One Blazing Night (18 page)

What he was asking for felt too big for her to give. But she also wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't at least try.

She managed a nod. “I'll go pack.”

18

T
HEY
WERE
LANDING
at JFK Airport and Sam still wasn't sure if she was making a horrible
mistake or if Matt really did know what he was doing. She tried not to let her
pessimism show, and so far, they hadn't talked about anything of consequence on
the short trip. Recollections from their shared past, mostly. Good memories,
funny things. Games they'd played and comics they'd read.

At this point, there was only one thing she knew for certain.
She couldn't possibly fall any more in love with Matt. She'd reached heights her
young self had never imagined as she'd got to know him again.

But it was very clear, at least to her, that she might have
been simply delaying the inevitable heartbreak. And the tragic irony of it all?
When everything went up in smoke, work would be her solace and her hiding
place.

Eventually, she'd get over him, and life as she'd known it for
at least the past four years would return.

“I've got a car waiting for us,” he said.

“You're still not going to tell me where we're going?”

“Nope.”

She bit her lower lip and gripped the seat arms as they
approached the runway. After the jolt of the landing, she could breathe again.
“You know,” she said as they were rolling to the gate, “Midtown is going to be
extra busy. New York Comic Con is happening this week.”

“No kidding?” He shrugged. “The city is always crowded.”

The seat-belt sign went off, causing half the passengers around
them to spring up and get their luggage before the door was open. Matt among
them. First class wasn't too bad, though. They'd deplane first.

“Come on, slowpoke,” Matt urged. He had both their carry-on
bags and was hogging the aisle.

She got in back of him and followed him off the plane and into
the mellow chaos of the terminal. As soon as they stepped past the security
point, a driver was there to greet them. He took the bags from Matt. The young
man wasn't wearing a uniform, but his suit was impeccable. “I've gone over my
instructions with your assistant, Mr. Wilkinson. So if you'd follow me,
please?”

His name was Diego, and he whisked them out of the airport like
a champ. The car was a luxury black sedan, something stately that she'd never
buy in a million years, even if she liked to drive.

“So what now?” she asked, settling in the backseat. “A
blindfold? A bag over my head?”

“How about we make out until we get there?”

She looked in the rearview and met Diego's dark brown gaze,
which he shifted immediately. “I'd have to be a little drunk to do that.”

“Are you sure?” Matt leaned in, smiling. “Then how about a
kiss? Just one,” he said. “Then we renegotiate.”

She was here, he looked happy, and she'd missed him so very
much over two horrible days. Her hand went to one of her favorite places—his
nape—and she brushed her fingers over his soft dark hair. “I missed you.”

He nodded. “I think my incessant phone messages were an
indication of how much I missed you. I'm so sorry our conversation got hijacked,
but even sorrier that I didn't tell you about what was going on with London in
the first place.”

“I forgive you. For both things,” she said, not that she
thought it changed anything. But he already knew how she felt. No need to hit
him over the head with it.

In the front seat, Diego cleared his throat. “We've
arrived.”

Sam, who hadn't been paying attention to anything but Matt,
said, “How are we here? We were hardly in the car.”

“JFK isn't that far from the Javits Center,” Matt said.

“But that's—” She inhaled a gasp. “Comic Con? That's where
you're taking me?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, now I really need to know what the heck is going
on.”

“We're going to Comic Con,” Matt said patiently. “What more
explanation do you need?”

As much as Sam couldn't believe that she was in New York at one
of her favorite conventions, she was more confused than ever. He couldn't have
had this planned for long. “Matt, you have to have tickets for this. I think
even the day passes have sold out.”

“I know.” He kissed her. A quick press of familiar lips, gone
in a moment. Then her door was opened for her.

She got out, followed by Matt. While he spoke to Diego, Sam
stared at the posters outside the venue. No wonder he'd insisted on her wearing
her comfy shoes and worn jeans. If she'd known, though, she might have worn her
Black Widow cosplay costume. She loved the character and didn't have to dye her
hair. Then again, maybe she wouldn't have worn it. Not under the
circumstances.

Matt's arm went around her shoulders. “You ready? We're meeting
the liaison at the main entrance.”

It was a quick walk filled with a lot of civilians and
cosplayers. Phones were already in use, taking selfies for Instagram. A short
slim woman who looked all business must have recognized Matt as they approached
the doors.

“Mr. Wilkinson, I'm Grace Potter. Nice to meet you.”

He shook her hand. “Thanks for going to so much trouble.”

“It's our pleasure.”

“May I introduce—”

“Oh, I know who you are,” Grace said, turning to Sam. “It's a
privilege to meet you, Ms. O'Connel. I play ‘Tree Town' all the time. It's one
of my favorite games. And the work you did on ‘Red Velvet'? I just— I'm such an
admirer. These passes are all access, including backstage at all our official
venues. But I don't think you'll have trouble getting into any of our Super Week
partner showcases. And here's my card. Anything you need, you call me. That's my
personal number.”

“Thank you.” Sam blushed. “I'm really honored to get these
passes. I promise we won't lose them.” She put her lanyard over her neck and
watched Matt do the same. He didn't seem upset that she was the center of
attention, but then, he hadn't been like that ever. All she saw was his pride
and respect for her.

“Shall we?” He held out his hand.

She took it, and it was like walking into Oz. It was only day
one, so it didn't smell too much like spandex sweat yet. “You really are insane
for bringing me here, but thank you,” she said. “Have you ever been?”

“Nope.” The noise, the hugeness of the place, made them both
slow to a stop. “How do we navigate this?”

“We go up,” she said. “That's the real treat in having passes
like these. We can look out over the floor and plan our attack from there.”

“You have some favorite things to do?”

