Theirs To Treasure: Happily Ever After (Fate Harbor Book 1)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  She’d braced herself for whatever brush-off he was ready to dish out. Obviously, she had run into rejection before, but Sam couldn’t understand how.

  Sam took the brace from her and examined it. It was easy enough to figure out how to put it on, but before he did anything, he threw it on the bed. “I need a hug.”

  “What? Sam, it’s five minutes to six, I need to get downstairs.”

  “I can’t stand all the pain you’re in, or all the pain you’ve been through. I need a hug, damn it. Then I’ll get you into the damn brace.” He looked down into her eyes, and saw that his words were getting through, even past her misgivings. Josie reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sam gently encompassed her waist, nuzzled his nose in her neck, took in the scent of her.

  “Listen to me and listen well. There will be flirting, and there will be kissing, and there will be lovemaking, Baby. I love your body, I crave your body. Sometime when we have more than three minutes, I’ll show you my scars and we’ll see if you still want me.”

  He laid a gentle kiss on her neck and released her. He kept one hand at her waist as she swayed and reached over and picked up the brace from her bed. He helped her into it, asking her how tight it needed to be. When it was finally on, he helped her sit down on the bed.

  “Baby, are you sure you’re okay to work? Maybe you took too much medicine.” He brushed a tendril of hair that seemed to have a will of its own back from her face. She looked up at him, her gaze clearing, and a bright smile came over her face.

  “You just took me by surprise, Sam. I’m really fine. I know what I can take and still work. I just can’t run the cash register when I take two pain pills.” Josie stood up, and Sam was relieved to see she was walking much more comfortably as she went to her closet and pulled out black slacks and a white top. “The problem was that I let the pain get ahead of me. Why don’t you come down to Sweet Dreams and I’ll get you a low-fat raspberry scone before you jog back to your house? Your doctors would approve.”

  In less than ten minutes, Sam found himself eating his scone, surrounded by eight others who were placing orders and milling around the little bakery. The last time he’d been in the Matushkas’ bakery, it hadn’t been this busy. But, after eating something so good that was healthy, he could understand why Josie’s business was thriving. His girl was quite talented.

  After he finished, he started his jog back to the house, and mulled over the weird thought of having Josie convalescing at his and Chance’s home after a surgery. This woman pulled him in like no woman ever had before. He had to be careful, with the considerable baggage he had hanging around his neck, he didn’t want to end up hurting her. At the same time, who said they couldn’t have some fun together?

  Chapter 7

  By the time Sam saw Josie again at the Saturday afternoon yoga class, he was more than a little frustrated. He had called her three different times to see if he could take her out, and she rebuffed him each time. Granted, she had done it nicely, but still she was actively avoiding him, and Sam wasn’t used to being avoided by a woman that he was pursuing, let alone one that he was really interested in.

  He got to the yoga studio early, so he could be waiting for her when she pulled into the parking lot. As soon as he saw her VW Bug pull up, he was at her door opening it for her. He gave her his best smile, but all he received in return was a look of resignation.

  “Sam, come on, you can’t mean to continue this farce.” She got out of the car and moved around to her trunk. He grabbed her stuff before she had a chance to get it.

  “I don’t know what you’re calling a farce. We still have a conversation to finish, and you’ve been avoiding me.” He opened the door to the studio for her, and she went in. He could see she was trying to figure out a way to avoid him, but he was determined not to allow that to happen. They had an hour and a half together, and he was going to make good use of this time. He decided to change tactics.

  “I actually wondered if you could help me out with a problem I’ve been having. You do a lot of the modified positions. I was hoping you could show me some of them, because right now some of the full positions have been leaving me with a headache at the end of class.” Josie turned to him, her face full of concern.

  “Have you talked to Julia about this? You should always feel physically tired after a class, but not unwell.” Sam liked the way she rested her hand on his bicep, and stroked down lightly, as if to soothe away his pain.

