat. His mind went blank, and all his blood traveled to his dick as Julie began bucking wildly beneath him.

  “Yeah, fuck my fingers,” Sam urged as he pushed in and out of her. He moved slow at first, then faster.

  “More,” she ground out. “Harder.”

  “Anything,” he whispered as he increased the rhythm. When he flicked her clit once more, Julie stiffened. Sam slammed his mouth over her hers and drank in her cries as she came all around his fingers. When her spasms subsided, Sam pulled his fingers free. He touched her lips with his fingers wet with her come. “Taste yourself for me.”

  Sam couldn’t take his gaze off Julie as she wrapped a hand around his wrist and sucked both his fingers into her mouth, licking them clean. “Ah, damn,” he groaned, “you’re making it so hard to do the right thing here.”

  Her green gaze traveled down his body and stopped for a few seconds on his cock. Desire burned bright in her eyes when she looked back up at him. “We could—”

  Sam cut her off with a hard kiss. He slid his tongue into her mouth, tasting the tang of her pussy juices. When he pulled back, they were both breathing hard. “No, this is just a sample. The appetizer,” he explained. “You’ll have to let me see you again if you want the main entrée.”

  Her smile, when it came, was every bit as sexy as the woman herself. “Oh, I so want.”

  Chapter Six

  After Sam had left Julie the night before, all flushed and looking hot as hell from her orgasm, he’d sent his brothers text messages asking them to meet him at the diner the following morning. Now that he had a plan to turn the restaurant around, he didn’t want to waste another second.

  Since it was Sunday morning, the diner was closed. Now, as he looked at the four of them sitting in stools across the counter from him, Sam knew a sense of rightness about the proposal he was about to make. The diner belonged to all of them; it was only right that they all took part in bringing it back into the black. Still, as he looked around the room, taking in the long, white countertop scarred from years of use and the red cushioned booths with little tears at the corners, Sam felt a jolt of pain go through his chest.

  He could still remember his dad making them all strawberry shakes on the occasional Saturday afternoon. Sam recalled the girl he’d made out with in the far booth, after hours, during his senior year of high school. The place held a lot of memories, for all of them, but it was time to make some new ones. Time to move on.

  “I have a plan,” he said, “but it’s a big one, and it’ll take all of us to make it work.”

  “Make it quick, Sammy,” River grumbled. “Mom is due to get out of the hospital today, and I don’t want her to be alone when they release her.”

  “Julie is with her.” He’d called her the minute he woke up, partly because he’d wanted to hear her sweet voice and partly because he couldn’t get the image of her coming for him out of his head. “Mom’s in good hands.” Sam looked closer at River and noticed the dark circles under his eyes. “When was the last time you slept?”

  River sat back in his stool and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll sleep when Mom is home. Away from those damn tubes and nurses poking her with needles all night long.”

  Reilly glared at his twin but stayed silent. Brodix yawned. “Why couldn’t we meet at the house? And where the hell is the coffee?”

  “Because this is about the diner, not the house.” Sam rolled his eyes at Brodix’s pissy mood. He’d always been the worst morning person on the planet. It took him three cups before he was even remotely civil. “You want coffee make it yourself, I’m not your maid.”

  “If you were, I’d fire your useless ass.”

  “If you’ll shut up and let me talk, maybe we could get through this within the next century too.”

  “So talk,” he bit out.

  Sam started right in, no sense dancing around it. “I’ve had a chance to look over the books. Things are bad.”

  “Bankruptcy bad?” Vance asked, speaking for the first time since arriving.

  He nodded. Several curses filled the air. Sam held up a hand. “However, we’re not without options here. I’ve been looking at the property. We own it outright, thanks to Dad’s financial skills, and it’s large enough that we could expand the diner.”

  “Customers aren’t clamoring to eat here as it is, and you want to make the place bigger?” Reilly asked. “How does that make sense?”

&nb
sp; “Not bigger, necessarily, but a remodel. I think we should turn the diner into a bar and grill.”

  Suddenly alert, Brodix sat up and placed his elbows on the counter. “How? I don’t see a bank loaning us the amount of cash that sort of remodel would entail.”

  “I have some money in savings,” Sam offered.

  “Me too,” River added as he looked at the clock on the wall for the tenth time. “We might not need the bank.”

  “Hell, if you both have money in savings, then why don’t the five of us just put in equal shares to pay the bills around here?” Reilly said as he waved a hand in the air. “Problem solved.”

  “Because Sammy is thinking of a long-term solution,” Brodix said as his quick mind caught on. “Paying the bills is only a bandage.”

  “In my opinion,” Sam began, “a bar and grill would gain us a damn sight more customers than a diner ever could. I don’t want to end up right back here six months down the road, few customers and too much overhead. We need to make some changes.”

  “Vance’s Construction has the remodel covered,” Vance stated. He rubbed his hands together and looked around the room before saying, “It’s about time this place got a facelift.”

  “I agree with everything you guys are saying here, but,” River said, still looking unconvinced, “what do you think Mom will want? The diner was always her thing.”

  For a moment, they all fell silent as they glanced around the room. Sam knew his brothers were recalling all the times they’d spent there growing up. They’d each taken turns waiting tables and washing dishes. Sam hadn’t minded the work, though, because the diner was theirs. And for a motley bunch like they’d been before Wanda and Chet Jennings came into their lives, having a place to call their own had been worth a little sweat.

  “I think she’ll be thrilled, River,” Sam said. “That we’re all taking an interest in the family business is what she always wanted anyway. Her and Dad both. Besides, if she decides she wants to keep things as they are, then we’ll go with what Reilly said.” He made a circle in the air to indicate the five of them. “We’ll put our money together and pay the bills. Do our best to help out.”