Full Throttle (24 page)

Sammy giggled and the pair stared at each other
across the table. She dropped her gaze and ate daintily, with perfect manners,
but her glittering gaze shifted his way a few times, and a secret smile stole
across her mouth.

Josh was content to eat and let her eat in the
silent kitchen.

When they finished, Josh sat back and stretched.
Sammy lifted her glass and drained the last of the drops, so he reached forward
and filled her glass again.

She raised a brow and
smile.,
“I’m not sure I should have any more.”

He winked. “Why? Will it make you easy?”

Sammy lifted her gaze and something darkened her
expression. She rolled her lips inward, blushed and shook her head. “I am easy
when it comes to you, anyway. I clearly don’t need alcohol to loosen my knickers.”

The word knickers on Sammy’s lips
was
enough to make his cock pulse, but Josh sensed a small amount of embarrassment
in her tone and censure sat squarely in her expression. Her gaze dropped as if
loaded with guilt, and Josh reached out across the table for her hand. He
closed his fingers around hers and squeezed. “Hey, what was that about?”

Sammy sighed, looked at their joined hands, but didn’t
remove her fingers from his grasp.

Josh sensed she had taken a move away mentally. He
reached for her other hand and waited for her to look up. “Are you okay?” he
asked, unease dripping into his mood. Did Sammy regret them being together? Had
she finally seen what a bad idea it would be for her to be with
him.
Oh, fuck, he hoped not.

Sammy nodded, cleared her throat, and this time she
took her hands back. Josh thought she wasn’t going to talk. Her hands balled in
her lap and Sammy chewed on her bottom lip nervously. Josh thought about cleaning
up the plates. He needed action, anything to stop himself from demanding she
talk. Sammy was nothing like the women he had known before, and probably would
run, frightened, if he snapped at her.

Relief filled him as he moved to lift her plate and
Sammy spoke.

“My Daddy wouldn’t approve of you, Josh.” She lifted
her gaze and studied his face.

Josh frowned, confused by her words, but cooled by
the way she huffed a stiff laughed with no humor.

“Many fathers wouldn’t approve of me, Sammy.” He
said, picking up his drink to take a sip. A heavy weight of regret hung in his
gut. Was this the moment when Sammy informs him that he was not good enough for
her? Was this the part where Josh would be told to leave before he sully’s her
reputation for good?

Was this the moment when Sammy told him thanks for
the offer, but no thanks?

Josh stilled and waited for her rejection, though,
really he wanted to turn and get the fuck out. The echo of Penny’s parting
words filtered around his mind. That had hurt all those months ago, but he knew
this, from Sammy, would hurt even more. He shifted a little on his seat, and
after a long, prolonged moment of thought-filled silence, he stood up and
collected their plates.

“All my life, I have lived under the strict guidance,
and some would probably say, cruel oppressive restrictions my father imposed
upon me.”

Josh turned around and leaned against the sink. He
watched Sammy as she stared at her hands. Pain was in her words, but he was
steeling himself against the imminent rejection. He didn’t even know why he was
still here. He told himself it was because of the forty-eight hour thing and
not because he was hoping he was wrong.

Sammy looked up, directly at him and Josh scowled
back. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked, and he nearly swore as a light
dimmed in her eyes. But he wanted to know, so he could shore up his defenses
and not fall onto his knees to beg her to give him a chance. Fuck. The last
time he had considered begging anyone was when he was nine, and wanting his dad
to stop pounding on his mum. Josh ran his hand over his face and shoved that old,
nasty and painful memory backwards. He was a man now. Begging was not something
he would do. Not ever.

“Because I want you to understand why I am so…” She
shook her head and scrunched her nose. “Why I am such a bloody goody-goody.”
She finished, her breath leaving her in a rush.

“A goody-goody?”
Josh
mimicked. He left out the part where Sammy had
swore
. But
her words stalled in his mind, and Josh had to blink, understanding this was
not a rejection.

Sammy nodded. “I just don’t know why you’re
interested in me.” She cleared her throat, and when that didn’t work, Sammy
reached for her glass of wine and gulped.

Josh frowned. “You’re wondering what
I
see in you?” He repeated, shocked that
Sammy thought he was the better person between them. Josh knew in that moment
that Sammy had exactly the same misgivings as him. She thought she wasn’t good
enough for
him
. It was laughable. She
wasn’t going to pull the plug on what they had, or at least what they were
trying to have, she was just over-thinking it.

Josh relaxed a little and allowed himself to watch
Sammy. He really did like her, and it wasn’t just the fact she was stunning in
an I-don’t-know-it way. Sammy was lovely. Sweet, kind, thoughtful—intelligent,
and so bloody intriguing she made his head spin. The woman pushed herself to
live life her way. She had bought a bike and taught herself to ride. She’d carved
out a career for herself and gotten over the death of her parents, even come
out the other side sane. She was independent, and brave, living with a stalker
threatening her, which must be petrifying, but Sammy handled it with class.

Just like her broken leg. Sammy didn’t moan or
simper like Penny would have. She didn’t push for attention, though Josh was
willing to give it.

She was amazing, and Josh just knew, in this moment,
he was falling for her.
Hard.

She nodded. “I mean you’re—” She glanced up and
motioned to him, her eyes looking at him appreciatively which made his dick
stiffen.

“I’m...?” he prodded, liking the glint in her eye.
Josh found he liked playing with Sammy.

Sammy sucked in a breath and growled in aggravation.
“See. I can’t even find the words to tell you how handsome I think you are. How
supremely yummy you are. I am so embarrassed I’m even having this conversation
with you. But I just don’t know what you see in me. I’m not fishing
here,
I genuinely don’t know why would you want more than
one night with me.” Sammy sunk her face into her hands and groaned.
“Oh, God.
I am making a fool of myself.”

