I am so stupid.
“I’m fine. I guess I’m a little tired, too.”
Sure. Yeah. Blame being a horn dog on fatigue. He might buy that if he happened not to see the lust in her eyes. This is what happened when she started to feel normal. She went from puking to lusting in seconds. Damn hormones.
Rubbing at the knot, she ignored the pounding in her head to instead stare into Sam’s blue gaze. For a long moment the world seemed to fade away, their breaths co-mingling as she took in every detail of his face. The slight scruff at his jaw, the way his damp hair curled slightly, the sharp tang of his skin that made her want to run her tongue up the center of his chest. Because she knew from experience that he tasted as good as he looked and smelled. She turned her face up slightly, just enough to cue him that a kiss was welcomed. She’d spent last night lying next to him but not touching.
It had been far too long since they’d kissed.
A knife of disappointment sliced through her heart when he instead stepped back, hitching the towel around his waist. He didn’t want her anymore. All the morning sickness had turned him off. She shouldn’t have expected anything else. It was hard to keep the romance alive when one person in the couple was sick as a dog and about to blow up like a balloon in a parade.
“Let me get dressed and we’ll put some ice on that.”
And now she’d been dismissed.
Fleeing from the bathroom, she tried to hide the hurt by tucking into her meal and ignoring Sam when he came out to join her. Dressed in a pair of gray sweat pants and a form-fitting black t-shirt, he looked gorgeous as always. Being together like this in such a domestic scene…it felt warm and cozy. The two of them together hanging around the house and eating a late night supper after a long day. Then after eating, they’d climb into bed and cuddle, maybe even make love. It was like they were a real couple.
This is getting bad. What is my problem?
She’d gone much longer without sex before without blinking an eye. Now back with Sam, it was all she could think about. According to the pregnancy book, this rush of hormones shouldn’t be happening for a few weeks.
Was it pregnancy or was it Sam?
Dumb question. It had to be Sam.
This might be one long and tortuous summer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Sam had been so close to kissing Riley earlier but he’d backed away at the last minute, not wanting to presume too much. He’d invited her here to show how great they could be together. He’d vowed to woo and court her but as usual his career wasn’t making it easy. The long hours and the physically demanding shoot weren’t a good mix for a robust romantic life, too.
Now he was sitting across from her at the kitchen table wishing he’d gone ahead and kissed her. At least he’d know one way or the other. She would have either smacked his face or kissed him back. As it was, he didn’t know where they stood and that was maddening. She was sharing his bed, but she wasn’t sharing it.
In the carnal sense. They were like an old married couple who didn’t care about sex anymore. Except that he cared a great deal. He hadn’t thought it could be possible, but Riley was even more beautiful than when he’d left her over two months ago. He wanted her with a strength he’d never experienced before. It scared him and energized him in equal measures. If he had any sense at all, he’d be running away. Turns out he was dumb as a stump.
The silence had begun to feel awkward so he tried to fill it. “This is good and just what I needed.”
“I have a feeling that Callie knows all the good restaurants in town.”
“She does,” he confirmed with a chuckle, thinking about the mass amounts of data his assistant kept in her head. Callie had the best memory of anyone he’d ever met. “She’s got this town under her thumb. Anything you need, just ask her. She knows where to get it.”
Riley set her fork down and dabbed at her lips with a paper napkin. “I have a doctor’s appointment coming up.”
She didn’t say it like it was a good thing.
“I know you probably wanted your regular doctor–”
“It’s fine,” she said, shaking her head. “I just wish you would have talked to me about it first. It’s becoming a…habit.”
He didn’t know what she meant by that.
“A habit? Making an appointment?”
“No, doing things without discussing it with me.”
Ah, he knew what they were talking about now. But she couldn’t be angry with him for wanting to provide for his child?
“In my defense, I didn’t know Alex was going to be coming over today. I thought we’d have time to talk about it before he did.”
Sighing, she rubbed her temples before she spoke. “I shouldn’t have brought this up now. You’re exhausted.”
But…she had brought it up.
“It’s been bothering you all day.”
“Yes,” she admitted, her shoulders slumping. “I know this is going to sound stupid because I should be thrilled that you want to make sure that the baby is taken care of – and I am – but I just kind of feel like you’re off making decisions about the future and I’m sitting here.”
She didn’t mention that others might think she was here for his money. An idea that was so silly it couldn’t even be contemplated. Riley wasn’t that type of person and he would know. He’d had more than his share in his life and she wasn’t even close.
“You have a point and I should have discussed it with you. I guess I don’t know much about being partners or a team.”
Sam pretty much did whatever he wanted when he wanted to. Clearly, that wasn’t going to work going forward. He had Riley to think about now.
And hopefully for a long time.
“That makes two of us. I’ve never actually lived with a man before so this is all new. I just want to make sure that we make the big decisions together. The small ones I’m not so worried about.”
“What would you classify as small?”
Tapping her chin, she smiled. “If you want to buy the baby a stuffed animal, that’s small. If you want to buy him a pony or a car, that’s big.”
