Seducing Sam (6 page)

But there was one thing…

Stopping, she turned back to find
Sam watching her.  “Um, Sam?”

“Yeah?”  He took a step toward
her.

Probably thought she had something
vitally interesting to tell him.  Now she cursed herself for even stopping, but
she might as well just say it.  “Ed’s not my partner.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, we just share a house.”

As though he’d care.  But being
Sam, he just smiled that friendly smile as though he was genuinely happy to
hear it.  “Okay.”

Feeling a complete idiot, Carly
turned and walked back to her house.  On the way she glimpsed Debbie standing
beside her BMW, her hands on her hips while glaring at her.  No doubt the
barking, hissing and yelling had disturbed her peace.

Talk about putting on a
performance.

Sighing, Carly took Crusher into
the house before retrieving her handbag, locking the car, and finally shutting
herself inside the house, wondering why she’d found it so important to tell Sam
that Ed wasn’t her partner.  As if he’d care.

At a sudden thought, she groaned. 
She hoped he didn’t think she was trying to flirt with him by telling him about
Ed.  Oh God!  How humiliating would that be?

Perfect way to end the day,
idiot.

A small pile of letters lay on the
table where Ed had put them when he’d come home during the day.  The writing on
the top one was enough to take her thoughts from Sam and pull them elsewhere
unpleasantly.

Tossing her bag onto the table,
she ripped open the envelope and looked at the receipt inside.  Her last rent receipt
for the flat she’d been in previously. The old flat, her old job, her old life. 
And just like that, everything came back into focus.  She had a new life now, a
new job, a new home.  Life continued

By the time Ed came home, she was
showered and dinner was almost ready.  He came in beaming.

“Got a date,” he announced.

“You have a date?”  She was
stunned.

“Yep.”

“Wow.  Are you sure that’s wise?”

“Of course it’s wise.  Why not?” 
Grabbing a jug of homemade iced coffee from the ‘fridge, he poured a glassful.  
“Got to get back in the saddle, as the saying goes.”

Carly wasn’t so sure.

“Hell, Carly, we’ve got to move
on.”  He frowned.  “I saw the envelope.”

She shrugged.  “Nothing
important.”

“Hell, yeah.  You’re dead right. 
Nothing important.”  He greeted Crusher, picking the little dog up and letting him
lick his ear.  “Hey, sport.  You been a good boy?”

“No, he’s been a bad boy,” Carly
said.  “The numbskull took off after Sam’s cat until SJ showed him who’s boss.”

“Oh.”  Ed grinned at Crusher. 
“Big, bad cat beat you up?”

“Let’s just say he put on quite a
show of howling and whimpering.”

“That’s the way to get the ladies’
sympathy.”

“Debbie wasn’t impressed.”

“Debbie can kiss my skinny arse.”

“Lovely.”  Carly turned the
burners on the stove off.  “Well, I guess you won’t be wanting tea, seeing as
you have a date.”

“Are you kidding me?  We’re
meeting for drinks at seven.  Of course I want dinner first.”  Ed sat down at
the table.  “Serve, wench.”

Rolling her eyes, Carly started to
dish up the food.  “Anyone I know?”

“Nope.  Just met this woman at the
shop today.”

“Ah.  Does she by any chance have
tats up one arm?”

“You know her?”  Ed’s brows rose.

“I think it was her I saw when I
picked up Crusher.”

“Oh.  Well then, yes, that would
be her.  Name’s Charlie.”  He eagerly eyed the heaped plate of food she placed
before him.  “She’s really nice.”

“I hope so.”  Sitting down, Carly
picked up the fork and started eating.

“She is.  I have a good feeling
about her.”

“Don’t fall too hard, too fast.”

“Geez.  I just met her.  We’re not
engaged or anything.”

Carly arched one brow.

“I’m not going into this too
fast,” he assured her.  “It’s just drinks, a get-to-know-you.  All right?”

“All right.”

Ed pointed the fork at her.  “You worry
too much.”

“And you don’t worry enough.”

“And that’s why we share a house. 
We balance each other out.”

“One of us is balanced, at least.”

“Tough words.”

“The truth always hurts.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,
Carly.”

“Okay, Uncle Ed.”

“Exactly.  Respect your elders.”

