River of Love(9)

Chapter Six


SAM DIDN’T WANT their dance to end, but as he knew it would, the beat faded, and all that was left was the thrum of desire flowing through his veins and the urge to get to know Faith better. She gazed up at him like a deer staring down a buck—intrigued and scared in equal measure. He knew she had to return to her friends; he’d promised them he wouldn’t steal her for the night, although that was exactly what he wanted to do.

Their fingers were still laced. Before he could check his words, “Take a walk with me?” came out. A walk? He had no idea where that came from.

“What?” Her eyes widened with confusion.

“A walk. It’s what people do with their legs to get them from one place to another. Let’s get out of here and walk along the beach. I just want to talk to you, Faith. Nothing more.” Nothing more would be torture, but he wanted additional time with her more than he wanted to make a move on her.

She stared at him like he’d lost his mind, and maybe he had, but he wanted to get to know her. Faith had that weird thing going on, where she said things that made him think, and he rarely slowed down for anything.

“I can’t just leave, Sam.”

“Half an hour. That’s all.” Whispers was located at the end of Dunes Landing, a dead-end street overlooking the ocean. “They’ll still be here when we get back, and they can keep an eye on us from the deck if they don’t trust me.” Hope swelled inside him as consideration washed over her eyes.

She glanced in the direction of her friends’ table. “I can’t.”

“You can.” He lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. “I do love those sexy specs.”

“Ugh. You’re just trying to hook up with me.” She pushed away, but he still had her hand in his, and he tugged her against him again.

“Trust me, Faith. If I wanted to hook up with you, I’d never settle for half an hour—and neither would you.”

She inhaled an unsteady breath, and he liked that. He liked it a whole hell of a lot.

“Sam,” she said with slightly less determination.

“Sand between your toes. A little conversation. That’s all I’m asking for. I promise not to try anything else.” The urge to taste her luscious lips was so strong his mouth burned, but he’d gladly fight those desires for a little more time together.

She narrowed her eyes, and he reluctantly released her hand. “No tricks, no pressure. Bradens’ honor.”

“Seriously?” She laughed.

“Seriously.” Sam was raised by an ex-military father and a mother whose every word held lessons in love, loyalty, and honesty. He might go through women like water, but he had the strength and security of knowing that no matter what he or his siblings did, they would always be there for each other. As disbelief filled Faith’s eyes, he had the overwhelming desire for her to feel that security, too.

The thought hit him with the force of a bullet train.

Faith looked down at their separated hands, and when she lifted her eyes to his, he was sure she was going to blow him off. His chest constricted with the need for her to agree to the walk. Nerves pricked his arms as he tried to figure out what else he could say or do to buy a little more time with her. And then she touched his fingertips with hers and looked up at him with a half-smiling, half-serious expression.

“Give me a minute.” She headed over to her friends, leaving Sam a thread of hope to hang on to.

She leaned over the table, and all the girls leaned in, listening. Everyone nodded and smiled, except Vivian, who shifted a death stare to Sam. She turned that heated stare on Faith, and his legs flexed with the urge to protect Faith from whatever was spewing from Vivian’s lungs. But that wasn’t his place. He’d never come between Faith and her friends, and as Faith rose to her full, petite height and reached across the table to squeeze Vivian’s hand, he prepared himself for her refusal to go on their walk.


**

“IT’S ONLY A walk.” Faith wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince herself or Vivian. She felt guilty for even considering going, since she was here for a girls’ night and Vivian was leaving tomorrow. But she wanted to go, and besides, before Vivian’s last boyfriend and current hiatus from men, she’d left Faith plenty of times to be with a guy she’d met while they were out. Sam had piqued Faith’s curiosity. How many guys had asked her to go for a walk in Peaceful Harbor? Exactly none.

“He’s already promised not to try anything.” Faith wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or relieved by that promise.

