The Weakness in Me (15 page)

“Hey,” Jason grabbed her waist to stop her from leaving. “I’m just trying to gauge your interest, Sammy,” Jason’s finger slid across her cheek, guiding her to look at him again. “What do you want to happen between us?” he asked, as his eyes searched hers.

“What do you mean?” she asked.
He could tell she was starting to get defensive. “What do
you
want from
me
?”She jerked her head back from his touch.

“From you, Sammy?
I want… everything,” Jason breathed.

“
Everything
? What does that mean?” she startled back on his lap, her butt falling between his thighs.

“Picket fence, minivan, two po
int five kids…,” he trailed off as their future began to take shape in his mind.

“Jason!
We’re fifteen!” Sammy’s face was showing only surprise at his candid words.

“I didn’t mean tomorrow!
” He couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped his lips at her reaction. “I’m in love with you, Sammy. I know it’ll always be you. I have no doubt about that… but I’m willing to wait until you see it, too,” he looked at her, trying to convey how serious his words were through his eyes. “I can’t let you be in this with me half-assed, or because you are feeling lonely or, I don’t even know…”

“Oh,” Sammy’s shell shocked expression was expected after the bomb he’d just dropped on her.
He watched her, carefully, as she took a couple of cleansing breaths, seemingly to collect her thoughts. “Okay,” she said, finally letting him see the emotion behind her usual calm control. “I’m in,” she beamed; before Jason pulled her down to crush his lips against hers. He consumed her with his kisses, pouring everything he had into her. She tasted like vanilla and something a little like heaven. Jason was relieved to feel the same force of emotion coming from her. If he wasn’t sold of her feelings at just her words, the submissive whimper she let loose told him that he’d zapped through the last of what she was holding back.

“Wow,” she whispered against his lips, breathless
. Her pulse raced through his fingertips at the base of her neck.

“I know,” Jason responded, shifting her on the lou
nge chair so she was on her back, his torso pressed between her thighs. They clung to each other, her hands exploring his chest, his reaching for skin under her shirt. However, with the change in position, he could now feel her trembling beneath him. He knew she wasn’t ready for this type of display yet and didn’t know what to do with the force of emotion pulsing through her and them. He’d had five years to come to grips with his love for her. He needed to give her more than five minutes to come to grips with hers for him.

Pulling away was difficult, but he knew they had time to explore their relationship now.
Next to the pool of the star football player during a cliché high school party was not the place to discover what made her moan and gasp, nor was it an appropriate place to rack up bases with the girl he was in love with. He was a gentleman, after all, even though he didn’t want to be one right now. Sitting back on the chair, he pulled her into his lap, letting them each catch their breath, as he massaged the back of her head.

“If I’d known it would be like that…,” Sammy started, relaxing against his ministrations
. Her fingers only tremors slightly as she pushed her hair from her face. “We should never stop kissing,” she chuckled, her cheeks turning a delicious shade of pink at her words.

“I’ve never been more happy to agree with you, Sammy,” Jason laughed, embracing her tightly, her head tucked under his chin.

**

“He was a no show!” Missy yelled into the receiver the
morning after she was supposed to ‘run’ into Jason at the movie theatre. She was unhappy she’d waited there two hours for nothing.

“I know, I just found out from McKenna that he forgot his
stupid inhaler and had to go back for it. She doesn’t have time to reschedule, so he’s going to take Samantha,” Jamie growled her disapproval. “If he’d just follow Sven’s advice, he’d be cured and we wouldn’t have to deal with setbacks like this!”

“So this plan is off?” Missy whined.
“I mean, everything else we had planned depended on this ‘chance’ meeting without Sammy around, right?”

“Yeah, you already saw them at the grocery store, I don’t want an ugly scene again, and I know he’ll cause one if she’s beside him,” she sighed, grabbing the flask from her purse and taking a swig as she turned onto the street where Jason’s condo was.
“I’m going to pop in on him now before he leaves for her house. I want to make him a little late.”

“What about Garrett?” Missy offered out of the blue.

“What about him?” she asked, pulling into the parking lot to find Jason’s truck already gone. She slammed her hand against the steering wheel and took the garlic pills Sven had given her from the glove box for situations when she couldn’t use her incense. Pulling one from the bottle, she washed it down with a swallow from her flask.

“Well, Garrett wanted Samantha
badly
in high school,” Missy started, “and he was so mad when not long after they were on the road to getting together, she took a hard left and ended up with Jason,” Missy explained, picking at her nails as she sat at her cracked white Formica kitchen table, watching the neighbor’s kids lining up for the bus.

“Okay?”
Jamie drummed her fingers on the center console waiting for Missy to get to the part that would make her happy again.

“Well, Garrett was Chester’s best friend, and he’d do
anything
for me,” she paused, “and it just so happens, he has a new hunting expedition company that needs some PR,” she purred her idea into the phone, getting excited as she worked out the details in her head. “Wouldn’t Samantha’s company just be a perfect place to get his business? All that time together pouring over ideas and contracts, could get steamy, don’t you think?” Missy asked, her tone suggestive.

“This is why I love you, Missy!
That’s perfect! Have him set up a meeting right away! Her husband’s been dead for almost six months now, she’s bound to just fall into bed with Garrett! I mean six months without sex has
got
to be like two years to a girl like her,” Jamie put her car in gear and backed out of the spot she’d been sitting in, and headed back to her house to await news that Jason would no longer be Samantha Castle’s willing little puppy dog.

