Chapter 16 Sam
Sam
God, I was such an idiot. I was trapped alone with a beautiful, sexy woman whom I’d been crushing on for weeks, a woman who clearly was as attracted to me as I was to her, and I was mentioning cards?
As soon as I realized that we were trapped here I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist Livi. I’d read enough forced proximity romances to know how this would end. But I needed some time to process.
The tree thing was unexpected. Livi’s complete unconcern for the loss of her car wasn’t surprising though.
I was sure that she could go out and buy a new one tomorrow – for cash.
But her reaction was more than that. She understood that her car wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things.
If the guys had left a few minutes later or we’d left a few minutes earlier, one of us could have gotten hurt. Killed even.
And the woman who drove up that first day looking like some rich princess who’d cry if she broke a nail didn’t even bat an eye at the idea that we’d be sleeping on the floor in a dark and dusty house.
Well, it wouldn’t be that dark. I had some battery operated lanterns here that we used in the rooms where we hadn’t reconnected the electricity yet. And we had running water and a refrigerator full of leftovers. We were definitely roughing it, but not too rough.
“What do you want to play?” Livi asked as we settled on a couple of folding chairs across from each other at a makeshift table where the crew set buckets of paint and other things we didn’t want to put on the floor.
It was just a long piece of plywood spread across two sawhorses, but it worked for our purposes.
“Gin rummy?” she asked.
“I don’t know why, but I’m kind of surprised that you know how to play cards.”
“Well usually I play with my gold plated cards, but I can deal for one night.”
She laughed as she saw my face. “I’m kidding. I learned how to play cards at sleepaway camp. And some of my friends in college were big card players.”
“Where did you go to college?”
“I went to Vassar for undergrad and got my MBA at Stanford. How about you?”
“I didn’t go to college. I started an apprentice program right out of high school.”
She gave me a look that had a tinge of sympathy, which caused me to add, “I could have gone to college. In fact, my father would have preferred it, but I’d been following my mother around worksites since I was a toddler, so the trades were my first love.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the trades,” she said firmly, her hand coming across the table to wrap around mine.
I realized that I was gripping the cards way too hard and relaxed my fingers.
“I really like what I do,” I said, drawing the cards away to shuffle. “I’m glad that I was born at a time and in a country where women have more options to follow their dreams.”
We chatted idly while we played cards and to my surprise, Livi was good. Although we were just playing for fun, we were evenly matched. Eventually we got hungry and raided the fridge to eat some of the leftover food. I grabbed two bottles of water, handing one to Livi.
“Oh, I’ve got an idea,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”
Turning on one of the headlamps I’d found, she headed into the basement, returning a few minutes later with two icy cold bottles of beer. I looked at her in shock.
“Where did you get those?”
She gave me a cautious look. “There’s beer in the basement.”
“There is?”
She nodded.
“And a bottle opener?” I asked.
Livi nodded again, her eyes dancing with amusement.
“Do I want to know why there’s beer in the basement at our jobsite, or who put it there?”
“You do not,” she answered. “Let’s just enjoy it while it’s cold.”
“Is there an ice chest?” Surely I would have noticed if the guys were bringing in bags of ice.
“A mini fridge.”
I shook my head. “I guess the guys really have accepted you as one of their own if they’re letting you in on the stuff they hide from the boss.”
Livi smiled. “I love working with them. I’m going to miss this place when I leave.”
“You can always commit another crime and come back,” I joked.
She rolled her eyes and took a long drink of her beer. I would have never pegged her as a beer drinker. I figured she was the kind of person who drank fruity cocktails and expensive wine.
As if she’d read my thoughts she said, “My mother hates when I drink beer. She thinks it’s too low brow for a Laurent.”
“You’re an adult,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, one thing this whole experience has shown me is that I’m way too enmeshed with my mother. Somewhere along the way I learned it was easier to go along with her and secretly rebel instead of arguing with her, which is ridiculous for a grown woman to say.”
“It’s hard to get past those family of origin patterns,” I said.
“It’s like when I’m with my dad and he starts talking about politics or something where I disagree with him, I just change the subject or nod and space out until he burns himself out because I don’t want to have a whole thing with him. So I get it.”
“This job has been good for me,” she confessed. “Being seen as a person instead of just part of the Laurent brand, no one simpering around me trying to curry favor, learning how strong and capable I am, it’s been a great experience. It’s really helped me build my self-confidence.”
I wouldn’t have thought she was lacking in that area but then again, I’d seen firsthand that she was good at putting on a front. I understood that, because I was pretty good at it myself.
“I’m glad.”
Livi shifted on the uncomfortable chair, and I gestured over my shoulder. “Maybe we should set up for the night in the dining room. It’s the cleanest space, and since it’s in the center of the house, we don’t have to worry if a tree branch or something comes through a window.”
“Sounds good.”
We cleaned up our plates and returned the leftovers to the non-operational refrigerator.
I spread out a new, clean drop cloth on the floor, then brought the blanket and lantern to the space.
The storm was still howling outside, loud and ominous, and the lantern it gave the room a warm, romantic glow that I definitely didn’t want to think too much about.
Livi dropped down next to me and we sat side by side on the drop cloth, the blanket over our laps, our backs pressed against the wall. It wasn’t really that late, but with the dark skies and lack of electricity, it felt much later than it was.
“You mentioned your dad having different politics than you before,” she said after a few minutes of silence. “How does he feel about you being queer?”
I smiled, even though she couldn’t see me.
“I’m really lucky. I didn’t have any horrible coming out story.
I realized in high school that I preferred women and when I told my parents, it was a non-issue.
They told me they loved me for who I was, and that was it.
How about you? I’m assuming that you’re bi since it was a boyfriend who got you into this situation? ”
“Yeah, I’m attracted to a wide spectrum of people, regardless of gender or orientation, but mostly I gravitate towards women.
I never really talked about this with my parents.
Dad mostly ignores the fact that I’m old enough to date anyone, and my mom’s solution is to work hard to fix me up with suitable men.
I think she’s hoping if I meet the right man I’ll forget about those pesky urges to date different kinds of people. ”
She turned to face me, her expression earnest. “The joke’s on her though. I didn’t meet the right guy. I met the right woman.”
She shifted a little closer, her hand coming to my cheek, and my breath caught in my throat.
“I met you.”