Perfect Together (30 page)

Paul Farnsworth stepped back and studied Sam, suddenly seeing him as someone worth assessing. “What are your intentions toward my daughter?” he asked, surprising Sam by turning the conversation to the personal.

“That’s between me and Nicole.” Sam couldn’t help but play this man’s game. He didn’t like him or his smug arrogance, but mostly he didn’t like how he treated Sam’s woman.

He reached out and snagged Nicole’s hand. Let the man take
that
as an answer. As of this moment, Sam was claiming her, at least in his mind. He’d take the time to sort through what that meant to him later.

For now, he’d deal with the situation at hand. “I believe I asked you a question.”

Nicole couldn’t believe Sam was engaging her father. For her. She found the whole situation humiliating and embarrassing.

“I’ll call the police myself and cooperate,” her father said, taking Nicole by surprise. “If they have the evidence from Tyler and me to arrest him, that should protect Nicole.” He spoke to Sam as if she weren’t in the room, his tone bland, as if he were discussing a business deal, which was the way he always acted toward her.

Her father was the iceman. That had been Vicky’s name for him growing up, and she wasn’t wrong. To have Sam, who came from a perfect family—loving, caring, kind—see
her treated like that . . . She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself, unwilling and really unable to face him.

“And I’ll talk to Tyler and see what we can salvage businesswise when this is all over,” Paul continued.

Because after all, that was what mattered most to her father, Nicole thought.

Her father turned his gaze on her. “Now I suggest you and your friend head back to Serenity—”

“Serendipity,” Sam muttered, obviously disgusted that the man didn’t even know the name of the town where his daughter now lived.

Whatever, she thought. She just wanted to get out of here. “Good luck,” she said to her father.

He inclined his head. “Thank you for the heads-up. And thank you, Detective, for your help.”

The men shook hands, and none too soon Sam and Nicole were back in the car and speeding home to Serendipity. She didn’t have anything to say and kept quiet.

“That went well,” Sam said.

She leaned her head back against the seat. “About as I expected.”

Keeping his gaze on the road, he placed his hand on hers. Although his touch usually warmed her, today she was ice cold, inside and out, her father’s behavior having reminded her of her place, not just in his life, but in Sam’s.

Passing through.

“It’s almost over,” Sam said, and she didn’t know if he referred to her father’s business mess or to them. After all, considering what he’d just witnessed, she wouldn’t blame him.

“Yeah,” she said, keeping her gaze on the passing scenery
outside the car window. “It is.” She wanted nothing more than to get back to Serendipity and throw herself into her work.

At this moment she was glad he wasn’t a man looking for a serious relationship, because after viewing what she knew of love and affection, if he had been looking, he’d run far and fast from her now.

Sam couldn't remember the last time he hit up Joe’s
on a Wednesday night without looking to see if Nicole was there or knowing he’d be meeting up with her later on. But something between them had changed. He would have thought it had to do with their visit to her father, but after the trip, she’d been distant, not gone.

It was Mike’s news the following morning—that the DEA bust had been successful, with the Russians picked up en masse while taking possession of a huge drug shipment—that had caused the shift. Now that Nicole was safe from their wrath, she no longer needed Sam’s protection, and she’d pulled away. As if their relationship had been one of convenience, based solely on his need to protect her, and with that need gone, so was she.

Which made no sense to Sam. One day she’d been warm and loving; the next she’d pulled away. He didn’t know what to do, so he’d given her the space she seemed to need. He’d backed off, letting her leave for work at the crack of dawn and drive herself home after dark, with no help from him.

And unlike before, she wasn’t making time for him afterward. She’d pushed him away. He missed her like crazy and he didn’t know what to do about it. With her grand opening coming up on Monday, he gave her the space she seemed to
need, figuring he’d regroup and come at her from a different angle.

Since it was still early, Joe’s wasn’t crowded, the mood mellow. Slow music played on the jukebox and Sam nursed a beer, waiting for his brother to show.

“Problems with Nicole?” Mike asked, joining him at the bar.

Sam shrugged. “You could say that. She wants nothing to do with me.”

