Storm of Desire (10 page)

“Sam can’t come to the phone now,” Aiden said. “We’re getting ready to leave…I’ll tell her. Have a good flight. See you tomorrow.” Aiden ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

“Your mother wants you to call her in a few days. She wants to talk to you.”

Sam chewed her lip. “I don’t know what to say to her.”

Aiden was by her side in two long-legged strides. He cupped her shoulders, his gaze soft. “She’s your mother, Sam. After all you learned about her, cut her some slack.”

“I know, Aiden. I’m trying. These last days have opened me up to a lot of things.”

“What things?” The hope in his eyes tore at her heart. She couldn’t give him what he wanted. Not when she didn’t know what she wanted.

“I have decisions to make. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Will you go to London?”

“I haven’t decided.” She stared into his eyes. “I’m confused. I need time.”

“I mean nothing to you then.” He said it with grim finality.

She had no words, so she reached out and touched his arm, feeling the muscles tense. “Aiden…”

His features hardened. “Your silence speaks louder than words. I’ll get your bag. Let’s go.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SAM HAD BEEN
driving more than two hours and was halfway to Richmond when tears blurred her vision, forcing her to pull into a rest stop. Barely noticing the few long-haul trucks parked nearby, she slipped into a spot and killed the engine. Leaning her forehead on the steering wheel, she let the tears flow.

Aiden’s face swam before her. The anger and the hurt in his eyes when they’d parted pierced her anew. She’d followed him off Fenwick and onto the mainland where they went their separate ways, him to his family’s bar and her to Richmond. He’d driven off without a wave or a honk of his horn, his silence plunging another arrow into her heart.

When her tears stopped, she fished a tissue out of her purse and blew her nose. She stared through her windshield out at the dull, cloudy January day. What the hell was she doing here?

The truth hit her like a wave of icy ocean water. She loved Aiden Rourke. Running from him again had solved nothing. If she continued on this path she’d lose him forever. Her career was important. But Aiden had her heart. She wanted him in her life. Could he forgive her a second time?

<><><>

She’d thought a lot on the drive back to Rehoboth and knew what she wanted to do. When the large sign announcing Rourke’s Bar & Grill came into view, her heart did a tiny flip. She pulled into a spot close to the entrance. With the noon rush over, only a few cars were in the parking lot. When she didn’t see Aiden’s pickup, anxiety knotted in her chest.

She shook her head, forcing away her tension. She’d come to find Aiden, and she would. She pulled down the car’s vanity mirror. Her eyes were still slightly red and puffy from crying. She dug in her purse for her lipstick and mascara and tried to make herself look presentable. After taking a deep breath, she exited the car.

When she entered Rourke’s, she blinked, adjusting to the dim light. The place had changed since she’d last seen it. She let her gaze wander around the room. The main area was more elegant than she remembered. The long wooden bar was still there and polished to a high gloss, but the stools and the booth seats had been reupholstered in deep red leather. Twinkling white lights bordered the paned windows. A few people sat at the bar nursing beers. A group of elderly women took up one of the tables. Two men behind the bar polished glasses. One looked at her as she approached.

His face lit in a smile and he came around to greet her. “Samantha. Good to see you again.”

She returned his smile. “Hello, Ethan.”

“You looking for Aiden?” Ethan’s blue eyes, so like Aiden’s, studied her.

“Is he here?”

“He was, but he went back to his place. You just missed him. Hold on a minute and I’ll give you his address.”

Ethan quickly wrote Aiden’s address on a piece of paper the bartender handed him, then gave the paper to Sam.

“Thanks,” she said, glancing at the address.

“Samantha?”

She raised her gaze to his.

“Good luck. My little brother can be a stubborn ass.”

Her face heated. What had Aiden told his brother? Nodding at Ethan, she hurried out.

Once in Aiden’s development of neat Cape Cods, she found his address easily, recognizing his blue pickup in the driveway. Suddenly feeling unprepared, she parked and sat unmoving, fighting the fear that had suddenly overtaken her. What if he no longer wanted her? What if what they’d shared really was revenge sex and he’d gotten his chance to walk out on her?

Finally she left the car and hurried up the walkway before she lost her nerve. Her hand shook as she grabbed the brass knocker on the front door and rapped.

No answer. Her heart rate sped up. She knocked again.

“Hold on.” Aiden’s voice. Footsteps, then the door swung open to Aiden holding his phone to his ear.

Shock registered on his rugged face. “I’ll call you back,” he said into the phone. He ended the call and set the phone aside on a small table in the entry hall.

“Sam?”

“Hi.” She hated that her voice quivered.

He held the door open and gestured her in, closing it softly after she slipped past him.

“Nice place,” she said, feigning calmness. From the entryway she could see a large living room furnished sparsely with a black leather sectional and chairs, framed by bare white walls, bare except for a large flat-screen TV mounted on one wall.

She turned to Aiden. “Don’t go in for much decorating, do you?”

He shrugged. “It’s a guy thing. What are you doing here? I figured you’d be in Richmond by now. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine.” Mustering her thoughts, she walked into the living room, then stopped and turned to face him.

He moved into the room. “Why are you here, Sam?”

They stared at each other. Sam blinked first.

“Give me your coat,” he said.

She dropped her purse on the floor and slipped off her coat and handed it to him. Aiden hung it over the arm of a chair and gestured to the sofa. “Sit.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I’m too nervous.”

He frowned. “I make you nervous?”

“You always have.”

His sculpted lips tilted in a smile. “Wonder why that is?”

Chewing her lip, she began pacing the room, not looking at him. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”

“So have I,” he said quietly.

