Worth the Risk (2 page)

She dropped the magazine into her lap.

“Sam,” Dean said, sitting across from her with a smile that slayed her.

“Dean,” she said, so softly, so innocently sexy, that his groin tightened.

They stared at each other. Speechless.

She still looked like an angel with a devilish edge he knew could be coaxed out with the right words. Her luscious heart-shaped lips spoke to him without movement. Honey-colored hair neatly pulled back indicated a more manicured appearance, yet there was no mistaking her youthful spirit. Her hiding behind a magazine confirmed that.

“Wow. It’s good to see you.” He stood and leaned over to kiss her cheek. The contact sent a jolt of electricity through him.

“Oh my gosh. It’s good to see you, too.” The corners of her mouth pulled upward to reveal a killer smile that brightened her almond-shaped eyes.

He carried her sweet smell back with him as he sat, and images of the two of them assaulted his mind. Like a thirty-second film clip, memories bombarded his brain in rapid succession: he and Samantha holding hands, laughing, touching, kissing, undressing.

Pausing for a moment before speaking, he
really
looked at her. God, she was even more breathtaking now. He couldn’t believe he was seeing her in the flesh.

He could tell by the way her eyes narrowed that she was sizing him up, too. The trance between them filled the air with wonder and…curiosity? Was she as interested in him as he was in her? It honestly felt like no time had passed since he’d last seen her, and suddenly he wanted something lengthier than a brief
hello
and
how are you
.

Wait.

What the hell was he thinking?

He’d come to town to get a job. A very lucrative job that would catapult his company to the top of its field and give him the distinction he craved. His father wasn’t handing over the partnership for Route 66, but was making Dean work for it.
And
adding competition from Global Site Preservation, a renowned environmental company based in Chicago with a much longer track record and better-known reputation than Dean’s.

Hooking up with Samantha would be a really bad idea. He didn’t need or want any distractions. Besides, the last time he’d seen her, she’d broken his heart.

“How’ve you been?” he asked, snapping the charged tension between them.

“I’m really well, thank you.” She cleared her throat. “And you?”

“Good. Really good.” He relaxed into the couch, his gaze stuck on the flecks of green in her blue eyes. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

She squirmed a little, her hands gripping the magazine. “I could say the same to you. I’d read you started your own company in California, contributing to the preservation of important sites and striving to guarantee future generations get the privilege of knowing their history.”

“Wow. You sound pretty knowledgeable on the subject. Have you been influenced by all the hype over environmental issues and climate change, or are you just keeping tabs on me?”

Her cheeks reddened and he imagined he’d caught her off guard with his directness. He remembered seeing her blush on several occasions that had been much more intimate.
Shit.
If he weren’t careful, he’d get a hard-on right here in front of her.

“Last I remember,” he continued, “you were headed to law school and then a career with your father’s firm, doing contract law, I think it was.” He had deliberately changed the topic of conversation to her.

“Actually, I’m in environmental law and preservation now.” She sat up taller, straightened her back. “After law school I did work for my father, but then decided to go to night school to get my MBA in Environmental Policy and Management, too. Some guy I’d met really made an impression on me, and I didn’t want to be stuck doing estate contracts the rest of my life.” Her flat tone left no doubt that she wanted to keep her distance from him.

“Sounds like a smart guy.”

“I’ve met smarter since.”

“No doubt.” He deserved that. He knew he’d broken her heart when they’d parted ways.
I’m sorry
sat on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Not yet. Not when she’d broken his heart, too. He’d known he’d never meet anyone else quite like her. So when he lost his cell phone—the only connection he had to Sam—after they split up, he’d foolishly tracked her down to surprise her. Only he was the one who’d been surprised.

And just like that, he remembered he didn’t want a long-term relationship. That work came first. Was what he looked forward to every day. The look on her face when they’d said good-bye had hurt him down to his core, but a few weeks later she’d reminded him to never waver on wanting his independence.

So why was jealousy nearly choking him now? Why was he clenching his hands? When he’d noticed her gripping the magazine, he hadn’t seen a ring on her finger, but only a fool would think she’d stayed single all these years. In his case, just looking at her made him ache to get lost somewhere remote so they could spend all day and night touching each other.

“I work for Global Site now. I’m here to meet with your father. You’re not here for the same reason I am, are you?” She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, but she looked more apprehensive than confident.

“So you’re my young, gorgeous competition.” He watched her cheeks redden further. “My contacts at Global Site speak very highly of you.”

She shifted her weight, crossed her legs at the ankle. “I doubt they included those exact adjectives, but thank you anyway. And you’re the hotshot environmentalist who’s going to give me a run for my money.”

“That your assessment or does my reputation precede me?”

“Considering I didn’t know it was your company after the account until a few minutes ago, you can rest assured I haven’t given
you
any thought until now.” A smirk crossed her face, entangling him in a situation he both relished and regretted. Dean excelled at what he did. And nepotism aside, he was the best man to tackle the Route 66 project. After all, he’d learned from the best, having worked for his father for so many years. But he wished it wasn’t Samantha he’d beat.

And he’d bet it all she
had
thought about him over the years. He’d certainly thought about her.

With more clarity than ever before, he recalled picnicking with her in Jasper National Park. They’d eaten slowly, sipping on champagne after every bite. When Samantha dropped tortellini covered in red sauce down her white shirt, he’d quickly suggested she take it off. It wasn’t the first time she’d dropped something down the front of her shirt, and he’d always tried to coax her out of the messy article of clothing.

