He tapped his fingers against his knee in frustration.
Because he knew he couldn’t walk away from her again. He needed to possess her, and he needed to have her, and he needed her to admit that she needed him.
Grace was disappointed when she’d changed back into her clothes and found Samir gone. Had he even watched the show? She couldn’t know. “That’s what I get for wanting to show off,” she whispered to herself as she slipped out of the theater by the side door. Charlie was waiting and she climbed into the car quickly.
The last thing she had expected, when she returned home, was to find Sam sitting on her door step.
“He’s persistent, isn’t he?” Charlie said with a wink at Grace.
“Mmmm,” she agreed, peering out at him.
“Want me to tell him to sod off?”
Grace bit back a laugh at the well intentioned offer. She had not a doubt in the world he would charge into battle against a hulk of a man like Sam to protect her honor. “I can handle him, Charlie. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
She should have been mad, but as she slowly walked back to her front door, all she could think was how flipping glad she was to see him. How much she wanted him. How much she’d missed him. She knew it was crazy, but her body and his had connected on some terrifyingly deep level.
“I thought we’d said everything there was to say,” she said stiffly when she’d reached the step.
“No, we haven’t. May I come up?”
Grace’s heartbeat accelerated. She looked at her watch with a frown. It was almost midnight. Jacob would be fast asleep by now, no doubt having knocked back a bottle or three of his favorite brew. But Sam was a danger. A danger to her, because despite the fact that he was obviously an A-grade jerk, she still wanted to strip naked and throw herself at his feet. He threatened everything she’d built since that night.
Fear spiked in her gut. Her future with Jacob depended on keeping her distance from Sam. She couldn’t afford to let him near her again. She set her chin resolutely. “Absolutely not.”
Samir looked down at her small, jutting face, her eyes so earnest and filled with emotion, and he sighed heavily. Wearily. He’d come to London to put his past with this bewitching woman to rest, and instead, he’d stirred up a hornet’s nest. Because he knew for sure now that he wasn’t capable of letting her go.
But he wasn’t about to force himself into her house in the middle of the night. With a shrug of his shoulders he flashed a smile at her. “Another time, perhaps.”
“Never,” she hissed, coming back to earth with a thud. Seeing him had shocked her and brought back a flood of sensual memories, but there was no way she could ever allow him into her life. “I mean it, Sam. Walking away from me that morning did us both a huge favor. I don’t want to see you, ever again.”
And she slammed the door behind her and collapsed against it, her heart in her throat. When her breathing had returned to normal, she crept upstairs, into her bedroom, and kissed Jacob on the forehead. A pale sliver of moonlight was stained across his pillow, showing his long, dark lashes and curled hair. He was so beautiful; she was lucky to have him. Sam was nothing when she had a love like this. So why couldn’t she stop thinking about him?
CHAPTER FIVE
“I’ll get it!” Grace called to Ashley, her other flat mate, as she padded through the apartment quickly, lest the impatient person downstairs press the doorbell for a third time. Jacob was still asleep and she had learned the hard way not to wake him. He had a special knack for making anyone who interrupted his sleep pay and it was not a lot of fun. She took the steps two at a time, finger combing her long blonde hair as she went.
It was still early, but she’d been up for hours. Her cheeks flushed as she remembered in vivid detail the dreams that had kept her tossing and turning all night. Snatched memories, erotic and sensual, had made actual sleep impossible.
She wrenched open the door and stepped back a little when she saw who stood there.
Sam.
Dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans and a simple white t-shirt that showed off his tanned forearms, he looked like he’d walked out of the pages of a fashion magazine. Panic and desire crashed through her system, making her churn with emotion. “What are you doing here?” She husked, throwing a guilty glance up the stairs.
“I brought coffee. We never did get around to it.” He held a take away cup out to her and she wrapped her fingers around it. In the moment of distraction, Sam pushed his advantage and stepped inside the hallway, easing the door shut with his shoulder. “And bagels.”
