The Tycoon's Tender Triumph (19 page)

“Get off him, you tramp!” she screeched.  “And you!” she turned to glare at Sam.  “Put me down and take it like
a man!  I’m not going to sit by passively
watc
hing you sleep with me one night
and hook up with another woman the next!  I did that all through college and I’m not so
weak
anymore.  Just let me go!” she yelled and tried kicking and hitting, anything to hurt him as much as she was currently hurting.

“Chloe, calm down and let me introduce you,” Sam called out, setting her down and grabbing her hands before she could take another swing.  He chuckled at her livid expression, which only made things worse. 

Tears were streaming down Chloe’s face and she lost all her steam.  “You did it to me again, you bastard!” she cried and swiped at the tears.  “I can’t believe I let you sucker me again.  So many times, so many dinners I would sit across the table from you and wish that you would see me as something more than a kid.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, not having to scream anymore since she was whispering, which was ten times worse. 

“In college.  You’d show up, you’d take me out to dinner and I thought I was the luckiest woman in the world.  And the next night, you’d take out some other woman.  I’d have to see you in the newspapers, my friends showing me the pictures if I missed them and all of them asking me if you were the man who had shown up to take me out.  Who made me so excited.  But no more Sam!  You wouldn’t leave me alone even though I knew you’d do this to me again but I’m through!  I’m going somewhere where you can’t find me. There’s no way you’re going to toss me over your shoulder and drag me back here because I simply will not endure this from you!” 

Sam couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  “Are you telling me that the reason you wouldn’t trust me when you first came down her
e
, the reason you stopped accepting my invitations to dinner all those years ago, was because you saw me in the newspapers with another woman?”

“Yes!  You bastard!  You lying, cheating, two timing jerk!”  she wished she could say all this with more force, but he’d knocked the breath out of her with this betrayal and the tears were clogging her throat.  “Why did you do this to me?”

“Chloe,” he said soothingly, pulling her gently against his chest, “if I’d known that you’d seen those pictures, I would have explained before.  But would you please let me introduce you to the woman I’ve hired to coordinate our wedding?” 

Chloe stilled and looked up at him.   Then at the woman standing several feet away with a gentle smile on her face. 

“Wedding coordinator?”

Sam sighed and gripped her upper arms, looking down into her hurt fa
ce gently.  “Chloe, this is San
dra Manning and she’s one of the best coordinators in Dallas.  She’s delegated several other weddings to her subordinates in order to help us get something together quickly.”

Chloe closed her eyes, letting her head fall onto Sam’s chest in shame.  “I’m sorry.  I overreacted, didn’t I?”

Sam chuckled and hugged her close.  “Not in my mind.  At least I finally figured out what I’d done wrong all those years ago.”

Chloe rubbed her cheeks with one hand and extended the other, hoping for as much dignity as she could muster under the circumstances.  “I’m so sorry, Ms. Manning.”

“Call me Sandra,” she said with a welcoming smile.  “And no apology necessary.  I’m glad to see two people who obviously love each other so much.  I’m also very excited to finally get this man married.  So many women in Texas have been after him but now I understand that he’s been waiting for you all these years.”  With a wink, she leaned slightly forward and said, “I understand why.” 

She picked up her purse and a briefcase that was leaning against a  patio chair.  “I have to be on my way.  I’ll call later this afternoon once the samples have been delivered so you can tell me what you’ve decided.”

With that, she turned on her heel and walked back around the house where she’d just come and disappeared, leaving behind an awkward silence that Chloe knew she’d have to fix. 

“I’m sorry, Sam.”

“Don’t be.”  He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.  “I’m not sure if I ever would have found out what happened to make you stop having dinner with me.”

Chloe laughed.  “That’s one way to look at my outburst.”

“Is there another way?”

She shrugged and pressed her cheek against his chest.  “You could be angry that I didn’t trust you.”

“But you seemed to have reason to
dis
trust me.”  He sighed and hugged her closer.  “A pretty good reason, I think,” and he felt her stiffen in his arms.

“What do you mean?”

Sam hated the wary tone that had entered her voice but he might as well get it all out into the open.  “Every time I took you to dinner Chloe, I was so turned on that I couldn’t think straight.”

She pulled back and looked up at him.  “What do you mean?  Weren’t you just taking me out to dinner to check up on me for my dad?”

“Hell no.” 
He chuckled and took her hand, pulling her over to one of the patio chairs and sitting down.  He then pulled her onto his lap, his hands moving up and down her back.  “
Well, that was my excuse.  And that’s what I told you and your father.  And probably myself at first.  But it was all to see you.  To be with you for a few minutes.”

