a waitress waved her over to a table she’d just cleared.
Sam doubted Debbie’s wishes had much to do with it, but luck was definitely on his side, he decided, as he spotted a furry green leg sticking out from the corner booth. He grinned as he picked up the familiar stuffed dinosaur. It looked like Kara needed rescuing a second time.
Kara collapsed onto the small sofa in the tiny living area of the hotel’s two-room suite. Exhaustion pulled at her until she thought she might sink clear through the too-soft navy brocade cushions and never get up again. The two-day drive had taken a lot out of her, but the last half hour had completely worn her out.
How could she have lost Timmy’s stuffed animal? It wasn’t like she didn’t know how much the dinosaur meant to him. Losing that dinosaur, one of the last connections to Marti…it felt like another part of her sister had just slipped away.
As soon as Timmy had climbed into the unfamiliar bed and realized the toy wasn’t waiting there for him, they’d searched the minivan, checking between and beneath the seats. She’d tried asking him the last time he remembered having the dinosaur, but Timmy had started to cry, and Kara had been too upset herself to push him harder.
She didn’t know what to think about Timmy’s last tearful request to sleep with the tiny car Sam had given him. She should have been grateful that the little boy had taken comfort in the toy. But she only felt like that much more of failure, so much so that she wondered if Marti hadn’t had the right idea.
Maybe Timmy would be better off with Sam.
A knock on the door pulled her from those heartbreaking thoughts, and Kara wiped her eyes as she pushed off the sofa. The dinosaur would turn up. It had to.
“Who is it?” she called out softly as she reached the white paneled door.
“Room service.”
“I didn’t…” Her voice trailed off as she recognized the masculine voice and the already too familiar skip in her pulse. Sam…
Opening the door without removing the safety chain, she met his gaze through the narrow gap in the door. “I didn’t order room service.”
“You didn’t order dessert at Rolly’s either, which is a real shame because they have the best chocolate silk pie around,” he said, holding up a clear plastic container with a huge slice inside.
“You brought—wait, how do you know what I ordered at the diner?”
“I’d stopped in there. You didn’t see me, but—”
“You noticed I didn’t order dessert,” she filled in, “and brought me pie?”
Kara didn’t know what to think about Sam making such an effort to see her again. After all, she could hardly tell him she wasn’t interested when she’d already asked him out for a date! And she could hardly tell herself she wasn’t interested when her racing heartbeat and the heat rising to her cheeks would have labeled her a liar.
“Yep. Figure this way, you’ll owe me…dinner and two desserts.” He paused as he pretended to tally up her debt.
“What if I don’t like pie?”
“Everyone likes pie.” Confidence rang in his voice and casual posture, leaning against the side of the recessed doorway, offering up the rich, decadent, tempting dessert. “And then there’s always my other special delivery.”
Kara gasped as he brought his other hand into sight and quickly slammed the door shut. She slid back the security chain and opened the door all the way to reach out for the stuffed dinosaur Sam held. Sinking her fingers into the soft green fur, she pulled the toy to her chest. “Where did you find him?”
“Timmy left him in the booth at the diner.”
“But I called! They said he wasn’t there.”
Sam flinched a little. “Yeah, that’s probably because I’d already taken him with me. I was planning to come straight over here, but then I got a call about a motorist who’d broken down on the highway. Sorry about that.”
“You had a job to do. That’s more important.”
“More important than reptile relocation?”
“Yes,” she said with a laugh at his teasing. “You know how these stuffed dinosaurs make nuisances of themselves in urban areas.”
“We’re lucky he didn’t destroy Tokyo. He’ll be much happier in his natural habitat.”
“Timmy will be thrilled to have him back. Thank you, Sam.” Kara dropped her gaze, mortified to feel the sting of tears burning her eyes.
He’d brought back a stuffed animal, not a lost child….
“Hey, are you okay?”
Blinking quickly, Kara glanced up to find Sam watching her, concern creasing his forehead. It was the first time she’d seen him without his charmer’s smile. A shield, she realized suddenly, for his true feelings. It was enough to make her wonder if he was the carefree womanizer she’d immediately pegged him as. If he might be so much more than he let people see.
“I, um, I’m fine. It’s just been a long few days.” Curiosity had his green eyes narrowing, and Kara’s pulse took a slightly panicked leap. She wasn’t a good liar. She prided herself on being honest by nature. But she wasn’t ready to tell the whole truth.
She hugged the dinosaur tighter to her chest. Nowhere near ready.
“Hey, look, it’s getting late, so why don’t I head out?”
She should let him go. He was offering, so all she had to do was thank him again and send him on his way….
But instead, she heard herself say, “I always have liked chocolate silk pie.”
Sam grinned as if he’d known that all along. “The pie is a given, but my staying doesn’t have to be.”
“No, please stay,” she said as she stepped back to let him into the small living area of the room.
It was better this way, Kara told herself even as Sam opened the container and removed two plastic forks—a sign he’d hoped to share her dessert all along. She wanted to get to know him and it might be easier in this casual setting rather than trying to learn everything she could on their date.
But what questions could she ask that would determine whether or not Sam would make a good father? And how was she supposed to decide what answers would be right or wrong?
Past mistakes proved she wasn’t the best authority when it came to judging a man’s character. What if she trusted Sam to be a good guy, to do the right thing where Timmy was concerned? And what if she was wrong?
Unlike her previous relationship, this time it wasn’t her trust that would be betrayed, her heart that would be broken. This time, Timmy’s future was at stake.
Hoping she could pull this interrogation off without gaining Sam’s suspicion instead of his confidence, she settled back on the sofa. The piece of furniture seemed so much smaller now with Sam taking up the second cushion. His booted feet rested on the floor, his muscular, denim-clad thighs spread wide as he leaned forward and dug his fork into the piece of pie.
He leaned back, his shoulders angled toward her as he held out the fork. “You get first bite. Only fair since I bought it for you.”
The crisp, buttery crust and rich chocolate filling melted on her tongue, but it was the heat in Sam’s eyes as her lips closed over the plastic fork that made Kara feel like she was dissolving. Everything from her willpower and determination to keep Sam at a distance, to the future she pictured for herself and Timmy, was disappearing like sugar in water. Soon there’d be nothing left.
Pulling back quickly, she busied herself reaching for a napkin and her own fork. “It’s, uh, very good. Thank you,” she said, clearing her throat to get the words past the lump of chocolate-coated