Sam glared at her co-workers whose shock tactics had hit a bull’s-eye. “You two don’t fight fair.”
“Yeah, well, we can’t believe you’re planning to marry Adam when you’re obviously still crazy about your ex,” Andi countered.
“There’s not really going to be any wedding,” she confessed, her cheeks burning.
“What?” Casey and Andi asked simultaneously.
“Adam and I are just doing a trial engagement.”
“Exactly
what
is a trial engagement?” Casey asked.
Sam explained the plan to get Nick to back off and Adam’s hope she might eventually accept his ring permanently. “Now I’m feeling kind of guilty about deceiving Nick and Dani.”
“And us,” Andi added. “We were already discussing throwing a shower for you.”
“Then I’m glad I told you the truth. Please don’t say anything to anyone. I’d hate for it to get back to Nick.”
“Will you at least start talking to him again?” Casey asked, insinuating it was a condition on their silence.
“That’s blackmail.”
“Yeah, so?” Andi grinned. “It’s for your own good.”
“I’ll think about it. Now can we talk about something else? Please?” Sam turned her gaze on Casey. “Like, why did you drop everything and leave early yesterday to attend the building inspection of the house your sister and brother-in-law are building?”
“Why not?” Casey countered in a defensive tone. “Brianna is out of town on business, and David was tied up seeing patients all day.”
“Right. And you’re going out of your way for the same sister who stole the guy you were interested in and who was just leading you on?”
“Brianna didn’t
steal
David. She had no idea I’d invited him to our New Year’s party.”
“Yeah, but he did,” Andi pointed out. “How’s that working out for the pediatrician whose wife can never give him the kids he wants?”
“Truthfully? Not too well,” Casey confessed. “But it’s not David who has a problem with it. I think Brianna is stressing more about it than he is. Two weeks ago, she overheard her father-in-law lamenting to David that their bloodline would end with him. I think her self-esteem is suffering.” She paused to glance back and forth between Andi and Sam, biting her lip as if she wanted to say more but chose not to.
“And?” Samantha probed. “There’s something you’re not telling us, isn’t there?”
Casey shrugged. “Just that I’m thinking of offering to serve as a surrogate for them.”
Andi gasped. “Are you crazy? After what she did?”
“She didn’t
do
anything—other than fall in love with the guy I liked.”
“And now you want to reward him for dumping you by carrying his baby?” Sam snorted softly.
“He didn’t
dump
me. We never even dated. He simply shifted his interest to Brianna.”
“Like every other guy you’ve ever introduced your sister to,” Andi muttered.
“She doesn’t ask for their attention,” Casey said, defending her fraternal twin who was physically beautiful—on the outside. On the inside, her lack of her uterus made her not so perfect. “Brianna’s had a lot of problems since we were born. I love her, and if having a baby for her and her husband will help her feel less deficient, I think I should help her.”
“I commend your sisterly charity,” Andi said, “but I think you’re asking for big trouble.”
Sam was about to say
Amen
but kept silent. Who was she to act as a naysayer to Casey’s outrageous plan when she had so many mistakes of her own?
~*~
Nick had hoped Sam’s momentary ceasefire during Justin’s visit last Sunday would continue. Fat chance.
He couldn’t blame her, though. After the way he’d acted, he deserved more than just her anger. His only excuse was he couldn’t bear to lose her when he was so close to winning her back. Or at least, it
seemed
like he’d been close until he’d screwed things up.
No matter how many times he’d apologized or bent over backward to show his remorse, Samantha’s resolve to ignore him appeared frozen solid with no sign of a thaw. Still, despite her continued cold war, Nick couldn’t stop smiling on Friday afternoon.
Acting as Sam’s agent, he’d met with representatives from two companies, one in New Jersey and one in Pennsylvania, and talked to five more mid-sized toy manufacturers via videoconference, two of which were major players in the industry. When she saw the lucrative deal he’d brokered for her and the potential fortune she could make, maybe—just maybe—she’d forgive him.
Of course, there was always the possibility she would take the financial independence he was handing her and tell him to take a hike.
As he finished sorting the paperwork for the offers into a manila folder, the front door opened and closed. “Dani?”