Fair enough.
“And if I want to buy you a pony or a car?”
“We would need to discuss that.”
It was probably lack of sleep but he was feeling brave.
“What about a wedding ring?”
Riley’s cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink and she didn’t throw her leftover food at him. This was real forward progress.
“We’d need to discuss that too. But you said you’d give me the summer, remember?”
“I do. I was just checking to see how things were going a couple of days in.”
She giggled at that and his chest tightened in response. “It’s going good. I just want to see how I can integrate into your life, Sam. If we’re going to make this work I want to be a true partner to you. Not just the mother of your child who’s off in a corner doing her own thing.”
“That’s exactly what I want.” Their gazes locked and he could feel the awareness between them build. She definitely wasn’t indifferent to him. “Callie is going to take you to the appointment tomorrow and I’ll meet you there. Then if you want, we can go back to the set where I’m filming. I’d love to show you around and introduce you to my co-stars.”
It might sound corny and stupid but he wanted her approval of his chosen career. In simple terms, he wanted her to be proud of him.
“I’d love that. I have to admit that I’m sort of fascinated by the whole movie making process when you talk about it. There’s much more involved than I ever realized.”
“I felt the same way when I got my first role,” he agreed, remembering back to the bit part he’d taken in a low-budget horror movie. “Just be sure to tell me if you don’t feel up to the visit. If you don’t feel well, I can bring you right back here afterward.”
Wrinkling her nose, she shook her head. “Is it awful that I’m already tired of morning sickness?”
&n
bsp; “I think that sounds normal. We can talk to the doctor about it tomorrow.”
“If men got morning sickness they’d have cured it a couple of generations ago.”
“Of that I have no doubt.” He stood, picking up their empty plates. “Are you ready to head to bed? We have a big day in just a few hours.”
Riley stood as well but she surprised him by taking the dishes from his hands and heading to the sink. “Fine, but I’ll clean up in here. You go ahead.”
“But–”
“No arguments,” she said firmly, in that schoolteacher voice he was beginning to love. “You need your sleep and I’ve already had a few hours. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Go.”
It would be churlish to refuse. “Thank you. I will.”
Sam could get used to this. Someone other than his own mother fussing and caring over him. Someone who would occasionally put his needs ahead of her own. That wasn’t something he experienced often in Hollywood. He’d make sure that he returned the favor often. He wanted this to work and for more reasons than just the baby.
Riley. She was so different than any woman he’d ever known even before he’d made it big. She was honest, trustworthy, caring, and positive. She made him happier than he could remember being in a long time. Even just sitting and eating leftovers with her was better than just about anything else with some other woman.
She might be the one.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The bedroom was still dark when Riley opened her eyes the next morning. She could hear Sam moving about somewhere else in the condo and the space on the bed next to her was already growing cold. In just a few nights she’d become so used to sleeping next to Sam that she missed his presence when he wasn’t lying beside her.
Knowing not to move too fast, she carefully sat up in bed and switched on the bedside lamp. Her stomach was churning but not as badly as it could have been. Quickly she slipped on the nausea wristbands that she’d placed on the nightstand and crossed her fingers that they would work fast so she could get out of bed.
“I know you’re not hungry, but Callie said that this would help in the mornings.”
Twisting toward the door, Sam stood there showered, dressed, and carrying a small plate of dry toast and a cup of tea. This was above and beyond the call of duty. He needed to be at the studio and instead he was toasting bread for her pissed off tummy.
“I can’t believe you did this for me.”
Chad would never have done it. But then he was a douchebag and Sam most decidedly was not.
“It only took a few minutes.” He set the plate and cup on the nightstand. “I need to get going but I’ll see you in a few hours, okay?”
Her mother had once told her that she needed to look for a partner that would care about her wants and needs as much as his own. Riley had but until this moment she hadn’t realized that a man didn’t have to make a grand gesture to show what kind of a person he was. He could simply make tea and toast. He could hold her hair when she was puking and put a cold cloth on her face. He could hand over his own assistant to show her around a new city. He could show up and talk about his career to a bunch of five and six-year-olds.
This was a man worth keeping in her life. Whether it was as her husband or as a friend that remained to be seen.
Completely unaware of the direction of her early morning thoughts, Sam leaned down to kiss her forehead again, all chaste and disappointing. She probably looked a sight this time in the morning, hair like a rat’s nest and breath like a coyote. Hardly a vision that would strike lust into the heart of a man who could have just about any woman he wanted. Her stomach wasn’t exactly on board for any sort of kissing or cuddling either, doing another somersault in her abdomen and reminding her to put that toast and tea to good use.
“Have a good day,” Riley said, lifting the cup from the saucer and blowing on the steaming liquid. “And thank you again. This was really thoughtful.”
Sam smiled that movie star smile that had graced a million screens and made women swoon everywhere. She wasn’t immune either, and her pulse kicked into a higher gear.
