Chapter 18

Josh

Six months later.

When she tumbled into his arms with a laugh, Josh had to chuckle. They were getting better at this dancing shit, and Samantha was molding even more into his arms.

He loved it.

He’d never appreciated clingy women, but Samantha wasn’t like that. She was strong and fierce, and strangely independent. Not that he wasn’t used to the latter, but she made odd strident claims at the most bizarre of moments—like she was trying to make sure he knew she had the right to make her own decisions.

At the time, he’d think it was weird, but later on, as he had a shower or processed the day, he just realized that was the after-effect of Jamie’s chokehold on her.

In many ways, she was still finding herself, and the truth was, he was proud that she’d picked him to be with as she did so.

When those moments occurred, he knew how thin the ground he was walking on was.

Knew how shaky it was.

Like, each time, she was questioning her sanity in doing any of this. But she seemed to come around, and those moments were growing fewer and fewer because, God help him, they were merging well together. In fact, well was an understatement.

“Why do you insist on coming to these galas when you don’t like the politician the fundraising is for?” she asked quietly as they danced around a glittering ballroom.

Overhead, a glitter ball twinkled merrily, making her hair dance in its sexy high bun. Tendrils of hair curled about her throat, clinging here and there where the exertion and the heat of the night had it sticking to her skin.

Damn, he wanted to taste her there. Taste her where her scent was strongest, and she was sweetest.

Josh licked his lips at the thought, then realizing she’d asked him a question, murmured, “Just because I don’t like them, doesn’t mean I don’t like their politics.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Senator Beauregard is anti-abortion and anti-Planned Parenthood.”

“So are a lot of people.”

“Don’t you think women should have the right to choose? You don’t have to agree with either to think they deserve the right to do what they want with their own bodies.”

“I actually do agree with you, but Beauregard also has friends in high places in Sweden.”

“Sweden?” She gaped at him. “What does that have to do with Planned Parenthood?”

He laughed. “Nothing.” He tapped her on the nose. “Fear not, I paid for our seats but that’s it. He won’t receive any other donations from me.”

She scowled at him. “But what’s in Sweden?”

“A nice little company I’m interested in buying.”

“And he knows the owners?”

“Yep. He’s a widow. His wife was Swedish, and their son’s godfather is the owner.”

“What? He doesn’t want to sell to you?”

“He’s deciding.”

“And he’s taking too long about it?” she guessed, her tone wry. Then, she snuggled into his arms and grumbled, “You’re such a tyrant.”

He laughed. “You make that sound like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s not the best thing,” she retorted. “You should be nice and cuddly. Although, I do like your abs.”

His lips twitched. “I’m glad they please someone.”

“Oh, they certainly do. It’s a shame you’re not a cover model. If you were, the whole world could gaze in astonishment at the glory of your stomach.”

“Glory? Now you’re just making me bigheaded.”

“I think you’re entitled to be. About your abs. Not about schmoozing with the jerk who this gala is for.”

“You’re going to be my conscience, aren’t you?”

She batted her lashes up at him. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You’re not a Southern Belle,” he argued. “You can’t pull the mint julep act on me!”

Samantha chuckled. “For shame, you’re no gent at all, are you?”

“No, not even when the lights turn out at night,” he said on a growl as he dipped his head and pressed his lips to her throat. Tasting her there, he growled again as she flooded his senses with all of her.

“Oh-h,” she said, her voice choked. “that feels so good, Josh.”

“I’m glad, baby. You ready to get out of here?”

“We haven’t had dessert yet!” she countered, but her voice was breathy.

“For six thousand dollars a plate, do you really expect dessert to be better than this?” He rocked his hips against her belly.

“Six thousand dollars?” she squeaked. “We’re staying for dessert. I want your money’s worth.”

He groaned. “But I’m really okay with being screwed if it means you’ll screw me later.”

She laughed, but the mulish twist to her lips said it all. “Nope. No way, no how. My mother didn’t raise someone who wasted money or food. There’s a crappy piece of chocolate cake out there with our names on it and we’re going to eat it. Even if it chokes us.”

He had to laugh. “You’re crazy.”

“No. I’m astute.” She tapped her nose, winking at him as she did.

“Crazy,” he countered, loving how she slipped her arm around his waist as they started to walk back to their seats.

The tables had been cleared of dinner plates—a rather distasteful roast chicken with a bizarre kind of cheese sauce—and in their stead, were what looked like chocolate lava cake.

She wrinkled her nose at the sight of the limp things. “Okay, I understand why you might think I’d prefer your cock to this, but we have to at least try it.”

