Chapter 18 – Samantha
“Two nights in a row!” Jess exclaims with a smile. “I’d swear you’re trying to get away from me.”
“Just zip me up,” I answer with a laugh. I’m holding the clasp of my dress closed at the back of my neck as Jess zips up the back. It’s the nicest thing I brought with me, a simple black cocktail dress. My heart is thumping in my chest and I smooth my hands down the front of the dress. I turn around and Jess nods in approval.
“You look hot,” she says. She sighs and shakes her head. “I wish I was being whisked around to all the nicest spots in New York.”
I laugh. “You had your time,” I say. “It’s not like Owen hasn’t spoiled you.”
“I know, I know. It’s just hard with twins.”
“I’ll babysit one night,” I say as I slip some earrings into my ears. “Just let me know. You guys deserve a night off.”
Jess smiles at me. “Thanks Sam, that sounds great, actually. What time is Clifford – I mean Dean picking you up?”
“Should be any minute now, I think.”
“Is he bringing that car again? Would it be weird if I asked him to take me for a drive around the block in it?”
“Yes, that would be weird,” I reply with a laugh. Jess just shrugs and grins at me. The doorbell rings and we look at each other. Jess’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline and my heart starts doing backflips in my chest. Suddenly, thousands of butterflies are crashing around my stomach and I feel like I’ve forgotten how to speak English.
“You look great,” Jess says. “Come on.”
Owen has already opened the door when we walk towards the front of the house. He’s shaking hands with Dean. My jaw almost drops when I see him. He’s wearing a simple black suit with a white shirt. He’s still wearing his sling, and the end of his cast is sticking out of his shirt sleeve. The top button is undone and I can see a glimpse of his muscular chest. A shiver runs down my spine as my thoughts flick back to the hospital parking lot. His hair is perfectly tousled and his beard is trimmed. He looks incredible, and the heat between my legs instantly flares.
“So sorry again about yesterday,” I hear Owen say. “I don’t know what got into Matt, he’s never hit anyone like that before.”
“Don’t mention it,” Dean says with a laugh. “It’ll just be another story to tell. It’s not as bad as the time one kid threw her dirty diaper at me.”
Owen chuckles and gestures to invite him in. Dean takes a step in and lifts his eyes up to me. His eyes brighten the tiniest bit and his lips part ever so slightly. I take the last few steps towards him and reach up to kiss his cheek.
“Hey,” I say simply.
“Hey,” he responds. “You look beautiful.” His eyes are shining as he looks me up and down one more time. The most delicious tingle travels with his eyes as he takes in every inch of my body. My cheeks start to blush and I turn to Jess and Owen.
“See you guys later,” I say a little too loudly. Jess nods and smiles before giving me a hug with one arm. Dean and I walk out the door. As soon as the door closes I turn to Dean. “Is it just me or did it feel like we were teenagers going to prom? Jess and Owen were standing there like proud parents.”
Dean laughs and a shiver travels up my spine again. “Yeah, I got that sense as well. I didn’t mind though, it brought me back to my youth. Makes me feel like I’m being naughty or something.”
I laugh as he takes my hand and helps me down the steps. He opens the passenger’s side door for me and I slide into his gleaming black Bentley once again. I watch him walk over to the driver’s side and get in. He turns to me and smiles before leaning over and reaching his hand to my cheek. He kisses me gently, pressing his lips to mine and groaning.
“Had to do that,” he says with a grin.
“I’m not complaining,” I reply as I try to control the beating of my heart. He smiles a bit wider and turns on the car.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask.
Dean smiles as he pulls out onto the street. “It’s a surprise. You’ll love it.”
My heart hasn’t slowed down a bit as we drive a bit further. I slide my hand onto his thigh and he tenses it slightly and then relaxes. For just a second he takes his hand off the steering wheel and brushes the tips of my fingers with his. He goes back to driving and I wonder if he’d hold my hand if both his arms were functional. We drive a bit further until we get to a huge well-lit building.