  “I was planning to talk to her, but I figured you would understand maybe a little better. It’s the poses that have my head down toward the floor. Do you have any idea the best way to modify those?”

  “Why don’t you and I work out beside one another today, and I can show you.” Sam looked into her beautiful brown eyes and didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt at finagling the situation. Anything that got her talking to him was worth it in his book.

  By the time the class ended, Josie had lost all her tension around him. He was about to suggest they head out for a bite to eat when he realized that she needed to go back to her apartment and put on her brace. He could easily tell from the way her shirt molded to her body as she went through her poses that she hadn’t been wearing it during the yoga class, and the last thing he wanted was for her to end up in pain again. He walked her back to her car and helped her into the driver’s seat. Before he shut the door, he squatted down in the open car door and pulled the seatbelt over her and secured it. Then he took her hand in his and looked at her, making sure that she was really seeing him.

  “Josie, I would really like to answer your questions. I want to tell you about my injuries, and have you tell me about yours. I want to really get to know you. Could we do that this evening?”

  He watched as her eyes darkened. She ran her hand down her face, ending with the tip of her thumb in her mouth, delicately biting at it as she tried to decide. The eroticism of the act damn near killed him. She finally stopped nibbling and looked up at him.

  “Sam, sharing our pasts makes no sense. I don’t know where we’re going, what we’re trying to accomplish. I also have to get up really early in the morning to start baking.” He didn’t like seeing that look of confusion and sadness on her face. He could tell she was just bracing herself for expected pain, and he knew deep in his gut that people before him, starting with her mom, had conditioned her to expect that pain.

  “Baby, I’m begging you for just a little bit of trust. I haven’t done anything to betray you, have I? When you’ve talked to people around town, have you heard anything bad about me? You know Chance, right? When he comes back the day after tomorrow, you can ask him about me.” Sam waited to see if that made a difference. He felt her grip on his hand tighten.

  “The only people that I really know here in town are Butch and Betty Hutchins,” she whispered softly.

  Sam shifted back on his heels, stunned to find out that this woman knew his foster parents. “How do you know Betty and Butch, Baby?”

  “They fostered me, when I was four to the age of eight.”

  “Down in San Clemente?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded slowly. It was clear she was confused about his excitement.

  “Did you know Chance back then, too?” Sam didn’t even have to see her nod her head. Everything clicked into place. No wonder she knew of Chance when she had come to their house. He even figured out why Chance had been abstinent for the last six months.

  He’d heard Chance and Betty talking about one of Betty’s former foster kids coming to town, but he’d been so deep in his own shit, he hadn’t given it a second thought. Now he realized this was one big Chance Scheme, and that Josie was a woman that Chance had his eye on. Scratch that, Josie was the woman Chance had his eye on. Well to hell with that. Josie was going to belong to Sam.

  “I’ve got an idea, Baby. Why don’t you go home and change, and I’ll come pick you up in a half hour, and we’ll go over to Betty and Butch’s. I’m sure they would love it if we dropped by.” S
am watched as Josie’s head jerked up and a smile as bright as sunshine crossed her face.

  “You know Betty and Butch that well? That’d be great. Oh, we need to call first.” In a heartbeat, Sam had his phone out and was handing it to her.

  She laughed.

  “I’ll call them. If we can’t go over, I’ll call you and the whole deal is off. Otherwise, expect me at your house in a half hour, okay?” She nodded and Sam stood up and got ready to shut the door.

  “I hope we get to see them. I haven’t gotten to see them much since I arrived in Fate Harbor, and they were the reason I moved. To make matters worse, they weren’t even here the first week I arrived,” she pouted.

  “That’s not like them, Josie. I would think that they’d have been sure to be here when you arrived.” He looked down to make sure her coat was inside the car.

  “Oh, well, I arrived a week earlier than expected, and Chance said they were at Lake Chelan on a trip that they’d planned. Luckily, he was at their house to meet me.”