Chuckling, he helped seat her, and as he did, the Senator clapped him on the back. Josh jerked a little in surprise, not having realized the reason for their being here tonight was close—Josh was slowly growing accustomed to how limited his reactions were in Samantha’s presence.

It was bizarre, but he’d come to realize that when she was about, she took up all his focus.

Every ounce of it.

Unless Erin was there too, and he could split it between them. But otherwise, he rarely noticed the rest of the world buzzing on around him and though it was damn inconvenient, he couldn’t find it in himself to really care.

His business was founded on him. His verve and his drive, but he’d done a poor job of protecting it if it meant there weren’t other people who could lighten his load some.

“Senator,” he said cheerfully, shaking the man’s hand.

“It’s great to see you here, Josh. I was hoping to catch you.”

“You were?” He cocked a brow. “Does that mean you have news for me from Stockholm?”

Beauregard winked at him. “Maybe. Can I rely on you for a donation tonight? You know what good I’ll do if I can keep my seat for another term.”

Beside him, Samantha tensed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Beauregard laughed, hearing that for the mockery it was. “I appreciate it, sir. I appreciate it.”

Josh cocked his brow again. “Well?” he asked. “Stockholm?”

“I’ve a yes. It’s tentative. Christen wants to make sure that you’ll look after the staff. It’s still a family company even if it has hit the international press of late.”

“That’s fine with me. I have no desire to break it up. I actually want to expand it.”

“I know. I saw your outline. I think that’s why Christen is interested. But, I also think if you truly want to seal the deal, you should offer him a seat on the board. It’s his baby,” Beauregard said, wrinkling his nose as though he couldn’t understand it. “What can I say? The man’s attached to it.”

“Quite understandable,” Samantha inserted. “Family businesses mean a lot to all involved.”

At her interruption, Josh winced. “Senator, I must apologize for my rudeness. This is Samantha Garrett, my fiancée.”

Beauregard blinked at that. “Engaged? You’ve finally found someone to clip your wings, eh, Josh?” The Senator bowed low in a strangely old-fashioned gesture that flustered Samantha who shot him a tight smile.

“I think he’s clipped mine actually, Senator.”

The older man boomed out a laugh. “Exactly what you need, Josh. Exactly what you need.” He winked. “Anyway, Christen will be in touch after tonight. I’ll make sure of it. Now, I’d best be moving on. Great to see you, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the night.”

He went on his way, not really expecting them to reply which was good considering Josh had no interest in replying. Taking a seat beside Samantha, he murmured, “Sorry, I didn’t introduce you.”

Her lips twitched. “It’s a habit of yours.”

“I know,” he admitted on a sigh. “I never bothered to introduce people before.”

“I’m sure your mother would slap you silly for your manners.”

“Very likely. But, equally, I doubt she’d have wanted me to broadcast to all and sundry who I was dating. Things have changed now, I need to start remembering.” He reached for her hand and kissed her ring. “You’re not nobody to me.”

“My goodness, I feel for those other women you’ve discarded along the way.” He winced. “You were a real jerk to them, weren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

She prodded him in the shoulder with a gloved finger. “How much are you going to donate tonight?”

“I wasn’t sure how he’d play it, but he’s being canny. Christen will get in touch when my donation goes through.” He rubbed his chin, relieved to be off the topic of his ex-lovers. Yes, he’d been a shit, but he was trying, slowly and surely, to be better. Because that was exactly what she deserved.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Probably donate fifty grand. It won’t be as much as he’d like, but he can’t turn his nose up at it.”

She pursed her lips. “How much do you think he wants?”

“A million,” he said wryly. “The deal is worth it, but I don’t like the man and you’re right, I don’t like his politics. I’m not willing to help him out too much.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” she grumbled.

He dipped his head, and in her ear, whispered, “You know who’s running for the same seat, right?”

“Angie Dawson. I like her.”

“I donated four hundred thousand to her yesterday.” He pulled back to wink at her.

“Sneaky! I like it.” She clapped her hands, then leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “I think you deserve a reward for being so clever.”

“I do?” He cocked a brow at her. “I shall have to be devious more often.”

She grinned. “I’m game for that. Now, first things first. Try your cake.”

He immediately grimaced. “Do I have to?”

“Yes. You have to.”

Grabbing his spoon, he dipped into the lousy attempt at chocolate lava cake, took a spoonful, grimaced again, then said, “There. Happy?”

“Very. Now we can go.”

He scowled. “How come you don’t have to try it?”

“I did. While you were dealing with Mr. Homeboy.”

He snorted. “Mr. Homeboy?”

