LITMIR.BIZ

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eyes darted away and she took several beats to answer. “The girls from the salon, I guess. A few of them, anyway. My sister.”

      “What about your friends from high school?”

      “I didn’t really have friends. Followers was more like it, and most of them have outgrown me.”

      “Their loss,” he said, using his earlier phrase, and was rewarded with a smile. “What about your ex-boyfriend? Do you still have feelings for him? Should I be jealous?”

      “Of Jeff? No. We were over long before he left me.”

      An interesting way to phrase it. Sam couldn’t help but ask, “Could I kick his butt?”

      She smiled. “Absolutely.”

      “Good. When is your next court date?”

      “Friday.”

      “Do you want me to come?”

      She shook her head and Sam felt a surprising rush of disappointment. “I might be able to help.”

      “You already are.”

      “You can’t believe the judge will award custody to Jeff and his family. Is he even going to be here?”

      “I don’t know. But I can’t take any chances. Even if he gets joint custody, they could take Charlie from me for extended periods of time. I won’t risk it. Jeff made it clear he didn’t want to be a father, so I don’t understand why he’s letting this happen. He was never close to his family.”

      “Have you talked to him directly?”

      “I left a message on his cell phone right after the letter came. I might have sounded hysterical. He hasn’t returned my call.”

      “You’re going to have to tell your family what’s going on before it goes too much further.”

      She nodded. “I realized that tonight. If my mom finds out your dad knew before her... It’s all too much. I’m finally starting to get my life on track, with the salon and Charlie. For the first time in as long as I can remember, my mother isn’t looking at me with disappointment in her eyes. When she finds out...”

      “Vera will want to help. This isn’t your fault.”

      “It sure feels like it is.” She sank back against the couch and scrubbed her hands across her face. Sam saw pain and fear etched in her features. It gnawed away at him until he couldn’t stand it. Why was she so afraid of her mother’s judgment? Why did she think so little of herself, to believe her son was at risk of being taken away? Maybe she’d made some mistakes in her past but Sam didn’t know anyone who hadn’t. She couldn’t be punished forever.

      He might not be willing to give his heart again, but he needed to give her some comfort. He wasn’t great with words and knew that if he got sentimental, she’d only use her dry wit to turn it into a joke. Instead, he placed a soft kiss on the inside of her palm.

      She tugged on her hand but he didn’t let go. “You don’t need to do that now,” she whispered, her voice no more than a breath in the quiet. “There’s no one watching.”

      One side of his mouth quirked. “It’s a good thing, too, because what I want to do to you is best kept in private.”

      Her mouth formed a round oh and he lifted a finger to trace the soft flesh of her lips.

      “Charlie.”

      “I know.” He leaned closer. “You’re safe tonight. Almost.”

      “We shouldn’t...”

      “I know,” he repeated. “But I can’t think of anything I want more.”

      “Me, too.” She sat up and brought both of her hands to the sides of his face, cupping his jaw. “This isn’t going to get complicated, right?”

      “Other than planning a pretend wedding, a custody battle, my meddling father and a town filled with nosy neighbors? I think we can keep it fairly simple.”

      She smoothed her thumbs along his cheeks and her scent filled his head again. “I mean you and me. We’re on the same page. It’s all part of the show, the time spent together, pretending like we’re in love. It ends when we both get what we want.”

      He agreed in theory, but at the moment all Sam wanted was her. He knew telling her that would make her more skittish than she already was. He didn’t want this night to end quite yet, even if her sleeping son was going to keep the evening G-rated. So he answered, “That’s the plan.”

      She nodded then licked her lips, and he suppressed a groan. “Then it won’t matter if I do this...” She brought her mouth to his and they melted together. When her tongue mixed with his, he did groan. Or maybe Julia did. Her fingers wound through his hair and down his neck, pressing him closer, right where he wanted to be.

      He deepened the kiss as his hands found their way underneath her blouse, his palms spread across the smooth skin on her back.

      “Stop.” Julia’s breathing sounded ragged.

      His hands stilled and he drew back enough to look into her big gray eyes, now hazy with desire.

      A small smile played on the corners of her mouth. “I want to make sure we both stay in control. No getting carried away.”

      Like to his bedroom, Sam thought. All the wonderful, devilish, naked things he could do to her there ran through his brain. He wanted to know this woman—every inch of her—with a passion he hadn’t thought himself capable of feeling.

      He didn’t answer, not sure his brain could manage a coherent sentence at the moment. They stared at each other and he wondered if Julia’s heart was pounding as hard as his.

      He heard Charlie snore softly and let his eyes drift closed for a few seconds. He counted to ten in his head, thought about the pile of work waiting in his office and tried like hell to rein in his desire and emotions.

      He withdrew his hands, smoothed her shirt back down and forced a casual smile.

      “My middle name is control, sweetheart.”

      She cocked her head. “That’s a good point,” she said and didn’t sound at all as affected as Sam felt. “What is your middle name?”

      He shook his head slightly. “Matthew.”

      “Mine’s Christine,” she told him, as if she had no memory of a minute earlier when she’d been kissing him as if her life depended on it. “I’m going to get Charlie home.” She stood and picked up the sleeping boy. The Weimaraner jumped to attention and stayed close by her side.

      Sam felt off balance at her switch in mood but didn’t want to admit it. “I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, keeping the frustration out of his voice. This was a business arrangement, after all, passionate kissing aside. Maybe Julia had the right of it.

      She nodded and grabbed the diaper bag, pushing it at Sam. “If you could carry that,” she said, as if she didn’t trust him with his hands free.

      The night had cooled at least ten degrees and she shivered as she hurried down the front walk. “Do you want a jacket?” he asked, taking large strides to keep up with her.

      “I’m fine.”

      While it might be true that Sam hadn’t had any long-term relationships since moving to Brevia, and had stayed out of the dating pool totally for the past few months, his evenings never ended like this.

      Usually he was the one who put the brakes on, sexually. More than once, he’d been invited back to a woman’s house—or she’d asked to see his place—on the first date and gotten a clear signal that she’d been eager to take things to the next level. Sam was cautious and tried to not let an evening go there if he thought someone wanted more than he could give.

      Never, until tonight,

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