Page 34 of Sam's Salvation
To her surprise, she found he was right. She was less woozy. “Yes. My brain has stopped feeling like it’s on a tilt-a-whirl.”
“Good.”
“So, tell me about this bar?” She smiled. “You weren’t a big drinker, so why pick that?”
He shifted, coming up on the bed to sit beside her, stretching his long legs out as he took her hand again. “I decided I wanted to stay down there. But I needed a job to get a work visa. For a little while, I worked for Ford on his fishing charters, but the motion of the waves—my equilibrium can be unsteady, so it wasn’t a good fit. I had disability payments coming in, and I’d been living with Ford, so I didn’t have too many expenses. Tourism in our area was booming, so I looked into what would enhance the visitor experience. There wasn’t a nice bar people could hang out at. So, I opened one.”
“And you like it?”
“I do. Sometimes, the tourists get on my nerves, but I figured out that hiring bands for live music makes it harder for them to talk to me.” He chuckled.
Audra laughed too. “It sounds nice. Less stressful than my life.”
“Most anything is less stressful than being a spy. Especially an undercover one.”
That was true. And for the first time, she was starting to rethink her career choice. Maybe if things hadn’t gone sour with her op, she’d think differently, but she was ready to live at a slower pace.
“So, what have you been up to for the last ten years? Anything interesting, other than this case, since the one we met on?”
Audra smiled, remembering that op. A rebel faction in Africa had threatened U.S. and U.K. operations in the area. She’d been part of the intelligence arm gathering information. Sam had been the military attaché assigned to provide security for her and the other members of her joint team. She’d fallen fast and hard for him. When the op ended, they’d all been granted a couple weeks of leave. Oh so casually, she’d mentioned her intent to visit Rota, Spain after their debrief, hoping he would follow her there. He hadn’t disappointed. Her first evening in the city, he plopped down in the wrought-iron chair across from her at a small café. That sexy smile on his face said it all. She’d enjoyed their time together, had been sad when it ended. But they both knew their lives were going in different directions.
“There have been one or two fun jobs. Not anything I can really talk about. This one has been the most grueling, though. And the most exciting.”
He lifted their connected hands and put them in his lap. He traced circles on the back of her knuckles with his free hand and stared down. “I tried to keep track of you. First through official channels. When you disappeared off the radar, I worried you were dead. Even more so when even Asher couldn’t track you down.” He lifted his head to look at her. “I’m glad you’re not.”
That intense, dark blue gaze ensnared her. She’d always been captivated by his eyes. They were such a deep blue they verged on purple. For a long time, every time she looked at the twilight sky, she thought of him.
He shifted, turning onto his side, and leaned closer. His free hand came up, skimming her cheek with the tips of his fingers. She knew he wanted to kiss her. She didn’t intend to stop him.
The first touch of his mouth zapped her like a bolt of lightning. Memories flooded her head of how it felt to kiss him. To touch him. To have him hold her and make her lose her mind. The kiss they shared months ago had been so quick and so spontaneous, she hadn’t done more than just react to how it felt.
This one, though. It was slow and deliberate. It felt like the kisses they used to share. The ones that led to them tangled in the bedsheets for hours on end.
Audra raised her hand to cup the side of his face. He’d shaved this morning, and the smooth skin of his jaw glided beneath her fingers.
Cool air whispered over her chest, tightening her nipples, as the duvet slipped. Some sanity crept back in. She was naked under the blanket. And while the wanton woman in her head screamed, “Hell yes!” her battered body couldn’t handle much more than the kiss.
So, she did the prudent thing and pulled back.
He stared at her, his dark blue eyes almost black with desire. “I know you’re hurt, but when you’re all healed up—” he tugged the duvet down further and traced a circle around one nipple—“we’re going to do much, much more than share a few kisses.”
She swallowed hard. “What if I don’t want to? Getting involved again probably isn’t the best idea.”
“Oh, you want to. You can’t sit there and tell me your body isn’t wet, ready for me.” He leaned down again, his mouth just inches away.
Oh boy. She was in trouble.
“And I’ve learned life’s too short for missed opportunities, Audra. I let you go once. I’m not doing that again.”
A lot of trouble.
Sam pressed a firm kiss to her lips, then sat up. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. “I’m going to get us some breakfast. And coffee. The caffeine will be good for your head.”
Audra closed her eyes and pressed her lips together, struggling to corral her body. It didn’t like being denied, even if it was too beaten up to participate in more than kissing. “Okay. Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
Fourteen
Sam scrolled through the file of business memos Audra had emailed him and tried to pay attention to what he read. It wasn’t easy. Not only was it dull and dry, he had to ignore her perched cross-legged on the bed just feet away. She’d piled her dark hair into a messy bun on top of her head and donned that sweatshirt he bought her. She looked cute and kissable. All he wanted to do was bury his face in her neck and breathe her in.