Chapter 9
CLIO
“–and she took off with this guy to Bozeman, and that’s how I ended up in the middle of a huge custody battle.” David absently swiveled the stem of his glass of Chardonnay, clearly oblivious to the rule that you didn’t talk about your divorce on a first date.
I realized over the past ten minutes of him reliving his marriage why I hadn’t bothered dating since JT came along.
It wasn’t worth it.
All this effort at getting to know someone when there was no spark was time I could have been with JT.
Or getting laid with someone I did feel a spark with.
I ignored that little nudge from my ovaries. They were still cooling off from the encounter with the hot, shirtless cowboy this afternoon at Wolf Ranch.
Maybe I just needed a boy toy…
I mentally shook my head as David kept right on talking.
No boy toy. Absolutely not. I couldn’t have that kind of complication in my life.
I took a healthy swig of my Merlot as I absently nodded.
David had picked me up and taken me to Orlando’s, the only fancy restaurant in town. It featured Italian food, with an Italian-American chef who had relocated from Chicago, according to David.
We hadn’t even received our meals, and he’d already mansplained just about everything here to me. Well, maybe not mansplained. I suspected he was one of those guys who talked too much when he was nervous. But it had been a pretty one-sided conversation so far.
“I mean, she thinks she’s going to take our kid out of high school in the town where all her friends are to live with her and this guy she’s known for nine months?” He scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
I glanced past him to the bar and did a double take.
Oh my God.
Sam sat at the bar, a beer in his hand. For once, the cowboy hat was off.
His blond hair looked damp and tousled like he’d come from a shower.
He wore a plaid collared button-down shirt with navy and turquoise stripes that made his blue eyes pop.
The female bartender was trying to tell him something, but his gaze was firmly fixed on me.
What was he doing here? And now?
He came to ruin my date! The nerve!
He knew all about the date because he’d been there when David had asked. Except how had he known about coming to this restaurant unless he overheard at the shop. But how?
He grinned and tipped the beer in my direction.
What. The actual. Fuck?
“Will you excuse me for a minute?” I stood and put my napkin on my chair.
“Oh. Yes, of course.” David beamed up at me like I’d hung a double rainbow in the sky.
Yikes. This guy reminded me too much of an overeager golden retriever. Funny how I didn’t mind Sam’s over-the-top flirtations, but this was too much interest from my date.
I wondered what that said about me. That I had commitment issues? Or that I didn’t take Sam seriously. Or… I had no idea.
I guessed it had something to do with the fact that I was used to guys like Sam.
I’d been surrounded by them growing up. I was used to their teasing.
Their innuendo. Their chest thumping. All that male bullshit that I swallowed, so I could be one of the guys, so I could get my job done.
I’d liked that kind of energy because it was all I knew.
That was why I’d been attracted to that same swagger in Ted.
I knew how to handle those men. How to put them in their place. I didn’t have to worry about hurting their feelings because their egos were so big, they could handle rejection because they’d just smile and wink at the next woman, and they’d fawn all over them.
Like Sam. I wasn’t sure why he was here, but there was a woman at the bar ogling him right now, and all he had to do was spin around on the barstool, and he’d have her number.
I was his conquest-of-the-moment. Right now, I intended to lower Sam’s ego by a few notches.
I strode past him, purposefully bumping him as I headed to the hallway with the bathrooms.
He got the message and slid off his barstool to follow me. I couldn’t see it, but I felt it.
When we reached the hallway, I spun around, hands on hips. Before I could say anything, he gave me an appreciative up and down. “You look good.”
I’d worn a skirt and a halter top that tied behind the neck, with a pair of heels. It was the first time I’d worn heels in at least three years, and my ankles were already cranky.
I ignored his compliment, mentally swatting it away like an annoying fly. “What do you think you’re doing?” I whisper-shouted.
Sam smirked, but there was something wild in his gaze. “I just came in case you needed me.”
“Needed you? You came to ruin my date!”
He shook his head. “No, Sparks. I’m just making sure you have options.”
“Options!”
Dear Lord, this guy had a healthy opinion of himself.
He took a step closer and leaned down. I breathed in his clean scent, and my anger wavered. “Yeah. Options. If Dave the Dweeb’s a dud, you don’t have to go home alone, Sparks.”
He gave me a pirate grin. I ignored the way it made my limbs go loose and syrupy.
That wasn’t lust. It was probably just the wine talking.
I frowned. “Dream on.”
“Just give me a signal when you’ve had too much, and I’ll whisk you right out of here. Okay, darlin’?”
Great. Now he thought I was his darlin’.
I raised my hand between us. “No, Sam. Not happening.” I should tell him to go. Set a clear boundary.
But I was secretly amused that he had the chutzpah to show up at my date.
I didn’t mind that he’d brought my sex drive back to life, either.
Maybe Sam wasn’t the right guy for me, but he was the one who made me realize I was ready to get back out there.
I was on my first date since I’d left Ted after all.
On a date but talking to Sam. I should get back to Dave. David. My date.
“Well, enjoy your beer,” I said and brushed past him to return to my table. All the while, I felt Sam’s gaze on my ass.