“Yeah, Dad.” Her sneakers squeaked against the hardwood floor as she scuffed her way to the kitchen.
“Did you have a good day,
Princesa
?” he planted a kiss on the top of her head.
“Okay, I guess.” She swiped at the perspiration beaded on her face. “It would’ve been a lot better if I’d dressed cooler. I can’t believe you put the heat on last night and now its seventy-five degrees out.”
“October is a fickle month, kiddo.”
She opened the cookie jar on the counter and frowned. “Didn’t mom make my cookies this week?”
“I’m sorry. I guess I wasn’t supposed to be eating them, too.” In the last three days, he must have scarfed down at least a dozen of the chewy treats.
“That’s okay.” She shrugged. “I’m not that hungry anyway.” After oversleeping and only eating half her breakfast that morning, the kid should be starving.
“Hey, why don’t we bake some together this afternoon,” he suggested, “and save your mom the trouble? You know where her recipe is, don’t you?”
“Sure. But I don’t know if we have all the ingredients. Besides, I promised Haley I’d be over at four-thirty. It’s still okay if I have dinner at her house and sleep there tonight, right?”
Considering all Marc was dealing with, the last thing he needed was to be forced to smile for two giggling teenage girls all evening. “Why don’t you have Haley come here, instead? I’ll make tacos.”
“No-ooo.” Dani lifted her foot as if she were about to stamp it but then thought better of it. “Mr. Simmons is ordering pizza and rented a bunch of DVDs for us.”
Then again, maybe the poor guy really wanted to forget his problems by watching his daughter enjoy herself with her friend. If he was in Marc’s position, he’d want to spend as much time with Dani as possible. “All right.” He nodded. “As long as your mother said it’s okay.”
“She’s totally cool with it. Mom’s making a delivery at Peddler’s Village on her way home from work. She said she would probably stay and do a little window shopping.”
Sam no doubt planned to extend her trip so she wouldn’t have to be alone with him.
Dani trudged up the back staircase and stopped halfway to the second floor. “You two aren’t gonna do anything crazy like talk to each other while I’m gone, right?”
He smiled at his daughter’s snarky sense of humor that was so much like her mother’s. “Let’s say I’m not making any promises.”
As she bounded the rest of the way up the steps, laughing, he punched the air. Yesss! If Dani stayed at Haley’s, he could have Sam to himself the entire night—assuming Chase didn’t call her at the last minute.
Nick yanked open the freezer and dug out two thick porterhouse steaks.
As soon as he presented the toy company proposals to Sam, they’d have a candlelight dinner. He would put on the romantic mix CD he’d burned as an anniversary gift to her a few years ago, open a bottle of her favorite local wine, and follow it with a little slow dancing....
If he played his cards right, by the time the night was over, she’d be ready to call off her engagement—and, with any luck, get naked with him.
While Nick fixed a green salad and prepared two twice-baked potatoes, his mind wandered through the past to the first time he ever made love to Sam.
After his brother had mooched some condoms and raced from the house, harboring every teenage boy’s harem fantasy, Nick had turned his attention back to the movie he’d been watching.
Shortly after one a.m., he crawled between the sheets, and as he was about to fall asleep, the doorbell chimed. Cursing, he rolled out of bed and wrapped a towel around his boxers. When he flung open the front door, he found Sam standing on the porch in tears, wearing a T-shirt and pajama shorts.
“I’m sorry.” She sniffed. “I know it’s late, but I really need to talk to Justin. We had a huge fight, and I want to apologize.”
Great. Now he’d have to be the one to explain the teenage male libido to her. “I’m sorry, Sammy-bee, he’s not here.”
“It figures.” She sobbed.
At the rate bugs were flitting through the open door, there would soon be more insects in the house than outside. “Why don’t you come in?” He stepped back for her to enter and then led the way to the sofa. “Does your aunt know you’re here?”
“No. I climbed out my window.” Sam sank onto the couch at the same time he did, nearly landing in his lap. She sat so close her sweet citrus scent tickled his nose as she turned to him and swiped at her tear-streaked cheek. “Justin went back to the party to be with someone else, didn’t he?”