“Oh, yes. If Diego's the one picking us up, I hope he brings a
bigger car. I tend to spend a lot.”

“No,” he said, mocking her terribly.

“Well, most of the things I've collected are worth a lot of
money now.”

“Oh, so you plan on selling them?”

“Are you crazy?” she said and realized when he grinned how
she'd really walked into that one.

He squeezed her hand. “It doesn't matter. As long as you get
pleasure from it.”

“Coming here with a virgin is pretty pleasurable.”

“What? Oh. Yes. Is there an initiation or something?”

She wiggled her eyebrows, prepared to love every second of
this. Of them. “We'll get to that later.”

* * *

H
IS
ARM
WAS
getting sore. They'd made a bet that whoever saw a lemon in their
travels got to hit the other in the arm. It was more of a token hit, but he'd
spotted exactly two, whereas Sam had found eleven. He didn't even understand why
they were looking for lemons. It had to do with some radio show, and very
definitely something to do with geek culture.

They spent some quality time with actors and writers whose
names even he recognized. Sam was a celebrity in her own right and handled those
conversations like a pro. When they finally left the heady altitude of the
all-access-pass realm, they walked the floor, arguing over which superhero from
the Avengers was the best. He was squarely on the side of Captain America, but
Sam was convinced it was Iron Man. It got pretty heated. It ended only when they
got to her favorite shopping mall, Artist Alley.

The plan was to buy whatever took their fancy. And he was
surprised to actually feel somewhat at home there. He'd become a minor collector
of some of the comics Sam had turned him on to way back.

All the major franchises were represented in art, books and
merchandise.
Star Wars
,
Doctor
Who
,
Star Trek
,
Firefly
, Marvel, DC,
The Walking Dead
,
Game of Thrones
. The list was never ending.

But so was the fascination he felt watching Sam in this world.
Lots of people knew who she was. At first he'd thought all the skeezy-looking
guys were checking her out, but then he realized that they had probably seen her
picture and were just trying to figure out if it was really her.

She'd been especially welcomed in the booths of the game
companies she'd worked with. It was really something. They were so surprised to
see her, and all those brilliant men and women treated her like royalty.

She'd stopped at a lot of booths, and the two very large tote
bags he held were already filled. But now she was at a vendor's booth scoping
out something that definitely wouldn't fit in a car.

“How much, including delivery?” she asked. “And what do I do?
Just send you the dimensions and it replaces a regular door?”

The man nodded and Matt grinned. The guy made doors that looked
like the phone box from
Doctor Who
. Of course she
would want one. It was perfect. If he'd seen it for sale somewhere, he'd have
bought it for her himself.

The amount was a lot, as was the time needed to custom-make one
and the cost to ship it to her. But the seller knew who Sam was and said he'd
give her a discount if she'd let him have some pictures of her with the door
after it had been installed.

She was glowing. Watching her have such a good time touched him
deeply. She kept telling him who was dressed up like whom, stopping a lot of the
women cosplayers to compliment them on their looks. It was charming as hell,
especially when she got excited about questionable homemade costumes made with
lots of love but little talent.

Sam was even more captivating here than she had been at the
gala, and she'd impressed him beyond words there.

But the best part of the experience was when they were on the
main exhibition floor, trying out games together. It didn't matter who was
around or what anybody thought—they went all out. Or as Sam liked to say, “balls
to the walls.” He tried to argue that she was lacking in that department, but
she just laughed and said, “Sweet Matthew, mine are big and brass and you'd
better be careful because there's an ET who's about to eat your head.”

By the time they left, he was exhausted. Hard-core fandom was
something he could appreciate, but he was more than ready to have Sam all to
himself. They got to his place just after 10:00 p.m. It felt great to be home.
To share it with Sam. He ordered a pizza, and they took showers—separately, to
his chagrin—but it didn't really matter. Because when he came out of the steamy
bathroom, there she was in a nightshirt sitting on his bed, a big smile on her
face. She looked so beautiful it made his heart stutter.

And she was his. At least for now. And he was pretty sure his
odds of convincing her they could make it together had shot up.

* * *

S
AM
PUT
HER
chin on her fist and had herself a good old-fashioned ogle. “You're so
hot when you just come out of the shower wearing a teeny towel around your
waist.”

“Thanks. I like your outfit, too.”

“Ah, you're just saying that 'cause you're horny.”

“Not true.” He tossed the towel in the corner. He wasn't
exactly hard as a rock, but he was getting there. “‘Horny' indicates something
vague, as if any woman could satisfy me, when I only want you.”

She smiled as he crawled into bed beside her. His hair still
damp, he laid his head on his pillow, his eyes already darkened by desire. His
minty breath brushed across her lips and slipped into her mouth.

“Tell me something,” she said. “How did you come up with this
plan?”

His hand reached her before his words, and he slid his palm all
the way from her neck down past her bottom and then made the return journey. “I
promise to tell you, but later.”

Sam held on to a smile. She had no doubt the sex would be good.
Off the charts. But she wondered if it was wrong to lead him on. She wasn't sure
what he'd been trying to prove by bringing her to New York or Comic Con, because
it still changed nothing about their situation.

No, it wasn't wrong for them to enjoy each other. That was the
main reason she'd come. To be with Matt.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked with a teasing smile.

He moved the last few inches until his lips were so close to
hers they breathed the same breath. From deep in his throat came a husky
masculine sound that did something wicked to her insides. After removing her
nightshirt, he ran his hands across every inch of her, as if he wanted to
memorize every part of her body. She found herself doing the same thing—rubbing
his hard muscles under his smooth, clean skin, reveling in the brush of his soft
chest hair. Somewhere along the way, her leg had moved over his hip and she
could feel the press of his very hard erection against her thigh.