Chapter Eight
A fter leaving Samantha in the hands of the driver her brother had sent, Dex texted his parents and siblings to let them know he was home. They were such a big group, the family chat made sure he didn’t leave anyone out. Remy had suggested they come to his bar for dinner and everyone agreed. The timing gave Dex a chance to go home for some much-needed processing, considering he’d left for the Bahamas on such short notice.
While there, he showered, changed, and even hung up Samantha’s wedding dress in a spare closet. In case she decided she wanted the garment one day. Though he didn’t like thinking of her wearing a wedding gown for another man. And that thought shook him up more than he cared to admit.
Later, he was the first to arrive at The Back Door, if he didn’t count Remy, who owned the place, and said hello to the staff he knew well before sitting down at the table reserved for the family. Soon, everyone joined him and their loud meal began.
They’d finished dinner and dessert, and no one seemed in any rush to separate and head home. Banter and chatter went on around him but Dex couldn’t concentrate on anything but thinking about Samantha. How was she doing now that she was back in New York? How would she handle the douchebag who’d used her? Personally, Dex would like to wring his neck for making her cry and embarrassing her in front of the people who mattered to her.
Dex had no doubt he’d be hearing from her brother for his opinion. Not that Dex would tell Ian anything about Samantha that felt private. Ian might be his friend, but he couldn’t help but feel his loyalty was to Samantha.
“Earth to Dex. Where are you?” Remy asked from the seat beside him.
“Still in the Bahamas with his ex-boss’s sister,” Fallon said, a teasing glint in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you bring your bride to meet us?” Remy asked.
“Behave!” Raven, Remy’s wife, said. They’d gotten engaged six months ago and married a short month later. The event included the Sterlings, a few people from work, including Zach Dare and his wife, Hadley, Raven’s brother, and Caleb and his son, Owen—the only family Raven acknowledged. She’d been through hell, come out the other side, and didn’t want to look back.
Dex glanced at Remy and rolled his eyes. “You know the real story about how I ended up in the Bahamas with Samantha, so cut it out.”
But a part of him wondered how Samantha would get along with his rowdy group of relatives. Knowing she’d come from an even larger group of siblings, she’d probably fit in fine, then he’d reminded himself there was no reason to give that question any thought.
“How is she?” Lizzie, their former housekeeper, and now his father’s girlfriend, asked. “It can’t be easy to find out the man you’re about to marry was using you for your money.”
Dex groaned. “She held it together pretty well on the island but I think now that she’s home and has to face him and untangle their lives, things might hit her harder.”
“Poor thing,” Lizzie murmured softly.
She had been a mother to them all once they moved to the house where she lived in the guesthouse on the property. Her husband had died of a heart attack and when the owner sold it to Alex, he’d made it a condition that he allow Lizzie and her daughter, Brooklyn, to continue to live there. Since their mom had been killed a few years before, Lizzie had taken them all into her heart.
Conversation picked up around them; his brothers, Jared and Aiden, discussing business, while his father turned to Lizzie, leaving Fallon and Dex to their own discussion.
“How’s the gallery doing?” he asked his sister.
“Great! I had a showing for a new artist this past weekend and we had a good amount of orders.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement. As much as she loved painting, she adored discovering new talent. “But I’m curious about Samantha Dare. It’s crazy how you ran into her outside the hotel. You knew her through Ian?”
He nodded, deciding his sister did not need to know about their past New Year’s Eve kiss. “I recognized her. She knew me and begged me to get her out of there.”
“So you played white knight.”
He shrugged his shoulder. “I just helped her out.” He was about to say anyone would have done the same but when he thought about the lengths to which he’d gone… he kept his mouth shut.
“It was nice of you, Dex. I mean, I know you and Ian are friends, now that he’s not your team owner, but still. That was above and beyond.”
He and Ian had developed more of a mentor-mentee relationship in the earlier years of him joining the Thunder, but once Dex reached star status, he felt like Ian’s equal. Their relationship turned into more of a friendship, and continued to this day, which was why the situation with Samantha had always been complicated.
“Is she pretty?” Fallon nudged him with her elbow.
“Who?”
