Chapter Four – Sam

She was gorgeous. Curves in all the right places, all the right places… And an air of mystery he wanted to unravel. He’d also like to unravel her black hair, which she wore pulled back in a tight bun. Not one solitary strand was allowed freedom. Her eyes were equally as dark, especially in the low light of the café. Hidden, unfathomable depths.

“Now who’s staring,” she teased.

“I can’t help it,” he admitted. “I’m just… I wasn’t searching for a mate either.”

“Funny, since that is what you do.”

“What I do?” Sam asked, confused.

“You are a private investigator, right?” she asked, raising her eyebrows at him, as if encouraging him to answer.

He did. “Yes.”

“So you must find things. If you don’t, you would be the worst private investigator known to man or beast.”

“Funny,” he chuckled. “Yes, I find things. Either objects, people, or information.”

“Do you enjoy it?” Lia asked.

“I do.”

“It must give a real sense of job satisfaction.”

“Are you teasing me again?” he asked.

“Again? I wasn’t sure I’d been teasing you at all,” she said, hiding her smile behind her cup. He was so easygoing, she could talk to him all day. “You have a gift.”

“Do I want to know what that gift is?” Sam asked seductively.

Lia ignored him and said, “You set people at ease. At least, you have set me at ease.”

“Is that difficult?” he asked. “Setting you at ease?”

“A little. It takes me a while to open up to people.”

“Because of your job?” he asked, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly.

“Are you interrogating me?” Lia asked.

“Oh, if I wanted to interrogate you, I would tie you down and find more pleasurable ways of getting your secrets from you.” He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands.

Lia cleared her throat. He was getting under her skin, just where he wanted to be. “I should get back to work.”

“We haven’t gotten to know each other very well,” Sam said.

“I thought we already established we have the rest of our lives to get to know each other.” Her cheeks flushed.

“Does that mean you will have dinner with me tonight? Unless you are washing your hair.” He dropped his voice. “If you are, I could come around and wash it for you. And your back. And your…”

“OK, cowboy, I think that is my cue to leave.” Lia got up and slid out from behind the table.

“Is that a yes for dinner?” he asked hopefully.

Lia pressed her lips together, staring at him with eyes that mesmerized him. “I’ll cook.”

His heart rate quickened; she was inviting him into her home. On a first date. “I’ll pick up some wine. You do drink wine?”

“I do. Or beer, if you prefer.” Lia checked her watch. “I really have to go.”

“I’ll walk you back.” He slipped out from his seat and stood up, towering above her.

“I can find my own way,” she replied lightly.

“I know, but my car is parked outside.” He grinned, and she shook her head and smiled back at him.

“And there I was thinking you simply didn’t want to let me out of your sight.”

“That might be a reason too. But truly, my car is parked outside Bear Creek News, and I have work to do.”

“What are you working on right now?” Lia asked. “Or aren’t you allowed to tell me?”

“I do have some client confidentiality agreements in place. Usually to do with cheating husbands. Or wives. You would be surprised how often that happens.” He looked sideways at her. “But not to us.”

“No.” She sighed. “Not to us.”

“Makes things a whole lot easier,” Sam said.

“It does. Although I am a firm believer in freedom of choice, so you have to weigh up the pros and cons.” She held her hands out in front of her, as if she was balancing a set of scales.

“Come on, don’t tell me you would rather be left to choose?” Sam asked, shocked.

“Why not? What if I don’t like you? What if you snore?” Lia shook her head. “Imagine having to live the rest of your life with a man who has bad habits, and if you dump him it feels as if your heart has been ripped out.”

“I take it you are not a romantic.”

“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not.” Lia shrugged. He wasn’t sure how to read her, and that made her completely fascinating to him.

“If I come to your door this evening with flowers and chocolates, would you throw them in my face, or into a vase?”

They had reached the offices of Bear Creek News, and Lia turned to look at him, putting her hands on the lapels of his coat, and tugging on them as she stood on tiptoe, still not quite able to look him directly in the eye.

“I like flowers, I have some on my desk, and we already established I like chocolate,” she purred. “Come on, Detective, you can do better than that.”

“You mess with my senses,” he said as a lame excuse.

“If I am going to be bad for business, then maybe we should part ways now.” She was goading him, and he liked it.

He hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her close, their bodies crushed together. Could she feel how hard he was for her? “I am never letting you go, Lia. Never.”

“OK, then.” She licked her bottom lip, inviting him to kiss her.

Never let it be said that Sam Spencer ever turned down an invitation, especially one that promised so much pleasure. He lifted her up until her feet were off the ground, and she was at eye level with him. She stared into his eyes, asking a question he only had one answer for. Did he really want her?

“Yes,” he whispered, and his lips sought hers. She sighed against him and kissed him back. Lia tasted of coffee and chocolate muffins, he didn’t need to be a detective to know that. But there was something else, cinnamon. Their kiss deepened, and he slid his tongue along her lower lip. Lia opened her mouth and sucked on his tongue, making his knees feel weak, but he found the strength to stay upright. He was never going to drop his lady. Never.

“I think I should go.” Lia slid down his body, the sensation making him harden further.

“I think that might not be a bad idea.”

“You might want to adjust your pants,” Lia said, glancing down at the bulge in his crotch. He hardened further, if that were possible.

“I am going to let you walk on into your office,” he said, a grin on his face.

“You go first,” she teased.

“I don’t think so. It’s not going to be pretty.”

She cocked her head and looked at him with a wry smile. “I thought you would do anything for your mate?”

He leaned down, his hands grabbing her arms, and he pressed his lips to her ear, caressing her skin with his breath. “You are a tease, Lia. I wonder what I will find when I strip away all the layers you have built up to hide your secret.”

She pulled back away from him. “Don’t!”

He frowned at her response. “I’m sorry.” He closed the space between them, his face serious. “I was teasing you.”

“Well, don’t.” She took a step back, and then another. “I really have to go.” Lia turned on her heel and walked away from him, hands smoothing down her already smooth hair, before dropping to smooth out her skirt. He certainly admired the sway of her curvy hips.

“What are you hiding, Lia?” he asked out loud. She’d completely overreacted to his words. Completely.

Sam watched her enter the building, and as the door swung shut behind her, she disappeared from view. He turned around and headed over to his truck, cursing himself as he pulled the door open. He truly was a terrible PI: not only had he not gotten her number, he didn’t have her address either.

He didn’t want to follow her inside; he was scared he might spook her. Maybe he was reading too much into it, but she had the look of a woman who might just run if given enough of a push.

She won’t run from us, his bear told him flatly. She can’t.

A lot of people do things they shouldn’t do. He shook his head at himself. He was too forward; he’d misread her. Unlocking his car, he got in and pulled the door closed behind him. Digging in his pocket, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through for the number for Bear Creek News. Pressing call, he waited for an answer. He got lucky, it was Lia.

“Hi, I wanted to check if you were OK.”

“I’m fine.” She sounded on edge. “Today… Well, it all came as a shock. You know?”

“Oh, yeah.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Do we still have a dinner date?”

“I’m making dinner and you are still invited, if that is what you mean,” Lia said, a frosty layer to her voice.

“It is.” He let himself relax. “I don’t know your address.”

“Let me have your number and I’ll text you the address,” she replied, thawing a little.

He reeled off his number. “Got it?”

“I have.” She paused. “Ignore what I said…you know, about secrets.”

“I won’t pry into your business, if that is what you mean.” He was being honest. “I don’t want to cause you pain, Lia.”

“I… I came to Bear Creek for a fresh start. I don’t want to go trawling through my past. It is in the past.” She didn’t sound too sure, but he let it go.

“I promise not to go looking. If there is anything you want me to know, I am here. But for me, my life, our lives, they begin now, from today. My past might just as well never have happened. Because you weren’t in it.”

She chuckled down the phone, but not as if she was laughing at him. “I think that takes romance above the flowers and chocolates level. But I like it.”

“I like that you like it,” he said. “But I warn you.”

“About what?”

“That is about the most romantic thing I will ever say. I have no idea where it came from.”

“You are an honest man.” Her voice hitched in her throat.

“I’d hate to raise your expectations and let you put me on a pedestal.” Sam tried to lighten the mood between them. There was an intensity to Lia that made every word they spoke appear to have a hidden meaning.

“I’ll bear that in mind.” Voices in the background told him there were other people in the room with Lia. “I have to go. I really do need to do some work.”

“Text me. Or I will knock on every door in Bear Creek until I find you.”

“I would not expect anything less.”