“He’s dangerous for you, Faith. You’re too attracted to him, and let’s face it, as I said before, it’s guys like him that brought our group together. Why can’t you talk here?” Vivian pleaded.

She thought about Lira and all the reasons the girls had come together in the first place. She knew Vivian was looking out for her, and she knew Vivian was right. Sam posed a risk to her emotions. But there was a whisper drawing her in the other direction. She couldn’t get past the honest look in his eyes when he’d said he didn’t hurt women, or the sincerity in his voice when he’d said he wanted to help by donating to their group. That hopeful, and apparently stronger than she knew, part of herself was clinging to those things, wanting to dissect them like she would an ailment, and there was only one way to do that. Her physical safety wasn’t in jeopardy, only her emotions. Besides, if he did try something, well, wouldn’t that tell her everything she needed to know?

“Oh, let her go,” Brittany urged. “He’s such a nice guy.”

“You should have seen his face when I told him that my boyfriend invited his other girlfriend to a couple’s dinner that he’d already invited me to.” Hilary sipped her drink. “I swear he looked like he wanted to wring the guy’s neck, and he doesn’t even know me.”

Vivian narrowed her eyes skeptically in Sam’s direction. “Really? So maybe there is more to this guy than I’m giving him credit for.”

“Yup.” Hilary smiled up at Faith. “Go, but I want to hear all about it when you get back.”

“You sure you guys don’t mind? This was supposed to be a girls’ night, and—”

“If you really want to go, which it seems like you do, then go.” Vivian tapped her watch. “But you’re on the clock, and I’m holding you to it. You don’t want to waste that outfit on him all night.”

Her outfit. Geez. She’d been so wrapped up in things she’d forgotten she was wearing the skimpy skirt and a shirt that hung too low off her shoulder.

She closed her eyes tightly and recalled the confidence she’d felt when she first left the apartment. She clung to that confidence and opened her eyes, surprised to feel a little thrill about her racy outfit. “Okay, back in thirty minutes.” When she turned, bringing Sam into focus, her mind froze, and thoughts of anything other than the man before her—handsome, determined, dangerous?—fell away.

He fell into step beside her, his hand gently wrapping around her arm. Was she really walking out of Whispers with Sam Braden? The longing looks from the women she passed told her she was, and the tightening in her stomach told her maybe she shouldn’t. She slowed, but Sam’s insistent touch drove her forward.

The evening air was cool on her face, bringing her smart-girl brain back. Sam was just a guy, and this was just a walk. She tried to ignore the heat of his hand, his earthy, masculine scent, and the way he was looking at her, like she was all he ever wanted.

Her smart brain cleared that right up. Sam didn’t want just one girl, no matter what came out of his tempting, full lips.

He knelt beside her at the edge of the beach, placing his big, hot hand on her calf and threatening the brain cells she’d just salvaged.

“Hold on to my shoulder and I’ll help you with your shoes.”

No girl in her right mind could deny a sexy man kneeling at her feet. She held on to his shoulder as he removed her shoes and set them aside.

“You have cute feet,” he said as he toed off his shoes and placed them beside hers.

“I do?”

“I like your Skittles toes.” His hand landed on its new home, the back of her arm, and they stepped onto the cool sand.

“Skittles toes?” She looked down at her multicolored toes, having completely forgotten that she had painted her toenails different colors. “Oh my gosh, they do look like Skittles.”

“My favorite candy.” A breeze came off the water, sending his thick dark hair into impossibly sexy tufts.

“It is not. You’re just full of lines.” She shook her head, laughing under her breath as they walked along the shore.

“That’s not a line, actually. Skittles are my favorite.”

They fell silent for a minute as another breeze swept off the water, but heat rolled off of Sam, keeping Faith toasty warm.

“So,” she said nervously. “Now that you’ve got me out here, what did you want to talk about?”

“Everything,” he said easily. “You.”

“Me? I’m boring.”

“You’re anything but boring. Tell me about WAC. Why did you start it?” He looked at her expectantly.