by Cara Marsi
“Sure it can.”
“But I have work to do. I—”
“I know, I know. You have places to go, people to see,” he interrupted. He stepped closer until only a whisper separated them. The scent of rain clung to him. And another scent—warm musk that teased her nostrils and her senses with memories as he touched her chin with his fingers and tilted her face toward his. E s
“What’s the matter, Sam? Still too busy to finish what we started all those years ago?”
CHAPTER THREE
“DROP DEAD.”
Her dark green eyes, with their gold flecks, flashed. He’d always loved her eyes. Slightly tilted at the corners, they were seductive cat eyes a man could lose himself in. But he didn’t like seeing the anger and hurt in them now. He was an idiot. The woman of his dreams walked back into his life and he acted like a jerk.
“Sam, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come on so strong. It’s a stressful time for us both. Hell, when I saw you standing there in that bedroom, the shock threw me for a loop.” He smiled, trying to diffuse the tension. “It didn’t help that you were practically naked.”
She flushed a pretty shade of pink, her soft, full lips parting slightly. God, he wanted to kiss her. Did she still taste as sweet as he remembered? With effort, he tamped down his raging libido. This wasn’t a romantic tryst. They were marooned here and she hadn’t come to him by choice.
She put a hand to her hip. “Aiden, stop it.”
Stop it? He’d seen desire spark in her eyes. Male pride surged through him. She might have run from him all those years ago, but she hadn’t forgotten him. Forcing a grin, he saluted. “Whatever you say, boss.”
Her lips quirked up, a little reluctantly, but still….
“Made you smile.” He leaned closer. “You’re even more beautiful, if that’s possible, when you smile.”
“I mean it, Aiden. This has to stop.”
She was right, but for a moment, she’d looked like the carefree Sam Greco who used to come into his family’s bar with her friends. That Sam had smiled a lot. The Sam he’d known in their high school years had been too intense and serious. Aiden preferred the carefree Sam.
He hoped the storm lasted long enough to coax more smiles from her.
<><><>
Aiden sat on the living room sofa, focused on the TV screen. The storm had stalled over the Delaware coast and gathered strength when it joined with a weaker storm coming from the west. They would be stranded here a few days, if not longer. He’d called his brothers to tell them not to worry. They’d promised to let the authorities know he and Sam were stuck here, but safe. There was nothing more to do now but wait for the storm to end.
It had taken him and Sam less than five minutes to check the pantry and refrigerator. The pantry was stocked with canned goods and there was some food in the refrigerator and freezer. Enough to feed them for a couple of days with power, not enough to worry about if the power went out. They also found several cases of bottled water and a full wine rack. Living on this narrow peninsula that jutted into the Atlantic Ocean, Lisa Greco would be used to storms and power outages.
So long as the electricity held out, they’d be fine, for a few days, at least. Too bad Lisa hadn’t had a generator installed like so many others on Fenwick.
Aiden glanced over to the small kitchen where Sam stood, her back pressed against the counter, sipping from a bottle of water. She’d been there for a while, as if afraid to come close to him. It was going to be a long couple of days.
Sam set her bottle on the counter and swept strands of long black hair away from her face, hooking her hair behind her ears. He wondered what she was thinking, if she’d forgotten that night they’d spent together. Was she thinking of it now?
He blinked, suddenly seeing her as she’d been that night, her silky hair spread over the pillow, then brushing his naked chest as she straddled him. He grew hard at the memories. He needed a cold shower. Maybe he should go outside and let the rain pelt him. That should cool him off.
Next to him, the cats slept curled around each other. He wanted to be curled around Sam, wanted to kiss her, feel her full breasts again.
Damn, she was right. He had to stop this. She’d run out on him, ignored his phone calls in the days following their wild lovemaking. No woman had done that to him, before or since.
Seeming to feel his stare, she looked at him. Their eyes met over the short distance that separated the living room from the kitchen. He could see she wasn’t immune to him. How could he keep his hands off her while the storm raged outside?