Dean pulls up in front of the portico and a valet in a fancy uniform opens the door for me. I step out and he nods before closing the door and going around to the other side. I watch as Dean hands him the keys smoothly and then comes to join me. I try to keep the awe off my face when I see how normal this is for him. He hooks my arm into his and walks me towards the door.
Before we can touch the front doors, they swing open and another man nods to me. I smile at him and glide through the doors. We’re guided towards the elevators and let up to the top floor. Dean squeezes my arm in his and looks over at me. He winks.
“What do you think so far?” he asks.
“It’s a far cry from Lexington, Virginia,” I say with a laugh. “I’m used to opening my own doors.”
“Not tonight,” he says with a smile.
The elevator doors open to a magnificent restaurant. Every table is beautifully set with rich tablecloths and gleaming silverware. There are candles flickering on each table. On every single wall there are floor-to-ceiling windows showing off New York’s sparkling skyline. We’re led by yet another smartly-dressed employee to our table. It’s beside the window and I gasp as we get closer. I can see everything from up here – all the lights and cars and movement below us. The table itself has a vase with a single long-stem rose in it, and a few rose petals strewn across the table. The waiter appears immediately with sparkling water and a list of wines.
Dean hands it to me and I glance at the long wine menu. It hardly even looks like English to me. I look up at him and shrug as I laugh.
“You choose,” I say.
Dean nods and glances at the menu for no longer than a couple seconds before asking for one of the wines. The waiter disappears and I shake my head.
“I love how you thought I’d be able to choose the wine,” I say with a laugh. “Have you forgotten where I’m from?”
Dean laughs. “Maybe I have,” he replies. “You seem at home over here.”
“You make me feel comfortable,” I reply.
Dean smiles and adjusts his sling, sighing.
“I wish this thing was more comfortable,” he says. “Would you mind helping me take this jacket off?”
“Not this again,” I say with a laugh. “It worked once, it’s not going to work again. We’re in public, Dean, get a grip!”
Dean laughs and shakes his head. “I promise to stay fully clothed.”
I make an exaggerated sigh and laugh as I get up. I help him unclasp the sling and slide his jacket off, hanging it up behind his chair. He puts the sling back on and I tie it off, helping him sit down again. I make my way back to my chair and sit down across from him.
“There. And that’s as much undressing of you that I’ll be doing tonight,” I say in a serious tone as I hold up my finger in front of me.
Dean flicks his eyes at me and the corner of his mouth curls upwards. “That’s disappointing,” he growls. Before I can reply, the waiter reappears with a bottle of wine. He presents it to Dean with a flourish and I watch as he tastes the wine and nods. The waiter turns to me and fills my glass and then Dean’s. My heart is still thumping and the heat between my legs is growing hotter by the second. Earlier I swore I’d take things slow, but that resolve is weakening with every minute that goes by.
Chapter 19 – Dean
I try to keep my hand steady as I lift my glass up to touch it to Sam’s. Every time she looks at me I feel a current of energy passing through my body. She is so beautiful I can hardly look at her. When she sli
d my jacket off, I could feel her fingers running over my arms. All I wanted to do was press her body against mine and take her straight back to my apartment.
She tilts her head to the side and frowns as she smiles at me. “What?” she asks.
I frown. “What?” I reply.
She laughs. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know… like that.”
I laugh and shrug. “You look beautiful, is all.”
“Well don’t get used to it,” she says with a grin. “I’m a country girl at heart and this glitz and glamour won’t stick.”
I grin. “I’m not trying to change you.”
“Good.” She tilts her head to the side and looks at me curiously. “What are you trying to do?”
Her question surprises me. She’s staring at me with those glittering green eyes and I can’t help but hesitate before I speak. I take a sip of my wine and put the glass back down gently before lifting my eyes back up to hers. She’s still staring at me, with a hint of a grin playing on her lips.