Mike hauled himself onto the neighboring stool and gestured to Joe. “I’ll have what Sam’s drinking. And get him another one.” Turning to Sam, he said, “You do something stupid?”

Joe slid two bottles their way.

“Thanks,” Mike said to the bartender.

Joe nodded and made his way to another customer at the other end of the room.

Sam glanced at his brother. “It’s a sad day when you’ve become the expert on women,” he muttered.

Mike raised an eyebrow. “I’ve always been the expert on women. It’s just that now I’m also the expert on keeping one.”

“Good one.” Sam let out a laugh before sobering. “Something changed. I don’t know if it had to do with me meeting her SOB father or her finding out she didn’t need protection anymore, but she froze me out.” He took a long pull of his beer, seeking solace in something, even alcohol.

Mike leaned against the old, scarred wooden counter. “When I showed up at a 911 call from a neighbor after Cara’s father abused her mother, she was mortified.” Mike’s scowl reflected just how he felt about the situation.

Sam
understood. Cara’s entire life had been shaped by the fact that her mother hadn’t left her husband.

“Cara didn’t want me to know how bad things were, and if it were up to her, it would have been worse between us once I found out.”

“How’d you get through to her?” Sam asked.

“That time? I made her sit down with me and talk.”

Sam shook his head and laughed. “That doesn’t sound like you. At that point, you were running away from commitment.”

“You see how well that worked for me. Seems like you’re going through the same thing. You didn’t want to trust any woman ever again, but as soon as Nicole moved here, you jumped in with both feet.”

If his older brother hadn’t gone through a similar experience, Sam would be embarrassed to admit his feelings. “She’s it for me.”

He shook his head, amazed he was so willing to say it out loud.

And even more amazed that he trusted her in a way he never thought he’d let himself trust again.

Sam groaned, deciding to confide in his brother. “Man, you have no idea how bad Nicole had it growing up. Her father barely acknowledges she exists. I always knew we were lucky, but seeing that?” He shuddered at the memory. “I don’t know how she ended up as warm and caring as she is.”

“Maybe that helps explain her twin?” Mike asked.

“Well, she truly has a mental illness, but having parents who don’t give a shit couldn’t possibly help her coping abilities. I said as much to her father,” Sam said.

Mike’s
eyes opened wide. “How did that go over with Nicole?”

Sam shrugged. “Not a clue. She was already withdrawing into herself.” He vividly recalled Nicole’s arms wrapped around her body, staring out the truck window, lost to him on the ride home.

“Do you remember what you told me when you showed up at my apartment after I’d left Cara and Serendipity?” Mike asked.

Sam thought back to that day. “Go big or go home?”

Mike nodded.

“Not that simple. I think Nicole needs me to build the foundation first. I haven’t given her that,” he said, feeling ashamed.

Mike’s eyes narrowed in understanding. “Only you know what your girl needs.”

Sam squared his shoulders. “Me. She needs me,” he decided, one hundred percent certain. “She has no family that truly cares about her well-being. From what I can see, she’s making real friends here for the first time. If either of us has reason not to trust in people, it’s her. And I’ve given her no reason to believe in me. In fact, I told her not to from day one.” His gut churned with the knowledge that he’d done nothing but push her away.

Mike leaned back, his gaze fully on Sam. “As someone who’s known you your whole life, I can say that
I
trust you. Just throw that Marsden focus her way and you’ll be fine.”

“That means a lot coming from you. Thanks.” Sam tipped his bottle against Mike’s.

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Something told Sam he’d be needing it.

Nicole
was tired, bone-deep tired, and she knew it
wasn’t just from preparing for her grand opening tomorrow. But she and Aunt Lulu had done it. They were ready with exactly the right menu for the morning, they’d hired one part-time and one full-time worker, and everything was a GO.

She pulled her rental car into her driveway and dragged herself out of the vehicle, wanting nothing more than a hot shower and hours of sleep. No sooner had she walked to her front door than she heard her name.

“Nicole.”