“You can’t come in,” Grace said with force, shaking her head violently.
Samir’s eyes narrowed as he took in her appearance. Hair pulled up in a messy pony tail, dressed in jeans and a casual jumper, and now, in the light of day, he could see slight shading beneath her bright blue eyes. It occurred to him that she might be seeing someone. Might even be living with them.
Curiosity overrode good manners. “I won’t stay long,” he said with a grin, as he preceded her up the stairs.
Grace followed, anger making her voice shake. “Don’t you know it’s bad manners to barge in on someone at this hour of the day?”
When he reached the lounge and turned to face her, she saw his face was completely unapologetic. “You didn’t leave me a lot of choice. I told you I wanted to speak to you.”
“What about, Sam? Can’t you just let sleeping dogs lie?” She slammed the coffee down on the kitchen bench. Concern about the situation she was in was making her tremble.
“Apparently not.” He took a step towards her, and his face was suddenly deathly serious. “You are like a virus in my blood,” he said with a frown. “I have tried to forget you, Grace, without success.”
Words she had once longed to hear now felt like tiny little cuts in her skin. She shook her head angrily. “Don’t! It’s been two years! How can you show up on my door now and expect me to believe that?”
“You know it’s the truth. Have you ever felt anything like this, Grace?” He lowered his head, and held his lips suspended just above hers. If she lifted up on tiptoes, they would be kissing. And God, she wanted to kiss him. But he didn’t make a move. He kept his head there, so tantalizingly close, and her heart was beating so fast she thought it might leap out of her chest. “Because I haven’t. Believe me. I would not have left you that morning if I hadn’t been needed by my family.”
“No,” she took a step backwards, bumping her hip painfully into the edge of the island bench. “I mean it, Sam. You did us both a big favor by walking out on me.” She spun away from him and looked out of the small kitchen window, out towards their tiny back garden. She didn’t say that she’d woken up convinced she’d fallen in love with him. That she’d actually crashed straight into the man she was destined to spend the rest of her life with.
Such ridiculous romantic foolishness was exposed for just that when she’d come out to find him, only to discover that he had disappeared. Just like that. The days and days of waiting for him to call or email or write or show up with a dozen red roses and say that, yes, he too was all kinds of crazy for her. Every day that she’d felt her heart was breaking a little more was mocking her now.
She turned back to face him, and froze, as their eyes met. Every shred of logic disintegrated with the force of his gaze. She blinked to clear her mind. “Did your father really die?”
“Yes.” He hated talking about it, but he owed a fuller explanation to Grace. “He had a sudden heart attack. I had to fly home immediately.”
Her heart turned over in her chest. “I’m sorry for your loss.” It seemed such an inadequate thing to say.
Samir tilted his head, silently accepting her condolences.
“But that was two years ago. You really couldn’t have got in contact before this?”
There was no way he could slam her with the truth now. To tell her out of nowhere that the death of his father had promoted him to King of Elaminar. Information
like that was best imparted with care. Particularly given her already enraged state.
“His estate was complex. My mother was heartbroken. Though I couldn’t get you out of my head, I was not able to put aside the needs of my family simply to come back and seduce you.”
She flushed. “Don’t. Don’t try to make me sound needy or petty or something. I understand that you couldn’t get away. But you knew where I lived. You could have sent flowers. Chocolates. A card. Anything to explain why you had run out on me. But you didn’t. So why are you here now? And what do you want from me?”
He dragged a hand through his hair. “I had to see you.”
“Why? I just don’t get you, Sam. It’s been two years.” She slammed her palm angrily into his chest, but instead of pulling it away afterwards, she held it there. Her eyes were drawn to the way her fingers splayed across his muscled torso, right where his heart was.
Sam felt his own grip on his temper loosening. “I had to know if I could get married while I still felt this for you.”
Grace froze. She felt as though the building had just been cleaved in two pieces and she was standing on a precipice. She was oddly dizzy and her skin flushed hot and cold. “You’re getting married?”