Carly flipped him the bird.

“I could ground you.”

“I could sit on you.”

“Peace.”  He held up the victory
sign.

Carly laughed.  “That’s always
your answer when you’re beaten.”

“I know when to stop fighting. 
One of us has to be mature.”

“Glad you noticed.”

“I think we’re starting to circle
the wagons again.”

“True.  So, how’s the shop going?”

His expression grew pained. 
“Really?  We’re going to talk about my successful business?”

“I’m just looking for a change of
topic.”

When his eyes gleamed suddenly,
she eyed him with foreboding.  Ed’s eyes gleaming was never a good sign.

“So, Sam,” he began.

She looked blankly at him.

“He’s good-looking.”

“Are you switching teams?”

“He’s not my type.  I like
females.  However…” Ed wiped his piece of steak through gravy.  “He could be
your type.”

“My type?”  Carly’s eyebrows shot
up.

“Sure.”

It was ludicrous.  Sam would never
go for a girl like her, and besides, she wasn’t interested in men right now. 
“Okay, let’s change topic again.”

“Fine.  So, how’s work going?”

“About as well as your shop.”

“Fantastic?”

“Okay, let’s take my reply down a
notch.”

The teasing light fading from his
eyes, Ed leaned back in the chair and studied her.  “You look tired.”

“End of the day, remember?”  She
shrugged.  “Most people are tired by the end of a working day.”

“You don’t laugh as much as you
used to.”

“Let’s not go there, Ed.”

“Fine.  Maybe you need a holiday.”

“I took several weeks off to find
a new job and shift house, remember?”

“That’s not a holiday.”

“And I need to work in this new
job to accumulate holidays, remember?”

“You could work for me and have a
holiday straight away.”

Carly wrinkled her nose.  “I
appreciate the offer, but you know me and motorbikes.  Not really my style.”

“You almost worked there.”

“I was getting desperate.”

Ed laughed.

Realising what she’d said, Carly
hastily backtracked.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.  The shop is
great, and your offer is lovely, I just….I didn’t mean….Will you shut up?”  She
threw her napkin at him.

Dodging it, Ed continued laughing.

Crusher leaped upon the napkin,
growling and savaging it before running from the kitchen, his little back feet
sliding across the tiles.

Picking up his empty plate, Ed
stood and walked to the sink, ruffling Carly’s hair fondly as he passed.  “It’s
all right, young ‘un.  I understand.  I couldn’t do what you do all day.”

Collecting her place, she joined
him at the sink.  “I do enjoy it.  Really.  It’s just…”  At his questioning
look, she sighed.  “I’m afraid my patience isn’t what it normally is, and I’m
getting a little sharp with my poor clients.  They don’t deserve it.”

“Which just proves that you need
to have a little fun, bring some light back to your life.”  Ed turned on the
taps, adding detergent to the water.  “That bastard did a real number on you,
Carly.  It’s going to leave scars.  But you need to move on.”

Carly just wished she found it as
easy as Ed to move on, but going out didn’t appeal to her.  “One day.”  When he
cast her a sideways glance, she added hastily, “Soon.  I promise.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“I bet you do.”  She smiled slightly.

By six thirty Ed was showered,
changed and out the door, roaring off on his Harley to meet his date, leaving Carly
alone with Crusher.

Having successfully killed the
napkin, Crusher now sat at Carly’s feet, his big eyes watching her every move. 
Giving him a scratch behind his ear, she laughed when his eyes grew all dreamy
and his head canted to one side, while his back leg came up to scratch at air.

“Drongo,” she said affectionate.

Crusher blinked up at her and
panted.

The evening wore on, and she
changed into a light nightie and dressing gown, settling down to watch TV. 
Time passed and she awoke from a light doze to hear loud voices and the slam of
a door.

Glancing at the clock, she saw
that it was only ten o’clock.  A muffled thump came from the front, accompanied
by a curse.

Crusher raced for the front door. 
Frowning, Carly slipped on her ballet flats and following.  From the way
Crusher was eagerly bouncing at the door, Ed was home.  Opening the wooden door,
she peered out through the security screen to see a taxi parked on the road in
front of the house.

Ed was slumped against the side of
it.

