“I am not sure. I haven’t sat down with Declan Powell as of yet, and Samantha hasn’t mentioned anything. We’ll see,” Daniel said with a shrug. “I’ve been trying to get Samantha to come back on board and crew for me. I would imagine if I race their car that she will be my crew chief for sure. I can’t think of any reason why she shouldn’t.”
“I can think of several. Don’t you already have a crew chief? I don’t think he’d like hearing that he’s being replaced on national television,” Allison said with a frown.
“Boom!” Samantha cried.
“My crew chief’s well aware of the circuit, and who’s to say he’s not staying on in another capacity? I’m just stating my preference,” he said, his face flushed.
“Wait a minute,” Ted said. “Didn’t I hear somewhere that Tracey Powell’s younger sister, whom I assume is Samantha, has a child?”
“Wha—what child?” Daniel asked.
“Oh no,” Samantha whispered, palming her face with her hands.
“You didn’t know. Oh, so I guess you aren’t as close as you’ve led us to believe,” Ted joked.
“Do you have any strategies or exercises that you go through before a race, Mr. Ashby?” Allison cut in.
“Strategies?” Daniel asked, as if he hadn’t comprehended what she’d asked.
“Yes, you know, like rituals, steps, things like that?”
“Samantha!” she heard her name being called through the phone.
“Oh hell! Sorry, Declan,” she called through the phone.
“Daniel is an ass who can’t keep his mouth shut for a second. He’s so full of himself. Allison handled him well. Surprised me,” Declan said.
“Why? Allison’s good people, Declan. You know this. You were the problem, not her,” Samantha said.
“You and Tracey would say that. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there; what’s Daniel going on about? Obviously, you and he seem to have been very familiar with one another, otherwise he wouldn’t have known about my relationship with Allison. Since Tracey has never cared for the man, I doubt very seriously if she divulged that information to Daniel.”
“Listen, I have to go,” Samantha said.
“Well, we need to talk. I’ll stop by sometime tomorrow,” Declan said.
“No, I’m busy,” Samantha, said.
“You’ll make time for your big brother,” Declan said.
“No I won’t. Bye, Declan. Go bother Tracey,” she said, and hung up the phone.
Samantha looked back at the television and a commercial was showing.
“Great, Sam! Now what do you do?” she whispered.
Samantha heard her cell phone ring again.
“Oh, Lord, who now, ugh!” She looked at the phone and smiled before answering. “Hello, Adam.”
“Are you all right?”
“Just great. Never better,” she said sarcastically. “Just got off the phone with Declan.”
“I saw the interview,” he said quietly.
“Yeah, the great interview,” Samantha sighed.
“You don’t sound too torn up about it.”
“Honestly, Adam, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I think maybe the latter is in order, but I won’t. Frankly, I just want to go in my shop and work some things out in my head,” she said, letting out a deep breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
“You know you’re going to have a lot of reporters on your back trying to get the scoop on your and Daniel’s relationship,” Adam said.
“I figured as much. I don’t want Kayla mixed up in any of this. I think I’ll ask Mom and Dad to keep her with them a little longer.”
“That would probably be best. I have meetings in the morning, but I could come down afterwards.”
“Adam, the last place you need to be is anywhere near me at the moment. It’s a good thing no one other than family knows where I live. Besides, Declan assured me that he’d be here tomorrow. Like I need him to aggravate the last nerve I have left,” Samantha sighed.
Samantha could hear Adam chuckling on the other end.
“I’m glad you find this amusing. Listen, I need to think. Can I call you later?”
“Make sure that you do.”
“Yeah, right. Okay,” she said, and disconnected the call.
As soon as Samantha hung the phone up with Adam her cell rang again.
“What the hell!” she screamed, and clicked the answer key without even looking at the caller ID. “Hello!”
“We need to talk immediately!” came the angry voice on the other end of the phone.
“We have nothing to say to each other, Daniel.”