Sam could see he had surprised her. He hadn’t intended to just blurt it out like that. “I might be.” He answered reasonably. After all, he could hardly marry Grace, and he was expected to provide an heir for his kingdom. But the idea of tying himself to anyone else was frankly repulsive right now.
“Get out.” She stepped away from him as though he’d just told her he had a highly contagious illness.
“Don’t you get it, Grace? I flew half way around the world because I can’t get married until I work out what the hell this is between us. It wouldn’t be fair to my fiancé.”
“Oh my God.” She fanned her face and for a terrifying moment she thought she might actually faint. “I don’t want to hear about your fiancé.”
She had spoken a lot louder than she had intended and before Samir could respond, a strange, angry noise barreled down the hallway. Grace swore under her breath and with eyes wide, she glared at him. “Stay here. Do not move.”
Surprised that her knees hadn’t buckled underneath her, Grace ran down the corridor and pulled Jacob into her arms. “Darling boy, you need to be quiet. Hush, hush, mummy’s here.” She rocked him against her chest, kissing his sweet little cheeks and wiping his tears at the same time. “Please, baby, you have to be quiet. Just a minute longer.” She looked towards the door and said a silent prayer. “Your daddy’s out there, Jakey, and we can’t have him find out about you. Can you just be a quiet boy for a little while longer?”
Jacob’s tears had subsided and his dear little face was now wearing its usual contemplative expression. Grace grabbed his favorite puzzle from the top of the wardrobe and tipped the pieces into his cot. It was such a treat to be given toys in his bed that Jacob didn’t complain a jot when she slipped out of the room and quietly clicked the door closed.
She sucked in a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. She could process the information Sam had just broken to her later. Not now. Now all that mattered was getting him out of her home. If he knew their one night together had resulted in a son, her whole world would be blown apart.
Her acting skills were going to come in handy, she thought with a small, weak smile as she crossed into the kitchen. He had his back to her. His broad, strong, sexy back. At least not looking in his eyes should make this easier.
“Sam, we had one night together, two years ago. So far as love stories go, ours was more of a paragraph than a novel. I admit we have great chemistry, but I’m a realist, and so are you. Life goes on. You’re engaged to another woman, and you’re probably just having cold feet. I think you should go now, and never, ever contact me again.”
Speech delivered, she felt a huge whoosh of emotion, and she leaned against the fridge for bodily support.
So slowly that he almost appeared not to be moving, Sam turned to face her. And sure enough, her whole world blew apart as she’d known it would. Gripped in his white-knuckled hands was the receiver end of the baby monitor, and the green light was blinking to show that it was switched on. He must have heard everything.
“I have a son?”
“Want me to grab the Jake-meister?” Ashley’s disembodied voice drifted in from the hallway but Grace couldn’t answer.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the look of complete rage and shock on Sam’s face was making thought impossible. She squeezed her eyes shut to block it out, but she could still feel it, like a physical wall pushing towards her. His anger was tangible and real.
“I have a son?” He repeated, and he must have stepped across the kitchen, because when Grace opened her eyes, his face was just inches from hers.
Wordlessly, she nodded.
“A son.” He shook his head. “I have a son.” His green eyes were suspiciously moist. “How old is he?”
“Fifteen months.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“And he’s definitely mine?”
Her eyes flared. “Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Jesus, Sam. Yes, I’m sure. Despite what you might think of me after I so willingly submitted to your sexual advances, I’d only ever been with one guy before you, and that was years ago.”
“Let’s pretend for a moment I believe that, which, frankly, I don’t, I still don’t understand how you could have had our baby.”
She pushed away from him. “What would you have done?”
“Guys? Sorry to interrupt but the little dude’s crying. Want me to get him?” Ashley stood at the door, his handsome face concentrating on reading the situation.
“Yes,” Sam said commandingly at the same time Grace shook her head.
“I want to see him. Now.”
Grace shook her head again. It was all happening too fast. She felt like things were spinning out of control way, way too fast.