Angling for coolness, he said, “It’s bad out there.” Instead he sounded like some insecure teen talking about the weather.
As if Mother Nature wanted to confirm his statement, lightning lit the room, followed by a crack of thunder. The cats, startled awake, jumped from the sofa and ran off. Rain hit the windows hard, like shards of glass thrown at the house.
Her features tight, Sam pushed away from the counter. “What is that?”
“Sounds like sleet. The weather people said to expect the rain to change over. We may be here longer than we originally thought.”
“We’ll be here for a long time?” Anxiety laced her voice.
He leveled his gaze at her. “We’re adults, Sam. We can handle it.”
She chewed her lip. “Can we?”
He perked up, sat straighter. “What?”
She flushed prettily again. “Don’t get any ideas. That’s not what I meant. I have to call my office. I’m supposed to attend a conference in Philadelphia on Monday. They’ll need to send someone else.” She fumbled in the purse she’d set on the counter and pulled out her cell phone.
He muted the TV and waited for her to finish. “Come here,” he said gently when she ended the call. Despite her bravado, he knew she was scared. Although remnants of his anger at how she’d treated him still burned, he couldn’t stay angry with her, didn’t want to. The Sam who’d run from him wasn’t the Sam he’d known. There’d been something else going on that night. Maybe someday she’d trust him enough to tell him what it was.
She hesitated, then strode into the living room, moving with confident grace and sensuality. Slim and petite, with lush curves, she was any man’s dream. When she got close, he took her hands and pulled her down to sit next to him. She resisted at first before settling onto the sofa, sitting primly. Their thighs touched, and electricity shot up his leg. As if burned, she scooted away.
“Let’s call a truce,” he said. “What happened was a long time ago. We’ve moved on. Right now we’ve got to plan what we’re going to do if the electricity goes out.”
She relaxed visibly. “I’m glad you see it that way. We were friends once.” She gave him a wry smile. “Sort of friends.”
He shrugged. “I may have been a couple of years ahead of you in school, but I always thought we were friends.”
She gave him a dazzling smile, startling the shit out of him. “You did?”
“Yes.” He took a chance and leaned closer. “I’m glad you and your friends picked my family’s bar to hang in when you got older.”
She laughed softly. “That’s because Rourke’s always had the hottest guys. My girlfriends had crushes on you and your brothers. All the girls wanted to date the Rourke brothers.”
“Oh?” He smiled, wanting to touch the tip of her nose. “And which one of us did you have a crush on?”
“I…had a boyfriend. I didn’t pay attention to any of you.”
The slight hesitation in her voice proved she lied. “I noticed you no matter how many were in your crowd,” he murmured, his voice going deep. “I always thought you were beautiful. I flirted with you, but you never flirted back.” He moved away. “Until that one time.”
She started to rise. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about that night.”
“Sit down. I won’t mention it again.” Wanting to kick himself for ruining the fragile truce between them, he turned back to the TV and switched on the sound. He needed t
o focus on something besides Sam and how much he wanted her.
“I liked coming to Rourke’s,” she said softly beside him. He turned to her then. “I felt at home there,” she continued. “You and your brothers were fun, always kidding around with us. We didn’t go there just for the hot guys.” She smiled that smile that made his pulse race. “Although the hot guys were a nice benefit.” She glanced away, then back to him. “I did notice you every time we came into your bar, and I liked that you flirted with me.”
“You did?”
“Yes.” Her husky voice was barely a whisper.
Her revelation shattered what little control he had. He tugged her closer, then looked deeply into her eyes, searching. Her eyes softened, and he had the answer he sought.
He reached out to stroke her cheekbones with his thumbs, then dipped his head.
“Aiden, no,” she whispered, pushing away.
Confused, he released her. “I’m sorry, Sam. I thought you….”
“I do…I don’t. I can’t.” She sucked in a deep breath. “It’s been so long, and there’s so much between us.”
