Claiming What's His (6 page)

             
Sam had on black slacks, charcoal sleeveless blouse with the frill in the front by the buttons, and black flats.  Her ash brown hair was flat against her back, parted off to the right, and the sides tucked behind her ears.  She was staring back at Maggie’s face and knew that Maggie wasn’t lying about not knowing about Alex coming back.

             
But Sam couldn’t help that slight pang at the pit of her stomach.

Realizing she still hadn’t answered and Maggie still staring, Sam took a deep breath and muttered, “I’ll be fine.
 But I think I need to get out of here and get some fresh air.”  She turned and looked through the crowd, trying to figure out her best way out.

“You want me to go –” She heard Maggie start but Sam was already on the move.

“No, you stay.”  Sam quickly said, interrupting her, halting Maggie with a lift of her hand.  She didn’t need Maggie to go with her.  She needed to be alone.  She needed to think. 

If Maggie had gone with her, then everyone would know to get in touch with her in order to find Sam.  Sam loved Maggie but Maggie couldn’t keep her mouth shut when it was necessary, especially if it was with her family.

And at the moment, she didn’t want to be found.  She wanted to be lost, lost in her thoughts so she could try to sort things out without having anyone approaching her.

Looking up, Sam spotted him, shaking hands with everyone approaching him, smiling as each employee greeted themselves, while those who already knew him greeted him by telling him it was good to see him again.
 

When Sam noticed which direction Alex was headed through the crowd, she quickly squeezed between others waiting for their turn with the new VP, heading the opposite direction Alex headed, working her way around the back of the room, circling the conference room.

When she finally reached the elevators, she quickly jabbed the down button repeatedly, hoping that the repeated punching would bring the car up quicker.

It didn’t.

Luckily, she had others who were standing nearby to block her from Alex’s view.

             
Sam knew that this was the coward’s way out, not facing her issues head on and avoiding it altogether.  But, she wasn’t ready to face it.  She wasn’t sure if she would ever be ready; however, she would face it at a later time.  Right now, she needed to get away as quick as she could.

Sam had to turn her head to watch him by the doors, making sure he didn’t look towards her direction.
 Each time she thought he did, she ducked her head around the others standing around her.

Finally, the car arrived and she quickly jumped into the far back, along with a few others who were leaving as well.
 When the doors were closing, thinking she made a clean getaway, Alex stood in the middle of the room, head turned to the elevator, his eyes locked to hers.  

People around were just a blur, noises came to a mute, but one vision became clear as crystal.
 

Alex.

Before the doors closed, she saw his lips mouthing her name. 

*******

This had ended to be one heck of a day!

Sam had the job of a lifetime making more money than she could’ve imagined on one single job and she was able to start immediately.  She never would’ve imagined in a million, bazillion years that Alex would not only return, not only to become her boss, but she had to work with the man to solve the case, as in he was her
partner
. 

It shouldn’t matter whether he was back or not.  Other than being her boss, she wouldn’t have to socialize with him.  It
wasn’t a time or a place for her to get reacquainted with him.  She had a job to do and she planned on doing that without his distraction.

Unless, Sam decided to back out of the case.
  That would be the simple solution out.  There would be others, maybe.  But if she stayed, this case was big enough that she could make news coverage, resulting in more cases, not only in Comfort, but perhaps the surrounding major cities and even state-wide.  Whoa, that would be huge and even Sam wasn’t sure if she was ready for
huge
.

             
After escaping Conrad, Sam drove north, heading west on Highway 105. 

             
She pulled up to a one-story country style home that sat on a private land.  The dirt driveway lead in about an acre lengthwise before curving out a U and returning in the opposite direction.  There was a wrap-around porch that extended out from the front to one side of the house.  It had a rocking chair at the front and a porch swing on the side.  The front door had a storm door (as well as the back) and the front windows had tint film on them (that Mitch installed seven years ago) with plants on the windowsill.  Needless to say, Mitch kept his house very homey and feminine-friendly (which Sam was pretty sure were for his lady-friends that he refused to tell Sam about).

             
A middle-aged man in a red flannel shirt and black-tan waders walked along the side of the house carrying out his fishing gear, loading up in his truck.  She got out of her car and headed to him, waving her hand over her head. 

“Hey, Dad,” she greeted.

              “Hey, baby girl.  That piece of junk still running?”  Mitch asked as he continued towards his truck.

             
“Dad!  Don’t insult her, or I won’t make it home.  Remember what happened last time you did that?  You had to rescue me a mile from here on the side of Highway 105 where she died temporarily and you had to resuscitate her.”

             
“You’re right, you’re right.  Sorry, car,” he apologized as he waved his hands in the air.

             
“Betty.  Her name is Betty,” Sam emphasized.

             
“Right, right.  Sorry, Betty.  Please get my baby girl home in one piece, seein’ as I won’t be able to rescue her today.”

             
Sam cocked her brow at him.  “Where are you headed?”

             
“Lake Livingston.  Heard some folks said that they been catching well at night.  Thought I’d give it a try.  And I’m taking the rugrats with me.”

             
Her rugrats.

             
Buttons and Cuddles.

             
Little puppy yaps erupted as they charged out from around the corner, running as fast as they could over to Sam. 

