He’d starred in so many of her fantasies while she was in Seattle, she would have sworn she remembered every detail about him. But seeing him now she realized she’d forgotten just how flat-out sexy he was even standing still, his feet shoulder width apart, his hips tipped forward, his shoulders squared, his thumbs hooked into the front pockets of his jeans.
And how could she have forgotten that she could feel the warmth of his eyes across a crowded room?
His mouth she remembered, pressed against hers, turning her insides to liquid. The sun-streaks in his sandy-brown hair and the tan forearms showing under the rolled up sleeves of his shirt, she remembered, too. They reminded her of the horseback rides they’d talked about but never taken.
Cynthia was right. He was sexy and delicious — and staring, waiting for her to acknowledge she’d seen him. He nodded hello when she did. When his smile became a grin, a flutter of something light and free flew from the middle of her chest, released the breath in her lungs and untied the knots in her shoulders.
“Oh, my God, Sam … ” The candy bar slipped from her fingers, leaving Cynthia to lunge for it as Amanda deserted her for the front of the gallery.
When she got to him, all Amanda could say was, “It’s really you.” When he touched the glass charm she wore around her neck, she clasped his hand to her chest where she was sure he could feel her rapidly beating heart.
“I hear a rising young star in the art glass world is here tonight. Know anything about that?” he asked.
“There are several. You looking for anyone in particular?” She couldn’t seem to stop smiling, or let go of his hand.
With his left hand he tucked a curl behind her ear as he studied her face. “You look … well.”
“I’m doing okay. Except for being nervous about the exhibit. Wondering if it’s a mistake to present myself in public so soon after … well, you know … that kind of thing. I’m glad to see you, though. I was going to call this weekend, try again to get together now that this show is … ” The sentence was left dangling as she tried to calm her pulse, now at aerobic exercise levels, with deep, slow breaths. But that only brought in the smell of his clean, woodsy aftershave, which didn’t help calm anything. “Are you in Seattle for a meeting or something?”
He freed his hand and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. After he wiped a smear of chocolate off his fingers, he removed a smudge of it from her mouth. “No, like I said, I heard there was a hot new artist exhibiting here tonight.”
“You drove all the way from Portland for this?”
“Yeah. Don’t I at least get a hug for that?”
She slipped her arms around his waist and nestled against him with a sigh. He held her close and rested his cheek on the top of her head. It felt so good to be in his arms again.
Without her heels on, she didn’t quite reach his shoulder so when he released her from the embrace, she stood on tiptoe and turned her face up to get him to bend and kiss her. He didn’t need much encouragement to give her a light butterfly of a kiss that awakened a dozen of its butterfly friends in her stomach.
“I’m so glad to see you. It has been so long,” she said.
“Four months, two weeks and six days, if anyone’s counting.” The dimple in his right cheek deepened and his brown eyes lit up as he smiled again.
“Apparently you are. Does that mean you missed me, cowboy?”