“Really! So, why didn’t you tell me that you’d married? Why’d you lead me on?” he spat out.
“I didn’t tell you that I was married because frankly, it’s none or your business, and I certainly didn’t lead you anywhere. Now do not call this number again. We have nothing to say to one another, Daniel. I suggest you lose my number, and quickly!” Samantha yelled into the phone before disconnecting it. “The nerve of that ass wipe.”
Samantha made her way to the garage and began working on the BMW® bike. She worked well into the night before she called it quits. Her cell had rung several times but she refused to answer it.
She went into the house, took a quick shower, and put on her silk robe. Samantha went into the kitchen and grilled a chicken cutlet to eat with her garden salad, and poured herself a half a glass of wine.
“Well, Samantha, this is your life,” she sniffed. She picked up her photo album and leafed through the pictures of her and Kayla. Most were of Kayla. She had a slew of DVDs with photos of almost all of Kayla’s life. She preferred to still keep photo albums. In her opinion they were a little bit more personal than a computer full of pictures. “If I’m going to back up everything I may as well keep my album.”
“My beautiful baby,” she whispered, running her fingers over Kayla’s face in a few of the pictures.
Samantha closed the photo album, got up, and placed her empty plate and wine glass in the sink.
“Oh well, Sam, time for bed,” she said, and then turned off the lights. She was on her way to her bedroom when her doorbell rang. Samantha looked over at the clock. “Ten thirty at night. Who in the world could that be?” she said. “Declan!” She stormed to the door, unlocked it, and slung it open. “Declan, I swear, if you start in on me again—” she started, and stopped.
“Sorry, darlin’, I’m not your brother,” Adam said with a wide smile.
“How—how did you get here?” she stammered.
“I drove. How do you think?” he answered, and pushed past her to walk inside.
Samantha shut the door after him. “I thought you had meetings in the morning,” she murmured, eyeing him. Her lips puckered, her thighs quivered, and she had a distinct urge to grab herself between the legs.
“I did,” he said, pulling her into the circle of his arms. “I’d rather be here with you. And since you didn’t invite me, I invited myself.”
“You do that a lot. Invite yourself,” she said.
“No, only with you. Invite me to your bed, Samantha,” he whispered against her lips.
“No, Adam. I won’t,” she said.
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to invite myself again,” he murmured, and then took her lips in a kiss. The next thing Samantha knew she was being lifted off of her feet.
“Adam, Declan will be here in the morning, you can’t stay,” she said, wrenching her lips away from his.
“Hmm, we’d better get started then.”
“I guess we’d better,” she murmured.
Chapter Eleven
“What the hell are you playing at, Samantha?” Daniel murmured, looking into his shot glass. He turned it up to his lips and downed the liquid in one swallow. His plan to call out his and Samantha’s relationship on national television had backfired. Instead he was given a shock. A kid? Really?
So she’d gone and had a kid out of spi
te. Daniel knew that she was upset with him after what had happened. Hell, it wasn’t that bad. He wasn’t the first man, nor would he be the last man, to reject a child he didn’t want. Hell, it wasn’t his fault that the condom broke. She’d said she was on birth control. Evidently, the antibiotics she’d been taking counteracted the effects of the pills. Well, water under the bridge now.
Wait a minute, he thought with a frown. He hadn’t seen a ring on her finger, nor had anyone mentioned a husband. That could only mean one thing, in his opinion—the marriage was on the rocks or she was divorced. No, divorce wasn’t an option. Someone would have definitely mentioned that little tidbit of information.
Daniel’s smile was cunning. He knew for a fact that he could get her back now. Of course he could. She’d only married to spite him, or because she was trying to get over him. Samantha’s a sensual woman. She’d professed her love for him often enough. He was always fond of her, but love: not at all.
He may not love her, but he damn sure wanted her. He was positive she wanted him, too. They’d generated enough heat at the track that day to start their own fire. “Ready or not, here I come, sweetheart. Your husband be damned,” he all but growled.
