GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) (27 page)

She’d been so distraught over
everything that had
happened
,
it hadn’t even occurred to her that her birth control pills had also been lost in the fire
.
Not that they couldn’t
easily
be replaced
,
and she only had one more to take before her cycle began, but the
y’d had unprotected
sex tonight
. More than once, she thought with a grimace.
Beth moved slowly up the stairs
.
She
would
have to tell Sam
.
The timing was wrong and it was highly unlikely, but there was still a remote chance that he’d gotten her pregnant
.

Beth’s hand wandered to
her flat
belly
.
How would it feel to carry Sam’s child
?
She’d never really thought about having children before
,
but now that she considered the idea of having Sam’s baby,
Beth
couldn’t help the thrill that ra
ced
through her
.
She made it to the top of the stairs and turned left
.
Sam was still in the
shower so she stripped of
f
the t-shirt and crawled into bed to wait for him.

She felt very small in the middle of Sam’s huge bed, but loved the
feel of Egyptian cotton against her skin and the way her body sank into the
mattress
.
Pulling the comforter up to her face, Beth inhaled deeply. It smelled like Sam, the familiar masculine scent making her impatient for him to come to bed.

As she lay there trying to ignore the urge to join Sam in the shower, her thoughts strayed to Vic.
She
was worried sick about his safety and would never forgive
herself
if
he got hurt because of her
.
Tomorrow she
would
call John Stockton and
find out
what progress
had been
made
i
n catching his brother
. Maybe he was already
behind bars or at the very least, back
in
his own country.

Exhaustion
finally
overtook her and Beth was almost asleep
by the time
Sam turned off the light and climbed into bed
.
As h
e pulled her into his arms
,
Beth sighed contentedly
and
settled her head on his shoulder
,
the warmth of his body
enveloping
her
as she drifted into a blissfully dreamless
sleep.

She woke in the night to the feel of Sam’s
callused
hand moving over her body
.
Curling her arm around his neck, she
tilted her head back, eagerly seeking his mouth.  Inevitably, the soft, tender kisses became hot and hungry
, their passion igniting an aching need that cried out for something more. A
soft moan caught and held in her throat when Sam
rolled on top of her and kneed her thighs apart
.
He eased himself inside her,
his agonizing slow penetration setting off a chain reaction of convulsing muscles
that only intensified the
searing heat
pulsing through her body
.

As if he sensed her frustration, Sam
gripped her hips, angling them up to ensure Beth felt every throbbing inch of him as each heavy thrust drove her closer to
the ultimate pleasure of a powerful climax.
A wild gasp erupted from her lips as stars burst behind her eyes
. Wave upon wave of sexual rapture crashed over her, through her, drowning her in a sea of ecstasy as Sam exploded inside her with a primal grunt.
Afterwards,
Sam shifted on
to
his side, pulling
Beth
with him
. They fell asleep with limbs entwined and
the feel of their bodies still
intimately
joined.

                                                              ***

Beth’s eyelids lifted groggily when the morning sun found its way through the slats of the blinds and danced
on
her face
.
Sam’s muscular leg was thrown over her thighs and his arm lay heavily across her waist
.
The warmth of his breath drifted softly across her cheek
.
She turned her head and watched him while he slept
.
It still took her breath away
to wake
in the morning to find him
next to
her
.

Beth lifted her head, her eyes searching the bedside table for a clock
.
It was almost six o’clock
.
She hated to wake Sam when he was sleeping so soundly but she’d promised to meet Vic at seven o’clock and didn’t want to be late
.
She had her work cut out for her,
persuading
Vic to leave, and
would
need all the time she could get before the other employees started rolling in.

Her attempt to ease
out from
beneath
Sam’s leg
was thwarted when
his
eyes snapped open and h
e
t
ugged her closer
.
She forgot all about crawling out of bed when he started kissing her
.
She could feel the desire mounting as his kisses became more ardent
, b
ut
she needed to meet Vic
and
time was running short
.
She pulled her mouth away from his
with great
reluct
ance
.

“We need to go, Sam
.
I promised Vic I’d meet him at seven.”

Sam didn’t try to persuade her to finish what they’d started.
He gave her a quick kiss and kicked the covers off
.
As much as he wanted to make love to her right now, talking to Vic and getting him out of town was more important.
 

“I’d have you join me in the shower,” he said with a sexy grin, “but I’m afraid it would have to be a cold one if you did.”

Beth eyed his magnificent body and sighed with deep regret
.
“You go ahead
.
I’ll take a quick one after you.”
 

While Sam was using the shower, she sifted through the clothes in her suitcase and pulled out a pair of jeans and a snug
-
fitting short sleeved black shirt
.
She’d only packed sexy little outfits for her time at the hotel and had to settle for what she could find
.
She
would
have to report the fire to her insurance company as soon as they opened
, as well as shop for a new wardrobe.