She turned to find Sam striding across the lawn, looking relaxed and tanned, a bouquet of daisies in his hand. “I wanted to wish you good luck tomorrow.” He held out the flowers, an endearing grin on his face.

The walls she’d built up since he’d witnessed her humiliating interaction with her father melted easily. “Thanks,” she said, accepting the gift.

“Just getting home?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Long day.”

“Longer week,” she said, surprising herself by laughing easily with him. She’d missed him more than she thought possible. “Would you like to come inside?”

He stepped closer and she inhaled his musky cologne, a warm familiar scent that mocked her attempts at keeping a distance. “I would, but I know you have a big day tomorrow and have to be up early.”

She nodded, disappointment filling her.

He
stepped closer, tilted her chin up with one hand. “I missed you this week.”

His minty breath tested her resolve. “I missed you too.”

He slid his lips over hers, once, twice, a third time before settling his mouth over hers. Her eyelids fluttered closed and she sighed into the kiss, knowing she was defeating the need to keep him at a distance before he pushed her away first.

His tongue swirled inside her mouth, finding an answering tug lower in her belly, a pulsing need between her thighs. She raised her hands to his hair, holding on as he seduced her with his talented mouth and tongue.

She was about to insist he needed to come inside when the loud honk of a car horn startled her and she jumped back. She jerked toward the offending sound in time to see a large white BMW pull into her driveway.

“Oh my God.”

Sam glanced at the car. “Who is that?”

She swallowed hard, nausea filling her. “My mother.”

He swore beneath his breath. She knew the feeling.

Nicole watched in disbelief as her mother’s driver stepped out of the vehicle, strode around the back of the car, and opened the door for Marian Farnsworth to climb out. That she’d made the drive to Serendipity at this hour didn’t bode well for Nicole, and she straightened her shoulders in preparation for confrontation.

“What’s she doing here?” Sam asked.

Nicole didn’t answer, already rebuilding the walls and distance she’d maintained all week. If Sam thought her father was cold, wait until he witnessed her mother in action.

Marian Farnsworth walked up the driveway, her heels clicking as she approached Nicole and Sam.

“Mother,
what are you doing here?” Nicole thought it best to get down to business.

Her mother tilted her head, her perfectly blow-dried hair sweeping her shoulder. “I came to ask you the same question. To see what’s so attractive about this small town.” She glanced at Sam, assessing him and finding him lacking, all with a single dismissive glance.

Nicole did her best not to react.

“Your father told me you paid him a visit. He appreciated the heads-up you gave him about his partner’s . . . activities. Personally, I think you should have kept quiet. Discretion being the better part of valor, after all.”

Nicole raised her eyebrow. “Too late.”

“Ah. You think this changes things? That we no longer need you to come home and fulfill your role?”

“I can’t imagine what good you think forcing me to marry Tyler will do.”

“Your father and Tyler will rebuild the firm and our standing in the community with a united front. You, darling, are the glue that will hold the families together.”

Nicole felt the weight of Sam’s disbelieving stare on both her and her mother. To his credit, he remained silent, at least so far. But shock tended to render a person mute, Nicole thought.

“Nothing has changed,” she informed her mother. “Tyler and I are finished. And my life is here now.”

Marian rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. Give your father one. It’s time to stop playing games and come home. I’m finished humoring your little crisis.”

“Be blunt, why don’t you,” Nicole muttered.

“Well, humoring you hasn’t helped.”

Nicole
stiffened. “Humoring me.”

“Yes. Letting you come here to this small town, play house, sow your . . . oats—” Marian flung a careless hand toward Sam, who watched her with an impassive expression. “You’ve had your fun. It’s time to come home and live up to your responsibilities.” Her tone lacked any lightness or warmth.

Nicole dug her nails into her hand and latched onto the only important part of her mother’s statement. “
Letting me?
You think you let me come here? I’m an adult. You don’t own me, control me, pay for anything in my life, or tell me what to do,” Nicole said, her voice rising. “And contrary to what you might think, you haven’t since I turned twenty-one and my trust fund kicked in.”

At which point she’d finished paying for her own college education, so she could have her independence.