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“I just…” he sighed and ran his hand over his short hair. “Fuck, Lexi. I thought we had something.”
“We do,” she said, her eyes softening. “That was Travis.”
“Travis. You mean…that was your brother?”
She nodded, and he was flooded with relief and embarrassment. He wasn’t usually much for overreacting, but he’d certainly done it this time.
“Yes,” she said, still looking amused. She stepped closer to him, placing a hand on his chest as she tilted her head back to look up into his face. “I’m not sleeping with anyone else.”
“Neither am I. And I don’t have any plans to.”
“Good. Because I’m crazy about you.”
That felt like a fucking miracle, considering that she would be well within her rights to hate him. He felt the same way. Somehow, Lexi had become more important to him than any other woman he’d ever known.
But this was all new to him. He didn’t have the words to tell her how he felt. It was hard enough to admit to her that he was jealous. So, he placed a hand at the back of her neck and pulled in close, trying to convey just how much he felt for her in a heated kiss.
13
LEXI
The dinnershe made for them was left forgotten on the kitchen table as they went into her bedroom, tearing at each other’s clothes. She was wearing a sundress, which he whipped over her head, dipping his low to trail kisses along the swell of her breasts.
She moaned and arched her back as she groped for the bottom of his shirt, wanting to see his muscles and running her fingers over his warm skin. Just as her hands grasped his shirt and started to pull it up, Sam grabbed her wrists to stop her, lifting his head to meet his eyes. She felt a tremor of shock as she saw vulnerability in his eyes.
That was a first.
Sam took a step back, so that he was out of her reach. That meant that he wasn’t touching her anymore and the mood between them changed so quickly that her body reacted, her stomach clenching and goosebumps breaking out over her arms. The small distance between them packed a hell of a punch, especially since she had just told him how much she was starting to care about him.
“Sam?”
“I can’t,” he said, gripping the bottom of his shirt as if he was afraid the thing would come off on its own if he didn’t.
“What are you hiding?”
For a moment, she was sure that he would refuse to tell her. He wouldn’t meet her eyes, and his entire body was strung tight.
She took a small step closer and his spine curved, making him look deflated. She could see the moment that he made the decision to be honest with her. There was resignation on his face and a darkness in his eyes, but he turned around and slowly pulled his shirt off, revealing an inch of skin at a time. Her mouth dropped open as she gaped at the sight of his back.
There were small round burn scars, dozens of them all over the expanse of his broad back. They started around his hips and went all the way up to his shoulders. Once the shirt was off, Sam stood there, his back still turned to her, and let out a long, shuddering breath.
Her heart ached for him as she realized what these were. They had to be cigarette burns, but who in the hell did this?
“My father,” Sam said, and she realized that she must have spoken her question out loud.
He turned to face her, and she saw that the front of his body was unmarked. That probably should have been a relief but she was too horrified to appreciate it.
“This happened to you as a kid?” she asked, trying to fight back the tears that wanted to come. She wasn’t sure if that would make things worse or not. A man like Sam was proud and strong. Would her tears make him feel weak?
She didn’t want that. She didn’t see him that way anyway.
Sam nodded. “The first time was on my tenth birthday. I’d gotten upset because he blew his whole paycheck on booze, not for the first time, and my mom didn’t even have the money to buy a cake mix, much less a present. Dear old dad didn’t take kindly to me making a fuss, and he…”
Sam’s hand went to his shoulder, his fingers running over one of the scars. Lexi couldn’t stop herself. She rushed forward and hugged him, her arms tight around his waist and her face buried in his chest.
He bought his arms around her too, running his fingers through her hair in a comforting way, as ifshewas the one that needed comfort right now.
“Apparently, he decided that this was a good way to punish me, and it went on for six years. He did other things too, smacked me around and all that, but the burns left scars. I never let anyone see them.”