  “That was very lucky. Chance is always lucky like that.” Sam bent down and kissed her cheek, knowing that anything more would send her running. He wondered just how many kisses Chance had stolen.

  Apparently, his friend had been on this hunt for a lot longer than Sam. Now it was his turn to be lucky, because Chance was in Boston for another day and a half, and Sam planned to make the most of the time.

  He watched as Josie drove away and immediately called Betty’s cell. When he got the welcome he expected, she said she could whip up some dinner. Sam immediately said no, saying he would be bringing some takeout from the Italian restaurant in town. He was already putting her out enough. He made the call for the takeout order as he went back to his house to shower and change.

  When he got to his house, he called Josie and said that Betty and Butch would be ready at four-thirty, so instead of being over in a half hour, he would be over in an hour. She sounded relieved at having the extra time. He was relieved to have just a little more time to think things through. There was more afoot than just Chance trying to woo Josie, but that was definitely a big part of the plan.

  He headed for the shower, and when he was under the water’s spray, things started to make sense. He remembered Chance tempting Betty with the resort stay in Chelan, so Chance clearly had designs on some alone time with Josie when she first moved to town. The big question was why Chance, or Betty, hadn’t mentioned Josie by name in the last four to six months? Why hadn’t Chance talked about this woman that he was planning on romancing?

  Maybe Sam was reading too much into Chance’s omission. For God’s sake, the man had basically been his nursemaid on and off, up until four months ago. Sam winced, thinking about the other day. True, he’d experienced a couple of recent relapses that required Chance’s continued care. He wanted to handle things on his own, but he wasn’t doing such a great job.

  As he toweled off and got dressed, Sam started to reflect on other things as well. Maybe Chance didn’t think of him anymore like the friend he’d once been. Maybe his friend saw him as someone he had to take care of, instead of as an equal. Was it possible that was why Chance hadn’t told him about Josie? Sam winced when he really looked at how selfish he’d been in dealing with Chance. He’d been so wrapped up in his own pain, and so resentful of Chance trying to drag him out of his depression, that he hadn’t realized the burden he had become.

  He had his disability benefits, and he had money in the bank. Hell, he had a lot of money in the bank, thanks to the investments that, once again, Chance had made for him. He didn’t need to stick around. But as Chance had said on numerous occasions, if their situations were reversed, he knew that Sam would be there for him. They were brothers. The asshole was right, too.

  Sam sighed as he got dressed. Staying here kept him close to his doctors. He was close to Betty and Butch, and he was making progress.

  I need to quit my whining!

  Sam laughed. He thought about the shit life Chance had been living before moving to Fate Harbor—he’d been working practically twenty-four hours a day, smoking like a fiend and heading for a heart-attack before he was thirty-five. According to Betty, having to play nursemaid to Sam was saving Chance’s life.

  As he shaved and viewed his scar in the mirror, he gave one last thought to the fact that Chance was one of the most manipulative bastards on the face of the planet. Granted, Sam had had his head up his wounded ass for the last six months, and it was possible Chance didn’t feel like telling him about Josie and his plans with her…. but there might be something more going on. Sam slowly grinned at himself as he shaved. Betty might be a great co-conspirator for his foster brother, but she couldn’t hold out on Sam if he put his mind to charming information from her. There was a reason he always knew what he and Chance were getting for Christmas every year. Yep, tonight he was going to clear up many mysteries. First, he’d pin down Betty and find out exactly what Chance was up to, then he intended to have Josie securely pinned underneath him.

  Chapter 8

  Josie was nervous. She hadn’t even thought to ask Sam how he knew the Hutchins. They must be close if he felt comfortable enough to just call and drop by. He must know them through Chance, was the only reason she could think of.

  After Sam called and said he would be coming over a little later than anticipated, she took more time with her appearance. Even if it was just with her lingerie that nobody would ever see. That was her own special brand of armor. She’d been doing it for years. She might not be all that and a bag of chips, but knowing she was wearing something pretty underneath her clothes gave her a sense of confidence, and with Sam Booth, she needed all she could get. Hence the gold corset and matching panties.

