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Chapter Forty-one
After Yanis and Manos were both gone, Sophia called Sam to join in on a final nightcap with Ellie and Barney.
Watching the tall man enter through the back door, she felt satisfaction surge. The man was the total opposite of the son of a bitch she’d spent the evening with so that when his gaze found hers immediately, and he winked a special hello, goosebumps broke out all over.
A weird kind of shyness attacked, a lovely feeling of importance. She’d never been so attracted to anyone before, and it left her feeling vulnerable. She noticed Barney’s stare, followed by his stupid grin, and quickly put up her shield before Sam himself saw her weakness.
The man had enough self-assurance, he certainly didn’t need for her to let him see how infatuated she was.
Sam accepted a beer from Barney, and they settled into a discussion on how much Ellie and Barney had appreciated having Stasia helping in their household that day.
“She’s a gem, Sam. So gentle with the girls and treats Peter like the little man he should be. I never want her to leave.” Ellie’s tone said it all. She meant every word, and both Sam and Sophia were thrilled that Stasia was safe and happy. They’d listened to her earlier raving about how wonderful theAdamosfamily were, how nicely they treated their children and her as well, and so it seemed like a mutually satisfying situation.
They discussed the plan for Sophia to take Manos’s kids to Turkey and reiterated their agreement that Peter could go along. Since they’d planned a trip to Virginia to visit with Ellie’s parents that next week anyway, they offered to pick Peter up in Washington where Sophia would keep him with heruntil they arrived.
Sophia had worried whether Manos would allow her to take his twins to Turkey alone, and so she’d called Barney and Ellie to ask if she might invite their Peter to go along with them. She’d hoped it would validate the trip and make Manos less anxious for her to take the twins.
What Manos didn’t know was the actual fair with the clowns and the rides were in Washington and that David had just changed the dates and place on the fake poster.
As parents do, they knew Peter would be thrilled to have a holiday with his favorite cousin. And though the girls were jealous, knowing they would also be seeing Sophia in Washington helped put an end to their envy.
Walking back to the cottage, Sam reached for her hand and never knew the difficult decision she made to allow him the privilege. It wasn’t something she’d ever let another boyfriend do. She didn’t like to feel tethered to a man, and though she knew it was dumb, it never mattered enough for her to change her mind… until tonight.
While they strolled along the empty beach, moonlight filtered through the few clouds meandering across the sky. She leaned her head on his shoulder and let all the stress from the last few days ease.
Being here with him like this was heaven. Having his undivided attention, a huge boon to her hidden insecurities. All her sisters and brothers had settled with their partners years earlier and were leading happy married lives that she envied. For her, giving over control to a man wouldn’t come easy.
His voice broke into her thoughts and she began to listen to his words. It almost seemed he’d read her mind. “I’ve never met a woman who made me feel like I was… home.” He stopped walking, turned to her, and put his hands on her arms. “You’re slipping so deep inside me; I can barely keep my mind on the job. And that’s never happened to me before. I’m not sure how to handle it. So, if I screw up, don’t freak out on me. This is all so new.”
“Me? Freak out?” she chuckled without any real humor attached to the noise. “Why would you say that? I’m as defenseless with this… this happening to us as you are. You think I’ve ever met someone like you before? Let myself become involved to this extent?”
“That’s just it, I don’t know. Have you?”
“Would you believe me if I said I’ve never let anyone close in on me like you have. And in just a few days. It scares the hell out of me so much that I don’t like it. Feeling this… this vulnerable.”
He leaned in and kissed her very gently, and then stood back so he could look into her eyes. “Then you do understand.”
She allowed him to delve into her gaze until she felt like she would drown if he looked a moment longer. That’s when she put her forehead on his chest. And that’s when he lifted his hand to caress her hair and place a kiss there. His voice mesmerized. “We’ll take it slow.”
“Just don’t stop.”
“Oh, that’ll never happen. Not now that I’ve found you. You’re stuck with me as your shadow forever.”
“That’s a long time.”
“Not long enough. I haven’t even begun to learn everything there is to know about you.”
“If you want to know the truth, I’m rather boring. I work, watch a little TV, read a lot, cook when Ihave toand exercise every day. See… boring.”
He laughed. “Then I must be boring as well because you’ve just listed my routine when I’m not on a job. And you know what, I like my life.”
“Me too. It took me a while before I realized I didn’t need parties and entertainment all the time like some of the girls at work. When home, I do what I want and enjoy the peace. I have a cozy little condo in D.C. with a rooftop garden and neighbors who are willing to look after things when I’m gone. What about you?”
“I finally bought a small house in Miami. It’s a place to hang my hat for the few times I’m stateside. I’m not attached, it’s just somewhere to head to when the job is done and another hasn’t started yet. Our headquarters are there so it seemed to be where I needed a home.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and began walking toward a picturesque bench closer to the waves. There he brushed off the sand before he’d let her take a seat and settled himself next to her. “Truth is, the Reagan Group is becoming overloaded. There’s so much work out in the world, I should be a fulltime boss rather than overseeing assignments myself.”
“That I can believe. It’s like the wild west in so many places today.”