He touched her face. “I’d never do anything you don’t want.”
“I know that.” Her gaze locked with his. He couldn’t look away. Like the sun shining through clouds, desire replaced the confusion in her eyes. “Sam,” he whispered and leaned closer.
She pulled back and jumped off the couch, so suddenly that he nearly did a face plant in the cushion. Her breathing ragged and her eyes wide with a fear he couldn’t name, she backed away from him.
“Aiden, I thought…I mean…No, I mean…I can’t do this.” She turned and ran from the room.
CHAPTER FOUR
SAM DASHED TO HER ROOM, shut the door and leaned against it. Tears stung the back of her eyes. Embarrassment and tension warred inside her. She was a grown woman, a lawyer, for God’s sake. Yet, coming here, to her mother’s house with its hurtful memories, had sent her spiraling into the past. How many times had she run into this bedroom after a fight with her mother? Or worse, when she’d come home from school to find her mother fooling around with some guy on that very same sofa she’d left Aiden sitting alone on.
Then there was the day she’d walked in on her mother and Kurt in bed. Kurt, Sam’s boyfriend all through college and law school. God help her, she could still see the two of them. She put a hand to her face and scrubbed away the tears.
She’d fled the house that awful day, fled to Rourke’s Bar, and right into Aiden’s arms.
How she’d behaved with Aiden that night had made her no different from her mother. She’d used a man for sex. Used Aiden. When she’d realized what she’d done, she’d run. From Aiden. From home. From Fenwick. Guilt threatened to swallow her, even now. And here she was again, lusting after Aiden.
Arms hugging her middle, she strode to the window and opened the blinds. Menacing clouds, thick and gray, filled the sky, sleet slashed the window, and ice coated the branches of the bushes that ringed the house. She should have stayed in Richmond.
She pressed her forehead against the cold windowpane, needing the coolness to settle her. She had to fight these urges. She wouldn’t be like her mother. She wouldn’t.
Aiden had said he and her mother were friends. Were they more than that? Had her mother kissed that dimple in his cheek or run her hands over his muscled chest? Sam took a step back and flattened a palm to her stomach, fighting the nausea that knotted her gut.
It had been two years since she’d been with a man because she’d put all her energies into her work. Still, it wasn’t enough. She wanted what she’d found that night with Aiden.
She’d needed to get away from Richmond this weekend, to think with no distractions.
Aiden wasn’t a corporate attorney trying to best her. He was the man who’d awakened her sexuality. And that made him far more dangerous than the most cunning attorney.
She couldn’t concentrate here with the storm raging outside and the storm raging inside her.
Aiden.
She heard footsteps in the hall, then a light tapping on her door.
“Sam? Are you okay? May I come in?”
“I’m okay. Come in.” The door opened, but she continued to stare out the window. Aiden’s reflection joined hers in the darkening glass. He put his hands on her shoulders.
“I’m sorry, Sam. I shouldn’t have tried to kiss you.” He drew a sharp breath. His hooded eyes met hers in the glass.
The stress of the last few days—the uncertainty with her career, the tense drive up the coast, now Aiden—overwhelmed her. Choking back a sob, she put a hand to her mouth.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Aiden drew her to him. She leaned back against his firm chest. His heartbeat vibrated through her, oddly enough, calming her. He kissed the top of her head and she relaxed. She should pull away, but he felt so good, and it had been too long since she’d felt secure in a man’s arms.
“Whatever possessed you to visit Lisa now?” he asked quietly. “This storm’s the worst in a decade.”
“I knew she was away.”
Their eyes met again in the window. His brow furrowed. “Why did you come if you knew your mother wouldn’t be here?”
“I thought it would be a good idea to drive up early for the conference and stop here. I needed to think, to be alone.”
He laughed softly. “How’s that working out for you?”
His words made her smile.
“What did you have to think about?” he asked. “Maybe I can help.”
Any decision she made had to be her own, and she didn’t want to involve Aiden in her problems. “Thanks, but I’d rather not talk about it.”