“Thinks he’s down with the kids?”

Laughing, he murmured, “I get it. And it fits.”

“I know.” She grinned. “Come on. I’m tired of waiting for you.”

He laughed again at her teasing and slipped his arm around her waist as they began to head out of the ballroom of the hotel where the event was taking place.

“I can’t believe the hotel was happy serving that kind of food tonight,” she mumbled as he took her to the cloakroom for their coats. As he slipped hers around her shoulders, he shrugged.

“They can only do so much with their budget.”

It was a grand hotel, and the kitchen should have been serving decent food, so who knew what the Senator had given the kitchens as a budget.

The tight bastard.

“Heck, my friend’s vegan cookies taste better than half of that stuff they put out there tonight.”

Her grumbling had him frowning. “Why doesn’t that sound like a compliment for either the kitchens here or the vegan cookies?”

“Because they’re like birdseed.” She shot him a grin. “They’re atrocious. Not that I tell her that though. It would hurt her feelings.”

He smiled a little, as always, taken aback by yet another facet of Samantha’s nature he was coming to learn.

Her sense of humor had, over the past few months, really begun to flourish. And, as strange as it sounded, he prided himself on that too. Samantha felt safe around him, and that was starting to show. She was relaxing, allowing her natural inclinations to shine to the fore, and that was only possible because around him, she felt comfortable.

Josh wasn’t entirely sure what he did to make her feel comfortable, so he couldn’t take a whole heap of credit, but then, it wasn’t about him.

It was about her.

It was all starting to be about her, and rather than freak him out, he was starting to like it. Starting to embrace it.

“What are you thinking?” she asked as they strode through the fancy hotel vestibule and made their way toward the concierge. When the man saw him, he smiled and spoke into the microphone that would make Josh’s car appear around the bend in less than a few minutes.

“I’m thinking about you.”

“Ugh, why waste good thoughts on me?”

He snorted. “That’s exactly what I should be doing.”

She squinted a little. “What were you thinking? That it’s time to get rid of me?” He froze at her words, then he saw she was teasing.

He blew out a breath. “Don’t joke about things like that.”

His tone was sharper than he’d intended, and she reared back a little. “I was only teasing.”

“I know, but don’t… Just, don’t. You can make fun of anything but not that.”

She frowned, and he could tell he’d hurt her a little. Shit, just when he’d been priding himself on making her feel safe. Blowing out a breath, he lifted a hand to cup her cheek.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of you. I don’t think I’ll ever want to get rid of you. Can you see why you joking about that would take me on the raw?”

She bit her lip, and when he saw the faint tremor there, his throat choked. “Oh damn, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Samantha shook her head. “I’m being silly.”

“No, you’re not. I didn’t mean to sound harsh.”

She blew out a breath. “Josh. That wasn’t harsh.”

“It was.”

“No. It wasn’t. Trust me, I know what harsh is.” When he flinched, she sighed and reached out for him. Her hand cupped his wrist as he rubbed her cheek with his thumb. “Look, let’s not ignore the elephant in the room. So long as you don’t hit me, I’m not going to find anything you do all that excessive.”

Anger raged through Josh. “It isn’t right that you feel that way, dammit.”

“No, but living through what I have, does that to a person.” She smiled at him sadly. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I won’t let you treat me badly.”

He closed his eyes. “I won’t treat you badly, but I don’t want you to think that I’m…” He shook his head. “I should never have said anything.”

“No, that’s just it. You should have done. This is obviously something that’s been on your mind.”

“Maybe,” he said, hedging his bets. Then, the concierge cleared his throat, drawing Josh’s attention. He nodded, and murmured, “The car’s here.”

“Okay,” she said, “but I don’t want to stop talking about this. It feels important.”

That was exactly the problem. It was, and damn him, he wasn’t sure how she was about to take it.

Would she joke?

Would she tease him as she was wont to do?

He’d been seeing so many new sides of her, sides that he loved, but it meant he was never sure which Samantha he’d get.

For so long, he’d seen her as Jamie’s wife. And, now he knew what had been happening behind closed doors, he knew how docile she’d been, and how that had been a front.

It hurt him to think she couldn’t monitor if he was being a jerk or not—and that her idea of real shitty behavior from him came in the form of a slap. It was so unhealthy, but there was nothing he could do. Just teach her by fucking loving her, he guessed as he helped her into the car, and slid in beside her.

Because he did.

It was fast. It was crazy. She was his best friend’s wife, and he should never have gotten involved… but circumstances dictated otherwise, and now, if given the opportunity, he’d never get rid of her.

Not for a single day in his goddamn miserable life.