At the sight of her silky skin he’d reached out, touched her shoulder, traced his fingertip down her arm, and circled back up her abdomen before landing at the generous swell of her breasts. She was curvy in all the right places, and over the course of the month they’d spent together he’d memorized every slope and angle. Navigating her body with his fingers had sent a rush of heat through him. The only thing better was tracing her with his tongue.

She was always so susceptible to his touch, her body responding to him like he’d had a magic wand. He wondered if he’d have the same power over her now.

“Dean?” Snapping fingers broke him free from his recollection. “You still with me? I completely understand if you need to gather your thoughts and prepare for your presentation. Don’t let me keep you.”

“Presentation?” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, back in the present where, goddamn it, he’d stay from now on. “I was just thinking maybe you’d like me to give you a few pointers on what to expect from my old man. I could fill you in on what he’s looking for. Level the playing field.” Teasing. He was teasing.

The look of betrayal on her face told him she didn’t think he was needling her. “I don’t need any inside information from you. In fact, I hope you won’t have any objection to my kicking your ass and securing the job for my employer.”

“Have at it,” he said. This Samantha was feistier than before. He liked it. He liked it a lot. But it also made him a little nervous. Sam was smart, persuasive, capable, and if he weren’t on top of his game, she’d win the contract.

The chance to work with his father again, to mend some of the hard feelings between them, was the biggest reason he was after the deal. He knew he’d never get another chance like this one.

“I mean, I’d hate to think you’d use your family ties to get the account. And I’d like to believe your father wouldn’t have invited me here if I didn’t have a chance of landing the deal.”

“You’re right—”

“So you can keep all those thoughts to yourself, Dean. I’m perfectly capable of getting down and dirty on my own.”

Blood rushed to points south. No way in hell did he want her getting down and dirty on her own. He wanted to do it with her. Preferably without clothing.
Shit.
In the course of five minutes, Samantha Bennett had emotionally and sexually hijacked him, and he didn’t know what to do about it.

“You’re right that my dad wouldn’t meet with you unless he thought you offered something top-notch.” He fell back against the chair, relaxing. At least on the outside. Inside, he felt tied up in knots. “And for your information, I had to fight for the chance to give a presentation. My dad was ready to—”

Damn. He’d said too much. He didn’t want her knowing how close she’d been to a done deal before he’d convinced his dad to give him a chance. He’d shamefully used his mother’s birthday on Sunday as a reason to visit this weekend, and then told his father that while he was here, what harm would there be in hearing him out? His ideas for Route 66 were good. Incomparably good.

Sam’s eyebrows lifted in a most appealing way. Not the look she wanted, he knew, but every move she made seemed to capture his interest in a seductive manner. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but if you think I had your dad committed over the telephone, just wait until I get him in person.”

This time confidence radiated off her in waves, making him admire her more. He gulped. She’d not only gotten prettier, but much more brash.

“Excuse me, Miss Bennett?” Gloria said from behind the reception desk. “Mr. Malloy apologizes for the delay, he was stuck on an international phone call. He’ll be right out to get you.”

“Thank you,” she responded, moving her gaze over Dean’s shoulder for the first time since he’d sat down and gotten her attention.

“Well, I can surely attest to your charms in person,” Dean said. “I remember many a day we wiled away in various stages of—”

“Dean!” The way her face alighted with delight, passion, and embarrassment all rolled into one convinced him she remembered everything, too.

He lowered his voice to a husky whisper. “Come on. Remember Vernal Falls? The truffles we had for dessert?” He hadn’t been able to look at one since without remembering the way he’d straddled her hips, nudging the bulge in his boxers between her legs and pulsing ever so slightly while he’d rolled the chocolate down her neck, then bit it in half and poured the liquor inside down her bare upper body, aiming between her breasts and trickling down to just below her belly button.

Her eyes darkened, and he noticed her chest rise and fall. “I remember.”

While his tongue had lapped up the warm liquid spread over her skin, he’d slid her panties down, haphazardly discarded his boxers, and slipped inside her. Outside. Under a blue sky littered with puffy white clouds. The memory stood as crystal clear now as it did then.

“I haven’t had one since.” Or wanted one. Not without
her
.

“Me neither.” She looked at him with such intensity, he suspected she could see into his soul. “I also remember eating some disgusting fish you caught and some weird berries that you insisted were an aphrodisiac.”

“Hey, I was young and trying to charm the pants off you however I could.”

“I seem to recall you didn’t have much difficulty in that department.” She batted her eyelashes—he knew it was unintentionally, because whenever she’d gotten a little nervous with him during that summer, she’d blinked repeatedly.

Her adorable anxiety had melted his heart then. As it did now. Maybe she wasn’t as immune to him as she’d like him to believe?

“You had a few tricks up your sleeve, too,” he said coolly.

“I did not!”

“Really? You don’t remember the time we skinny dipped in Lake—”

“Sam Bennett. Sorry to keep you waiting. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Samantha quickly stood and reached out an arm to greet the deep, masculine voice coming from behind Dean. The magazine she’d scrunched in her lap fell to the floor and Dean couldn’t help but take in every inch of her tall, curvy-in-the-right-places frame.

“Mr. Malloy. It’s so nice to meet you in person.”