CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Flynn was grumpier than a cat stuck in a tree by the time that bossy doctor with those fabulous legs released him from the E.R. Maybe he did have a serious concussion because any other time he would have passed the minutes attempting to flirt with her whenever she appeared in his cubicle.
He’d gritted his teeth while she stitched up the gash in his leg. He didn’t care about the pain. That pain was nothing to watching That Guy put his arm around Sami, acting as if he owned her, as if he was already effing married to her.
Over and over again he played those images in his head, until the bossy doctor said if his blood pressure didn’t come down, she planned to order him admitted to the hospital.
Flynn blanked his mind and started slow, deep breathing.
Two hours later, they set him free. Night had long since passed and the sky was glowing pink and light blue as they wheeled him out the door to the waiting cab. Flynn settled into the cab, gave the address of the estate, and stretched his leg out across the back seat. He pulled out his phone and saw he’d missed a call from his mother.
He frowned. Norah didn’t call often. She wasn’t one to fuss or ask for attention. Flynn had made a point to stay in touch more frequently since his brother’s funeral, but he’d been so fixated on Sami, he’d fallen down on that intention lately.
He tapped on her number and then glanced at his watch. When he realized how early it was on the West Coast he almost hung up.
“Yes?” Norah’s voice sounded as if he’d awakened her from a deep sleep.
“It’s Flynn,” he said. “Sorry I woke you.”
“Remind me to buy you one of those watches that shows time zones,” she said, but even as she finished the sentence she sounded much more like the wide-awake mother Flynn knew and adored.
“Thought you might need me to call,” Flynn said.
“I’m fine,” Norah said. “I phoned you last night because I had a feeling you were in trouble, but decided that would sound silly, so I just left a message on your voicemail.”
Flynn’s forehead wrinkled. His mother possessed an eerie second sense ability. She’d told him after Sean’s funeral that she’d been in the grocery store at the time Sean was killed and she’d felt as if an earthquake had jarred the store. She’d looked around, but no one else seemed to have experienced the jolt.
“Flynn?”
“I’m okay,” he said. What was the point in worrying her?
He heard her let out a long breath.
“Truth,” she said.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “I had a few stitches in my leg last night.”
“Nothing else broken?”
“Only my heart,” he said, adding a laugh.
“That might be a good thing,” Norah said. “Who is she?”
“Samantha Pepper. Doctor Samantha Pepper.” Flynn smiled. “She likes to make sure people hear the doctor part.”
“That could be annoying.”
“It’s adorable. She’s adorable.” Flynn sighed. “I’ve never felt about any woman the way I do about Sami. She’s bossy and beautiful and rescues dogs and teaches at the kind of university that wouldn’t let me in the door.”
“You’ve always been smarter than you’ve let on,” his mother said.
“That sounds like something Sami would say.”
Norah laughed. “I like her already. When do I get to meet her?”
Flynn stared out the cab window as the car turned into the drive and halted at the gates. “Uh, Mom, I’ll have to get back to you on that.” He eased his body out of the cab, paid, and waited till the taxi drove away to punch in the gate code. A walk would do him good.
“I’m still on the phone,” Norah said.
“Yeah, well, the truth is, I screwed things up with her. Besides, I’m not the sticking- around type. And the number one thing Sami wants is marriage. And babies.”
“And you still like her?”
Flynn ran a hand through his hair. “Crazy, isn’t it? But yes.”
“Sean and Mai were making a good life together,” Norah said, her voice wistful. “If your brother was still alive, you could talk to him, work out your fears.”
“What’s to be afraid of? That life just isn’t what I’ve chosen.”
“You still plan to be picking up one night stands when you’re fifty?”
Flynn kicked at a pebble at the edge of the drive. “Since I’ve met Sami, I haven’t wanted to pick up any woman. She’s ruined me for life.”
“I am only going to say this once during this discussion,” Norah said. “You are not your father. You want Sami in your life? Make it happen.”
Flynn walked a few steps in silence. Of course he understood his mother’s point. No matter what, he wouldn’t abandon a wife and kids. But he’d let the fear stop him from ever considering the option of a long-term relationship, let alone marriage. Sami, however, would settle for nothing less than her dream. And he wouldn’t want her to.
“You can’t have screwed things up beyond redemption, surely,” Norah said, a question in her words.
“There’s only one way to know,” Flynn said.
“That’s my son,” Norah said. “Now whatever you were doing to bang yourself up, please don’t do it again. I didn’t get much sleep last night worrying about the feeling that something had happened to you.”
“Yes ma’am,” Flynn said. “I know I don’t say this much, but I love you.”
“And I love you,” Norah said. “Let me know when you and Sami are coming to see me.”
Flynn gripped his phone. “What if I can’t make that happen?”
He heard a faint snort. “You know what to do.”
“I do?”
“Don’t be a dope,” his loving mother said. “Just be yourself, your lovable, honest self.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Flynn said, but saw she’d ended the call. He thrust the phone into the pocket of his tattered pants and whistling, made his way up the long drive. He might be limping, but he walked with purpose.
His heart increased its tempo. Damned but he had it bad for Sami. He couldn’t wait to see her adorable face. It wasn’t classically pretty or what would be called cute. She was earnest and intense, and despite her gorgeous blonde hair and her killer figure, she didn’t seem to believe she had everything it took to achieve her goal of True Love.
All those first dates with no follow-up meant nothing other than she’d never met the right man.
Until now.
Until Flynn Lawrence, playboy par excellence, now playboy reformed.
Flynn grinned and picked up his pace.
Behind him he heard a car, driving too fast, and then it kicked past him on the long drive. The bad boy owner of the estate must be back in town, Flynn thought, wondering if that meant he’d get kicked out of the pool house. Not that it mattered; if all went well, he and Sami would be sharing a bed.