don’t understand why he’s letting this happen. He was never close to his family.”
“Have you talked to him directly?”
“I left a message on his cell phone right after the letter came. I might have sounded hysterical. He hasn’t returned my call.”
“You’re going to have to tell your family what’s going on before it goes too much further.”
She nodded. “I realized that tonight. If my mom finds out your dad knew before her... It’s all too much. I’m finally starting to get my life on track, with the salon and Charlie. For the first time in as long as I can remember, my mother isn’t looking at me with disappointment in her eyes. When she finds out...”
“Vera will want to help. This isn’t your fault.”
“It sure feels like it is.” She sank back against the couch and scrubbed her hands across her face. Sam saw pain and fear etched in her features. It gnawed away at him until he couldn’t stand it. Why was she so afraid of her mother’s judgment? Why did she think so little of herself, to believe her son was at risk of being taken away? Maybe she’d made some mistakes in her past but Sam didn’t know anyone who hadn’t. She couldn’t be punished forever.
He might not be willing to give his heart again, but he needed to give her some comfort. He wasn’t great with words and knew that if he got sentimental, she’d only use her dry wit to turn it into a joke. Instead, he placed a soft kiss on the inside of her palm.
She tugged on her hand but he didn’t let go. “You don’t need to do that now,” she whispered, her voice no more than a breath in the quiet. “There’s no one watching.”
One side of his mouth quirked. “It’s a good thing, too, because what I want to do to you is best kept in private.”
Her mouth formed a round oh and he lifted a finger to trace the soft flesh of her lips.
“Charlie.”
“I know.” He leaned closer. “You’re safe tonight. Almost.”
“We shouldn’t...”
“I know,” he repeated. “But I can’t think of anything I want more.”
“Me, too.” She sat up and brought both of her hands to the sides of his face, cupping his jaw. “This isn’t going to get complicated, right?”
“Other than planning a pretend wedding, a custody battle, my meddling father and a town filled with nosy neighbors? I think we can keep it fairly simple.”
She smoothed her thumbs along his cheeks and her scent filled his head again. “I mean you and me. We’re on the same page. It’s all part of the show, the time spent together, pretending like we’re in love. It ends when we both get what we want.”
He agreed in theory, but at the moment all Sam wanted was her. He knew telling her that would make her more skittish than she already was. He didn’t want this night to end quite yet, even if her sleeping son was going to keep the evening G-rated. So he answered, “That’s the plan.”
She nodded then licked her lips, and he suppressed a groan. “Then it won’t matter if I do this...” She brought her mouth to his and they melted together. When her tongue mixed with his, he did groan. Or maybe Julia did. Her fingers wound through his hair and down his neck, pressing him closer, right where he wanted to be.
He deepened the kiss as his hands found their way underneath her blouse, his palms spread across the smooth skin on her back.
“Stop.” Julia’s breathing sounded ragged.
His hands stilled and he drew back enough to look into her big gray eyes, now hazy with desire.
A small smile played on the corners of her mouth. “I want to make sure we both stay in control. No getting carried away.”
Like to his bedroom, Sam thought. All the wonderful, devilish, naked things he could do to her there ran through his brain. He wanted to know this woman—every inch of her—with a passion he hadn’t thought himself capable of feeling.
He didn’t answer, not sure his brain could manage a coherent sentence at the moment. They stared at each other and he wondered if Julia’s heart was pounding as hard as his.
He heard Charlie snore softly and let his eyes drift closed for a few seconds. He counted to ten in his head, thought about the pile of work waiting in his office and tried like hell to rein in his desire and emotions.
He withdrew his hands, smoothed her shirt back down and forced a casual smile.
“My middle name is control, sweetheart.”
She cocked her head. “That’s a good point,” she said and didn’t sound at all as affected as Sam felt. “What is your middle name?”
He shook his head slightly. “Matthew.”
“Mine’s Christine,” she told him, as if she had no memory of a minute earlier when she’d been kissing him as if her life depended on it. “I’m going to get Charlie home.” She stood and picked up the sleeping boy. The Weimaraner jumped to attention and stayed close by her side.
Sam felt off balance at her switch in mood but didn’t want to admit it. “I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, keeping the frustration out of his voice. This was a business arrangement, after all, passionate kissing aside. Maybe Julia had the right of it.
She nodded and grabbed the diaper bag, pushing it at Sam. “If you could carry that,” she said, as if she didn’t trust him with his hands free.
The night had cooled at least ten degrees and she shivered as she hurried down the front walk. “Do you want a jacket?” he asked, taking large strides to keep up with her.
“I’m fine.”
While it might be true that Sam hadn’t had any long-term relationships since moving to Brevia, and had stayed out of the dating pool totally for the past few months, his evenings never ended like this.
Usually he was the one who put the brakes on, sexually. More than once, he’d been invited back to a woman’s house—or she’d asked to see his place—on the first date and gotten a clear signal that she’d been eager to take things to the next level. Sam was cautious and tried to not let an evening go there if he thought someone wanted more than he could give.
Never, until tonight, could he remember a woman literally running out of his house when he so badly wanted her to stay.
Julia opened the back door and placed Charlie in his car seat then gave the dog a little tug. The Weim jumped up without a sound, as if he knew enough not to wake the sleeping boy.
Turning, Julia held out her hand for the diaper bag.
“Are we good?” Sam asked.
“Yep,” she said, again not meeting his gaze. “I’ll talk to you in a few days.”
A few days? They were engaged. He told himself it wouldn’t look good to the town, but the truth was he couldn’t wait a few days. Before he could respond, she’d scurried to the driver’s side, climbing in with one last wave and “Thanks” thrown over her shoulder.
Sam was left standing alone at the curb, wondering what had gone so wrong so quickly. He headed back to the house, hoping a cold shower would help him make some sense of things.
Julia swiped under her eyes and focused her attention on her mug of lukewarm coffee, unable to make eye contact with her mother or sister.
Lainey paced the length of Vera’s office in the All Creatures Great and Small animal shelter. By contrast, their mother sat stock-still behind her desk.
“That’s the whole story,”