Pete kept grumbling, saying, "I hate that he's so bull-headed and aloof and damn it, he deserves to be settled."
Belinda patted Ariel again. "Are you really so worried? Sam's tough you know. This won't be the last time he gets hurt, so you ought to get used to it."
Ariel finally gave up the dubious privacy of her hands and lifted her face. "I probably shouldn't be here."
"And why not?"
Because I told Sam I loved him but he didn't tell me anything of the kind. Ariel shrugged. "I'm not family."
A commotion came from the room where they'd taken Sam, making Ariel's heart lurch until the nurse appeared, pushing Sam in a wheelchair.
"It's hospital rules," the nurse insisted, "so just be quiet and sit still."
"It's a stupid rule and I do not need a damn wheelchair. There's not a single thing wrong with my legs and—"
Belinda stood. "Be quiet, Sam."
He shut down in an instant, but he still looked belligerent. Until he spotted Ariel. "You waited."
Belinda didn't give her a chance to answer. "Well, of course she waited. What a stupid thing to say. Now, let's go. We'll all take you home first and make certain you're settled and then I need to get to my bed. I have church early and as it is I'm not going to get enough sleep."
Ariel would have been shocked by Belinda's tone except that she'd already seen how Belinda hid her mothering behind a gruff show that made it easier for her sons to accept.
En masse, they exited the hospital, Belinda leading the charge, followed by the nurse pushing Sam, then his two brothers talking quietly together.
Feeling like an interloper, Ariel inched along behind them.
At Belinda's minivan, Sam shoved himself awkwardly out of the chair before anyone could assist him, and stood to look around for Ariel. He looked desperate for escape. The nurse gave up and went away, grousing to herself.
Sam stared at Ariel. "Did you drive?"
She nodded, cleared her throat, and said, "Yes."
"Good." He gave his mother a fast kiss on the cheek. "I'm going with Ariel."
Pete said, full of laconic insistence, "Oh no. I'm coming with you then."
Gil shrugged. "I'll drive Mom."
Belinda wasn't having it. "I'll drive my own car, thank you, and Pete, you're coming with me." She smiled at Ariel. "We'll meet you at his house, dear, all right?"
Ariel found herself nodding before she could give good thought to other possible responses. Sam had said he wanted to talk, but whatever he had to say … well, she wasn't ready to hear it yet. A week of trying to prepare herself hadn't gotten her ready.
Muttering under his breath, Sam took her arm and said, "Where the hell's your car? Never mind, I see it." And then, just to be ornery, she was sure, he added, "It's kind of hard to miss."
And Pete said from behind him, evil intent lacing every word, "Yeah, ain't it, though? Even in the dark, and even when you're in a hurry with other things on your mind." With that cryptic remark, he crawled into the backseat of the mini-van and slammed the door, leaving Sam to scowl at him in confusion.
Ariel fretted and worried as Sam crossed the lot and eased himself into her car. Plenty of bandages padded his back, but he still looked mighty uncomfortable as he tried to get his seat belt fastened.
She leaned over him. "Let me."
Sam stared into her face, only inches from his, while she pulled the belt over and hooked it around him as gently as possible. She tried not to look at him, but when she started to settle back into her own seat, he caught her. They were nearly nose to nose.
Sam leaned forward and kissed her. "I missed you."
"You did?"
He searched her face and nodded. "Let's go. The sooner I deal with my family, the sooner I can have you alone."
Ariel didn't know what to make of that, but she did as he said, driving slowly and trying to avoid any bumps.
Sam watched her, his gaze unwavering, setting her on edge. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he finally said.
Ariel glanced at him, then brought her attention back to the road. "You move so fast."
"I didn't have much choice. It was move or get stabbed." She gasped and he rushed to say, "But it didn't happen because I can handle myself. And it worked out for the best. The big guy, the one with the pipe? Fuller says he started spilling his guts, looking to cut a deal, as soon as he got him alone in the cruiser. Seems the other man, the old geezer who sliced me, he's the one who ran the show. By now Isaac and Fuller should have all the info they need."