  She bit her lip as she pulled on her oversized blue silk shirt to conceal her corset. She used to wear something a little more figure hugging on top, but she remembered the deriding comments of her one and only lover when he’d gotten her naked. To this day, the memory of his words still sliced through her. He’d accused her of deceiving him with her undergarment. “I didn’t know I’d be having sex with a cow.”

  Stop it! I have a new life. It’s time to put that crap in the past.

  With that thought in mind, she took a little more time with her make-up and skipped the flat-iron, instead throwing more conditioner and gel into her hair to give her ringlets more of a curl and bounce. For a split second, she tried to lie to herself and say she was doing it for Butch and Betty, but she quickly admitted to herself it was for Sam. She sighed.

  Why? What’s the point? He’s out of my league.

  She considered wearing her two-inch gold pumps to match her lingerie, just for the added boost of confidence, but she remembered Sam seeing her in pain and decided to forego anything that would put her back in that state. She found her navy ballet flats and grabbed her coat just as the doorbell rang. Force of habit had her checking the peephole. She knew it had to be Sam, but the years of being responsible for her sisters had her checking. She noted that he had cleaned up pretty well himself. Before he had a chance to ring the bell again, she opened the door.

  Sam gave her a warm smile, and then his eyes did a slow gaze up and down her body before once again resting on her face. “Baby, you look gorgeous.” There was something about the way he called her “Baby” that made her insides melt. That, combined with the hungry look in his eyes, and Josie was surprised she wasn’t a pile of goo at his feet.

  “Come on, we don’t want to be late,” she forced herself to say.

  The stairs up to her apartment were narrow and only accommodated one person at a time. Sam had let her go first when they went up the stairs, and she was surprised that he went down the stairs first as they went down. Then she noticed how his arm was braced against the rail, and she figured out that he was ensuring that if she tripped, he could stop her fall. The man needed to stop making her feel taken care of.

  When they reached the small parking lot of Sweet Dreams Desserts, she looked around fo
r his red truck, but didn’t see it. He ushered her over to an Audi sedan.

  “You have two cars?”

  “Nah, I’m just the proud owner of the truck. This belongs to Chance. He has far too many vehicles, but he’s always allowed me to share his toys. He won’t be back until Tuesday, so I commandeered it. The seats are really comfortable.” Sam held the door open, and once again buckled her in. Yep, she was definitely going to be a bowl of softened butter by the end of the night, and she’d decided that the perfect place to melt would be in these divine leather seats, which seemed to mold themselves around her body. When Sam pulled out of the bakery’s parking lot and headed left instead of right, she asked why.

  “I’m picking up some food from Dolce Vita. When I spoke to Betty and told her we were going to drop by, she said she would whip something up, but I didn’t want to put her to any trouble. I ordered take-out. I know Butch loves Italian food.”

  Josie waited to ask her questions until after they loaded the food into the backseat. As they settled back into the car and were headed toward Hutchins’, she asked, “So, were you and Chance in foster care with Butch and Betty at the same time?”

  “I knew you’d put that together.” Sam reached over and squeezed her leg “Yep, Chance and I were in foster care together with the Hutchins, off and on, from the time I was eight to the age of eighteen.”

  “Why did you live with the Hutchins off and on?”

  “My birth parents occasionally convinced the state that they had cleaned up their act and I should go home with them.” Josie heard the ice in his tone and understood it far too well. She decided not to pursue that issue further, at least not now.

  “I imagine there were a lot of other kids besides just you and Chance, if I remember how Butch and Betty operate.” Josie smiled. There were probably never more than five children in the house at one time, but the Hutchins certainly believed in taking in foster children and making a home for them. They even took in the kids who were “hard cases” or when the kids might only be with them for a few weeks. “I can’t remember their names, but Betty and Butch talked about a few other kids besides you and Chance who seemed to have stayed for a while.”