Seducing Sam (17 page)

“You either get in the car under
your own steam, or I’m carrying you there.”  His eyes narrowed.

Good grief, he’d actually been
about to carry out his threat!  The thought had her breaking out in a shiver of
appalled desire.

It also had her quickly moving
towards his car, his arm an unyielding band at her back, his hand at her hip,
long fingers curving around almost possessively.

At the car they stopped, and she
tried again while he leaned past her to open the passenger door.  “Sam, this is
ridiculous.  Just because-”

 He swung it open and stood to one
side, silent and furious. In that second he almost appeared dangerous.  She
scoffed at herself even while a shiver went down her spine.

Sam, dangerous?  Sweet, patient,
easy-going Sam?  How stupid, how… She almost flung herself into the seat,
totally nonplussed when he leaned in, one hand braced on the headrest while he
grabbed the seatbelt and clipped it securely in place.

One searing look of warning and
Sam withdrew, shutting the door with quiet deliberation.  She could only watch
as he strode around the car, noting even in her frazzled state that he appeared
cool and calm to anyone watching.

Unlike her.  She actually placed a
trembling hand on her chest to ensure her heart wasn’t trying to escape.  It
sure felt like it was knocking frantically against her sternum.

The driver’s door opened and he
slid into the seat, clipping on his seat belt and starting the car, checking
the road before reversing out and pulling into the sparse, Sunday morning
traffic.

Silence filled the car and she
chewed her bottom lip, uncertain what to do or say.  The anger was still
emanating from him, and going by the tick in his jaw, it hadn’t abated.

Instead of heading for home, he turned
onto a road that led towards the beach.

She cleared her throat and he shot
her a narrow-eyed glance, making her bite her lip again and looked away.

The road curved, the sea coming
into view as he pulled the car into a parking bay which looked over the ocean. 
Turning off the engine, he stared in silence at the blue water before
unclipping his seat belt and turning to face her, his gaze searching, fury still
evident.

Lifting her chin, she met his gaze
almost defiantly, refusing to back down even while she swallowed nervously.

“Why would you say something like
that to me?” Sam finally demanded.

“Like what?”

“Accusing me of wanting to date you,
to be polite, before ditching you?”

“Because…”

Silently he waited, not helping,
the grimness in his expression unflinching.

She looked away.

“No,” he said.  “Look at me.  If
you’re going to accuse me of something, then you look at me.  You look me in the
eyes.”

“Fine.”  Carly unclipped her seat
belt and swung around to face him fully.  “A man like you doesn’t go out with a
woman like me, Sam.  I know you’re trying to make up for what happened.”

“Make up?” he repeated
incredulously.

“Yes.  But you don’t have to.  It
happened, and I don’t expect more from you, I don’t expect-”

“
Expect?
”  Sam gripped the
steering heel hard enough that his knuckles went white.  “Have I led you to
expect
anything
?”  He ground his teeth together.  “Did I promise
anything?  Did I try to make excuses yesterday, or even today for that matter?”

“No, but…” Stopping, she sucked in
a deep breath before lowering her voice, speaking soothingly, just wanting the whole
unpleasant episode over.  “Sam, it’s all right.  It-”

“Stop right there,” Sam ordered.

Not wanting to antagonise him
further, she obeyed.

It was his turn to inhale deeply. 
She watched as he looked at the ocean.  Removing his glasses, he placed them on
the dashboard and rubbed his face with both hands, cupping them across the
bottom half of his face for several seconds before pulling them away to place
on the steering wheel.  Drumming his thumbs on it, he stared out at the blue
water.

Carly fidgeted in the seat, twining
her fingers together and squeezing her hands between her knees.  What was he
thinking?  How had they even gotten to this stage?

A full minute passed in silence.

“Right.”  Sam turned to face her. 
The fury was gone, the anger still remained, but he was once again in control.

Though, to be truthful, Carly had
to acknowledge that even in his fury he’d been controlled, driving responsibly
and not letting it make him reckless.  Not lashing out at her, either, not even
yelling and swearing.  In fact, his quiet, controlled fury was more
nerve-wracking.

Especially when it was aimed at
her.