Ughhh....two or three someone elses, to be accurate.
“I don’t know,” he lied. “Maybe.” Not that he was any saint, either. The first thing he’d noticed when he opened the door was that Sam wasn’t wearing a bra. At the sight of her swollen nipples, his body had responded accordingly.
“I know Justin is crazy about you. Tomorrow, he’ll probably pretend nothing happened.”
“You think I should ignore that he cheated on me?” Fresh tears streamed down her face. “Or do you think I deserve it because I wouldn’t—”
“No! I’m not saying that.” He pulled her into his arms to comfort her. “What I mean is you have to decide if you want to look the other way or break up with him.”
She buried her face in his bare chest, and all he could think about was having her naked body pressed against him. He held her tighter and whispered into her hair, “It’ll be all right,
Abejita
.”
The next thing he knew, she was sliding her arms around his neck and kissing him. When the tip of her tongue flicked out and stroked his lips, he nearly came in his shorts.
No other girl had ever turned him on like this.
The temptation to steal Sammy’s innocence was staggering. But he’d loved her for too many years to exploit her emotional state. A less noble part of him did, however, insist on shoving up her T-shirt. He tried to resist tasting her, but he’d dreamed of kissing and sucking her breasts for so long he couldn’t stop himself.
Man, she was even sweeter than he’d ever imagined. Her panting and squirming battered his conscience until after several minutes of ravishing and tweaking her nipples, his more honorable half eventually prevailed.
He jerked back from her and whispered, “I can’t do this, Sammy. I want you, but you’re Justin’s girl.”
“So what. He’s fooling around on me right this minute.” She pulled his face back down to her breast. “Please, Nicky, finish making love to me. It feels so incredible.”
“I get it. You want payback. So you’re trying to give me what my brother wanted simply to spite him.” He closed his eyes and said the hardest thing he’d ever uttered. “You should wait and let Justin—”
“No!” She shook her head emphatically. “This isn’t about getting back at him. He never made me feel like this.”
Of course not. She’d never let Justin lick and tease her nipples. An innocent girl needed tenderness and seductive caresses to become aroused. How the hell did she expect his virgin brother to be any good as a lover without practice? The kid was so damn frustrated he’d probably grabbed Sam’s breasts like a prize he’d won at the county fair.
“I want you,” she insisted. “I’ve seen how many girls knock on your door while your mom is working.” She turned her face away and admitted in a disgraced mumble, “Once, I even uhh....”
With the way she’d left her sentence hanging, his imagination couldn’t help but slip into overdrive. “Once you even what?”
She gulped audibly and whispered shamefully, “I watched.”
Oh, jeez, no. Nick closed his eyes, trying to guess what depravity she might have witnessed.
What if it he’d been with that nympho, Audrey Waznowski?
After several pregnancy scares and an eventual abortion, the twirling squad’s captain had become a born-again virgin and the class BJ queen. The slutty senior had handled his ‘baton’ like a pro and made him come every way possible—except the way nature intended.
“When? How?” he demanded, hoping he didn’t sound as frantic as he felt.
“About a week before my aunt caught me wearing that awful bikini.”
Whew, it couldn’t have been Audrey. “It just so happens I liked that ‘awful’ bikini.” He smiled at the memory of watching her dance half-naked.
Pink splotches of mortification bloomed on her cheeks, leaving him uncertain exactly what she was ashamed of—her erotic performance or her voyeurism.
“The week before, you’d asked me to mend a pair of jeans for you. When I went to your back door to deliver them, I heard a girl shrieking inside, so....” She shrugged. “I peeked through the kitchen window to see what was going on.”
And got an eyeful, to say the least. He had no idea who he’d been with that day. He’d screwed more than a few girls in his kitchen while his mother was at work and Justin was at practice for whichever team sport he’d been involved with at the time.
“I knew it was wrong to watch. Except when I saw you thrusting yourself into that naked girl against the refrigerator, I couldn’t budge. I kept imagining it was my legs wrapped around you.” She lifted her gaze to his and stared into his eyes. “That girl’s face looked so....so ecstatic.” She flipped open his towel. “I know you’ll make it wonderful for me, too.”