Relief washed over Ariel. "I'm glad that's done then."
Sam gave her a long look. "I'm still undercover though, babe. There'll be other jobs."
"I know."
He waited as if he expected her to say more, but what else was there to say? Sam loved his job and he excelled at it. He was a cop through and through. That wouldn't change.
When they reached his house, they found his family congregated on the front porch along with Hesper, Booth, and the elderly bulldog. Sam groaned. "Jesus, can't a man find any peace?"
"They care about you."
"Yeah, well they could care about me tomorrow instead." He gave her another searching look, and seemed annoyed when she turned away. But she just couldn't bear it.
She'd meant to leave him alone, to let him get beyond his brother's ridiculous insistence on marriage. Then she'd hoped to go to him, to see if he wanted to continue seeing her, no strings attached. Despite what she'd originally told herself, she'd rather have Sam any way she could, than not at all.
Her trip to the bar had been impromptu, one last-ditch effort to get her mind off him for a few minutes.
And fate had stuck her in the same bar where he was working.
She'd been heartsick at the first sight of him, then terrified because she knew what would happen, why he was there. In a dozen different ways, loving Sam was going to be tough.
Sam didn't say anything else as he grunted and groaned his way out of the car. His family merely stood back, watching his progress without offering help. They seemed to know how he felt about assistance—not that Ariel gave a hoot. She took his arm and led him along the walkway that had thankfully been swept clean.
After helping him up to the porch, Ariel took his keys from him and opened his front door, but Sam didn't go in. He put his arm heavily around her and turned to face his family and neighbors. To Ariel, he looked pale and pained and her worry escalated.
Until he said, "I'm fine and while I thank you all for your concern, I'd really like to speak to Ariel. Alone."
Ariel felt her face turn bright red. Now they all knew that he was going to read her the riot act for being in the wrong bar at the wrong time again. Odds were, he'd tell her she had no place in his life, too.
Pete crossed his arms. "Got wedding plans to make?"
Ariel gasped at such a ludicrous comment. "Pete Watson, that is enough."
"No, it's not," Sam told her, and his arm tightened. He looked very put out with her attitude. "I'd like to explain about the other morning…"
"There's nothing to explain," she assured him, unwilling to have him forced into saying things he shouldn't have to say, especially with an audience. "I told you, I'm an adult. I knew what I was doing."
"What'd she do?" Booth asked his wife in confusion, and Hesper said, "You don't remember our youth?"
"Ahh." Booth gave a toothy grin. "No wonder the boy's riled."
Belinda shook her head at Ariel. "Let him explain, dear. This might prove interesting."
Sam glared, but none of them budged. "I suppose you all want to hear it?"
Gil said, "I know I do. Hell, I need a distraction."
"Fine." He turned to Ariel and cupped her face. She couldn't look away from the earnestness in his beautiful blue eyes. "I can't bear the thought of you being hurt."
Misunderstanding his meaning, Ariel swallowed, then tried to reassure him. "I'll be fine, Sam. You don't owe me anything." And to try to prove that, she added,
"I'm sorry we ended up at the same bar again, but Duluth isn't exactly a hotbed of social outlets. My choices were pretty limited and I promise it was an accident."
Very slowly, the pain seemed to leave him and he stiffened. "What were you doing there, then?"
Ariel took a step away from that gritting tone. "I wasn't trying to watch over you. I promise."
Her assurances only annoyed him more. "Then why?"
She glanced around at the rapt faces of their audience. No one looked ready to intervene and rescue her, so she scowled and thrust her chin up. "I was there to … well to be sure again."
His face went blank, then turned red and angry. "Damn it, Ariel. I thought you were already sure."
"Don't you dare yell at me, Sam. I've had a rough enough week as it is."
He drew a slow breath, gathering himself. "I'm sorry."
Her shoulders drooped. "It's not your fault. I was the pushy one."
"I don't mean that."
Pete laughed. "No, he definitely doesn't mean that."
"Shut up, Pete."
Still grinning, Pete said, "You should be thanking me, you know. I'm the one who got her there in the first place."
