Page 6 of Sweet as Sugar
He wraps me up in his warm hug and chuckles. “I’ve missed you too, sweetheart.” He pushes me away and then growls, “But you need some meat on those pretty bones! Let me get you one of my famous turkey and all the trimmings sandwiches!”
“What about the pie?” I giggle.
“There’s always room for pie afterwards!” He shuffles off to the back room.
I glance over at Belle where she’s grinning at me. “Prepare to get some meat on your bones. You know how he loves feeding people.”
I moan. “I’m not saying I don’t want that but jeez! I’m gonna have to work out like a fiend at the gym to make up for all the food I’m sure he’s gonna try and force feed me.”
“You’re perfect just the way you are. Don’t try and change a thing, Sweets.”
My head jerks up and I find myself locking eyes with Samson. He doesn’t look away either. Just keeps staring at me as he picks up his food and then turns and heads for the door. My whole body vibrates with some weird kind of longing for the giant man.
And it’s like he knows it too because as he heads out the door with everyone’s food, he glances back at me and my breath stops…just, nothing. There’s something about that look he gives me. The heat in his alpine blue gaze promises a heady, sweet reckoning that may well break both of us.
But God do I want all of it!
“What the hell was that all about? I could practically feel the heat rolling off the two of you. It was really uncomfortable to sit here and watch.”
I keep my eyes on Samson as he stalks out the door, no longer looking back at me.
I look up at her, confused. “I’m not really sure. But knowing Sam like I do, I have a feeling he won’t wait long before I find out exactly what the crazy man is talking about.”
And lord love me, I can’t wait.
CHAPTER 5
Samson
It’s been days and I haven’t been able to get near Chloe. Her mom, who I love…most of the time, has been taking her into the back office to work on some things and show her the ropes. I think that they’ve been talking about whether she’s staying or not. It’s not a question as far as I’m concerned. She’s staying.
But I can’t get alone with her without someone sneaking up and breaking up the moment. It’s driving me insane!
I growl under my breath as I watch one of the new guys set his sights on Chloe. He runs a hand over his hair and heads her way and I’m about sixty seconds from going nuclear. I tense up and shift off the wall that I’m leaning on, grunting.
“Don’t do it, Sam.”
I freeze and sigh when my dad’s hand catches my arm. “I don’t know what you mean, Dad.”
“You do. You can’t go over there and beat that poor guy to a bloody pulp just because he’s going to talk to Chloe. She’s not an idiot and she knows a player when she meets one. She’s not going to give him the time of day. So why don’t you do us both a favor and stay over here. Tell me what’s going on with you two.”
I turn to him, frustrated, shoving a hand into my hair. I throw my hands in the air and pace. “What could be going on? Every time I try and get hear her someone interrupts us.” I wave my hand over to the idiot who’s about to be shot down…I hope. “He’s had more alone time with her than I have since she’s been back. Even Belle is acting like she’s trying to keep us apart,” I growl.
Dad rolls his eyes. “You sound like a spoiled child. Like the whole world is out to get you. It’s not. Everyone is just excited to have her home. And as to Belle, she’s got her best friend back and they’re enjoying time together. You shouldn’t begrudge them that.”
I glance over at my Dad and eye him skeptically. “How do you do that? How come you’re always so calm all the time? Doesn’t anything upset you? Piss you off?”
He chortles. Actually, chortles! I mean, what the hell?
“Sure. Stuff ticks me off sometimes. But there’s nothing in this world that’s worth getting so worked up that I can’t control myself.”
My mom steps up next to him, smiling and wraps her arms around him. She puts her head on his chest and smiles. “That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with him. In a crazy world, he’s my sea of calm.”
I never really thought about it like that but he’s like this big behemoth of a guy yet so gentle and soft-spoken. He’s never raised his voice in my whole life. Not even when I ran the car off the road when I was sixteen and hit a pole.
Still totally calm he said he’d be there to pick me up and he was. Within minutes. And he never yelled. Just waited until I was done talking to the cops and then he clapped me on the back, pulled me tight into a hug that almost cracked my back and drove me back home where my mom cried and then swatted my arm for scaring her to death.
They are very different people but they work.