He grinned, thrilled by her words, but decided she’d
suffered enough. He moved to her side, dragged her chair out, dropped to his
knees, and pushed himself between her legs. Sammy lifted her head and Josh grinned
at her clear confusion.

“You think I’m handsome?”

Sammy groaned and tipped her head
backwards,
flashing him that sexy neck he loved to lick. Josh laughed and reached for her
head. He sunk his fingers into her hair and tipped her head forward, so she
faced him, bringing her eyes level with his.

“You see, Sammy, while you were worrying you were not
good enough for me, I was standing there waiting for you to tell me to go.”

When Sammy’s brow creased into a thoughtful frown,
Josh
huffed
a small laugh. He stroked his thumb over
her bottom lip and focused on her mouth as she rolled that lip inward and sunk
her teeth into the plump flesh. He raised his gaze.

“While you were worried about why I like you, I was
thinking about how much I would be pissed off if you asked me to leave.” Josh stood
up, but kept his hand in Sammy’s hair,
then
he lowered
his face, so their breaths mingled and lust punched him hard in the gut. “You
see, I think I have a taste for intelligent, sexy, classy women who make me
wish I’d been better at school. I think—no. It’s a fact. I know. I find you
fucking sexy, all curves and blushes. But Sammy, my favorite thing about you is
the fact that you let nothing get in your way.”

Josh watched as Sammy’s gaze went wide as if his
words shocked her. Her hands gripped the arm on the chair tightly.

He dipped his mouth and kissed her.

Sammy moaned a little, the sultry sound making him
burn instantly with need.

He pulled his mouth away and glanced down to her
bared thighs. His t-shirt looked damn good on her. Her legs were naked from the
middle of her thigh, his shirt riding high, yet covering her sex from his view.
He liked the tease of knowing all he had to do was slide his hand underneath
and he could see her core. Josh decided she could keep the shirt. In fact, he
wondered if he could demand she wore nothing but a t-shirt in his company—that,
or go naked.

He dropped his hand to her left thigh and slid his
palm upwards slowly, just like he imagined. Sammy tensed under his caress, but
instead of moving away, she parted her thighs a little, an invite that Josh was
thrilled to receive. An invite he knew no other had received. Sure, she’d slept
with other men, but Josh had no doubts that Sammy had never been so bold, so
brazen,
so
hungry in her life.

Against her mouth he muttered. “You are genuinely
the sexiest woman I have ever met.”

Sammy scoffed a little and Josh tapped her thigh.

“I mean it, Sam.” He lifted his mouth from hers and
stared into her rapt gaze. Josh pictured himself making love to Sammy on the
living room couch in the lamplight. He pictured himself sinking into her tight,
wet sheath and shoving himself balls deep, until neither of them could breathe.

He was just about to pick her up to take her to the
couch, when the sound of sirens pierced the air. Blue and red lights flowed
through the windows and Sammy gasped.

“What the…” Josh said as he stalked to the living
room window. When he pulled the curtains aside, he swore loudly.

“What is it?” Sammy asked from the chair. She was
trying to get to her good foot, her forehead creased into a deep frown. She
looked at Josh expectantly and Josh swallowed hard before he said.

“It’s your parents place. It’s on fire.”

****

Sammy stood on the sodden, wet mud surrounding her
parent’s house and stared up at the burned building coldly. There was a bustle
of people milling around as they put out the remaining blaze and the fire
engine lights flashed silently, highlighting the charred remains of her
childhood home with chilling blue light.

Sammy felt warm arms spread around her blanket-covered
shoulders a moment before Josh kissed her head and squeezed her tightly.

“You okay?” he asked.

Sammy nodded dumbly, even though it felt like her
insides were crumpling up, heavy with sadness. She had stood like this for a
couple of hours though her leg protested. Josh had helped her hurriedly dress.
Then, after a long time outside, he’d wrapped her in a heavy blanket, making
sure she was warm. But she hadn’t managed to tear her gaze away as teams of
people fought against the blaze. Josh had stayed at her side through it all,
but Sammy still couldn’t find the strength to turn away on her own.

Josh curled her in his arms, turning her away from
her old home, and hugged her tightly. Sammy stood on one foot, the other
dangled heavily as she leaned against him.

“The firemen believe it was started on purpose.”
Josh said.

Sammy had no doubts that it had been. Her father was
meticulous about making sure the heating was safe, that the electricity was top-notch.
And even though she’d not stepped foot into their home since her parents had died,
she knew there was no way it could have started naturally. She made sure all of
the utilities had been turned off. Sammy knew the fire was not naturally
caused.

Josh continued. “I told them about the letters and
messages.” He held her away from him for a moment.

Sammy glanced away from his concern.

“Are you okay,
baby
?”

A lump formed in her throat, her head spun, and her
chest grew tight as Sammy fought for breath.

Do
not cry, do not cry.
She mentally chanted, but tears still
crawled into her eyes like painful pinpricks. She tumbled back into Josh’s arms
and breathed deeply, anything not to cry, not here, not in front of so many
people. Her father’s words filtered into her mind.
Crying is for the weak.
It was all too much. First her beloved
bike, her leg, and her privacy had been stolen, since the stalker had started
his cruel tirade, then this. Sammy finally gave in.

Tears fell unchecked as she huddled into Josh. His
big arms surrounded her tightly and Sammy had never felt safer.
Ironic, considering how unsafe she actually was.
She gripped
his shirt in two fists, and when a police officer came over to talk, Josh snapped
at him and told him she would speak to them tomorrow. Words were thrown around
about there being a threatening letter attached to the front door, but Sammy
blocked out their chatter, too stricken to listen.

How
had her boring existence, her sheltered life, gone to this?