“I’m trying to get to know you,” I finally say. It seems like a weak answer. I don’t know what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to spend more time with her. I’m trying to get into bed with her, but not really. Not only that. I want to be closer to her. I can’t put it into words, I just feel myself drawn to her. She nods slowly and smiles.
“Do you usually go after recently divorced women? I must be a bit younger than your usual prey.”
I laugh. “Prey? Do you think that’s all you are to me?”
“I don’t know what I am to you. I only met you yesterday but somehow we’ve been on two dates already.”
“That’s true. Well, to be honest, no I don’t go after recently divorced women. I don’t go after many women at all.” She scoffs and rolls her eyes and I think of all the one night stands I’ve had since I left Victoria. “I don’t go on dates with many women,” I correct myself.
“Right.” She’s still looking at me and I feel the urge to be honest with her. My eyes trail over her face, from her eyes to the smattering of freckles across her nose, down to those luscious lips. My gaze lingers over her lips until I finally look at her eyes again. She’s nothing like the cookie-cutter women in this city. She’s so real and I want to be real with her too.
I take a deep breath. “I was supposed to get married next month. The date was set, the venue was booked. My mother had invited the whole city. And then…”. My voice trails off.
“And then?” she asks softly.
“And then I walked in on my fiancee with another man in my bed.” Sam’s eyebrows draw together and her mouth drops open. “And then that was it,” I finish.
“Dean, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s over now, even if my parents don’t believe it.”
“Did they like her?”
They’d been planning the union since I was born. Their business plans were riding on our marriage, and they blame me for ruining it.
“Yeah,” I say. “They did.”
Sam nods slowly. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologise, it wasn’t your fault. You’ve been through the same. Worse, even, you were already married!”
“I didn’t walk in on him,” she says. She takes a deep breath and lifts her eyes up to mine. “This is the first time I’ve been able to talk about it without feeling like I’m going to burst into tears. It’s nice to meet someone who gets it.”
“I get it,” I say bitterly, swirling the red wine in my glass and watching it drip down the sides. “For the first month I had that dirty feeling in my stomach like I was constantly on the verge of throwing up. Then I drank every day for a month after that. I swore I’d never trust a woman again.”
“Do you still feel that way?” Sam’s voice is so low I hardly hear her question. That doesn’t change the weight of it. I can hear the question behind it, where she’s asking would you ever trust me. I lift my eyes up to hers and try to smile.
“I’m starting to think differently now,” I say.
The waiter appears with our food and Sam makes an appreciative moan. I flick my eyes up to her as my cock twitches at the noise, but her eyes are glued on her plate. The filet mignon steak is steaming in front of her and she grins as she finally looks at me.
“This looks amazing,” she breathes.
“I know,” I say, looking at the way her dress dips down just enough to reveal the curve of her breast. She glances up at me and smiles.
“Bon appetit!”
We tuck in to our food and for a few minutes there’s nothing but groans of appreciation. Finally Sam looks up at me and shakes her head.
“You’ve outdone yourself, Dean, this is unreal.”
I laugh. “All I did was bring you here. The staff did all the work.”
“Still. This is the best meal I’ve had in years.” She pokes a bite of steak with her fork and chews, closing her eyes as she tastes the meat. My cock twitches again as I watch her, and I shift in my seat to adjust myself. I chuckle.
“Wait until dessert. They make the best fudge brownie I’ve ever had.”
Sam’s eyes flick open and she stares at me. “Brownies are my favourite dessert of. All. Time.”
“Me too,” I grin. “There’s another thing we have in common.”
“A slightly more pleasant one,” she laughs as she takes another bite of her meal. I watch the fork travel to her mouth and can’t look away as her lips surround the meat. My thoughts flick back to last night, alone on my sofa with nothing but my thoughts. This is way too close to what I was imagining, and my cock is rock hard under the table. I clear my throat and stare at my plate, trying to distract myself from the appreciative noises that Sam is making. I don’t even think she realises how much she’s turning me on.
