Masquerade (20 page)

Sam shut the truck door
behind me and hurried to get it. He picked up a curl of blond hair
from my shoulder. He
rubbed the strand
between his fingers before giving it a light tug and letting go.
His arms wrapped around me and towed me up against his chest. All
the breath whooshed out of me and my heart thudded. “Hey,
beautiful,” he rasped.

God, that voice of
his.
And
he knew
how to kiss. It’s like he knew exactly how to get to the very
depths inside me and lure me out and into the palm of his hand. I
could never go back to anything less ever again.

He pulled back, and I was dizzy. When
my head cleared a little I looked up – he was watching me with an
amused yet smug smile on his face. Could he possibly know what he
did to me?

I cleared my throat. “Thanks for
coming with me tonight.”

“
Where else would I be?” he
asked, lacing his fingers through mine. “Besides, I like
Kimber.”

I tried not to think about
when he was ‘dating’ her. “I guess you got to know her pretty well
when you two were together.” I wanted to kick myself for those
words.
Dumb ass.

“
I wouldn’t really say we
were together. Even then I knew she was totally hung up on Cole.
Besides, I had my eye on someone else
.” He
looked over at me and winked.

I laughed. “She must be pretty
special.”

“
Eh, she’s okay. Sometimes
she can be a real pain.”

I put my hand to my chest in mock
distress. Then I shrugged. “You should dump her.”

He laughed then laced his fingers
through mine. “That’s the thing. I kinda love her.”

My belly flipped over and my heart
skipped a beat.

“
Yeah? I
bet that she really …” As I talked I noticed a dark shape – an
animal
–
dart out onto the road. I screamed. The truck swerved
violently, and Sam jerked the wheel and let out a colorful
swear.

“
What was that?” I gasped,
trying to slow my racing heart.

“
Probably just a deer or
something.”

It didn’t look like a
deer, but I kept my mouth shut. His hands were gripping the
steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. His chest was
rising and falling as he took in short, deep breaths.

I unhooked my seatbelt and slid closer
to him. “Hey, are you okay?”

“
Put your seatbelt back
on!” He demanded.

I drew back in shock but used the lap
belt in the center. When I was done I stared out the
windshield.

Sam’s arm slid across my
shoulders and his hand splayed over my arm. “I didn’t mean to yell
at you. We almost had an accident and then you took your seatbelt
off. I was just scared you could get hurt.”

I nodded and laid my cheek against his
chest. Sam was very intense sometimes. One minute he was laughing
and teasing but the next he was rigid and protective. I often
wondered if he was so protective because I was all he seemed to
have. I wondered about his parents and why he didn’t live with
them. I was just about to ask when he spoke. The words vibrated his
chest and tickled my cheek.

“
Please don’t be upset. I
know that sometimes…I can be kind of an ass.”

“
You’re not an ass, Sam.”
Then I smiled. “But you are bossy.”

He snorted. “If I am bossy
then you are pig-headed.”

I gasped and sat up. “I am
not!”

He made the sound a pig makes and I
laughed.

Just like that the mood from earlier
returned. We laughed and teased each other until we pulled into
Kimber’s driveway.

Sam got out and came around to lift me
out of the truck. It wasn’t that high of a step but I let him help
me because I enjoyed when he touched me. As he lifted, he brought
me close and let my body slide down his. He made a deep sound in
the back of his throat and his eyes darkened.

“
Kiss me,” I
whispered.

He lifted me back off the
ground and covered my mouth with his. When he finally set me down
my skin was flushed and my vision was blurred. He chuckled at my
state and put an arm around me, leading me toward the
house.

It wasn’t fair. I always seemed to be
the one affected when we kissed.

“
How big is this party
anyway?” Sam asked as we walked along the deck toward the back of
the house.

“
She said just a few of her
closest friends.”

Sam looked over at me with a small
smile.

We rounded the corner of the house,
and I stopped cold. I absolutely should have known. There were at
least fifty people in the back yard. How had I not seen this one
coming? I felt relaxed all day thinking that this was some sort of
small get-together, so now seeing the crowd, my nerves
skyrocketed.

“
You alright?” Sam asked,
concerned, moving to stand in front of me. What a favor that was
because he blocked everyone from my sight.

“
I guess I didn’t expect
this many people.”

“
You didn’t see the cars
out front?”

I shook my head, dumbly. All I saw was
him.

“
Hey,” he said softly.
“Want to go?”

“
No! It’s Kimber’s
birthday, I cannot miss this party. She’s my best
friend.”

He nodded and turned back to the
party. I saw Kimber making her way through the crowd toward us. I
took a deep breath.

“
Would you mind sticking
close to me tonight? I don’t know many people.” He shrugged. “New
kid and all.”

Everyone loved him, and he knew it.
He’d said that for me, and I loved him for it. “Like glue,” I said,
grateful.

“
Happy Birthday!” I sang
out to Kimber and went to hug her.

“‘
Bout time you got
here!”

“
I thought this was a small
party,” I laughed, hoping my nerves didn’t show.

“
It is,” she said,
exasperated. “Gifts go on the table inside the door. There’s a
bonfire with marshmallows at the fireplace, and the food and stuff
is on the upper deck. The spiked punch is on the lower deck.” She
leaned in to whisper, then laughed. Someone called her name, and
she spun to wave. “I’ll be back,” she said, scampering
away.

I turned toward Sam. He was watching
me. “Guess I’ll go put this gift inside.”

He took my hand and deftly steered us
through the crowd. By the time we made it to the gift table I was
shaking inside. “Everyone is staring,” I said, feeling silly and
self-conscious.

“
It’s because you look so
beautiful.”

I snorted. It was very unladylike. I
gasped and brought my hand up to cover my mouth.