“Are you planning on drowning in the drink all night? If not, would you care to join me?” said the woman lying in the middle of the king-sized bed in the hotel room.
“You haven’t had enough yet?” He glanced over at her. He’d almost forgotten that she was there. A temporary diversion, she was. If he wanted to make his move on Samantha, he’d have to cut back on the women; somewhat. At least until he got what he wanted, which was Samantha—and the car. The car was not a possibility. He knew big brother wasn’t giving that up. He’d settle for the design prototype.
“Of course not. Have you?” he heard the woman say. She smiled suggestively, crawling on her hands and knees to the end of the bed. “Come here, lover boy. You seem to be a million miles away. I bet I can change that for you.”
Daniel eyed the woman with longing. It would help if he remembered her name. Oh well, she was good in bed. That’s all that mattered to him.
“You know me, always ready to please,” he said, getting up from the desk chair and walking in his boxers towards the bed. He really didn’t want her here anymore. However, she was ready, willing, and able to give him what he wanted—sexually.
“Hmm, you don’t seem to be. Let’s see if I can change that,” she said, provocatively.
“You have one hour, and then you have to leave my hotel room,” Daniel said bluntly. He knew he’d caught her off guard because of the shocked expression that crossed her face. Oh, she tried to hide it, but he’d seen it. Funny, really. Women were always trying to change him, when he simply didn’t want to be changed.
“Aww, don’t be like that, Daniel,” she pouted.
“Okay,” he said, eyeing her. He watched the smile reappear on her face. “A half-hour is all you have. Take it or leave it.” Her pout quickly turned to anger. Whatever, he thought. Her issues weren’t his problem.
Daniel reached down and grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head back. “Let’s get on with it, shall we?” He then bent down and kissed her hard on the lips. She automatically rolled over onto her back. Daniel crawled on top of her. She instantaneously responded to him.
“See, we do understand each other,” he murmured against her lips.
“Why of course,” she responded, kissing him soundly, slipping her hand into his boxers, and taking hold of his condom-covered erection.
Daniel always made sure to cover himself beforehand whenever he brought a woman back to his hotel room. He kept several boxes of condoms in his car, as well as a pack in his wallet. One could never be too careful.
That’s more like it, he thought. Why waste time discussing something that can easily be solved without words?
Tomorrow was a new day. He’d deal with Samantha then. If she thought she’d gotten rid of him because she’d hung up on him, she was sorely mistaken. No, tomorrow he would use all of his resources to find out exactly where Samantha Powell lived, and about her husband and child. Mainly, any dirt he could find on the husband. Almost every man had a secret. A vice, if you will. He just had ways of finding out what those vices were.
*
Adam lay naked in Samantha’s bed with her sprawled half across him. She’d been sleeping for a few hours now.
Adam looked at the clock. It read 3:45 a.m. If Declan decided to put in an early appearance, he’d make sure to slip out of her bed and into Samantha’s spare bedroom.
Daniel Ashby, he thought. “What are you up to?” Adam whispered, fitting Samantha closer to him. Holding her tight.
He knew that Samantha didn’t want anyone to know of their involvement, and frankly, neither did he. Something happened when the world invaded your privacy. No, he wanted her and Kayla to himself for a while. Unfortunately, he doubted he’d have much time with her after tonight…today…whatever it was.
Samantha was going to have enough to deal with when the media got involved in all of this. It was sure to be a circus. Daniel had fed them enough information for them to sink their grubby claws into her and Kayla. When the press sunk their teeth into something, they didn’t let up. Not until they pulled out all the sordid details they could get their hands on, whether true or false. More times than not, reports were pure fabrication.
Daniel was the favorite to win the cup this year with Shane and Tracey out of the race. The industry was gearing for him to be the new face for stock car racing. Too bad they hadn’t done their homework on him. A family oriented sport, this was sure to be one big media circus once it got out that Daniel had fathered a child with his so-called rival’s sister. The toad had not one ounce of decency in him. He was a womanizing fool. A shame; Daniel’s a damned good racer.
