Just Like That (15 page)
Just Like That
“Girls your age.”
Danika glanced toward the doorway. Then did a double take. Sam was perched on the arm of the couch in front of a video game. “And I have a great idea.” She headed straight for Sam, wiping her hands on her apron, her heart thumping crazily, as it always seemed to do when Sam was involved. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he grinned at her. “How’s it going?”
She loved his grin. “Great.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the kitchen. “You didn’t have to do that you know.”
“It’s great. I don’t mind.”
“Did you use your right hand?” he asked.
“Of course not. But that brings something up.” She glanced at the boys sitting in front of the television. “I was thinking maybe you wouldn’t mind helping out in there.” He shrugged. “Whatever you need. I missed the balloon-blowing and the sign-hanging so I’d better do something or Sara will chew my ass.”
“Great.” She stepped around the end of the couch until she was right in front of him, then put her hands on his knees and pushed them apart. Sam didn’t resist, in spite of not knowing what he was going along with, welcoming her with hands on her hips when she stepped between his knees. She gave him a wink and raised her voice. “Oh, Sam, it’s so great that you’re going to help. Guys who can cook are
so
sexy.”
She heard the boys turning behind her. She put her arms around Sam’s neck, cupped the back of his head with her left hand and pulled him into a kiss.
Sam either caught on immediately or decided to just take advantage of the situation because his hands pulled her up against him and he deepened the kiss.
Chocolate cupcakes—and everything else in the world—were forgotten for a good minute and a half.
When they finally separated, both breathing hard and unable to do anything but stare at each other for several seconds, they had a rapt audience.
Slowly Danika became aware of the fact that all the boys had pivoted to watch and the girls had come out of the kitchen.
“Where do I get an apron?” Sam asked.
She smiled. “You can have mine.” She reached behind her, untied the apron that one of the girls had helped tie around her waist, and slipped it off. Then she put her arms around Sam, pressing close again, and held the ends behind him. He reached back and tied the ends.
“Thanks.” His voice was husky and his eyes were focused on her lips again.
“You bet. And you know, it’d be great to get some other guys to help. We have a lot to do.” Seven boys scrambled to their feet, jostling and pushing as they raced to be the first to volunteer.
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Chapter Six
Soon they had a smooth system going for creating chocolate cupcakes, with good-natured teasing and laughing mixed in.
Danika sighed happily. This was good. She felt productive.
“I can’t believe you jumped in to help out like this,” Sam said. They were standing at the end of the line, spooning batter into the baking pans, something she could do with one hand as long as Sam held the bowl and the cupcake pan.
She looked at him. He was adorable in the apron.
“Why?”
“It’s just…you don’t mind walking into a building full of strangers?” She considered that. “I guess I didn’t think of them as strangers.” It had been fun so far, and interesting to see Sam here. The kids obviously liked and looked up to him and he was easy and comfortable talking and joking with them. Of course, Sam was a big kid himself. She was certain that he played video games, basketball, pool and anything else right alongside the teens.
He stopped pouring and looked at her. “That fits, somehow.”
“What do you mean?”
“You just look at strangers as people you haven’t met yet.” She felt her mouth drop open. That was exactly what she always said when people commented on how friendly she was and what a great job she did putting her patients at ease. People were always amazed how comfortable she was in new social situations. But it never occurred to her to be nervous or self-conscious. “How do you know that?”
He frowned. “It just seems like you.”
“But…” They hadn’t talked much about work. “You’re right. I’ve always been that way. It used to freak my mother out because I’d talk to anyone. She’d tell me, “Don’t talk to strangers” so I’d tell the person my name and get theirs. Then I figured we weren’t strangers anymore.” He frowned deeper. “I can see why that would freak her out. Even as an adult you should be more careful. You can’t assume everyone you meet is friendly and just wanting to chat about the weather.”
“Are you worried about me, Sam?” she teased, sliding a pan into the oven as he held the door open.
“I don’t want to be,” he said, somewhat under his breath. “You need to use your head.” She laughed. “Thanks for the advice, Dad.”
