Autumn Wish (16 page)

Wow, what a revelation. Joe was in the past. Now, she wanted to see where things went with Sam.

But what if it doesn’t work out with Sam?

That question pushed the air from her chest until she sucked a deep breath into her lungs. Didn’t matter. She may not know if Sam was ‘The One,’ but she felt they’d connected last night on a level she hadn’t reached with Joe after an entire year, and it was suddenly very clear more time wouldn’t make any difference. In her heart, she was finally able to recognize without doubt that Joe was not her future, and dinner tonight, or any other night, would be pointless.

Now to tell him.

She glanced up at the roof where Sam worked, minding his own business as he hammered nails in the sheet of plywood he’d carried up before. Derek, Mark, and Eric, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any problems checking out what was going on down below. Didn’t matter either way. As close as Joe stood to the house, everyone could hear their conversation.

She lowered her voice. “I’m not going to be able to go to dinner with you.”

“That’s understandable. We’ll go tomorrow night instead.”

“I’m still going to have a lot to do tomorrow.” She motioned toward his car with the tool in her hand. “Listen, can we talk over there?”

He didn’t even seem to hear her as he asked, “Do you have a place to stay until everything is fixed?”

She’d originally planned to sleep on her couch, but the extent of the damage nixed that idea, and she hadn’t thought any further ahead yet. “Ah—”

“Nikki can stay with us,” Marissa chimed from where she stood listening by Derek’s truck.

“We can make room at the lodge, too,” Janelle offered.

She glanced toward the guys on the roof, then faced her sister. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate your generosity, but Mar, you know you guys don’t have the room. And Janelle, I also know the Wounded Warrior Retreat starts next week, and you guys have had a waitlist every year since you started it, so no way am I taking a room from a veteran who’s served our country.”

“Then you can move in with me,” Joe said, his tone firm, as if there were no need for discussion.

She fought to keep her jaw from dropping open. His resistance to their living together was part of the reason she’d finally forced the issue about their relationship at the beginning of August, and he’d left. Now, he’d decided she would move in with him and announce it in front of everyone?

He smiled down at her as he pried one of her hands free from the hammer. “See? I told you, I’m ready. And once the repairs are done, you could just stay with me and sell the house.”

Disbelief continued to render her speechless. He’d definitely turned over a new leaf, and yet the panic fluttering in her chest confirmed she had no lingering desire to stick with the old or examine the new. She pulled her hand from his. Her whole family was watching her, and since she’d given valid reasons why she couldn’t stay with them, she scrambled for an excuse to say no to Joe.

“Actually, I’m staying with Sam.”

The hammering on the roof lost rhythm, followed by a muffled curse.

Joe didn’t say a word in the sudden silence, but the suspicion shadowing his brown eyes spoke volumes. Eric, Mark, Marissa, and Janelle all began talking at once.

She held up her hands and spoke over the noise. “Sam’s got a spare bedroom, and since I’m already babysitting Ella during the day, he offered to let me stay with him and watch Lora’s kids at his place until my house is fixed.”

Technically, that wasn’t quite what he’d offered, but hopefully he wouldn’t contradict her.

Joe’s fists clenched at his sides as he glared toward the roof. “You
are
sleeping with him.”

Annoyance flared. She ignored the noise of more than one pair of boots descending the metal ladder behind her and tried to steer Joe toward his car, but he jerked free. Fine. She’d say what she needed to say right here and let everyone listen.

“You know what, it’s none of your business anymore—especially after Tanya.”

“Not even going to try to deny it, I see.”

“I don’t owe you any explanations, Joe. And I’ve finally realized that you were right a month ago. We’re done.”

“Is this your way of extracting a little revenge?” He drilled his dark gaze into hers. “Getting me over here so you could humiliate me in front of everyone?”

If she was completely honest with herself, she
was
enjoying the effects of his unfounded, jealous conclusions, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Right, because when you asked me to dinner I knew a tree was going to fall on my house last night.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head in disgust. “Call Tanya. Apologize to her. I’m sure you two will be very happy together.”

