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He stopped at a small table set for two. It was in a back corner, which added to the cozy feel. Sam didn’t pull out my chair or act overly gentlemanly like Nacio would have, and I secretly appreciated it. On someone else it might have looked rude or self-important, but on Sam it felt like honesty, like I was getting a real person instead of a polite act.
“I can have someone bring you out a menu, but I’d recommend leaving it up to the chef to decide. She’s a genius and is almost always better at figuring out what someone wants than they are.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” I looked around the dining room. “This place is beautiful.”
“It does what it’s supposed to.”
“And what exactly is that?”
He leaned back in his chair, studying me. “Offer privacy and authenticity. Nothing here is for show or made to impress.”
“You talk a lot about being real, but you won’t even tell me how you still look the same age you did eight years ago.”
“You’re right.”
“And you don’t think that’s a tad bit hypocritical?”
“I never said it wasn’t.” He smirked at me. “But I’m not letting some stranger’s opinion dictate what I do or say or where I go.”
“You’re not the one who looks out of place here,” I muttered.
His dark eyes held mine as he slowly moved his fingers to the top button of his shirt. I watched in fascination as he worked his way down until his shirt was hanging open, giving me a full view of his chest and abs. “Better?”
I swallowed hard. “You made your point. You can put your clothes back on.”
He chuckled. “I think I’d rather stay like this actually. And I don’t think I’ve made my point at all if you’re still worried about my propriety.”
I didn’t give a damn about propriety. I cared that all his visible skin was making my heart beat faster and giving my nether regions all kinds of ideas about where this evening was going. I reached for my water glass and took a quick drink, sort of wishing I could pour the ice water over my head instead. Maybe then my body would get the message that Sam and I were not repeating last night in the middle of a restaurant.
* * *
“What are you doing tonight?”Sam asked as we left the restaurant after the best meal I’d ever tasted. He hadn’t bothered to rebutton his shirt, and I still hadn’t gotten used to the sight of all his skin and muscles on display.
“Going home. I have some studying I could be doing, but I’ll probably end up watching a movie instead.”
“Alone?”
I shrugged. Considering the only family member I had who shared my taste in movies was Nacio, who no longer lived in the house, there was a good chance it would be just me.
Sam paused outside the elevators without making a move to push the call button. “I want to show you something.”
“Show me what?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” It was probably stupid to trust him when I knew for a fact that he was keeping secrets from me, but I did. I trusted him with my life, my secrets, and my pain.
Sam held out a hand to me, just like he had more than eight years ago. And just like then, I placed my hand in his and let him lead me down hallways until we were pushing through the door to the stairwell.
“Please tell me we’re not climbing these to the roof again.”
He gave me an amused chuckle. “Don’t worry. We’re going down and it’s only one flight.”
I recognized the dark hallway, lit only enough to see a few feet in front of my face, instantly. In all the time I’d been coming to Youngblood, I’d never found a way to the labyrinth of hallways where I’d run into Sam. In fact, now that I thought about it, I’d never seen signs for the stairwell either. There was a set of emergency stairs right near the elevators, but those were different stairs. I was sure because they had windows on every landing, unlike these.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“The back rooms.”