Sam glanced at his watch and sighed. “I hope you feel better. I’ll see you in a few hours. I have to go or I’ll be late.”
With a wave, he was gone leaving Riley to her tea and toast. She sipped the hot liquid slowly, interspersing bites of dry toast in between. By the time she finished, she was feeling almost human. A shower would take her the rest of the way.
Thank you, Sam.
This just might work out. Her and Sam. And eventually their baby. They could be a couple and raise a family. They could have a future together. Was it selfish to want love, too? Wasn’t it enough that he respected and cared for her?
She wasn’t sure of the answer but she’d have to figure it out. Soon.
*
Riley checked her reflection in the mirror one last time to make sure she didn’t have lipstick on her teeth. She and Callie were heading to her very first doctor’s appointment and the usual nausea in her belly had been replaced with hundreds of nervous butterflies. She already knew that she was pregnant but somehow it made it more real when a bona fide doctor confirmed it.
This is really happening. I’m having a baby.
Throwing her purse strap over her shoulder, she joined Callie in the living room. Sam had ordered a car service to take them to the appointment and it was waiting downstairs by the curb.
Callie turned from the front window and walked over to Riley, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We have company out there. Are you ready for this?”
Riley wasn’t sure what the assistant was referring to.
“Company?”
Frowning, Callie nodded. “Paps. Photogs. Whatever you want to call them. They’re lying in wait out there hoping to get a picture of you. Seems the word is out that Sam has a live-in girlfriend. Normally the tabloids leave him alone, especially in New York City, but he’s never lived with a woman before so this is big news.”
The paparazzi were camped outside hoping to get a photograph of her. It was kind of surreal. She was still just a kindergarten teacher and nobody special, but dating Sam had cast a spell. Now people wanted her picture and maybe a quote. She wasn’t completely naïve. She’d known this was a possibility, especially if they stayed together as a couple past this summer. It had simply happened a little more quickly than she’d thought.
I can do this.
“I’m ready. I assume I should just ignore them.”
Callie nodded in agreement. “Keep your head down so they can’t get a good shot. They’ll throw out questions, some of them deliberately nasty, to try and get you to respond. Whatever you do, don’t. That’s exactly what they want so they can get their money shot. They want to see you upset or crying or yelling so they can have a lovely front page with your picture and a headline about Sam Collins’s emotional girlfriend. Don’t give it to them.”
Riley did not want to be on the front page of some tabloid if she could help it.
“They sound like a pack of rabid wolves.”
Callie laughed and guided them toward the door. “Actually, some of the photographers are good people and Sam rewards them by stopping to pose when he can. Some, however, are assholes and they’re the ones you have to watch out for. They’ll invade your personal space, push you around, and generally be jerks. All they want is to get a picture and sell it. They don’t care that it might be the worst day of your life that they’re interrupting. Just stay close to me and I’ll get us to the car.”
Riley had thought she was prepared. Ha. How naïve. Nothing in her life up to now had prepared her for the shitstorm that awaited her on the sidewalk. It was only a few feet to the dark-windowed black SUV that Sam had ordered for her, but it might as well have been a mile.
The sidewalk was filled with shouting people, mostly men, but a few women as well. Flashbulbs blinded her as they went off in rapid succession, like fireworks on the Fourth of July, disorienting her as she tried to shade her
eyes. Her pulse accelerated and adrenaline kicked in as her fight or flight response was triggered. Turning back, however, wasn’t an option. She could only move forward.
Callie’s arm was tight around Riley’s waist, keeping her close as the paparazzi jostled her, almost knocking her to the pavement at one point. She had to keep her right elbow pointed out and her hand in front of her to push away the crush of bodies that threatened to overtake them.
Breathless but determined, she put her head down and plowed through the crowd, ignoring the questions being pelted at her. Some innocuous, and others rather mean, just as Callie had predicted.
Are you and Sam engaged?
Are you and Sam married?
Are you pregnant?
Was Sam dating Lucinda when he was dating you?
Is Sam still dating Lucinda?
How did you meet Sam?
Are you and Sam in love?
Who in the hell was Lucinda? Apparently, that was one of Sam’s girlfriends that Riley had missed. Did these guys actually think that Riley would admit that Sam was dating her and this Lucinda at the same time?
Magically the back door of the black SUV opened and Riley dove in, followed closely by Callie. The door closed and the driver swung into the front seat, pulling away from the curb, parting the sea of paparazzi until they were safely away.
Riley didn’t have the vocabulary to describe the last few minutes.
“That was…”
“Intense?” Callie asked, her brows lifted. “Annoying? Crazy? Surreal?”
“I’ll go with all of that and a few other adjectives to be named later. I guess I didn’t think that anyone would truly care about me. Not really.”
“You’re the woman who stole Sam Collins’s heart. That’s a front page story. You’re lucky that no one knows your other little secret or it would have been five times worse. They’d be following us to your doctor’s appointment and bribing nurses for the ultrasound pictures.”
Love in the Spotlight Page 16