GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) (9 page)

Her body went rigid beneath him as she arched her back and climaxed, pulling him into the tailspin of sensations with her
.
The explosive pleasure hit him hard and it was quite some time before the violent shuddering slowed and then stopped
.
Sam kissed her hungrily, knowing even as he did so that it would never be enough
.
When he lifted his head to plant soft kisses down the side of her elegant neck, Anne whispered his name.

"Your breakfast is getting cold,” she said softly.

Sam continued his assault on her neck for a moment longer before lifting his head
.
“We’ll eat in a minute
.
Right now, I just need to look at you.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Sam, I promise.”

“I’m thinking of getting a set of handcuffs just to make sure you don’t,” he said gruffly.

“I just
knew
you were a sexual deviant.”

Sam grinned
.
“Sweetheart, you have no idea.”
He gave her a quick kiss
before rolling
away from her and s
itting
up
.
“I think I need to replenish my energy.
”
He stood and held out his hand to help her up
.
“Let’s see what’s in that bag.”
 

Sam laughed as he pulled out the huge array of food
.
He opened each carton
as
he and Anne grabbed forks and took turns stabbing food from each container
.
He was
amazed
at how healthy her appetite was, considering how thin she was.

“Are you a runner
?”
he
asked, eyeing her lithe form.

Beth wrinkled her nose
.
“No
!
I hate to run, but I do walk the beach quite a bit.”

“You live near the beach?”

“My house is
on
the beach.”

“Your own little piece of heaven,” he commented
.

“Something
like
that.”
 

Beth was hesitant to tell him she owned the land stretching for a mile on each side of her house
.
She cherished her privacy and had slowly acquired each plot of land as it came on the market
.
For whatever reason, men seemed to find it intimidating to date a woman who made more money than they did, and she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize her relationship with Sam
.
Although, judging by the way he dressed and the car he drove, he was probably making as much or more than she was.

“You must be set financially if you own a house on the beach.”

Beth shrugged
.
“I do all right
.
What about you, Sam
?
Do
you
have your own house?”

“Yes,” he replied simply.
 

Actually
,
he owned
several
houses
.
His main residence was in Beverly Hills, but he also had a beach house in Malibu and a lodge in Colorado
.
  T
he villas in Italy and France were maintained primarily for business related visits.
He didn’t like disclosing how wealthy he was because the women he dated tended to be far more interested in being with him after they found out
.
So
ingrained to be tight
-
lipped about it, he felt no guilt for not telling Anne.

“Is that
your
Aston Martin
or is it a company car?”

Sam felt a
twinge
of unease at her question
.
“It’s a company car
.
Impressive
,
isn’t it
?”
It
was
a company car, he justified
in his mind
.
He just happened to own the company
,
too.

“If you like that kind of car, I guess so
.
Quite frankly, I think it’s silly to spend that much money on something you can’t live in.
”
Beth’s hand flew to her mouth
.
“I’m sorry, Sam
.
I didn’t mean to insult you.”

He leaned over and kissed her
.
“You didn’t
.
What about the sporty little number you drive
?
I’d guess it runs in the thirty-five or forty thousand range.”

“Not if you wait until January to buy it,” she said with a knowing smile
.
“In January, all the models from the year before drop in price so the new ones can be put on the lot
.
Plus, if you buy one with a few thousand miles on it, you get an even bigger break.”

“Ah, a thrifty shopper.”

“Just because I have the money doesn’t mean I have to spend it foolishly,” she said defensively
.
“I suppose you have a big company account to rack expenses up on
and
don’t have to watch how you spend money.”

Sam was amused by her indignant attitude
.
“I have an expense account,” he admitted, “but I don’t spend foolishly either.”

She grinned sheepishly
.
“I didn’t mean to jump on you
.
I just think it’s wrong to spend your employer’s money like it’s a bottomless well.
”
She glanced around her
.
“Like this room
.
It’s got to be costing your boss a thousand dollars a night
.
That’s a little steep, don’t you think?”

Sam’s booming laughter filled the room
.
“It is rather costly, sweetheart, but if you want to attract money, you
have
to spend money
.
I hardly think multimillionaires like the Petersons and
Jordans
would have been happy meeting at a roadside motel.”