Just Like That
Sam took her arm and turned her to face him. “Seriously, Danika. You’re sweet. You want to take care of people and help them out of their bad circumstances. That’s nice, but there are people out there who will take advantage of you. Some of them might even hurt you.” She felt her eyes go round. Wow. That was quite a reaction from a guy she’d known about a day.
“You don’t want me to talk to strangers either?”
“No.” He scowled. “You’re not taking this seriously.”
She was. His concern was touching. But she also felt almost giddy. Sam was worried about her. “Sam, I’m a social worker. Everyone I meet and need to help is a stranger. And it’s much easier to do my job if I can talk to them.”
“But you do that at the hospital, where there are other staff around, and protective procedures. You need to be careful not to let those tendencies spill over when you’re out in public, like in the parking lot, or at the mall, or whatever.” He seemed oblivious to the fact that the kids had passed down two more bowls of batter that were now sitting next to him. “In fact, when you’re in the ER I think you need to find someone to be there when you do interviews.”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’d do it every time myself, but I might not be on shift when you’re there every day.”
“You’re offering to be my bodyguard? You have a job, Sam.”
“Right. A job that has taught me that people do all kinds of stupid, mean things to other people. When I’m not there, I’ll have one of the other paramedics ready to help you out.”
“That is not in their job descriptions. That’s crazy.”
“But Dani—”
“And what about the other social workers?”
“What about them?”
“Are you going to arrange to have someone with all of them when they do interviews?” He frowned as she stumped him.
“I’m very well-trained for what I do. We have procedures and strategies to deal with hostile patients.
I’m fine.”
“But…”
She waited for him to go on, but he didn’t.
He finally gave in with a sigh. “I don’t like it.”
She felt her heart trip at his words. She lifted a hand to his cheek. “That’s sweet of you, though, to want to be sure I’m okay. If I thought of what all you do in a normal shift, I’d be crazy worrying.” Something flashed in his eyes and he leaned in. “You’d worry about me?”
“You report to fires and car accidents and domestic disturbances and a whole bunch of stuff I probably don’t even know about. There’s an inherent danger in what you do.”
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Erin Nicholas
He moved an inch closer. “It’s true. I’m at risk every day. Each shift could be my last.” She frowned at him. “What is telling me that supposed to accomplish?”
“Maybe I like the idea that you’re worried about me.”
“Maybe you’re hoping I’ll offer to nurse you back to health if you ever get shot or something.”
“Maybe. I’d probably need a few sponge baths, for instance.” And just like that he went from protective and sweet to hot and intense.
“Sam?”
“Yeah?” His eyes had darkened and he was practically standing on top of her.
“We have cupcakes to make.”
“This would be sweeter.”
She smiled. “Look to your right.”
He did. And realized they were in a roomful of impressionable teenagers. All of whom were watching them with definite interest. He coughed and stepped back, giving them a sheepish grin. “You’ll understand one of these days,” he said.
The kids were all grinning at him and Danika suspected that they already understood.
A girl stepped forward. “Here, Danika, since you were the one to get us organized, you get to try the first cupcake.”
She held out the frosted and decorated treat.
“Here, let me.” Sam took it from the girl’s fingers and peeled down one side of the paper cup. He held the cake up to Danika’s mouth. “How’d we do?”
She recognized the challenge in his eyes. He thought she’d take the cupcake from him to taste it. So she had to step forward and take a bite while Sam still held it. She watched Sam watching as her teeth sunk through the frosting and into the fluffy cake. Her lips closed around the bite and she got the first feedback from her taste buds.
Perfection.
She groaned in appreciation and heard Sam suck in a quick breath. Her eyes held his as she licked frosting remnants from her lips.
His nostrils flared and she felt a rush that went beyond anything sugar could cause.
“They’re awesome,” she announced, turning to the group. “Good job.” The kids looked very proud of themselves and she felt another little rush.
