GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) (7 page)

A painful sob caught in Beth’s throat
.
“That’s not true,” she choked
.
“This is different
…
”

“Different
?
Don’t kid yourself, sweetheart
.
Sam keeps them until he gets them between the sheets
.
Once a woman spreads her legs for him, she’s history.
”
Evan pulled her so close his mouth was
nearly
on top of hers
.
“Tell me, Anne, have you sealed your fate by tumbling into bed with him?”
 

Beth didn’t answer but the trembling of her lips told him all he needed to know
.
 

“So you
have
slept with him
!
When did you say you met
?
And already you’ve allowed him to take you to bed
.”
 
Evan shook his head reprovingly
.
“How easy you were
.
Hardly the challenge he usually enjoys
.
Maybe now that he’s through with you
…
”

He stopped abruptly
, his attention drawn by a movement off to their left.
Beth followed his gaze
.
Even through her tears
,
she recognized the pair of green eyes fixed venomously on
Evan
Drake
.
The phrase
imminent
danger
flashed through her mind when
Sam
took a step towards them, his big body shaking with rage
.

“
Get your damn hands off
of
her
,” Sam growled.

Beth hadn’t realized how frightened she was until
Evan dropped his hold on
her. Her wobbly legs
buckled beneath her and she fell to her knees
.
Linda Peterson appeared from behind Sam and rushed to Beth, kneeling on the ground to put
an
arm around her new friend
.
Both women peered up anxiously as the two men glared at each other
with open hostility
.

“I didn’t do anything to her,” Evan
asserted
when Sam took a menacing step towards him
.
“I was just telling her how things worked around here.”

Sam’s jaw flexed, his eyes narrowing
.
“Why don’t you tell
me
how it works, Drake?”

Evan foolishly responded
.
“Come on
,
Travis, you know exactly how it is
.
She’s nothing more than a decorative ornament that you’ve plucked from a box of many because she happened to catch your eye
.
Like the countless others, you’ll amuse yourself with her for a
while
. When
the fascination passes
,
she’ll be tossed aside and quickly forgotten.” He smiled cruelly down at Beth
.
“Just another notch on the bedpost.”

A low growl rumbled in Sam’s throat and there was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he took another step towards Evan.
 

“Sam, no
!”
Beth cried out.
 

She rose unsteadily to her feet with Linda’s help and stumbled to where Sam stood with clenched fists, his body trembling from the strain of holding himself back
.
She looked up at him imploringly.
 

“It’s over, Sam
.
He’s not worth the energy you’d waste on him.”
 

Sam’s voice softened
.
“Did he hurt you?”
 

“Not really
…
”

His brows drew together, a deep frown on his lips as he took in the pallor of her tear
-
stained face
.
“Are you sure, sweetheart?”

Beth nodded, careful to keep her arms at her sides so he wouldn’t see the bruises Evan’s fingers had left.

Linda Peterson came to stand
next to
them, her voice cold as ice
.
“Yes, he did hurt her, Sam
.
You heard the awful things he said.
”
She turned to face Evan
.
“Consider this your farewell party, Mr. Drake.”

Evan laughed
.
“You don’t have the authority to fire me, honey,” he said arrogantly.

Linda crossed her arms
.
“You think not
?
Apparently
,
you’re not getting the big picture so I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
 
She leaned forward with a smirk
.
“
I’m sleeping with the boss
.
”

“And you think that’s all it takes to get me fired?”

John
Peterson startled all of them when his voice sounded from the darkness
.
“Yes,” he said, “that’s about all it takes.”
John
stepped out of the shadows and joined his wife, offering Beth a sincere look of apology
.
“I’m afraid I didn’t hear what was said to you, but if Linda thinks it was bad enough to fire him then I trust that it was.
”

He turned his attention back to Evan
,
who was shaking with indignation
.
“You’ve overstepped the bounds one too many times, Evan
.
I’ll have my secretary draw up a
reasonable
severance package and have it delivered on Monday.”

“You can’t be serious,” Evan said, enraged
.
“I’m being fired because one of Sam’s cheap bimbos got her feelings hurt?”

Sam moved so fast, Beth barely had time to register he was no longer by her side before she heard the sickening crunch of his fist making contact with Drake’s jaw
.
Evan dropped to the ground like a lead balloon, a small sliver of blood trailing from the side of his mouth
.
When he made no move to get up or say anything else that might
result in
bodily harm, Sam turned away from him and wrapped his arm protectively around Beth’s waist
.
The two couples left Drake sitting on the ground rubbing his jaw and nursing a shattered ego.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused tonight,” she told the Petersons as they headed back to the party.

“Don’t be silly,” Linda berated her
.
“Evan Drake is an arrogant ass that should have been fired long ago
.
Don’t you believe all those awful things he was saying to you,
Anne.
”

“How much did you hear?”

