Chapter 5
KANE
On the drive to Sammie's house, I can barely remember what I did today. It was all a blur. Churned through a bunch of emails. Delegated a bunch of tasks to our many assistants. I meant to start planning another round of donations, but kept zoning out.
All I can think about is Sammie, and how perfect she feels in my arms. How I think I've been dreaming of her my entire life.
I ease off the gas as I swerve slightly to avoid a pothole. It instantly makes me think about buying Sammie a truck or an SUV so I know she's safe here. These mountain roads are getting worse.
Will she even want to stay in Old Hemlock Valley, though? Am I going to need to work hard to convince her?
Pulling up in front of her house, I square my shoulders. I've never backed down from a challenge before, and I’m not going to start now. I'm going to figure this out. Learning how to make Sammie feel happy, comfortable, and content has suddenly become my new purpose in life.
This time, when I knock on the door, she flings it open and waves me in. "Hi. One sec. I just have to grab my purse."
My jaw drops as I look around the minuscule bungalow. "Wow. You weren't kidding about the kitchen."
Sammie's laugh warms my heart. "Now picture the place with the couch folded out. I'm practically crawling over everything."
Hmph. I don’t like the idea of my sweet girl sleeping on a lumpy pull-out couch. But I’ll keep that to myself for now.
She meets me back at the door, then locks it behind her. "I've been working at the little table in the corner, or at the coffee shop. But this morning, I spread out in the meeting room of the library. Thank you for that suggestion – it was great."
As we drive the few blocks to the grocery store, I remark, "You glossed over what you actually do for work. Something for your dad's company?"
"Yeah. Dad is an expert in perfecting the flow of information-rich websites. Technically it's user experience, but he's always called it online wayfinding."
I nod. “Finding your way through the site. I like it."
"They always try to get people of various ages and life experiences to do it. So Edward checks the websites targeted to young men, and I test all the ladies' sites."
"See? You are a proper lady."
I love that she feels comfy enough to reach over and lightly smack my bicep. "Ahem. Do proper ladies wear jeans and a hoodie?"
I glance over and look her up and down. She could be wearing a garbage bag and still be cute as a button to me. "Those are very nice jeans. I'll have to check you out properly later. I mean…check them out."
We're still laughing as we begin to wander through the grocery store. Just as we reach the tomatoes, my phone begins to beep, over and over.
I pull it out and flip through the flurry of incoming texts.
"Wow, you're Mr. Popular," Sammie says. "Go ahead – don’t worry about me."
"Nah, it's just business crap. The others can deal with it."
Grinning, I lift the phone and thumb the dictation button. "I have a date. I’m sure you losers can figure this out on your own." I hit send, then turn the volume right down since I know there will be a slew of follow-up questions.
"So, what shall we make for dinner?" I ask. "Sorry – maybe I should've looked up some recipes first."
Sammie shrugs. "I think I remember a great dish well enough."
"You memorize recipes?" I lift my chin to address the fluorescent lights above us. "She's beautiful and brilliant, plus, she can cook."
Sammie laughs, choosing a few tomatoes and placing them in our basket.
"Mom had a cookbook called The Urban Peasant.
I think the guy who wrote it had a TV show that she liked…
think he might have been Canadian, maybe?
Anyway, his theory was that if you put a bunch of fresh food together and cook it simply, it's going to taste wonderful. "
"I like that. Wholesome and fresh." I hold the basket aside, wrapping my free arm around her. "I've now had a chance to check these jeans out properly, and I like them a lot.”
My hand wanders all around the small of her back before grabbing her hip. Her palms land on my chest, and I dip my head to whisper in her ear. "I don't think I've ever kissed anyone right beside the onion bin. Have you?"
"No. Is it tacky?"
My eyebrow quirks up. "Do you care?"
"Nope."
Since we're in public, my intent is to give her a quick, light kiss.
Just a tease of what's to come. But it only takes three seconds for our lips to part as we breathe each other in, the basket balanced on her hip as I clutch her with both hands and hold her body to mine.
A tiny purring moan escapes her throat and sends my blood rushing south.
Good lord, this gorgeous woman makes me incredibly hard, incredibly fast. The least gentlemanly part of my brain is screaming at me to just lift her and take her to the back of my truck right now.
Our kiss goes on for far too long, until I manage to tear myself away.
Her lovely caramel eyes are slightly glazed as she blinks up at me. "That was—"
"Amazing, but terribly inappropriate behavior in front of the innocent garlic? I know."
We manage to grab the rest of the groceries and make it back to my house with only two more searing hot kisses.
When we reach my place, a strange shadow flickers in her eyes. "Something wrong?" I ask.
"Your house. It’s… How many people live here?"
"Just me."
"It's huge. Like a hotel or something."
"Really?" I laugh. "I think I have the smallest house out of the crew."
We go inside and head straight for the kitchen, where Sammie enthuses at great length over the appliances, the size of the space, and all the cooking gear I have. Then she puts me to work.
As I slice and dice, watching her every movement from out the corner of my eye, I find myself smiling. I love the way she’s shy in certain situations, but has no problem telling me exactly what to do. I love the way she can make the most mundane tasks seem fun and light.
I love…oh wow…
I love Sammie.