There
would be an investigation
, of course,
and
considering the amount of coverage involved,
she would no doubt be their prime suspect
.
Once the insurance money came through, she might consider rebuilding a new house, but for now she had more important business to attend to
.
She pulled out a clean pair of panties and a bra and laid them on the bed
.
A few minutes later, Sam
emerged from the bathroom
.

“It’s all yours,” he told her
.

Beth showered quickly and by twenty to seven, they were on the road headed for the office
.
She was glad she’d left her car in the office parking lot
.
At least she hadn’t lost that
,
too
.
They didn’t talk much on the way
;
the mood was too somber for light
-
hearted conversation, and Beth was grateful he didn’t try to cheer her up
.
Yes, she would feel better after
sending Vic away and
knew he
was safe, but she was going to miss him like crazy.
 

Vic was just getting out of his car when they pulled into the parking lot
.
He slammed his door shut and started walking towards Sam’s truck with a big smile on his face
.
The next few minutes would replay themselves
repeatedly
in Beth’s mind like a slow motion horror movie
.
She got out of the truck and came around the front to wait for him.
 

“Hey, doll face,” he called out.
 

Vic turned and pointed the remote at his car to lock the doors
.
As soon as he depressed the button, there was an earth
-
shattering explosion as his car burst into flames
.
Vic’s body sailed through the air, propelled forward by the blast at the same
instant
Beth was thrown back against the truck
.
She saw Sam drop to the ground
next to
her and heard him call out her name
.

Whether he'd been knocked down from the explosion or was checking
to see if she was injured
,
Beth
didn’t know because she was already scrambling to her feet and racing towards Vic’s motionless body.

Beth was inconsolable
.
Sam tried to get her to sit
down next to him
but she
stubbornly
refused and continued to pace back and forth, frantic with worry
.
They’d been at the hospital for nearly two hours with no word on Vic’s condition
.
When the doctor finally stepped into the waiting room, Sam hurried to Beth’s side to steady her
.
Her face was deathly pale, and she teetered for a moment,
as if she’d already been delivered the
worst.

“He’s going to be just fine, Miss Sweeney,” the doctor rushed to assure her
.
“We had to remove quite a bit of glass from his back and legs but there wasn’t any major damage from that
.
He’s got a broken leg and a concussion but he’ll be good as new as soon as the cast comes off
.
The only concern was a piece of metal that had lodged fairly close to his kidney, but we extracted it and there was no damage to any major organs
.
Other than being a little sore and having stitches in for a week or so,
he
should be fine.
”

Beth shook his hand and thanked him but as soon as the doctor left the room, she fell to pieces
.
Turning to Sam for comfort, s
he sobbed heavily against
his
chest for quite
some time
before
he
was able to calm her down
.

“He’s going to
be
all right, honey
.
You heard the doctor, in a few weeks he’ll be just like new.”

Beth sniffed
, lifting
her sorrowful eyes to him
.
“It’s
all my
fault
.
He could have been killed because of me.”
 

She looked at Sam
, that same fear she’d felt for him the night of fire
cl
awing
at her heart
.
What if Stockton came after Sam next
?
What if he didn’t fail with Sam
as
he had with Vic
?
In a panic,
Beth shoved herself away from him and started backing up.

“Stay away from me,” she croaked.

“Anne
…
”

“I mean it, Sam
.
You stay away from me
.
I won’t have you hurt because of me.”

“I’m not leaving you,” he said with a deep scowl
.
“Just calm down so we can talk about this and figure it out.”

“No,” she
adamantly
refused
.
“After I see Vic, I’ll catch a taxi and go back to the office
.
I’ll get a hotel room until I find an apartment or something.”

“Honey, you’re just upset because of Vic.”

“Upset doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel right now
,” she said, her voice thick with emotion
.
“
Stockton doesn’t know about you, Sam, and I intend to keep it that way
.
Now leave me alone
.
I don’t want to see you again until they catch him.”

“Damn it,
Anne,
get it through your head that I
a
m
not
going to leave you to face this alone.”

“You don’t have a choice
.
I’m not going home with you and I don’t want you coming to my office
.
I’ll get a restraining order if I have to, Sam
.
I’ll do anything within my power to keep you safe
. I
f that means pressing charges for harassment and having your ass planted in jail, then I’ll do that
,
too.”

“Anne, be reasonable.”

Beth shook her head sadly
.
“Leave, Sam, or I’ll have the
nurse call
hospital security.”

Sam stood there for a moment
.
She
’s not bluffing
, he thought
with grudging admiration
.
He could tell by the determined lift of her chin
.
He was mad as hell that she was pushing him away but couldn’t help
the surge of emotion gleaned from the knowledge
she was doing it because she loved him
.
She didn’t want him to go
—
he could see
that
by the pain in her eyes
—
but she wouldn’t allow him to stay regardless of how much she suffered for it.