Everyone returned to mixing and filling more cupcake pans and Sam and Danika were nudged to the side.
“I do think it’s sexy when a man can cook,” she said.
Sam smiled. “A guy who won’t or doesn’t cook is one thing, but no man should ever admit that they
can’t
.”
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Just Like That
“Why?”
“If you can read, you can follow a recipe.”
“I suppose that’s technically true. But there’s more to cooking than dumping ingredients together.”
“Oh?”
“You don’t cook much?
“I eat at the hospital a lot. Or out.”
“Or women cook for you,” she added, admittedly fishing for information.
“Some,” he said without elaboration or excuse.
“And you have two sisters who cook.”
“Yeah.” He frowned.
“They weren’t willing to teach you?” she asked.
“It was never even an option. They just…” He paused. “Jessica always did everything. It wasn’t that I refused. She never asked.”
It was strange, but Danika got the impression that bothered him.
“What about Sara?”
“She watched Jessica and learned that way, I guess. She was a baby when my mom left and then she was only ten when Dad died. She clung to Jessica pretty hard. I think she learned by osmosis or something.”
“If Jessica was in charge of everything and Sara helped her, what were you in charge of?” He looked at something over her shoulder. “Nothing.”
“What do you mean? None of the cooking?”
“No. I wasn’t in charge of anything.”
“Why not?”
He didn’t answer right away and she wondered if perhaps he would change the subject. But finally he said, “Because Jessica took over like she was possessed. And I decided that…well, I’m more like my mom.”
“What does that mean?”
“My mom was a free spirit.” He smiled but it seemed strained. “She did what she wanted, when she wanted. And didn’t worry much about anyone else.”
He stopped and Danika barely resisted grabbing the front of his shirt and shaking him to make him go on. She waited patiently. Kind of.
“Jessica was like my dad. Took care of everything, gave one hundred and ten percent, never messed up. I decided that it was better for both of my sisters if they just kept on that path and never got in the habit of depending on me.”
Danika raised an eyebrow. “Conveniently.”
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Erin Nicholas
He met her eyes again and even gave her a half-smile. “It did leave more time for the arcade and batting cage.”
She smiled. But she didn’t believe him. At least, not completely.
“And girls. Don’t forget about flirting with all the girls,” she said.
“Right.” Then his attempt at joking fell away. He shook his head. “They were devastated by my father’s death. It was so sudden. And they needed him and loved him so much. They were lost. I figured I was doing them a favor if they were completely self-sufficient and not reliant on anyone like that again.” It was also clear that he believed he’d done the right thing. Or hoped he had. She didn’t like seeing Sam so…sad. It didn’t fit him.
“Doing your laundry, cooking, paying your bills was actually a favor to
them
?” she said lightly.
He tried to smile, but it didn’t quite make it to his eyes. “I did my own laundry, and made my own sandwiches. I also paid my own bills as much as possible.”
“I didn’t mean…”
“I know.” He put a hand against her cheek. “I love my sisters. I didn’t want to make them do it all, but it was the best thing I could do for them.”
“Do you think they agree?” she asked softly.
“No, but only because they didn’t see it.” He smiled. “Jessica prays for me. And lectures me. And worries about me.”
“Now Jessica is married. I assume she’s pretty attached to Ben.” Sam chuckled, which made her feel better.
“She’s attached to Ben,” he agreed.
“And she probably depends on him for some things?” she asked gently.
“Definitely.”
“But…” She sensed there was a “but”.
“But that’s his problem now.”
“Oh?”
“All I can do is make it so
I’m
not responsible for her being…” He stopped as if he’d suddenly realized what he was revealing about himself and changed his mind.
“Devastated,” she filled in.
He pressed his lips together and nodded.
“What about Sara?”
“Sara doesn’t depend on me for anything.”
“Everyone needs someone sometimes. I think there’s even a song or two about it.”
“But no one needs
me
,” he said. “That’s all I can control.”
Ah
. As long as
his
conscience was clear… “So Sara’s Jessica’s problem?” 92