He hesitated a moment, then stepped back and turned her to face him. “Guess what?”
She sniffed, appreciating his refusal to pry. “What?”
“My brothers and I took over the bar when Dad and Uncle Sean retired. We’ve built it up into a first-rate bar and restaurant.” He smiled, even as he seemed to stand a little taller. “Everything I need, I’ve got right here at the beach.”
“Not too many people get what they want,” she said softly.
“Oh?” His eyes darkened. “And what do you want, Sam?”
You.
Her response shook her even as the window rattled from an onslaught of sleet, breaking the spell that held her.
“Peace,” she said.
Aiden smiled and touched her chin, the look in his eyes so gentle it made her want to cry all over again.
“Then peace it is. Come. Let’s get something to eat.”
CHAPTER FIVE
THE STORM INCREASED in intensity with each long, slow, passing hour.
They worked together in the tiny kitchen preparing a meal of ham sandwiches and soup. Aiden’s raw sexuality filled the space, making the small room even smaller. When they reached for the can of soup at the same time, their hands touched, and awareness spiked Sam’s nerve endings. She stilled and raised her gaze to his. The question in the depths of his eyes matched the answer swirling through her. As if caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she backed away. He shot her a crooked smile, a knowing smile.
A flush spread from her neck to her face, and she hurried to the freezer to pull out a package of rolls.
“Wine?” he asked.
“What?” she asked distractedly, the coldness wafting from the freezer doing little to cool her raging hormones.
“Do you want wine with dinner?”
“Yes. Okay. That’s fine.” God, she felt like an idiot standing there with the freezer door open.
Shooting her another knowing smile, Aiden pulled a bottle of pinot noir from the wine rack.
“This wine is very good,” Sam said later as they sat across from each other at the kitchen table.
“You sound surprised.” Aiden took another spoonful of the chicken vegetable soup. “Don’t you think I know my wines?”
“Of course, but who knew canned ham, soup, and pinot noir would make such a delici
ous meal,” she countered.
“Maybe it’s the company,” he said softly.
Wine glass in hand, he turned toward the window. Did he regret finding her here? His hawk-like nose and firm jaw, with his days-old stubble, gave him a dangerous air, provoking a long-buried craving in her for risk, for wildness.
What was it about this man that incited such yearnings? No man had ever made her feel the way Aiden Rourke had then, or now. Even before that magical night, she’d fantasized about him, wanted him. His solid masculinity had never failed to reach out to her and turn her to liquid heat. She set down her wine glass and pressed a hand to her stomach, as if she could stop the longing that churned there.
He turned and smiled, showing the dimple she’d always loved. “A penny for your thoughts.”
Samantha forced herself to pick up her wine goblet and study the rich burgundy liquid. “I’m surprised my mom has such a great collection of wines. Mom was never much of a drinker. But this is quality stuff.”
Aiden saluted her with his glass, took a sip and set the glass on the table. “It’s Uncle Sean’s doing. You do know he lives here, don’t you?”
Samantha choked on her wine. Aiden pushed back in his chair, ready to help her, but she waved him away. “I’m okay,” she managed. Aiden and her mom were just friends. Sam gulped deep breaths as relief, cleansing as the tides, rushed over her. They were just friends. The knot of dread that had settled in her chest at the thought of Lisa and Aiden together began to unravel.
“But Mom never let a man live here,” she said more evenly. “Plenty of them stayed overnight, though. How long has Sean been here?”
“About a year.” Aiden paused and looked at her intently, appearing to study her expression. “You don’t talk to your mother much, do you?”
She shook her head. “We’re not close. We talk on the phone once in a while and email each other, which is how I knew she was away.”
“But she never told you about her and Sean and that they were going on a cruise together?”
Sam’s face heated. “I didn’t ask who she was going with and she didn’t say. I assumed it was one of her boyfriends. My mom and I don’t talk about men. Ever.”