“I love you, Anne,” he said softly,
and
then turned and walked away.
 

His mind raced furiously, searching for a way to make her give up on this ridiculous idea of chasing him away to keep him safe
.
Sam
wasn’t halfway to his truck when it came to him
.
She
was going to be
livid, but Anne wouldn’t dare send him away after discover
ing
what he’d done.

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                    
*
**

Beth felt completely drained by the time she returned to the office
.
She’d gone to see Vic but he was pretty loopy from the painkillers
.
Through slurred speech, he assured her over and over that he didn’t blame her and that none of it was her fault
.
She’d cried some
and
then found herself laughing when he threatened to show her where his gown flapped open if she didn’t cheer up.

She’d left the hospital feeling more depressed than ever when the realization of having sent Sam away sank in
.
But she couldn’t afford to back down
;
it could cost
Sam
his life if she did
.
As long as Stockton didn’t know about her relationship with him, Sam was safe
.
She considered going straight to the police station to get a restraining order, but decided she
would
wait to see
whether
Sam did as she asked
.
Judging by his lack of presence when she left the hospital, for the moment at least, he was complying.

She entered the office and briefly explained to the receptionist that Vic had a car fire and had been injured but would recover
.
The charred remains of his car still stood in the parking lot so she knew the other employees must be worried about him
.
She asked the receptionist to send out a global message and let everyone know which hospital Vic was at in case they wanted to send flowers or gifts
.

After plucking
the mail from Vic’s in-box
, she
hurried to her office
and
closed the door
to insure
no one else
caught
her and start
ed
asking questions
.
Beth stared at the stack of mail for quite some time, fearful of finding another envelope with no return address.
 

Finally, she drew
in
a deep breath and sifted through the envelopes until she came to the one she was dreading
.
She held it in her hands and noted right away that it was much heavier than the others
.
A small glimmer of hope lit in her heart that maybe it wasn’t from Stockton after all
.
She slit the envelope and slid the contents out
.
Several pages that looked like they’d been torn from magazines lay in her hands
.
Beth unfolded them and began to read
.
In front of the articles was a white sheet of paper
containing only one typed line.

You destroyed the love and trust in my life
.

Beth didn’t want to know what was behind that sheet of paper
.
She didn’t want to read what poisonous things Stockton had sent her because she knew in her heart it had to be about Sam
.
Steeling herself for the worst, she dropped the note on her desk, revealing an article from a gossip tabloid
.
A
collage of pictures with Sam and at least a dozen different women
stared back at her
.

The article itself droned on and on about the playboy
, Sam Travis,
and whether one of
his harem
would manage to land the most eligible bachelor in the state
.
Her reaction was, undoubtedly, not what Stockton intended because
Beth
felt tremendously relieved.
She’d already come to terms with Sam’s past
.
If this was the bullet Stockton thought he
would
destroy her heart with, he’d missed his mark
by a long shot
.
Then she read the last two articles.

The first was about Sam and an unnamed woman
.
The headlines
proclaimed
that he’d gotten the woman pregnant and
then callously
coerced her into getting an abortion
.
The picture
accompanying
the article showed Sam and the woman entering an abortion clinic
.
Her face was obscured by the arm he had wrapped around her but there was no doubt the man was Sam.

The second article
contained
a picture of Sam with a flashy blonde in a tight evening gown clinging to his arm
.
The story bashed him mercilessly for being out with the blonde only one week after he’d accompanied the unnamed woman to the abortion clinic
.
Beth felt the burning sting of tears behind her eyelids
as the article slipped from her fingers
.

A sharp pain had settled in her stomach and she rubbed absently at it
.
She
looked down at her hand, at her belly, remember
ing
the birth control pills and the possibility she might
be pregnant
.
Would Sam try to force her to have an abortion too
?
Beth felt sick
.
She tried to convince herself it didn’t mean anything because it had happened
more than
five years ago, but in her heart she knew it matter
ed a great deal
.

Sam had gotten someone pregnant and then wouldn’t own up to his responsibilities
;
he even
talked her into getting an abortion
.
She could live with all his past transgressions with the other women, but she could never forgive him for making a woman give up her baby
.
Beth sat there for a long time
and
then finally shuffled the papers into her desk
,
making a futile attempt to tackle the rest of
the mail
.
Shortly before noon, the receptionist called her on the intercom
.

“Miss Sweeney, there’s a delivery here
that
requires your signature.”

Beth lifted herself wearily from her chair and went to sign for the delivery
.
She held the manila envelope in her hands, turning it over and over on the way to her office
.
She closed the door behind her
,
returned to her desk
and
opened the envelope
.
Another
gossip magazine
was inside
,
except
it
was the entire magazine
this time
,
not just a
torn
page from
one
.
At first she thought it came from Stockton but then a short, handwritten note slipped out
.
Beth picked it up and read
it
.