“I didn’t drop like anything. Look, I know this comes as a shock. It does to me, too, but what I feel for her is…” He searched his brain for the right word—huge? powerful? all-consuming?—and finally went with something he knew Ty would understand. “You know that feeling of reaching the peak when you climb?”
Ty nodded, his dark eyes skeptical.
“Indescribable, right? But too powerful to ignore. And, Ty, I don’t want to ignore it.” He smiled, thinking of the time he told Nate to get his ass in gear and go after Jewel. At that point Sam couldn’t ever imagine being on the other side of the fence. Now there was no place else he’d rather be.
**
FAITH WAS RUNNING on too little sleep, too much adrenaline, and still reeling from Sam’s early-morning text—Good morning, beautiful—which he’d followed up with, Miss your sweet smile. Even his texts made her heart go wild. She knew she had to be cautious and try to keep her head on straight about Sam, given his history with women, but that wasn’t easy when everything he did and said turned her inside out. She’d been blown away by his confessions and his determination to win her over, but it was her own emotions that bowled her over. Just thinking about the way her body had sparked so hot she feared she’d combust when they were together got her hot and bothered again.
Work was insanely busy again, but at least Brandy had scheduled a lunch break for her today and had offered to order food to be brought in so she could do some research for WAC.
“Brandy,” she said into the intercom. “I’ll be in the break room if you need me.”
Faith set her laptop on the table, pulled out her notebook, and began poring over the list of women’s organizations she’d jotted down.
“There’s my sweet girlfriend.”
Her head snapped up at the sound of Sam’s voice and his use of the word girlfriend, which made her stomach flutter. “Sam? What are you doing here?” He came around the table with a bag from Jazzy Joe’s Café and a smile on his luscious lips. Oh, how she loved his lips!
She’d heard girls say that one kiss could move heaven and earth, but in all her kisses, until Sam, no one had ever come close. He kissed like he did everything. He was confident and commanding with a little finesse and a whole lot of seduction.
“Having lunch with you.” He leaned down and kissed her. “Mm. I missed your kisses.”
I missed your everything. “Sam,” she whispered. “We can’t make out at my work.” No matter how much I want to. She’d relived their kisses so many times she was sure she was grinning like a lovesick fool, and because of that she’d avoided Jon as much as she could. That man had a romance radar. He’d known one of their billing clerks was in love before she did, and she wanted no part of trying to explain that she was seeing Cole’s brother. She was worried enough about how Cole might react when he found out. Either way, kissing Sam in the break room was definitely pushing the envelope.
“Who’s making out? I was kissing you hello. It’s a common greeting among people who are dating.” He sat beside her, unwrapped a sandwich, and set it in front of her, as if he hadn’t just thrown the most enticing loop into her chaotic day.
“What about Jon?” Her mind spun in too many directions to make sense of Sam, at her work, having lunch.
“Butterscotch? I just saw him in the hall.” He reached for her hand. “Are you worried about him finding out that we’re going out? That we’re dating? Because I dare anyone to stand in our way.”
God, she loved that arrogant side of him in ways she probably shouldn’t.
“Sam, this is my job.”
“I’m kidding. Jon’s cool. It’s not like we’re having sex on the lunch table.” His eyes went volcanic. “Unless you’re into that.”
She covered her face with her hands and let out a breathy, “Ohmygod.” Heat spread up her chest at the thought of having sex right there on the table. With Sam! How could she ever look at that table the same after this?
“What’s the big deal? Should I have called you first? I’m not very good at this dating stuff yet, but I’ll get there.” He sat back and his eyes went serious.
“Actually, you’re very good at this dating stuff. I’m just a little uptight about work. I love my job, and I don’t want anything to ruin that. I’m sure it’s fine. Or at least I hope it’s fine. Jon knows I wouldn’t do anything like…what you said.”
At least not when other people are in the office. Sam definitely had a magical power that made her mind go places it never had.
His lips quirked up in a devilish smile. “Whatever you’re thinking about, keep going.” He moved closer, bringing her legs between his. His hands moved up her thighs, as he touched his cheek to hers and said in a gravelly, seductive voice, “You look so hot right now. I’d like to tear those scrubs off of you and feast on your body.”
Melting. Melting. Melting. She gripped the edge of the chair, hoping she wouldn’t slither to the floor in a hot and bothered mess.
“Oh, wait,” he whispered. “We’re behaving ourselves.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, then sat back and picked up his sandwich while she tried to remember how to function.
“You should eat. You only have”—he looked at the clock on the wall—“another forty-five minutes.”
“Right.” Her voice cracked. She cleared her throat, and Sam handed her the drink he’d brought. “Thank you.” Three big gulps later she was breathing normally again, but her mind was still playing over what he’d said. Would she ever get used to this? To him?
“What’s all this?” He pointed to her notebook and laptop.
Another big drink, and she forced those dirty thoughts to the side enough to speak like someone other than a horny mess. “Remember I mentioned that I wanted to find resources for the WAC members? I’ve been putting together a list of women’s organizations that have therapists, career advisers, even legal resources.” She flipped the page and showed him another list. “These are therapy practices that work with charitable organizations throughout Maryland.”
“Is WAC a nonprofit?”
“No. When I set up the forum, I never anticipated we would be doing anything other than hosting the forums.” She pulled up the website on her laptop and showed him the monitor. “It’s free to join, and we get a handful of donations. Nothing like yours, just enough to cover some of the hosting costs. We’ve only recently begun holding in-person events like the car wash. I haven’t had time to think it all through, since the idea of doing more really just hit last weekend, but I feel good about trying to offer more for our members.”
“It looks like you’ve already made great progress. If it’s not a nonprofit, is it an LLC?”
She nibbled on her lip and shook her head. “I haven’t even gotten that far.”
“So you bought the domain and hosting, but you never registered WAC as a business?”
She shook her head, cringing inwardly.
“Well, there are things you need to do to protect yourself from being sued. Do you have a business attorney?” He suddenly sounded very businesslike, very unlike the sexy seducer who was looking at her like she was lunch a minute ago.
And she liked this side of him very much.
“No, not yet. But now it’s on my list.” She picked up a pen and scribbled business attorney.
Sam took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. “Faith, you definitely need to establish WAC as a business entity, not only because you take donations, but you’re probably liable for all sorts of things under the eyes of the law. I don’t know if you can get in any legal trouble giving out online advice, or referrals to other services you haven’t personally vetted, but we need to make sure you’re protected.”
His use of we made her stomach flutter and her heart do a little happy dance. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought about the legal side of things. It made sense to form a business entity, especially since Sam had donated so much money. Usually donations came in increments of a few dollars. His donation was beyond generous and would go a long way, especially now that there were going to be legal costs involved. But what he was doing, making sure she was legally protected, meant even more to her.
“I’ll hook you up with my buddy Brent Holloway. We grew up together and his office is right in town.” He held up his finger as he called. “Hey, Brent, it’s Sam.” He paused. “Yeah, I got that paperwork, thanks. I’m a little behind, but I’ll get right on it. I need a favor. My girlfriend’s got an online forum…”
As he explained Faith’s position to Brent, Faith reveled in how easily he said girlfriend again.
“That’s great. Hold on.” Sam moved the phone to his side and asked quietly, “He can fit us in Thursday at six thirty. Will that work?”
Us? “Yes, absolutely. Thank you.”
He leaned forward and kissed her. With a tease in his eyes he whispered, “Girlfriend,” then tugged her into another quick kiss before turning back to the call.