**

Samantha looked at her appointment book for the day and sighed. She’d wanted to get home at a reasonable hour tonight, maybe have some dinner that wasn’t take out. It didn’t seem like the universe was going to let that happen, though. Growling at her tendency to be a workaholic, she picked up her phone and dialed Jason’s number.

“Hey Sammy, what’s up?” he asked.

“Do you have plans tonight?” she barked into the phone.

“What did you have in mind?” he answered, huskily.
She could almost see him waggling his eyebrows at her.

Blushing and suppressing a giggle
at the thought, she told him, “I just had an appointment pop up and I’m going to be late again tonight. I wondered if you could stick around with Corigan or if I needed to call my mom?”

“I can do it,” he agreed.
“Miranda is going to pick up Lucas around two and we were going to have some tea and catch up, if that’s okay?”

“
Tea?! Man, you really did grow up around girls, didn’t you? Didn’t even have a chance,” she laughed at her own joke. “But I’m glad you’re available. What do you want me to bring you home for dinner? The sky’s the limit, seriously! I really appreciate this,” she offered.

“I know you’ve been looking forward to a home cooked meal, so why don’t Corigan and I go to the store
after Miranda leaves and pick up a few things?” Jason asked, quietly, reading her mind.

She was sure he was expecting to be met with resistance, but instead, she squealed
, “I would LOVE that! Will you make--”

“Chicken Marsala?” he asked, shocking her that he remembered.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” she asked, still stunned
, but she couldn’t stop the grin spreading across her face.

“Because you used to ask for it every other week, Sammy.
How could I forget?” she heard him laughing on the other end. “Of course I’ll make Chicken Marsala.”

“And—”

“Garlic mashed potatoes,” he finished.

“You’re the best! I can’t wait to get home,” she said, now bobbing in her seat like an excited teenager.

“I’ll see you later, Sammy,” he resp
onded before the line went dead. Her giddiness melted into guilt as she realized how deep she was getting and how much she and Jason were starting to work like a married couple lately, rather than just friends. The only thing missing was…she stopped the direction of her thoughts before they spilled into a territory she wasn’t ready to go to, yet.
‘Wait!’
she thought.
‘Yet? I’m not going back there…ever!’
She tried to stiffen a resolve she was already starting to see the cracks in.

“Ugh!” she groaned, knowing that she couldn’t
continue to give him false hope that the two of them had a future again. She didn’t want him waiting around for her, it wasn’t fair to him.

The prospect of talking to him about their comfort level weighed heavily on her mind as the day wore on, and she had trouble concentrating on some of the tasks she needed to accomplish to get home for dinner.

“Mrs. McKenzie?” Laura called, knocking on her office door. “Your five o’clock is here.”

“Great, send him in,” she answered, not looking up from her computer screen as Laura ush
ered in her potential new client. She knew it was rude, but she was on the last sentence of a contract and needed to finish. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Lewis,” she glanced up after typing the final period and saving the document. “What can we do for you?” she smiled.

The grin
froze on her face as she took in Garrett Lewis, former star quarterback and the last boy she’d sorta dated before she and Jason decided to change their friendship into something more. She let her eyes sweep over his muscular six-foot-five frame, his black hair, deep blue eyes, and the neatly trimmed beard framing his perfect smile. He wore faded blue jeans and a t-shirt that matched his eyes and stretched over his muscles perfectly, but his attire made her business suit seem too formal for the meeting. If she were available, emotionally, she might’ve swooned. He was still gorgeous.

“Samantha,” he said, as she watched him finish his appraisal of her.
The way his grin turned from professional to lascivious made her feel more on display than she cared to be. She stopped herself from frowning when she recognized that his looks weren’t the only thing that hadn’t changed a bit since high school.

“Great to see you, Garrett,” she said, half standing to shake his hand and indicating that he should take a
seat on one of the black leather chairs in front of her desk.

“You, too,” he said, sitting and crossing
his jean legs and hooking his ankle over his knee. Leaning back in a relaxed posture, he stretched his arm out over the back of the chair beside him. “So I’m in need of some of your PR prowess,” he winked at her and waggled his eyebrows.

“The information I have says you’ve started a hunting expedition company, is that right?” she asked and watched him nod in confirmation.
“Are you looking for marketing assistance? Do you have any ideas?” she continued, trying to get a feel for what his goals were for their professional interaction.

As he began to talk, she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and started to take notes. Detailing his new company and the direction he wanted to go in to maximize his visibility, she couldn’t help getting excited.
Immediately, Samantha started to jot down ideas for how her company could make everything he wanted for his hunting business happen. At the end of their hour, she knew they’d had a very productive first meeting and could work well together, professionally, on building his vision.

“Thank you for your time today, Samantha.
I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship,” he winked again as he stood to shake her hand, holding on to it a beat longer than she was comfortable with. She started to sense the meeting was moving in a new direction she wanted to nip in the bud.

“I look forward to working with you more on these ideas, Garrett,” she said, trying to remind him that theirs would be a business relationship, only.
Her smile becoming slightly forced as she watching him move toward her office door.

“
Hey!” he said, turning back to her abruptly. “I’m done for the day, want to grab some dinner and keep brainstorming?” he asked, as if the thought had just occurred to him on the way out of her office.

“Maybe another night?” she offered, knowing
that even though she’d been apprehensive about everything with Jason, she wanted to go home to him tonight. The thought that she might be looking forward to him, rather than the meal he was preparing, brought a frown to her lips.