Sam and Ariel turned to stare at him. "How's that?" Sam demanded to know.
"Why, I got a new girlfriend, that's how. I finally realized she was waiting for me to do that."
Ariel's brows shot up. "You knew?"
He snorted. "Everyone saw you two ogling each other."
Gil and Belinda nodded.
"You fought it, Sam, I'll give you that. But any time I brought her around, you watched her more than I did."
"I did not."
"Yes you did, Son," Belinda told him. "The poor girl couldn't blink without you noting it."
Hesper laughed. "If it was anything like the way he looks at her now, I'm surprised she didn't go up in flames."
Exasperated, Sam rubbed his face, then suddenly stiffened. His hands dropped to his sides and he stared at Pete. "You saw her car that night. That's what you meant about it being impossible to miss, even in the dark."
"Of course I saw it." Pete snorted. "Why do you think I told you all that stuff about her? Hell, I don't gossip about women, especially women I love—as friends—so get rid of that evil look, all right? I just wanted you to know up front how she felt about you."
Humiliated beyond all reason, Ariel tried to inch away, anxious to escape. Without looking at her, Sam caught her wrist and kept her at his side. "Then you came back here the next morning and pretended outrage, reading me the riot act like…"
"Like a brother who loves you, yeah. I was trying to make it easy for you to give up, you know, salvage your pride and all that. I figured you could blame me or something since I pretty much figured you hadn't told her that you love her." He elbowed Gil hard. "But Gil here showed up and everything got off track."
Ariel cleared her throat. "Really, none of this is necessary. I don't expect Sam to—"
Sam cast her a look. "Get used to it, honey. They're all pushy as hell, but they're part of the package."
"They are?"
His eyes narrowed. "My house, my rules. Love me, love my family."
Her heart started a furious pounding and she couldn't get a breath. "But…"
Sam gave up with visible bad grace. "I didn't want to involve you in my life, all right? I didn't want you to be at risk for being around me and with me. I didn't want you always worried and afraid." He touched her cheek, and Ariel felt the gentleness, the uncertainty. "You're so soft, Ariel. And so sweet. You aren't cut out for my life."
Belinda scowled. "What am I, chopped liver? I'm your mother and I'm certainly a part of your life. You don't consider me sweet or soft?" The venomous glare she gave her son kept him silent.
Gil and Pete, however, snickered with good humor.
"And don't forget your baby brother." Pete put the back of his hand to his head in a gesture of emotional distress. "I'm traumatized nightly, thinking about all the risks you take. I believe you've stunted my growth."
Since Pete was six-two, his claims were deliberately absurd.
Booth nodded vigorously in agreement. "Poor Hesper here can't sleep at night, listening for young Sam, wanting to make sure he gets home safe and sound." He harrumphed. "Don't see him concerning himself with the likes of us though."
The bulldog barked.
Sam said, "How I feel about Ariel is different, damn it."
With the concise, no-nonsense tone he was known for, Gil said, "Then will you please tell her so? She looks to be in an agony of suspense."
Sam took one look at her, nodded, then faced his family. "I need to sit down. Will you all just leave?" And then just as quickly, "Not you, Ariel."
Pete said, "He still has to propose."
Ariel fried Pete with a look. She would definitely get him later. Couldn't he see that his brother was in pain and not up to all that teasing? "Come on, Sam. I'll help you inside."
Sam allowed her to hug into his uninjured side, attempting to offer him support; then he looked back at his family and grinned. "Bye."
His mother said, "We'll leave, but I expect to hear from you in the morning."
Sam nodded. "Ariel or I, one will give you a call." And then he stepped inside and kicked the door shut. "Peace, at last."
"Are you all right?"
"Getting better by the minute." Then: "Upstairs, babe. I need to lie down."
"Oh, Sam." Her worry was a live thing, but Sam went up the steps without too much help from her and once in his room, he lowered himself painfully to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Will you help me get my clothes off?" When she stared at him, he said, "I want to lie down."
"Oh. Yes of course."