             
Buttons was a small beige and white Shitz Tzu with a beige-tipped tail.   She had a patch of beige that covered most of one ear which made it look like she had two different-colored ears.   Cuddles was a teacup-sized black and silver Schnauzer with a tiny silver tipped (and snipped) tail.  They both recently had their bimonthly grooming so their furs were neatly trimmed and fluffy.

Sam bent down and scooped them both into her arms where the two puppies doused her face with puppy licks across her jaw line as if they hadn’t seen her in ages.  The puppy whimpers came then the cries.  They missed Sam, at least for the next two minutes before they found out they would be going on another trip with grandpa.

              Once she managed to pull herself back from their puppy licks and breathe, Sam asked, “You’re taking them?”

             
“Yeah,” Mitch replied without lifting his head up from his truck.

             
“Are you sure?” 

             
“Yeah.”

             
“Are you sure you’re sure?”  Sam repeated only because she wanted him to be sure (or more like give him a second chance to change his mind).

             
“Yeah.”

             
She sighed.  “Fine, but please watch them closely.  The last time you went fishing overnight Buttons almost never came home.”

             
“Aww, that was nothin’.  She’s a strong swimmer.  Besides, that was a one-time thing.” Mitch answered casually as if it was no big deal, which it was to Sam since it happened not long ago.  She had to make sure he understood and was aware of what he was saying.

             
“It was three days ago!”

Mitch had taken the pups fishing with him when he took his eight foot Pond Prowler Boat to the middle of the lake.  Somehow Buttons fell off the side of the boat (probably barking after she saw fishes jumping out of the water).  According to what Mitch told her, Buttons managed to paddle just fine until he was able to scoop her up with the fishing net, where she coughed up lake water. 

Let’s just say Sam wasn’t too happy about that incident when they came home.

             
Mitch lifted his head and his eyes immediately went to his daughter.  “Fine, I’ll watch them.  Would it make you feel better to know that the back trunk will be reversed up to the edge of the water bank and the kids will be back there while I fish five feet away.  I’m not taking the Prowler this time.”

That did sound better to Sam.  At least this time, they wouldn’t be in the middle of the lake where the boat can rock side-to-side or tip over, making her girls fall over.  Sam knew she was being overprotective, but she didn’t care.  These were her babies and she didn’t want anything to happen to them.  Just like any parent would for their child.  Mitch was old enough to watch out for himself so Sam wasn’t worried about him, as much.  Plus, he could swim.

              “Yes.  It makes me feel loads better,” Sam admitted.

             
Mitch closed his trunk and walked around to get behind the wheel of the truck.  “Done deal.  See you Saturday, baby girl.”

             
“Are you going to the fundraiser?” Sam asked, placing the two pups in the front seat where their extra daybed had stayed in Mitch’s truck.  They hopped out of Sam’s arm and immediately circled the bed until they found their spot and plopped down. 

             
As soon as Sam shut the truck door, Cuddles jumped up and came to the window, stepping all over Buttons’ head, wanting Sam to scratch her.  Buttons didn’t seem to mind since she continued to lay there.

             
“Of course.  I’ve been going since you were a little girl.  I haven’t missed one yet and I don’t plan to.  George and I even signed up for volunteer duty this year.”

             
Surprised, Sam raised her brow.  “Oh yeah?  And what would that be?”

             
“Ahh, baby girl.  You’ll just have to wait to find out.”  Mitch smirked and winked at her.

             
Oh God. 

             
Sam hoped it wasn’t something like the kissing booth.  The thought of her Dad sitting there kissing hundreds of different women was something she didn’t want to see firsthand, let alone get a mental image which she was currently having.  

             
She shivered slightly and shook it off, thinking there were other things, much more important things, she could be thinking of, rather than of her dad kissing lots of women.

             
Eww.

Sam drove off and arrived home thirty minutes later.
 As she walked up the steps, she heard footsteps behind her (about twenty feet she estimated), approaching closer and quicker as she made my way to the front door.  She had her left hand in her purse gripping the pepper spray and the keys in her right, shoving the key into the lock.  

When the steps stopped behind her, she whirled around and lifted the spray up, aiming and ready to spray.  A familiar voice shouted, preventing her from dousing her stalker.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!  Don’t shoot, Sam!  It’s me – Alex.”  Alex lifted his hands in surrender and took a step back.  He was still wearing his black suit from work which probably meant he never made it home to change.

But there he was. 

At her doorstep. 

In front of her.

Looking better than ever.

Wow.

When she first saw him at the office, she barely glanced at him.  Now that he was there and in person with him, she was able to get a good look at him.  He looked older, more manly and more gorgeous than before.  He gained a significant amount of muscle mass, not that Sam was complaining.  From the old Alex to the new Alex, the six years that she hadn’t seen him did him an extreme amount of good.

For a brief moment, Sam had forgotten how to breathe.  She had released a gush of air, breathing slowly to get her lungs functioning again.  That warm, gushy feeling she used to have whenever he was around came rushing back, straight to her belly.

Stop it!
She mentally shouted at herself.

He scared the hell out of her which pissed her off.  Her heart pounded in her chest.  At the moment she wasn’t sure if she was more shocked or angry.

So she went with her gut. 

             
“Alex, what the hell are you doing here this late at night?” She shouted at him.

             
He gave her a small smile.  “I’m here to see you.”