Somehow, I make it through the rest of the meal and past dessert without exploding in my pants. We stand up to leave and I let my hand drift to the small of her back. She still smells floral and sweet as we walk out of the restaurant. Once we’re in the elevator, she turns to me and crawls her fingers up my chest. Her head tilts up towards mine and I press my hand on her back to pull her into me.
Our lips meet and she melts her whole body into mine. Her hands grip the collar of my shirt as she pulls me closer, dipping her tongue into my mouth as my whole body is set on fire by her kiss. We pull apart as the elevator dings and the door opens. My car is waiting for us outside the door. Sam smiles at me and slips her hand into mine as we walk towards it.
“Thank you for a wonderful evening, Dean.”
“I can’t tempt you with a nightcap, can I?”
She smiles again, more sadly this time. She shakes her head slowly and her hair flows on either side of her face. “Not tonight.”
My heart sinks ever so slightly but I nod and smile. The valet opens her door. The second her hand leaves mine to get in the car I feel like something is missing from me. I make my way to my side of the car and get in, trying not to let my disappointment show. The evening is already over and soon I’ll be alone again.
Chapter 20 – Samantha
I can still taste Dean’s kiss on my lips when I crawl into bed. I lay back on the pillows and stare up at the ceiling. I sigh, wondering if I should be holding back this much. All I want to do is go back to his place and spend the night with him.
It feels so good to be with Dean. He makes me laugh, he makes me feel safe, and I feel like he understands me. He’s been through what I’ve been through. He knows what it feels like to be betrayed.
Still, it’s so soon. I don’t want to jump into anything and regret it. I haven’t slept with anyone but Ronnie in so long, the thought of getting naked in front of Dean is simultaneously exciting and terrifying.
I’m not ready.
I’m still a married woman, after all. Until I get the word from my lawyer that everything has gone through, it feels
wrong to be going out with Dean.
Well, not wrong, exactly. Everything about being with Dean feels right. It’s just strange to change my whole way of thinking. I was ready to be a wife forever. I was ready to be Ronnie’s for the rest of my days, and now it’s all over. It’s hard to get used to.
Maybe Jess is right. I should just enjoy this for what it is. A bit of flirtation, some attention, some making out. If I don’t want to have sex with Dean, then I won’t. If I do, I will.
Simple.
Sort of. I close my eyes and blow the air out of my nose as Dean’s body appears on my eyelids. I think of him undressing in the hospital parking lot, and how broad and muscular his chest was. I think of the way his eyes gleamed after he kissed me goodbye tonight, and the way his hand felt on the small of my back. He’d inched his fingers towards the cleft of my ass cheeks and my whole body was pulsing with desire.
I wonder what it would feel like to have his skin on my skin, to have his fingers trailing along my spine and have his hands gripping my ass.
Well, his hand. For the next few weeks he only has one working arm.
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to steady my breath. My heartbeat is speeding up just thinking about him, and I need to get to sleep. Tomorrow I start my job search, and I see if I’ll be able to stay in this city for longer than a few weeks.
I wake up to the sounds of tiny feet running down the hallway. I open my eyes to see the door to my bedroom open and a tiny head poking through. It’s Michelle, with her usual mischievous grin. I smile and sit up on my elbows.
“Morning, beautiful.”
She gurgles and walks towards me with her arms outstretched. I grab her and hoist her onto the bed as she giggles and pokes my chest with her two-year-old fingers. I laugh.
“Michelle!” I hear Jess’s voice come down the hall. She appears in the door. “Oh, gosh, sorry Sam. I thought she was right behind me. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s alright, I was just getting up,” I say as Michelle slides down and runs towards her mother. Jess takes her hand and leads her towards the door.
Knocked Up by the Billionaire's Son: A Secret Baby Romance Page 7