"I'm not hurt that bad, but the loss of blood…"
She went pale and rushed to get him out of the shirt Gil had brought up to the hospital for him. Snowy white gauze wrapped diagonally over his dark, powerful chest, from his right shoulder to beneath his left arm, covering him front and back. Ariel touched her hand to her mouth and just knew she was going to cry.
Sam kicked out of his shoes, then stood. "My pants?"
She shook herself. The last thing Sam needed now was a whining, weepy, overly emotional woman on his hands. The way he held his right arm, it had to be hurting him. "Of course."
Going to her knees, Ariel stripped off his socks and reached for the fly to his slacks. He was hard. Her gaze snapped up to his.
He grinned. "Hey, you're on your knees in front of me, sweetheart, ready to take off my pants. What did you expect?"
She'd missed him so much, and loved him more than that. She just couldn't take his teasing right now. "You're hurt, damn it. Be serious." Shaking now, Ariel pulled his pants down over his hips and Sam stepped out of them.
His hand touched the top of her head. "You've been avoiding me for a week, Ariel. I finally have you here, alone in my bedroom. Believe me, I'm taking this very seriously." Wearing only his underwear—and that tented—he sat in the bed and leaned carefully back against a pillow on the headboard. He let out a long sigh. "Now strip off your clothes and get into bed with me."
Her stomach flip-flopped. "Sam…"
"My house, my rules."
His voice was gentle, but his gaze burned and Ariel felt a smile twitch on her mouth. "Your rules are ridiculous and you know it. There's no way you're up to … that."
"That?"
"Whatever it is you're thinking."
"I'm thinking that I need to hold you, and I'm thinking you're more inclined to say yes if you're naked in bed with me.
"Yes about what?"
He stared at her a long moment, then, in the softest, most uncertain tone she'd ever heard from him, he said, "About whether or not you'll marry me."
Her mouth fell open. "Sam?"
He scowled, rallying forth arguments. "Look at it this way, if you marry me you get to change some of the rules because it'll be your house, too."
Happiness bub
bled up, swelled until Ariel felt ready to burst. Watching his face, her own wide smile in place, she stripped off her clothes and climbed in beside him. Sam urged her close to his left side, shifted until he was comfortable, then said, "Now, tell me you love me again. It's the truth, I need to hear it."
"I love you, Sam."
He groaned, hugged her as tightly as he could, considering he was hurt, and kissed her hair. "I love you, too, Ariel. So much that I don't think I could take it if you didn't marry me. At first … well, I hate to admit it, but I was as fretful as an old woman."
"If you said that to your mother, she'd bop you on the head."
He smiled. "I don't like the thought of you worrying about me when I'm at work, and I absolutely can't stand the thought of you showing up where I am, maybe interfering and putting yourself at risk."
"As long as I know where you're at and what you're doing, I won't get in your way."
"And you won't worry?"
"There's absolutely nothing I can do about the worry, Sam. I love you." She gently touched the front of his bandages. "You're a good cop—"
"A great cop."
She laughed. "And you're more than capable of taking care of yourself. But I'll still worry. You'll just have to accept that."
"I'll accept it," he growled, "if you'll agree to marry me."
"I'll marry you."
"Thank God." They fell silent for a long moment, holding each other, Ariel with her hand over his heart. She thought he might have dozed, but then he said, "About those rules? There's only one you can't tamper with, okay?"
Ariel twisted to smile up at him. He looked rugged, wounded, and horny. She laughed. "And which rule is that?"
"The one about being naked at breakfast. I've decided I like that rule, and starting every day off with a view of your sweet backside … well, know that you're stuck with me forever, okay?"
Ariel grinned. "As long as it goes both ways. And that, Officer, is my rule."
* * * * *
Chapter One
"We'll need to have everything delivered by the tenth. No, that won't do." Callie Montgomery firmed her tone. "Doing your best isn't good enough. Weaver Enterprises is going to be your biggest client. Disappoint us, and we'll take our annual six-figure office-supply budget elsewhere." She smiled, relaxed back in her seat. "Yes, the morning of the ninth would be just fine. Thank you."
BAD BOYS ON BOARD Page 8