“Right,” Sam repeated, once more
drawing her attention from her thoughts.  “It seems I didn’t do it right the
first time.  Carly, I want us to go out together.  Date.  I don’t intend to
dump you after a polite time, I’m not trying to make up for anything, I don’t
intend to hurt you, and I’m definitely not easing my guilty conscious.  Do you
hear me?”

“Yes.”  She had to bite her lip to
stop the ‘but’ from following.

“Do you believe me?”  When she
glanced away, he reached out to grip her chin gently but firmly, turning her
face back towards him.  “Carly, do you believe me?”

That damned lump was back in her
throat.  “No.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m…you know.  And
you’re…”  She flapped a hand at him.  “You know.”

He gazed intently at her.  “Tell
me what I am.”

“God, Sam.”

“Tell me.”

“Fine.  Fine!”  She jerked her
chin from his fingers.  “You’re hot and gorgeous, you’re built like a woman’s
wet dream, you’ve got those surfy-boy good looks, and you know it because women
beat a path to your door all the time.  Beautiful women.”  When his lips
tightened, she folded her arms and shook her head.  “Tough if you don’t like
it, Sam, but it’s the truth.’

“I guess so.”  There was
disappointment in his voice as he eased back slowly to look out the windscreen.

The flare of anger seeped from Carly
and she slumped back in the seat.  Putting her elbow on the window sill, she
leaned her head against her hand.

“Is that all?” he asked quietly.

“No, Sam,” she replied tiredly. 
“You’re sweet, you’re kind, you’re gentle.  You have a tough cat you adore, you
love your garden.  You love life.  You’re easy-going, good natured, and to be
with you is peaceful.”  She blinked back a tear.  “You make me smile and
laugh.  You scared me back there, I admit it, but even then I knew you wouldn’t
hurt me.  It’s not in you.  You’re the kind of bloke who lends a hand, who
doesn’t care what people look like, you like them for who they are, not what
they have.”

In her peripheral vision, she saw
him look at her.

“You’re you, Sam,” she finished. 
“You’re you.”

“But I’m not good enough for you.”

“Good enough?”  She actually gaped
for several seconds before adding, “Oh, you’re good, all right.  Good at making
a woman feel special.  But I’m not special.”

“I think you’re special.”

“Sam.”  She sighed.

“I need air.”  Opening the door
abruptly, he got out and walked around to the front of the car, leaning his
backside on the bonnet and thrusting his hands into his pockets.

Even from the back Carly had to
admit he cut a mouth-watering figure.  The sea breeze stirred his ponytail, the
sunlight picking out the gold strands.  His shirt fluttered slightly, pressing
against his body on one side, moulding deliciously to his muscles.

But he was tense, his usually
slightly slouched, easy posture when he was relaxed gone, the air of
tranquillity definitely not evident.

Guilt poured through her.  She was
the cause of it, however unwittingly.

Feeling lower than a snake’s belly,
she got out and walked around to lean back against the car beside him.  Folding
her arms beneath her breasts, she stared out at the sea, wondering how to make
things better.

The silence stretched out for
several long minutes.

Sam took long, deep breaths,
tipping his head back slightly and closing his eyes.  The sun played along the
straight line of his nose, tracing his lips and jaw, and she had to fight to
stop herself from doing the same.

She was still looking at him
longingly when he turned his head suddenly and opened his eyes, his gaze
locking with hers.

“Sam,” she said softly.  “I’m so
sorry.  I’d never hurt you for the world.  You’re such a nice bloke.”

The sudden flare of heat in his
eyes startled her.

In fact, it had her tingling from
her toes to her secret places, making her breath catch and her blood give a
surge of heat in response.

“You think so, do you?”  His voice
was low, almost sultry.

Uh-oh
.  “Um…yeah?” 

He leaned a little closer.  “Is
that a question or an answer?”

She knew she should lean back in
an unspoken gesture of reproof, but she couldn’t make herself.  “An answer?” 
She almost squeaked it.

“And that, right there, is exactly
why-”

“Sam!  Sammy!”

“Fancy meeting you here, Sam!”

With an uncharacteristic curse, Sam
closed his eyes.  When he opened them again, the heat was gone.

She felt the disappearance as
keenly as if he’d physically stripped it from her.

“Sam!”

All expression left his face as he
looked around towards the voices.