They came to a stop just outside the doors leading into the
ballroom
.
“We heard him talking before we figured out which path you’d gone down
.
Sam and I were looking for you and
John
was going to meet up with us
.
It doesn’t matter what we heard, sweetie, you just put it out of your mind.”
 

“Maybe you should take Anne home,”
John
told Sam
.
“The party’s winding down anyway
.
Call me on Monday
.
I’ll
find
a new attorney
and
set a time to get together and draw up those contracts.
”
He shook Sam’s hand
and
then looked worriedly at Beth
.
“Linda’s right about Evan
.
For whatever reason, he’s had it in for Sam since we first started doing business
.
I’m just sorry your evening was ruined by him.”

They said their good-byes, leaving Sam and Beth alone
.
She glanced down at her torn
stockings
with a frown
.
“I can’t go back to the party looking like this
.
I think I
should
just call it a night like
John
suggested.”

“There’s another entrance about twenty feet down the walkway,” Sam said, already pulling her along with him.

“
But m
y car
is
in the parking garage
..
.”

Sam stopped
, disturbed by
the despondent expression on her face
.
“I know what Drake said upset you, and I can only imagine the nasty things he said before we got there
.
I heard enough to know he was deliberately trying to hurt you.
”
Sam cupped her chin and pressed a soft kiss to her lips
.
“I know you have no reason to believe me, but you
are
different from all the others
.
Stay with me,” he pleaded softly
.
“Let me make love to you again, Anne.”

Beth looked away, swallowing the enormous lump in her throat
.
“How am I different, Sam
?
Drake was right
;
I wasn’t even a challenge.
”
She lifted her eyes to his
.
“I won’t say I’m sorry for what happened between us because it would be a lie
.
I just don’t know how you could have any respect for me when I was so quick to jump into bed with you.”

Sam put his arms around her waist and pulled her into him
.
“You may have jumped into bed with me, but it was pretty obvious it’s not something you normally do
.
How long has it been since you’ve slept with another man?”

“Five years,” she admitted
.
“There’s only been one man
other than
you
.
I don’t even know why I did it tonight
.
I just
…
I just wanted you so bad I could hardly breathe
.
God, that sounds stupid, but it’s true.”

He studied her face for a moment, unhappy
to see
how distraught she was
.
“It doesn’t sound stupid, honey
.
I wanted you
,
too, more than I’ve ever wanted any woman in my life
.
We were good together, Anne.
”
He brushed her lips with a gentle kiss
.
“I’m not good at expressing my emotions, but you definitely do something to my heart
.
I want to spend time with you and not just in bed, although I fully intend to spend a great deal of time there for the next few days.”
 

“Sam
…
”

“Don’t leave, Anne,” he said thickly
.
“This isn’t easy for me
;
you must know that
.
Some of what Drake said was true
.
I
did
have a different woman for every function, but it’s not what I want now
.
You’ve totally disrupted my orderly world, Anne Dawson
.
I think you owe me something for that.”

Beth laughed
.
“I
owe
you?”

“Yes, you do
.
”
Cupping her bottom, Sam pressed her firmly
into his hips
, grinning when
her eyes widened with surprise at how aroused he was
.
“I won’t be able to focus on work at all because of you,” he
accused
.
“I’m afraid I have to insist on retribution.”

Beth wound her arms around his neck
.
“I wouldn’t want it said that I never pay my debts,” she purred, already feeling an intense heat begin to spread.
 

As
Sam’s mouth closed over hers in a hard, passionate kiss
,
Beth molded herself to his magnificent body
,
caught up in the whirlpool of emotions he stirred inside her
.
She didn’t want to give him up
-
not now, maybe not ever
, which meant she had
to tell him the truth about her name before their relationship went any further.

“Sam
…if you’re truly serious about being with me
,
there’s something
I need to tell you.”

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly honest about something.”

Sam arched a brow
.
“Don’t tell me, you really
do
work for an escort service?”
 

“No
.” She
smiled at his teasing
.
“It’s worse than that.”

“Are you married
?
A felon on the run?”

“Don’t tease, Sam, I’m serious.”

“I’m sorry
.
What is it, Anne?”

Beth looked up at him worriedly
.
“Anne Dawson,” she said softly, “isn’t really my name.”

Sam drew away from her, that old familiar wariness of gold
-
digging women beginning to rebuild the barrier around his heart
.
“Why would you give me a fake name?”

“Please don’t be
angry
, Sam
.
I didn’t know you and I was afraid to give you my real name
.
Anne is my middle name and Dawson was my mother’s maiden name.”

“So what
is
your name then, if it’s not too much to ask?”

Beth flinched at the coldness that had settled into his voice
.
“It’s Beth, Elizabeth actually
.
Elizabeth Anne Sweeney, but I go by Beth
.
Please don’t look at me like that, Sam
.
I know I should have told you sooner…”