“Ed?”  Ensuring that Crusher
remained in the house, she opened the door and stepped out onto the veranda. 
“Where’s your bike?”  Concerned, she hurried down the steps.  “Did you have an
accident?”

The taxi driver looked up in
irritated relief.  “Oh good, here’s your missus.  He owes me twenty bucks.”

“Lost my wallet,” Ed slurred.

This didn’t bode well.  One look
at his face and state, and she knew the evening had gone horribly wrong.  “Are
you all right, Ed?”

“Fine.  Fine.”  He gave a drunken
laugh and almost fell over, grabbing the taxi door to regain his dubious
balance.  “Pay my fare?”  He reeled away from the taxi, wavered, and slumped to
a sitting position on the footpath.

Carly was about to ask the taxi driver
for help to get Ed inside, but one look at his irritate, distinctly unfriendly
face, had her rethinking her actions.  Instead, she raced inside, returning
with the fare Ed owed.  The taxi driver counted it, nodded at her and drove
away.

No doubt he’d had his share of
people dibbing out of paying, and no doubt been caught in the middle of things
not his business, but she was still annoyed that he couldn’t help her.

With a sigh, she knelt down beside
Ed.  “Come on, Ed. Let’s get you inside.”

“Date didn’t go well.”  He tried
to focus his eyes on her, his breath heavy with alcohol.

“So I gather.”  Sliding one arm
around his waist, she said, “Come on.  Count of three and stand.”

His limbs didn’t cooperate.

“Let’s try again.”

He managed to get one foot under
him, but when they were halfway up, his legs lost strength and he sagged back
down to the footpath.

Ed might be skinny, but he carried
weight.

Feeling more helpless by the
second, Carly tried several more times, but each time he sagged.  The term
‘legless’ definitely applied to him.

Then he started to cry, apologising
profusely while barely propping himself up on his hand.

“Sshhh, Ed, it’s going to be all
right.”  She gave him a quick hug.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Carly.”

Brushing his hair back from his
face, she straightened and bit her lip as she glanced around.  The street was
deserted.  Her gaze jumped to the two houses across the street.  No way was she
going to ask Debbie for help, but…Sam?  Unconsciously, she wrung her hands
together.  He was a big bloke, strong, he could manage Ed, but did she dare ask
him?

She considered her alternatives. 
Ring Huggie?  He’d be at home with Lisa, the boys tucked into bed, and he lived
a good half hour away.  It wouldn’t be fair to call him out.  Ed’s other
friends lived just as far away, if not further in some cases.  Her old friends
lived on the other side of the city.

Again, she looked at Sam’s house. 
Call him?  Did she dare knock on his door at this time of the night?  A light
was on in what was probably his lounge room, so he had to still be awake.

Looking down at Ed sitting on the
footpath, his crying now diminished to the odd hiccup, she watched as he tried
once more to get up, his hand shooting out from under him so that only her
quick actions prevented him from falling back onto the footpath.

No way could she do this alone. 
Taking a deep breath, she ensured that Ed was stable on the footpath, and with
a stern ‘Stay there and do not move’, she headed across the deserted street,
through Sam’s little front gate and up his garden path to the veranda.  At the
door, she took another deep, fortifying breath, and rang the bell.

It wasn’t long before the front
light flipped on, the wooden door opening to reveal Sam’s tall form standing in
his hallway.

“Um…hi Sam.”  She managed a weak smile.

Opening the door, he stepped out,
his gaze flicking around the veranda before settling on her once more. 
“Carly?”  His gaze swept assessingly up and down her body, making her suddenly
conscious of her night attire, which was old and definitely unsexy, though she
had no idea why that last thought should matter.  “Is everything all right?”

Wishing she was at least dressed,
she cleared her throat.  “I actually have a huge favour to ask.”

His brows rose.  “Oh?”

“Yeah.  Um…look, I’m afraid Ed is
a little under the weather, and I can’t get him inside on my own.”

The veranda light cast interesting
shadows across Sam’s bare chest, and standing before him, regardless of the
urgency to get Ed inside their house, she couldn’t help but be aware of the
muscles that dipped and swelled, the long hair that was loose from its usual
tie at his nape to drape across his broad shoulders.

Unbidden, her gaze fell to see
that he wore a pair of shorts slung low on his lean hips, leaving his
impressive six pack on display.