His sister laughed. “The woman you’re thinking about when you aren’t paying attention to what’s going on around you.”
There was no point in lying. “She’s beautiful.” Those unique-colored eyes, the freckles that came out in the sun…
“Ooh and are you interested in her?” Fallon propped her chin in her hand and stared him down.
“Sometimes I think I am.” Okay, that was a whopper. He’d always been interested in Samantha. “But I won’t be anyone’s rebound.”
She nodded. “Understandable. But I know you and you’re charming when you put your mind to it.” She grinned at him and laughed. “I’m joking. You’re always a charmer. But all those reasons you didn’t get involved with women while focusing on football are gone now.”
“What does me being charming have to do with retirement from football?”
“Focus!” She snapped her fingers in the air. “I’m saying if you’re so attracted to Samantha Dare, put your mind to being more than her rebound. Be the man of her dreams.”
“Even if I thought that was a good idea, I’m going to be traveling a lot for the new job,” he reminded her.
She shook her head at him. “Not until September. That gives you plenty of time. What else?”
Persistent little thing, he thought wryly. “Any time I ask myself if I’m ready to give a relationship a try, my early years with my biological parents come back to me.” In vivid living color. “The fighting, the screaming.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure I trust a long-term thing not to turn into a negative experience.”
But did he really see himself fighting with any woman the way his parents had? Fuck, no. And he couldn’t imagine Samantha raising her voice in anger, except at her douchebag ex, but not for bullshit like dishes in the sink.
His parents had been dysfunctional. Before their deaths, they’d been a combustible couple. The soundtrack to his youth had been their arguments. He’d overheard the police tell Alex that a witness said he’d seen the female passenger, Dex’s mother, reach for the steering wheel before the driver lost control of the vehicle. Dex had never mentioned anything to Alex or Gloria but he had no doubt his biological parents had been in one of their rip-roaring arguments prior to the crash. But he’d run back to Remy’s room before he could hear more.
Fallon slung one arm over his shoulders. “Dad and Mom got along really well. I know you remember that.”
“And Dad nearly fell apart after her death. We lived with Nana and Pops for a long time until Dad was ready to handle life again and bought the house.”
“Because he felt guilty that one of his clients was angry that Dad had lost money managing his accounts, and he went after Mom in retribution.” Fallon swallowed hard, picked up a napkin, and dabbed at her eyes. “Life happens, Dex. Nobody knows that better than you. But are you really going to use your biological parents Derek and Sherry’s issues as an excuse not to live a full life?”
He didn’t know what he thought except he couldn’t get Samantha out of his mind.
“Fallon?” Brooklyn, Lizzie’s daughter, called to get her attention. The two were like sisters.
“Promise me you’ll think about what I said?” Fallon asked him.
He nodded and she turned to answer her friend, leaving Dex with his thoughts about his time on the island. Last night in the Bahamas, after bringing Samantha home from the club, he’d helped her out of the car and when she tripped on the stairs, he lifted her into his arms again and carried her to bed. He laid her down, watching her curl up, still in her dress because he was determined to be a gentleman, and fall asleep.
But not before she’d mumbled, asking him to stay. The desire to wrap his arms around her while she slept had been strong, which was why he’d escaped to his bedroom as soon as possible. Memories of that sizzling kiss had tortured him all night long.
But staying away had been the right thing to do. And that shouldn’t change. He had too much going on in his life to involve himself in Samantha’s. Not to mention the Ian issue. Even if he wished otherwise.
***
When the driver at the airport asked where Samantha wanted to go, she’d immediately said Brandy’s apartment. Since Samantha had no idea if Jeremy was still living in her place, the one he’d moved into, she’d opted for her friend’s. She’d face her ex-fiancé tomorrow, once she had a good night’s sleep and a clear head. She’d spent the day at Brandy’s and her friend had taken the afternoon off work to hang out with her.
Later that night, Samantha curled up in the corner of Brandy’s sofa, a pint of ice cream in one hand and a tablespoon in the other. If she kept up the junk eating, she’d have trouble fitting into her clothes.
“Thanks for letting me stay over,” she said.
Brandy was digging into her own pint of chocolate ice cream. “Don’t be silly. Stay as long as you want.”