Sam laughed. “You’re so
cute.”

I put the gift on the table and then
turned to look out the huge glass doors at the crowd.

“
This is a nice place,” Sam
said into my ear from behind. He was standing super close, and I
knew all I had to do was lean back, just slightly, to be surrounded
by the warmth that emanated from him.

“
It’s beautiful.” Past the
multi-tiered deck and across the grass-covered lawn, the trees
seemed to part just for the gorgeous view of the rippling lake.
Evening was falling, and the sky was streaked with pink. Soon the
sun would slide beneath the water, and we would be blanketed by
night.

“
So where are the
marshmallows?” Sam asked.

I giggled and pointed through the
glass toward the lower deck. “There’s a huge stone fireplace down
there.”

“
Come on,” he said,
grabbing my hand and leading me out into the music and
crowd.

Not many people were gathered around
the fireplace, which was a relief. Sam grabbed a bag of
marshmallows off the coffee table and a long stick and sat close to
the flames. He patted the bench beside him.

“
I guess everyone’s where
the spiked punch is,” I said almost to myself.

Sam shrugged and pulled a flaming
marshmallow out of the fire. “I like them crispy.”

“
Ewww,” I said, batting it
away. “I like them lightly brown.”

He shoved his into his mouth and
grinned.

“
Be careful! That had to be
a hundred degrees!” I waited for him to scream. Surely he was
burned.

“
Taste’s good,” he said,
licking his fingers. Talk about a distraction
. How in the world could he stand his food so hot? It made me
remember that day in home-ec when he shoved the fresh from the oven
pizza right into his mouth. Just like tonight, he hadn’t even
blinked at the extreme temperature of the food.

Next thing I knew there was a perfect,
lightly-brown marshmallow in front of me. I grinned. “For
me?”

“
I wouldn’t eat that
undercooked thing.” He said, screwing up his face into a
grimace.

I laughed and accepted the
treat. I took a bite, and it was
good.
Crispy on the outside but warm and gooey inside. “Mmmm.”

“
You’ve got it all over
your lips now.” He grinned. “You’re supposed to eat it all in one
bite. Less messy.”

I made a face and started wiping at my
mouth with my fingers. He grabbed them and leaned in, his lips
doing a far better job of getting the candy. “Much better,” he
said, pulling back.

I caught movement out the corner of my
eye and looked over. Amber and a few other cheerleaders were
standing there with their mouths hanging open. I
blushed.

“
Marshmallow anyone?” Sam
smiled, holding out the bag.

I held my breath. They were going to
run off. No one wanted to hang with the disfigured girl
anymore.

“
Only if it’s extra
crispy!” Amber said, sitting near me and grabbing a stick. All the
other girls did the same.

“
Ah, a woman who knows how
to cook them. Hev likes hers
browned.
”

Amber laughed. “I know.” She turned
toward me. “Remember that insane campout we had last
spring?”

I laughed. “That was a crazy
weekend.”

“
Totally,” Amber agreed,
looking at Sam. “We decided to go hiking, and we got
lost.”

Everyone laughed at the
memory, and Sam smiled, the corners around his eyes
crinkling
.
I
grabbed his hand, lacing our fingers. “When we finally made it back
to camp, it was dark.”

“
And there was a bear
ransacking our campsite.”

“
It was eating everything
it could find!” one of the girls laughed.

Sam didn’t laugh, he stiffened. “Did
it attack you?”

I squeezed his fingers. “No. It left
when all the food was gone.”

He relaxed and smiled.

“
Yeah, and then we had to
spend the rest of the night trying to set up the bent tent and
cleaning up the mess,” Amber exclaimed.

“
Some weekend,” Sam
said, smiling. The firelight
cast a beautiful glow across his face.

“
That wasn’t even the half
of it.” Amber grinned. “But I’ll never tell…”

We all laughed. I could hardly believe
that I was sitting at a huge party with a cute guy holding my hand
and the friends I thought I’d lost all around me,
laughing.

Maybe this night wouldn’t be as bad as
I thought.

Chapter
Twelve

Heven

“
I see you’re having a good
time,” Kimber said, sliding beside me.

“
Actually I am. You throw a
good party, friend.”

“
It’s a talent.” She
sighed, taking a sip of her drink. By the way she was swaying, I
would say it was spiked.

“
Where’s Cole?”

“
Getting some food. He
thinks I need some.” She took another sip and giggled.

“
We were just thinking of
getting some food, too.”

Kimber looked past me to Sam. “Looking
good.”

Sam smiled. “How much punch have you
had, Kimber?”

“
Just a few.”

Cole walked up behind us with a huge
plate of food. “Here, Kimmie. Eat.”

She laughed. He looked at me and
rolled his eyes.

I grinned. “Hey, Cole.”

“
Birthday girl’s had too
much sauce.”

Kimber laughed.

“
We’re going to get some
food,” I told them.

“
Oooh, meet me on the dance
floor!” Kimber said.

“
Sure, Kimber.” I agreed,
hoping she’d forget.

Unfortunately, she didn’t.

Couples were dancing on the
grass beneath white lights that glittered in the trees. Kimber
managed to drag Sam and me, along with several others, onto the
dance floor with her. I tried to stay as close to the edge of trees
as possible. Sam and I moved enough to make it look like we were
trying to dance. I think Sam hated dancing more than me, which was
a little surprising. He moved so gracefully all the time, and he
always seemed so comfortable in his skin that I figured he’d be a
natural
.
Instead,
he was tense and almost nervous, his hazel eyes scanning the trees
and the shore of the lake. If he wasn’t sticking so close by I
would think he was embarrassed to be dancing with me – the girl
with no rhythm.