His gaze narrowed as it shifted past her shoulder, then back to her face. “It’s obvious to everyone what you’re doing here, Nicole. What
he’s
doing. But what happens if the kid goes away? She’s not his, so what happens to your happy little family life then?”

The hard glint in his eyes sent a shiver along her spine. She couldn’t deny she’d become attached to Ella, but that wasn’t her sole interest in being with Sam.
Was it?

A hand settled at the small of her back, and Sam stepped up beside her. Her pulse jumped to attention at the tension radiating from the six foot wall of muscle at her side. The confrontational atmosphere brought Sam’s past arrest record slamming to the forefront, and she cast him a quick, nervous glance.

He’s not worth the trouble,
she wanted to say, but his attention lasered on Joe.

“
My
family is no concern of yours, so don’t you even dare speak about my niece.” Warm fingers flexed against her back, then relaxed. “Nik’s made her feelings clear, so now it’s time for you to go.”

Joe’s gaze and bravado had faltered while Sam’s icy-calm words cut through the thick air. He backed away, then swung around to stride to his car. The Corvette roared to life, then shot down the street.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

Those fingers flexed again, then Sam’s protective touch fell away as he stepped back. “Yep.”

She turned around, her gaze darting to the others who’d made an appearance of going back to work even as they cast her and Sam curious glances. Finally, she forced her attention to his golden gaze and kept her voice low. “I’m sorry if I—”

He gave a barely perceptible shake of his head. “You don’t have to explain. The guest room is yours. As long as you need it.”

“You’re not upset with me for that?”

“No.”

He hefted another sheet of plywood from the truck and followed Eric and Mark back up the ladder to cover the last section of the roof. Though he said he wasn’t upset, he didn’t seem happy, either. Not sure what to make of his mood, she started picking up other tools around the yard as the sun began to set. Man, things were just going from bad to worse.

Once she set the last of Eric’s tools in the back of his truck, Marissa closed the tailgate. “You sure about this?” she asked in a low undertone. “Staying with Sam, I mean. Because we’ll make room for you if you’d like.”

Her family would flip if they knew what she’d learned about Sam last night. But having gotten to know him first, seeing him care for Ella with such loving tenderness, and the fact that he’d told her about his past on his own, she didn’t fear him. He’d been a kid, and kids made stupid mistakes that reliable, grown up men knew how to control.

Nikki avoided her sister’s gaze as she joked, “You’re the one who told me to have some fun with my hunky new neighbor.”

“This is completely different, and you know it. Ella complicates everything.”

“I know.”

“What about what Joe said?”

“No,” she said with another roll of her eyes. “We are not sleeping together.”

“I meant about why you’re doing this. Because for once, Joe’s right—Sam’s sister could come back at any time. Having a no-strings fling with him is one thing, but do you want a family so bad that you’re jumping into this now without considering the consequences?”

She didn’t have an answer for that. Tears stung her eyes.

“Right guy, right reason, Nikki. They go hand in hand.”

When she was confident she could face her sister without looking like she was about to cry, she said, “I like Sam, and yes, I already love Ella. But right now I’m still dealing with the fact that my house is half demolished. Staying with Sam and watching the kids at his place is a convenience, nothing more.”

Chapter 17

Sam parked his truck in the garage, then grabbed an armload of firewood on his way inside. After the past two weeks of normal September temperatures, it appeared fall was gearing up for October in a couple days with another swing toward the low end of the thermometer. Frost was in the forecast, and a fire this evening would help take the chill out of the air without having to run the furnace.

Two steps inside, he paused for his now habitual appreciative inhale. Except he was home too early for Nikki to have started dinner. The absence of succulent aromas made his stomach grumble with disappointment as he carried the wood through the quiet house to the fireplace.