“And I appreciate you holding down the fort at work while I was gone.” She didn’t know what she’d do without the one friend she knew she could trust.
“How about you stop thanking me for doing things I know you’d do for me, and tell me about your trip with the hottie quarterback,” Brandy said.
“Retired quarterback. Starting in September, he’s going to be the lead analyst for Sunday Night Football .” And Samantha was proud of him. It hurt that the only place she might see him from now on was on the television screen.
“Which means you have a good amount of time to spend with him before he begins his traveling to the games for work.”
Brandy sounded much too positive considering the state of Samantha’s life and she shook her head. “Dex did me a favor by coming to the Bahamas, but our time together is over. I have to figure out how to handle Jeremy, not a new man. Besides, I doubt I’ll be hearing from Dex again.” The thought settled like lead in her stomach.
“You don’t see the interested sparkle in your eyes that I do when you talk about Dex.” Brandy put her empty container on the coffee table, but held on to the spoon and sat back, leveling it at Samantha and using the utensil to make her point. “But I’ll let you live with your delusions for a little while longer.” She swung her feet over the edge of the sofa and rose to her feet. “Let me toss the empty containers.” She gathered up the trash and walked to the kitchen, returning with two bottles of water, handing one to Samantha.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. So, what’s your plan regarding Jeremy?” Brandy asked, settling back into her chair.
Samantha laid her head back, closed her eyes, and groaned. Then she opened her eyelids and met her friend’s gaze, determined to stop with the poor me routine. Even if it was just inside her head. “Tomorrow I’ll show up at the office and let it be known I’m back, I’m fine, and I’m in charge.”
Brandy grinned. “Damn right. Nobody gets my girl down. What about your living situation? The apartment is yours. It’s not right that he’s still there.”
Once Samantha had been settled at Brandy’s, she’d called her doorman and asked that very question. Apparently, Jeremy had no shame because he hadn’t moved out.
“You’re right. It’s mine and I want him out. My name is on the lease. If Jeremy shows up at the office tomorrow, I’ll head home and have the locks changed. Let the bastard find somewhere else to live.”
“And she’s back.” Brandy clapped her hands in approval. “You know I’ll support you, right?”
Samantha’s eyes watered at her friend’s loyalty. “I know, and I am so grateful to have you in my corner.”
“Is it awful how much I’m going to enjoy watching you take back what’s yours?” Brandy asked.
Samantha couldn’t help but laugh. “No. I’m well aware I didn’t listen to your warnings about Jeremy either.” By then, she’d been in too deep.
Curling her legs beneath her, Brandy shifted until she was comfortable. “I just knew you could do better. And he thinks way too highly of himself.”
“I can see that now,” Samantha whispered.
Brandy let out a sigh. “Don’t be hard on yourself. You aren’t the first woman to fall for a snake’s charm.”
“Well, I’m finished with this particular snake. I plan to get the best lawyer I can, so I’m going to call Ian tomorrow. I need the name of a shark.” To reclaim her business and her life.
“Did your family go home to Florida after… after Sunday?” Brandy asked, obviously tiptoeing around the words aborted wedding .
Samantha nodded. “Mom’s back home. So are my brothers and sisters,” she said, thinking of her half-siblings, too. “But Ian came back to New York to meet with some investors and to talk to me.”
“Did I mention that your brother intimidates the hell out of me? And not many people do.”
Samantha grinned. “It’s his M.O. But if you want to see his softer side, check out how he is with his wife and kids.” Thinking of her nieces and nephews always warmed her heart.
“I know, and I was kidding. Sort of. He’d do anything for you.”
She nodded in agreement. Though she wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of their conversation, she’d feel better getting the entire story of her business deal with Jeremy off her chest. Ian wouldn’t be happy but he’d help her no matter what.
“Tomorrow is going to be a long, hard day. I think it’s time to turn in for the night.” Samantha rose to her feet and Brandy did the same.
“Good night and welcome home,” her friend said. “Let me know if you need anything.” Brandy strode over and pulled Samantha into a hug. “Sleep well.”
She’d need to if she was going to be on her A game tomorrow when dealing with her employees and her ex-fiancé.