“
I don’t know,” Jenna said. “It’s a work night. And we were out last night….”
Sam busied himself putting the photos in his wallet and the flash drive in his pocket, not about to get in the middle of that. He wanted to get Jenna alone, he always wanted to get Jenna alone, but now that his plan had changed, it didn’t really matter where they were. As long as she didn’t make him leave.
He wouldn’t have the ring for a while, anyway. He wasn’t sure how long it would take his mother’s jeweler to turn the necklace into a ring, but it would take some time. Long enough for him to make some progress with Jenna.
He wanted her and his son with him in Texas. He’d hoped she would want to leave with him, considering the problems he’d been hearing about. Now, with her promotion, he didn’t know what to do. Was he prepared to sell his ranch and start over here? Was he prepared to break the promise he’d made to his grandfather?
He needed time to think.
“
Sam
,” Brianna said, almost whining. “Say something.”
Had they been talking to him? “We could go out to eat,” he said with a shrug. “We don’t have to stay out late.”
“
See?” Brianna said. “Go out and eat. I’ll stay here. I’ll feed Ethan and do everything.”
Jenna squinted at her sister and Sam was equally suspicious. What was this kid really after? She definitely wanted them out of the house. But she couldn’t do much with Ethan there.
Unless she had a boyfriend coming over and planned to put the baby to bed early.
Now Sam really didn’t want involved. If he offered to take Ethan with them, Brianna might end up like her sister, unexpectedly pregnant. If they left Ethan behind, the baby might be neglected. This was Jenna’s call.
Brianna waved Jenna over and frowning, Jenna went. The sisters whispered back and forth, making hissing sounds, until Jenna stepped back with a fierce expression on her face.
“
Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. She went over and gently explained to Ethan that she was going out for a little while and he was going to stay home with Aunt Bri. The boy couldn’t have cared less. He was busy playing.
Jenna waved Sam along as she strode from the room. “Let’s go.”
Sam went, but slowed as he passed by the sister. She stood hopping slightly, smiling deviously. “Have fun,” she said.
He followed Jenna through the house, waited at the door while she found her purse, and then led the way to his truck. “I don’t guess there’s any chance you’ll tell me what that was all about,” he said as they crossed the porch.
“
Nothing,” she said.
He had a sister, but he’d never dealt with sisters, plural. He doubted it was anything like dealing with brothers.
In the truck, Jenna was about to strap in when she turned suddenly and noticed the new item in his backseat. His mother had taken him shopping for a car seat. She’d found the blue bear in the same store.
Jenna turned around, staring straight ahead and distractedly buckled herself in.
“
Just in case,” he said, so she wouldn’t think he was jumping to conclusions. “I know you said I could only see him at your house, but you were right. I need to have one.”
“
No, it’s fine,” she said, forcing a smile. “It’s good. Thank you for doing that.”
His truck was hot after sitting in the sun, so he hurried to get the engine running and the air conditioner on. “I won’t take him anywhere unless you say it’s okay.”
“
I’m not worried,” she said, sounding worried.
He thought about giving her the first child support check. Get the business out of the way. Then decided to wait. Rumors were Jenna had been happy at some point in the day and he wanted to see some of that for himself. Talk of money would change the mood of the evening.
“
Mexican sound okay? There’s a new place out near the mall my brother says is good.”
She nodded. “That’s fine.”
He drove, pestered by her strange mood. She was trying to appear pleasant and friendly, but there was some tone underneath, something a little dark, and he was sure she was distracted. Was she having second thoughts about involving him in Ethan’s life?
“
Nervous about your new job?” he asked.
She laughed palely. “A little. I know some people will think I used family influences to get it.” She shrugged. “But I’ve also earned it. I’m qualified. I have a business degree and I got through one semester of law school. And I’ve worked there over two years.”
“
Yeah, I remember you were planning to be a lawyer.”
“
Well, that was my dad,” she said. “My family has always been lawyers. My dad worked there, before he went into politics.”
Encouraged, slightly, he decided to start fishing. Maybe there was still a chance he could get her to move to Texas with him. “That wasn’t what you wanted to do?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s fine and the benefits are good.”
“
No, I meant before. If you’d done what you wanted to do. In college or as a kid when you were growing up.”
She pulled down the visor, found a lighted mirror there, and pulled a small brush out of her purse – and started brushing that long lovely hair of hers. “Well, I guess I wanted to do what a lot of girls want to do. I wanted to be a dancer, and then an interior designer. I wanted a pony of my own. I think at one point I wanted to be a teacher. But my dad was…” she glanced at him, “kind of pushy. And he wanted me to go into law. Both of us. Bri and me. He started prepping us at an early age.”
“
Yeah.” Sam scoffed. He knew just how pushy her dad could be. Clever and downright terrifying. Dangerous in his ability to calmly and sensibly analyze a confusing and emotional problem and restructure that problem into a practical and beneficial solution for all. He could have threatened Sam into leaving Jenna alone, like a normal father. Instead, he’d painted a picture Sam couldn’t argue with. He’d convinced Sam he was ruining Jenna’s life, giving her silly ideas, distracting her from her purpose in life, all over a summer fling. By the time Mayor Morgan had left Jack’s house, where Sam was living at the time, Sam had fully agreed with the man. He’d shaken his hand.
And remembering that really ticked him off. He’d been swindled by a politician.
Knowing the man had also forced his daughter to leave the state to give birth in order to hide Sam’s identity made him even angrier.