Carly looked past him, her heart
falling as two bikini-clad beach bunnies ran up.  Their lithe bodies glistened
with water, their wet hair clinging to their skin.  The bikinis barely hid
their proudly displayed slight curves.

“Hi, Sam.”  Smiling, the blonde
stepped close.

Too close, Carly thought, and had
to stifle the urge to shove her away.

“Jean,” Sam greeted.

“I see you worked last night.” 
The pert little brunette had her hands behind her back, almost shyly, but her
eyes devoured him, scanning shamelessly across his body.

“Hi, Hilary.  Yeah, Simon was
sick.”

“Oh, bad luck.  Anyway, you coming
for a swim?  A surf?”

“Nope.  Just shooting the breeze
with my…friend.”  Reaching out, he touched her shoulder.  “This is Carly. 
Carly, this is Hilary and Jean from work.”

Ouch
. 
Friend
. 
Well, she’d said she wanted friendship only, so no sense being hurt by his
admission.

“Hi.”  Carly gave a little wave.

Hilary and Jean barely glanced at
her.

Hilary moved closer, one hand
coming out to rest on his forearm, her hand so tiny and slim against his much
brawnier limb.  “So, Sam.  Why don’t you take your shirt off?  Enjoy the sun?”

“Seems such a shame to cover up
that body,” Jean teased.

“Sorry, girls.  I didn’t bring
swimming togs.”

“Pooh, you don’t need togs.” 
Hilary winked.  “You’re wearing undies, aren’t you?  They’ll do.”

“Sorry, no.”

“Oh, come on.”  Jean pouted.

Carly rolled her eyes.

“Who’s going to see?  There’s no
one here but us three.”

“And Carly.”  Sam jerked his thumb
in her direction.

She gave them another small wave. 
“Hi, again.”

Sam glanced briefly at her, a
twinkle in his eyes that had her instinctively grinning.  His gaze dropped to
her mouth, his eyes darkening, but then Hilary pulled on his arm.

“Sammy, come on.  It’s beautiful
weather.  We can have a swim, go to my house-”

“Or mine,” Jean put in hastily.

Ignoring her, Hilary continued,
“You can shower off there.  We’ll make a day of it, you and me.  What do you
say?”

By now Jean was shooting her
little glares in-between smiling up at Sam.  “Or we can go to my house and have
a barbecue lunch.”  Shifting in front of him, she leaned forward, blatantly
showing-off her wares.

Carly waited for her breasts to
pop right out of the bikini top.  She was almost embarrassed on their behalf. 
Geez, could they be any plainer in their desire to have Sam to themselves?

And could she be any plainer in
her spark of jealousy?  Curling her hands into fists, she hugged herself a
little tighter.  To be truthful, the sight of their lithe bodies in cute
bikinis so close to Sam’s tall, muscular frame was not only making her jealous,
it was also making her feel self conscious.

Seriously, why would Sam want her
when he had such beautiful women throwing themselves at him?

Intending to start walking away, Carly
straightened, only to stop when Sam’s hand shot out to wrap around hers.  It
was either try to tug away or stay still.  There was no doubt that Sam wasn’t
going to let her go, and no way was she going to embarrass herself by
fighting.  Not in front of the two beach bunnies.

Hilary’s gaze dropped to where
Sam’s hand held Carly’s, and when she looked up at Carly, the disbelief on her
face was priceless.

Jean looked her up and down
incredulously before looking back at Sam.

Then they simply dismissed her as
though she wasn’t there.

“So, Sam,” Jean said, “How about
it?  A swim?  We could even go skinny dipping.  Who’d know?”

“We would.”  Hilary giggled.

“No.”  This time there was a definite
thread of steel in Sam’s tone, one that surprised the two women, going by their
taken-aback expressions.  “I’m here with Carly.  I’ll see you both at work.”

“Oh, but Sam-” Hilary began.

“Bye, Hilary, Jean.  Have a great
day.”  He looked at them steadily.

Surprised, Jean and Hilary looked
at each other, back at Carly, and again at Sam.

Sam tugged Carly closer, and not
wanting to embarrass him, she did as bidden, even though she still cringed a
little when her breasts nudged Sam’s arm.

She wasn’t sure who was more
shocked when his arm slid around her waist to draw her right up against him.  Jean’s
mouth fell open, Hilary could only stare, and Carly’s breath caught.