“So, Ashby, what are you doing all of this posturing for? Is it for publicity? Or, are you just too stupid to realize that you’re setting yourself up for failure?” Adam whispered.
“Mm, what are you going on about?” Samantha mumbled, snuggling closer to him.
“Nothing at all, darlin’. I’m just working a few things out in my head,” he said, planting a kiss on the top of her head.
“Doesn’t sound like nothing. It’s definitely not in your head, unless I’m in your head, too. I heard you mumbling,” she yawned.
“Sorry about that. Go back to sleep, darlin’. That is, unless there’s something else you’d rather be doing,” he suggested.
“You’re insatiable,” she mumbled.
“For you, I am.”
“Do something about it then,” she sassed.
Adam frowned. “Do something about what?” he asked.
“You’re insatiability,” she whispered, moving against his naked form.
“I take that as you’re fully awake now.” He smiled down at her.
“Yes, I am,” she responded.
“Mm-hmm. In that case, your wish is my command,” he said, flipping her onto her back, spreading her legs out with his, and pushing inside of her in one fell swoop.
“Ahh, nice,” she moaned.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, withdrawing fully from her, and then pushing back into her to the hilt.
“Yes, beautiful,” she breathed heavily, her head bowing against the pillow, giving Adam perfect access to her neck.
Adam took advantage of this opportunity to run his tongue down the length of her throat, while simultaneously driving in and out of her, stretching her to the fullest. Her vaginal walls tightened around him with each thrust. Each lunge brought out cries of pleasure. His movements quickened now. Rolling his hips, he drove into her over and over again.
“Adam!” she cried, her legs spread wider, her hands palming his ass, causing him to sink deeper inside of her. He could have cried out himself at the feel of her pulsating around him. Adam nipped her neck with his teeth, sending her over the edge. He felt every tremor of her body.
“Yes! Just liked th
at!” she screamed, tightening her grip on his ass. His cries mirrored hers. Adam groaned deep in his throat. He tried to pull out before he spilled his seed into her, but her hold on him was too strong. Adam had no other choice but to release into her. Every drop that left him, he felt down to his toes. His hips flexed and flexed until there was nothing else to release. Her legs dropped to the bed, her grip loosened; Adam’s body fell and relaxed on top of her.
Adam could feel her heavy breathing against him. Her heartbeat beat in succession with his.
“That was…that was…wow!” he exhaled.
“So you liked?” she asked, huskily.
“What? Fishing for compliments.”
“Why, of course.”
Adam sighed deeply, and looked into her passion filled eyes. “It could never not be good with you, Samantha, we’re pretty combustible darlin’. We do have a problem though.”
“What?” she asked, her eyes filled with confusion.
“I didn’t use a condom.”
“It’s okay. I am on the pill, for period regulation purposes. No worries, there,” she said quietly, and then lowered her lashes.
“Samantha, my concern was for how you felt. I couldn’t give a damn. It felt good as hell being buried deep within you, in the raw. You’re the only woman I’ve been with for a while now; the only woman that I’ve failed to use a condom with. Stop comparing me to Ashby, but most importantly, stop beating up on yourself for getting pregnant with Kayla in the first place”
“I wasn’t doing that,” she said.
“Yes, you were…are. You have a beautiful little girl. Enjoy her. You’re not the first person to have a baby by an asshole. I’m certain you won’t be the last. Now, let’s get some rest before your aggravating ass brother gets here,” he smiled down her. He needed to lighten the mood.
“He is annoying isn’t he,” she chuckled.
Adam was relieved that she’d made light of it of the situation.
“Most definitely,” he grinned, lightening the atmosphere as he went on to talk about Declan. “Your brother can try the patience of a saint. You want to take a shower now or rest?”
SAMANTHA: Never Say Never (The Powell's Book 2) Page 7