“You can’t.” She hooked her finger through her necklace and slid the locket from side to side. “I mean it, Sam. I know you’re pissed, and you’ve every right to be, but just think about Jacob. He can’t meet you when you’re fuming mad like this.”
“Bring me the child,” he directed his command at Ashley, but the other man did not move.
“Listen, mate, if Grace says it’s not a good time then you have to respect that.”
Grace felt a swell of affection for her loyal friend. Though he stood just over five and a half feet tall, he was prepared to come between her and Sam if necessary.
Samir stared down his nose at this person who was actually trying to challenge him. “What is your name?”
Grace marveled at how Sam managed to make Ashley look like an intruder in his own home. “Ashley,” her flat mate and friend responded without blinking.
“Well, Ashley. I’ve never hit a woman and despite how livid I am with Grace, I do not intend to now. The same cannot be said for you, if you do not get out of my way.”
“That is enough,” Grace said with a frown. “Don’t be barbaric.” She moved herself to stand between Ashley and Sam. “You ran out on me,” she pointed out with a voice that was high-pitched and squeaky. “And do you know who picked up the pieces? Ash and Rupert. They have loved my son like their own, and you do not get to threaten Ashley now.”
Samir looked at them both dispassionately. “I want to see him now.”
Grace stared up at him, trying to work out what the heck to do. And then, the situation snowballed even further out of her hands. She saw the moment it happened, of course. Samir’s eyes went from hers to the carpet in the hallway. Or about two feet north of the carpet. A gurgling sound of delight, followed by two chubby palms clapping gleefully together, got louder and louder as Jacob came hurtling towards them.
“He must have climbed out of his cot again,” Ashley said unnecessarily.
Sam barely registered the words. He crouched down on his haunches so t
hat he was nearer the child’s eye level. As the small boy hurtled towards his mother, Sam was conscious of a strange ache in his chest. This boy, this boy he had not even known about five minutes earlier, was his spitting image. From his dark, curled hair to his green, almond shaped eyes, caramel colored skin and dimpled chin, he was so obviously Samir’s flesh and blood.
“Hello,” Sam said, surprising himself and the others with how genial his voice emerged. “I’m a friend of your mummy’s. My name’s Sam.”
“Mik, mik,” the little boy said enthusiastically, pointing past Samir to the fridge.
Sam looked up at Grace for a translation but Ashley spoke first. “Would you like your milk, J-man? I’ll get that for you.” He shot Grace a pointed look. “Why don’t you two go and speak somewhere more private.”
She wanted to grab Jacob and run. Run out of her house and never come back. But she knew she couldn’t. Sam was Jacob’s dad. If she’d had a way to contact him, she would have told him about the pregnancy from the beginning. She had never intended to do it alone. Nor to keep Sam out of the picture. So now that he had discovered the truth, she couldn’t avoid the ramifications. She had to find out just what Sam wanted, and how she could make it work.
“Ash is right. We should talk,” Grace said heavily. She lifted her eyes to Samir’s, and the coldness she saw there made her stomach clench.
“It would appear so,” he agreed with grim determination.
“Not here.” She looked over at Ashley who was tickling giggles out of Jacob. “Let’s go for a walk.”
She didn’t see the way Sam’s face had contorted with pain at the same sight. What she saw as completely normal, he saw as achingly betraying. Another man, making his son laugh and smile. Knowing that “mik” meant “milk”. He had missed fifteen months of Jacob’s laughing, all those important milestones. He was not going to miss another day. Somehow, he was going to make sure he was Jacob’s father in the truest sense of the word.
It was a perfect English summer’s day, for once. The sky was clear, the sun was shining, and Londoners were out in force. The pavements were thick with pedestrians, all moving towards the Kings Road for a spot of weekend shopping. Grace pointed towards a side street and led them down it. Far better for the kind of conversation they needed to have.
One Night with The Sheikh: An accident of fate brought them together, and it would bind them for the rest of their lives. Page 5