Beth giggled
.
“I guess not.
”
She put her fork down and pushed her chair away from the table
.
“You probably have
work
to do
,
so I guess I should leave now.
”
 

“Oh, no you don’t,” Sam said sternly
.
“I’m not letting you get away again.”

“But what about your work?”

“I don’t have anything to do until Monday morning.
”
He stood, pulling her up with him
.
“So unless you have proof that you have business to attend to, you’re mine for the weekend.”

“To do with as you wish
?”
she
asked
, moving into his arms.

“Now you’ve got the idea.”

 
 
 
 
 
                                                      
 
*
**

They spent the entire weekend in the hotel, enjoying the pool during the day or playing tennis
and
then returning to the room to make love
.
After a time, they’d get dressed again and go dancing or just stroll through the gardens and talk
.
By Sunday evening they’d made love so many times, Beth wondered how Sam could still look at her with
such ardent desire in his eyes
.
But then she had only to reflect on her own emotions to know the answer
.

No matter how many times she watched him undress, it still made her breath come up short
.
And when he lowered himself over her, there was always a deep sigh of contentment waiting to erupt from her mouth
.
For a man who’d been described by the
flight attendant
as difficult and scary, Beth found him to be warm and loving with a wonderful sense of humor.

N
ow her perfect, magical weekend was over
. A
s she waited for Sam to check out, a dark depression enveloped her
.
For the first time since
buying
the beach house, Beth didn’t want to go home
.
She wanted to stay with Sam and wake up tomorrow morning in his arms
.
But of course she couldn’t
,
so she forced back the stormy emotions and pretended she wasn’t falling to pieces
.

In one of their many talks over the past few days, Sam told her why he never dated a woman more than once or twice
:
they became too clingy
,
which made him want to bolt and run
.
Beth was determined not to make him feel that way with her, so she pulled herself together and did her level best to put on a
detached
air
.
When Sam returned, she was smiling.

“You really don’t have to walk me to my car,” she chirped
.
“
I know you use
the valet service,
so
it’s much more convenient for us to part here.”

He gave her a strange look
.
“I’m walking you to your car, Anne.”

Beth shrugged with what she hoped was indifference
.
“If that’s what you want.”

Sam frowned as they stepped into the elevator
.
Why was she acting
as if
they were casual acquaintances and that leaving him was having no effect on her at all
?
She hadn’t even slipped her hand into his as she’d done all weekend whenever they were walking together
.
He’d grown accustomed to it and rather enjoyed the feel of her warm hand, so small and delicate
in contrast
to his
.

Now as he glanced down at her, she was clutching her purse with both hands
.
She’d also positioned herself away from him so there was a good two feet between them
.
Sam didn’t like it
at
all
.
It felt too much like good-bye.

When the elevator doors opened, Beth hastened out and didn’t waste any time getting to her car
.
So far, she’d pulled off being detached and hadn’t shed a tear, but if she didn’t leave soon she was afraid she’d turn into a blubbering idiot and throw herself at his feet
.
She unlocked her door and turned around with a big smile pasted on her face.

“I had a really nice time, Sam.”

The brooding lines in Sam’s forehead deepened
.
“A
nice
time
?
We spent three
-
quarters of the weekend with no clothes on and you had a
nice
time?”
 

A rush of anger swept over him
.
He thought he meant something to her,
yet
here she was
behaving
as if they’d
merely
taken in dinner and
a
movie instead of making love countless times.

“It was great
.”
Beth tried to keep her voice steady
.
“It was the best weekend I’ve ever had.”
 

She fought hard to keep from breaking, but was quickly losing the battle
.
Two minutes tops, she told herself, and then he’d walk away in disgust when she acted just like all those other women who’d ruined their chances with him by being clingy.

“Thank you for walking me to the car
.
I
…
I’ll see you, Sam.”
 

Beth opened the car door, swallowing hard
.
Pain twisted her stomach
.
He hadn’t even asked for her number so it was painfully obvious he had no intention of calling her
.
In numbed resignation, she started to get into the car when Sam’s arm snapped out and gripped her around the waist
.
He yanked her away from the door
,
slammed it shut
and
then whipped her around to face him.