She pivoted to face him. “You have?”

“Go on.” He waved a hand. “You’ve got the floor, counselor.”

She clasped her hands in front of her and blew out a breath. “I did a lot of thinking driving back and forth.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “You already said that.”

He wasn’t going to make it easy for her. “I’ve come to a decision about my job. And my life.”

Tension showed in every line of his body. “And…”

“I’m sure I can pass the Delaware bar. Dover’s not that far. The capital has lots of lawyers. I can get a job there. While I study for the bar maybe I can find a job as a paralegal in Rehoboth.”

He narrowed his eyes and drew closer. “What are you talking about? Don’t play with me, Sam.” His mouth was set in a thin line and anger shone from his eyes.

“I’m not playing,” she said.

“Then what the hell are you talking about?”

She reached out and touched his face. “I’m messing up. I think I need to start over. I’m moving back here, to Rehoboth.”

“Why?”

She shut her eyes for long seconds. When she opened them, Aiden was staring at her with darkened blue eyes. Unfathomable eyes.

“I did a lot of soul-searching today.” She swallowed. This wasn’t nearly as easy as she’d hoped it would be. “I realized all I want, all I’ve ever wanted, is right here. Right in front of me.”

He didn’t move. Dread filled her. She’d misunderstood. He didn’t want her. Not in that way.

“You want me?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Why? Say the words.”

“I love you, Aiden Rourke. I think I always have.”

He touched her face, gently, as if he was afraid she somehow wasn’t real. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”

“It’s true, you know. I do love you.” Anxiety swirled through her as he stared at her without speaking. “Say something, Aiden.”

“I love you, Samantha Greco.”

Joy mingled with relief, shaking her to her core. “You do?”

He nodded. “I always have. You couldn’t guess that?”

“I was afraid to hope.”

He opened his arms and she moved into them, feeling like she’d finally come home as he took her lips in a tender kiss, a kiss filled with love and promise. She kissed him back, giving him her love, her heart, and her soul.

After long minutes, they pulled apart, but Aiden kept her loosely in the circle of his arms. The love and wonder shining from his eyes sent ecstasy through her and filled the lonely places in her heart.

“I have something to tell you,” he said.

“Yes?”

“When you knocked I was on the phone with my brother Joe, asking if I could borrow his SUV. I wasn’t sure my truck could make it all the way to Richmond.”

She wound her arms around his neck. “You were coming to see me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

He smiled and brushed a light kiss on her lips. “I’ve done my share of thinking today, too. I couldn’t let you walk out of my life again. I figured you might tell me to pound sand and leave you alone, that you didn’t love me, but I had to make my case, to tell you I love you, and that I’ll go anywhere you want to live.”

“You’d move from here for me? Give up your business?”

“I’ll go anywhere you want, Sam—London, Richmond, the other side of the world. As long as we’re together I don’t care where we live.”

“You said you wouldn’t move for any woman again.”

“You’re not any woman. I’ll do whatever it takes to have you by my side. I want and need you in my life.”

“You don’t have to move anywhere, Aiden. I’m here to stay.”

He studied her, frowning. “You’re sure? I want you to be happy.”

She beamed up at him. “More sure than I’ve ever been about anything. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy.”

“Then marry me, Sam. Soon.”

EPILOGUE

THE AUGUST SUNLIGHT
filtered through the stained-glass windows, bathing the pews and the guests who crowded into the tiny church in a rosy glow. Sam held tightly to her bridal bouquet, trying for calmness. She inhaled the fresh air, laced with the salt scent of the ocean, wafting through the open doors as she waited in the vestibule for the music to signal the beginning of the service.

“Let me fix your veil,” her mother said beside her. Lisa reached over and adjusted Sam’s veil for what seemed like the hundredth time. “Your friends at Wedding Dreams Bridal over in Loving did a wonderful job, didn’t they?”

Sam caught her mother’s gaze. “They did, and everything’s fine, Mom. You’ve been fussing over me all morning.”

Lisa smiled. “I want you to look perfect.” She stepped back and scanned Sam. Tears sprang into Lisa’s dark brown eyes. “You’re so beautiful, Samantha, and I’m so proud of you.” She gripped Sam’s hand.

Sam blinked back her own tears. “You look beautiful too, Mom.” Lisa, her black chin-length hair cut in a stylish bob, and dressed in a form-fitting sea green dress that showed off her lush curves, could have passed for one of Sam’s bridesmaids and not her mother. Sam was glad she had asked Lisa to both give her away and act as her maid of honor.

Sam’s bridesmaids, two friends from high school, who had introduced her to Tami and Jennifer at Wedding Dreams Bridal, stood in front of them, waiting for their cue to walk down the aisle.

Sam and Lisa had made their peace with each other months before. One night when they met for drinks at Rourke’s after Sam had passed the Delaware bar, they’d had the talk they should have had long ago. Lisa had again apologized for her selfishness in using Kurt to help her deal with the death of Samantha’s father. She said that incident had taught her a lesson. She’d matured, turned her life around, and that had allowed her to open her heart to Sean.

Lisa and Samantha might never have the mother-daughter bond some women enjoyed, but Sam understood her mother better and had come to terms with what had happened between them. A part of her might never completely forgive Lisa, but she’d made peace with her. Better still, Sam had made peace with herself.

Sam had grown too, had opened her heart to Aiden, the man she’d always loved, but, too afraid of repeating her mother’s mistakes, she’d ignored what was in her heart.

The past was over and done. It was time for a new beginning.

A new beginning with Aiden.