The unusual quiet struck him as he straightened. He hadn’t heard his house this silent since the day Nikki had knocked on his door with Ella in her arms. Not to mention, at three o’clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday, shouldn’t Jeremy and Adam still be here?

He started up the stairs. “Nik? You home?”

No answer came back, and he verified the house was empty as he made his way past the guest bedroom and the nursery, to his own room to shower and change. On the days he came home at his regular time, the boys were gone by then, and Nikki was usually downstairs with Ella. She’d been fixing dinner each night so he could eat and go work on her place afterward. Anything he completed ahead of time would save her money once the contractors started next week.

On his way back downstairs, he thought about what to do for dinner. As torturous as it was to have her around and not touch, he’d gotten used to Nikki’s home-cooked meals. Besides the fact they were damn good, he enjoyed the two of them sitting down with Ella in her highchair, eating together, talking about their days, laughing at silly things. He loved the friendship they’d developed. Yet, along with that closeness, each day his attraction simmered closer and closer to a full boil.

The other evening, she’d met him on the porch, Ella in her arms, and the sight had taken his breath away. What a vision to come home to. He couldn’t imagine ever getting tired of her beauty or Ella’s angelic, now one-tooth grin. It was like that country song—on his front porch looking in was a damn good place to be.

Unfortunately, one particular statement echoed frequently in his head.
“Staying with Sam is a convenience, nothing more.”

Yeah. He’d walked up on the tail end of a conversation he knew she probably never meant for him to hear, but it was probably best he had, otherwise he might have read way too much into her move into his house after ending things with her ex.

Every once in a while, when the brush of her hand left his skin tingling, or if they bumped into each other at the kitchen sink, he wondered if she felt the magnetic pull, too. In his mind, the futility of resistance became more clear each day.

Except she pulled away too quickly, as if trying to avoid him, or maybe not give him the wrong idea after the previous explosive kisses they’d shared. A small part of him couldn’t help but think it might have something to do with their conversation about his less than idyllic past the night of the storm. Since then, she hadn’t given any overt indication she was interested in him beyond the friendship they’d built. Reminding himself he was nothing more than a convenience made it possible to keep his hands to himself day after day when her vanilla and almond scent lured him too close for his own good.

At the bottom of the stairs, his gaze swept past the window next to the door, then backtracked. Curtains. When had he gotten curtains? He swiveled his head around the room and noted other changes.

Plants. The first couple nights after Nikki had moved in had been during the abnormally cold days mid-month, so she’d brought over her house plants to keep them healthy. A blanket was spread across the back of his recliner. Last week he’d sat on the couch about midnight to take off his boots, and woke up a few hours later with that soft blanket draped over him.

Along with the curtains, candles, and baby stuff around the living room, the plants and blanket added a warm touch that made his house look more like a home.

It was something he’d never really had, but immediately knew he never wanted to lose. Not just the improvements in the house, but in his life. He was setting down roots for the first time ever and could imagine his future in this town with Ella.

With Nikki
.

Before the thought could solidify enough to combat the leap of his pulse, his doorbell chimed.

He strode over and opened the door to find a police officer about his own age standing on his front porch. The officer’s squad car was parked across the street, right behind a silver four-door he hadn’t noticed when he came home. Considering his late-teen dealings with law enforcement had never been pleasant, the sight of the man, and the brunette woman next to him dressed in a business suit, was not a welcome one. She was probably in her mid-thirties and projected a confident, professional air.

The woman spoke first. “Are you Samuel Mallin?”

“I am.” He flicked a glance at the officer’s badge. “Is there something wrong?”

The moment he voiced the question, Nikki’s absence rushed to the forefront. Had something happened to her and Ella? His throat seized at the possibility.

“I’m Emma Winston, and I’m a case worker for Child Protective Services. May we come in?”

He gripped the edge of the door as his gaze bounced from her extended hand, to her face, to the cop’s. “What happened? Is Ella okay? Did something happen to Nikki?”

The officer’s eyes narrowed at his rapid fire questions. “As far as we know, everything is fine.”