He blew out a breath and chuckled involuntarily. He had to let that go. It was in the past. He was equally to blame. If he’d really wanted to stay, no one, not even a savvy politician, or a determined father, could have convinced him to leave.
If he’d really wanted to stay, he’d have fought back with all his might. And he planned to do just that – right now.
He parked at the restaurant and leaned toward Jenna as she was about to apply lip-gloss. He lowered her hand and gave her a warm kiss. A kiss she returned just as warmly, holding onto his arm.
“
From now on,” he said, gazing into her eyes and making sure she really heard him, “from right now. Let’s start over. I want to be Ethan’s father. But I also want you.”
She blinked and then surprised the hell out of him. “I want you, too.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The sun was still shining as they left the restaurant, making Jenna squint and blink as she stumbled over the threshold, a little tipsy after the margarita she’d polished off. She’d hoped to find some courage in the tart green drink, instead she found herself weak-kneed and a little lopsided.
She’d admitted she wanted Sam. He’d said he wanted her, too, and now she wasn’t sure what would happen. They’d talked about Ethan all through dinner, about how the town was growing and changing, how Nashville seemed to move a little closer every year, all sorts of random things, avoiding the subject. Avoiding anything serious.
“
Just lean on me, gorgeous.” Sam put his arm around her, chuckling as he led her along the sidewalk and down a step to the asphalt parking lot. “That margarita went straight to your head, didn’t it? Good thing I’m driving.”
She watched his full lips move and listened to his voice, like music on the breeze. He was beautiful. She turned against him, curling into his warmth. “I can’t remember the last time I had alcohol. All the cars are moving.”
“Cars will do that sometimes.”
She laughed. God, he was hilarious. “I meant the parked cars,” she said and slapped his chest with her free hand, then let her fingers explore the hard muscles she found there.
Sam pulled her closer and dropped a lingering kiss on her head. She noticed the warmth of his arm across her back, the slight movement of his fingers against her waist, the heat of his side pressing against her side. He was holding her, she realized, almost in a hug. And she was responding, her renegade fingers caressing his chest, leading him on.
She looked up at his handsome face, noticing how long his eyelashes were, how they fluttered ever so slightly each time he blinked. A faint darkness was beginning to shade his jaw and above his lip, and she wanted to feel that stubble with her tongue.
She quickly let her hand fall and stood up straight. People were arriving and leaving, and watching them. They were about to start groping each other in public. She wasn’t tipsy enough to ignore that.
Sam took her arm again and led her to his truck where he opened her door and gave her a little lift up to the seat. She gratefully climbed in, needing to sit down.
When he was settled in beside her, she turned to him. “I just remembered something.”
He started the truck. “What’s that?”
“
The night before you left you said you were going to take me somewhere special. I always wondered where that place was. Take me there.”
He had his hand on the gearshift, then released it and sat back. “I’m not taking you there tonight.”
“
Why not?”
“
Well,” he said, “because this is one special place and you’ll accuse me of… planning things.”
“
I want to see it.”
“
I think you’re drunk.”
She’d had one drink and a full meal. She was tipsy, not drunk. Just tipsy enough to lower her guard, and admit what she really wanted. She leaned across the console and wrapped her arms around his neck, and began kissing his neck. He smelled so good she sought out his lips and he returned her kiss, pulled her closer so she was more on his side than hers.
His hand slid down her back and cupped her bottom. He squeezed and a thrill shot through her.
“
Take me there,” she said in his ear.
“
You got it,” he said and leaned her back, almost pushing her away.
He put the truck in gear and set off, causing another driver to break as he forced his way into the side street.
Jenna followed Sam through the dark space, holding tight to his hand over the uneven surface, glad she was in flats. She always wore flats because of her height and the response she received from some men, and women, in the office. In heels, she was over six feet tall and that seemed to bother some people. Around Sam, she never had to worry. He was at least six-four, probably six-five, and she sometimes wondered how tall Ethan would grow.
Sam had driven her far out of town, walked them through a trail in the woods and up a hill, and then they’d left daylight behind to step into a cool, dark cave. He led the way along a narrow passageway holding a flashlight in his free hand, a blanket draped over his arm.
“
We’re here at the perfect time,” he said. “It’s not the same at night.”
“
Are you sure we’re allowed to be here?” She was a little worried some angry landowner would suddenly show up with a shotgun. She could hear a roar from somewhere nearby.
“
This is part of my parents’ land,” he said. “It’s all right.”
They turned a corner and she gasped in surprise. The roar came from a waterfall, and they were under it. Beyond the falling water sunlight sparkled through the cascade and colorful spheres danced on the walls. She was beginning to believe Sam’s entire life was surrounded by beauty.
His brother’s back yard was amazing, but this was just as beautiful, and extremely private.
She stepped forward and sprays of water danced lightly on her face. She held out her hands and closed her eyes, not caring she was probably ruining her suit. Sam laid out the blanket just shy of the sprays and sat down. “Come over here,” he said, his voice deep and seductive.
She backed up and sat beside him, almost hypnotized by the rays of light shining through the water, and the colorful spheres dancing around them.
Sam’s fingers, lightly stroking the water away from her eyes and down her cheek, drew her toward him and into his arms.
She lay back with him, sinking into his kisses, and let him unbutton her jacket, and then her shirt, and when he cupped her breast, she pulled his shirt free from his jeans and found the warm flesh of his back, the hard muscles there.
“
Do you have something?”