Somehow, I knew he wasn’t going to leave.
When I sat down and David launched right back in where he’d left off on the custody battle story, I wasn’t sure I minded having a backup plan.
I tuned out David, his voice like an annoying bug buzzing around me.
I was annoyed. And confused. How was Sam getting past my defenses?
I was sitting across the table from a guy who was so opposite of all the men I’d been around all my life, and I should be happy.
David was nice. Stable. But no. I was hot for the player at the bar who I should be pissed at.
I was pissed at.
I grabbed my wine, took a gulp.
Sam was the player who reminded me way too much of Ted. What was wrong with me? Why would I crave a guy who was nothing but trouble?
Our food finally arrived, which shut up David for a while.
As I dug into my chicken alfredo, I stole a glance over David’s shoulder at Sam–just to see if he was still there. Whether the cute bartender or the woman beside him had been successful in engaging his attention.
Whoops. He was back in his seat looking straight at me! His lips twitched in amusement when he caught me looking.
Damn him!
I looked down at my plate and took a bite of food, trying to refocus on David.
“You know the thing that’s the hardest?” he asked me after wiping his lips with his napkin.
“What?”
“Allie misses her mom. She misses her every day. And…God, even after what she did to me, I–”
Oh shit.
Oh no.
Whoa. This was too much.
David’s eyes filled with tears. He set his fork down as a sob broke from his throat. “I guess I miss her, too.”
My eyes widened in panic. I glanced around the room, and the nearest diners had noticed the breakdown. Fuck.
I wasn’t sure what was worse–experiencing the world’s worst date or the humiliation of having Sam watch it fall apart after I told him to leave.
David snatched up his napkin and covered his mouth with it.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmured, trying to make David feel better.
Then looked over at Sam and grimaced.
I expected him to laugh at me. Gloat a little, maybe. But, instead, all I saw was his heated gaze. A laser focused on me, like I was the only person in the room. That a grown man wasn’t having a breakdown over his lasagna in front of me.
It was like he’d been waiting at an invisible line for me to fire the starter gun on this thing between us.
It was going to happen, and it was going to happen now.
Ready.
He tossed a twenty down on the bar.
Set.
He slid off his stool in one fluid motion, never taking his gaze off me.
Go.
“It, um, seems like maybe you aren’t quite ready to date,” I murmured.
Sam was making his way over. I had no idea what he was going to do when he got here, but I didn’t want him to humiliate David. The poor guy had been through enough.
“God, I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I didn’t expect to fall apart like this.”
I shook my head. I reached out and patted his hand then pulled it away. “No, don’t be sorry. It’s fine. But, ah, I think maybe–”
“Hey, Clio, sorry to interrupt,” Sam said smoothly. “Ernie just called me because your cell is off. He said JT threw up.”
“Oh!” I jumped to my feet, sending my chair tipping behind me.
Sam caught it and slid it back into place. “I can give you a lift over there if you want. I was headed that way.”
I sent an apologetic look at David. “I’m sorry. My son is sick. I’m going to catch a ride home with Sam.”
“It’s okay.” David blew his nose in the cloth napkin. Gross. “You go. I ruined the date, anyway.”
Yeah, ya kinda did.
But for some inexplicable reason, I wasn’t the least bit annoyed. In fact, there was something akin to glee bubbling up in me. My pulse raced from the naughtiness of the jailbreak. Sam, my hot young hero, saving me from a horrible date.
I felt like a teenager again, ditching fifth period to make out in the field with Derek Jones.
I didn’t say anything else, not that Sam let me linger. With a hand at the small of my back, Sam whisked me out the back door of Orlando’s. My nipples were hard, and I was so wet and needy.
My pussy pretty much ached with need. It had been so long. So, so long.
I wanted it good. Hard. Thorough. My vagina knew that David wasn’t going to do it for me. Hell, he probably only did missionary.
I’d take missionary, but I also wanted all the other options. Horizontal, vertical, I wanted to do it.
With Sam.
Just this once.
I let out a soft, breathy laugh when the cool breeze hit my face. The door slammed shut behind us. Sam took my hand and tugged me around the side of the building.
“Ernie didn’t actually call, did he?” I laughed, trying to keep up with him as he towed me behind to where the street light didn’t hit, and we were cast in shadow. I had no hesitation. The past two days had pretty much been foreplay, and I was primed.
“‘Course not.” With a surprisingly deft motion, Sam spun to pick me up by the waist.
“Oh!” I cried as I wrapped my legs around his lean waist. Oh yes.
Damn, he was strong.
Like almost Ted-level strong. And Ted was a wolf shifter.
My hands settled on his thick biceps, and I was sad he was wearing a shirt. I wanted to lean forward and lick him across his chest.
He pressed my back against the building and let me slide down until my ass filled his hands, and my face was even with his. I couldn’t miss the hard feel of him at my center.
“Now,” he murmured, his breath hot against my cheek, his nose bumping mine. “Let’s talk about those needs of yours–”
“Talk? No more talking,” I breathed, right before I slammed my mouth on his.