“So….why did you go out with those other women the next night?”

“Because
you showed zero interest in me.”

She sat back up and looked at him with astonishment.  “No interest?  What do you think I was talking about all through dinner?”

“All the things you wanted me to tell your father to reassure him that you were doing okay.”

Chloe was stunned for a moment, then buried her face in his neck, laughing and shaking her head. 

“I’m not sure if I understand the humor,” he replied grimly. 

When she had her laughter slightly under control, she lifted her head, still chuckling.  “I was trying to impress you.  To show you that I wasn’t a kid anymore in an obviously pathetic attempt to get you to see me as an adult.”

He groaned and hugged her.  “I saw you as an adult alright.  In more ways than you can imagine.”

She snuggled closer to him, pressing herself against him.  “I failed before but I’m not a kid any longer.”

“I realize that,” he replied, sliding his hand up along her thigh.  “I think you should prove it to me again.”

She shifted so she was facing him more fully.  “I’m obviously not very good at telling you.  Maybe I should show you.”  With her arms closing around his neck and her fingers sliding into his hair, she moved closer to him, her mouth smiling as she delicately touched his
own lips
.  “Does this prove it?”

“Not at all.  That’s a kiss a little girl would give her grandmother.” 

Sam watched with amusement and a rapidly building fire in his gut as she licked her lips and considered other possibilities. 

“How’s this?” she asked and nibbled along his mouth.

“You’re getting better.  But it might be as simple as telling me that you love me.”

“I love you,” she said softly, her love shining through her eyes.  “And if you ever even look sideways at another woman, I’ll have to do bodily harm to your magnificent physique.”

“Magnificent, huh?” he replied, his hands moving down her waist to settle on her bottom.  With a swift move, he lifted her into his arms and carried her quickly across the patio, ignoring Jessy and Chloe’s dad as they smiled on approvingly. 

“Close to perfection,” she said with happiness. 

“Close?” he growled as he kicked his bedroom door shut behind him before tossing her into the middle of his bed.  “Close?”

She laughed and looked at him as he started pulling his shirt off.  Then something behind him caught her eye.  “Where did you get that?” she asked, stilling completely as she looked at the framed, poster sized photograph behind him on the wall where an oil painting had previously resided. 

Sam turned and glanced behind him to figure out what she was looking at.  “It’s just a picture I liked.  But you should be focusing on me and not the guy in the picture.”

Chloe scooted back as he tried to pull her legs down to
him.  “Sam, where did you get th
at picture?” she demanded, her eyes fixed on the pinks and oranges of the sunset. 

Sam sighed and came down next to her, looking at the picture.  “Someone told me about this place about thirty minutes away.  I went in for a sandwich, saw the picture and liked it.  I bought it on the spot and it’s been there for a few days.”

“Why do you like it?”

He shrugged and looked at the colors and the shadowed man on the horse.  “It just struck me.  I can’t really tell you why I like it.  It just…called to me I guess.”

Chloe laughed and pulled his head down to her own, kissing him with everything she had inside of her.  “I really love you,” she replied as she moved down his body, kissing him everywhere that made him groan. 

“All this because of a photograph?” he chuckled a moment before she nibbled at the sensitive spot on his side.  With that, he rolled her over and captured her hands, pulling them up over her head.  “If I’d known you like photographs this much, I would have wall papered the house with them.”

“I took the picture,” she whispered as his mouth covered her breast.

He immediately still and looked up at her.  “Excuse me?”

She smiled and moved her hips against him.  “I took the picture.  Along with all the others in
J
oe
’s restaurant.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

She shook her head and lifted her head to kiss him.  “That’s what I’ve been doing every day.  Heading out and taking more pictures, then having them developed and getting them over to
J
oe
’s place.  He’s sold so many that I need to hurry up with the next batch before he fills up the space with another artist.”

He leaned his head dow
n and kissed her gently.  “This is the business you want to be in?” he asked her softly. 

She reached up and touched his cheek.  “I love
the art of trying to capture a moment.  And when someone buys my art, that makes it even better.’

“I think you’ll be a ragi
ng success,” he replied with a
husky voice.  “I’m impressed with your talent.  And I’d be even more impressed if you would agree to marry me,” he said and slipped his hand underneath her shirt.

Chloe laughed softly and shook her head.  “You haven’t asked me yet.”

He rolled his eyes.  “Is that what you’re waiting on?”  When she nodded her head, he sighed and blew her hair out of her eyes.  “Woman, will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?”

“Yes,” she replied happier than she ever thought she could be.  “I would love to marry you Sam Marchant.”

He bent down and kissed her, sealing their deal.  “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

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