Grounded By You Page 9

  The car was waiting for them when they stepped outside, and Sam was so preoccupied that he barely even noticed the pictures being taken of their exit. Delaney gave the address of the club to the driver and then she turned in her seat toward him.

  “So what’s the deal with you and the blond Amazon goddess?”

  Sam was surprised at the question. “You mean Millie?”

  Delaney rolled her eyes as she took out her compact and began to powder her nose again and reapply her lipstick. “I haven’t known you long, but I am a woman. And there was definitely a vibe between the two of you. Is she your ex?”

  Sam snorted. “To be an ex would mean that you would have to have dated at some point. No, Millie is just a friend.”

  Delaney looked at him with a long look. “A friend that you’d like to be more though, right? So is she the one that you were talking about earlier?”

  Sam looked away. He didn’t want to discuss his feelings for Millie with Delaney or anyone else for that matter. He barely understood what transpired between them, and seeing her holding hands with Will nearly unhinged him. It wasn’t a feeling that he was used to. Usually, Sam would just walk away. But he was tired of feeling like he was the second string quarterback that the girls ran to when the guy they did want treated them like dirt. Then they’d always go running back the next time that guy waggled his pinky finger at them.

  “I’ve got enough things on my plate to worry about without adding a snobby debutante into the mix,” Sam said harshly.

  “Wow,” Delaney said softly. “You’ve got it bad.”

  Sam refused to say anything else. He just kept thinking about the look on Millie’s face after he kissed her, and then the cold shoulder she gave him in the restaurant. He didn’t understand what had changed. The heel of Delaney’s sparkly shoe caught his attention, and he watched her foot bob up and down. He followed it up her shapely calf and thigh all the way up to her lovely face.

  Then it hit him. Millie saw him in the restaurant on what looked like a date with Delaney. He wanted to smack his forehead. She reacted exactly the way that he did when he saw her with her hand in Will’s. Like a jealous fool. Although he still wasn’t clear on what role Will played in Millie’s life, he was more certain that ever that he had just witnessed Millie’s own playacting staged for his benefit. He had forgotten what a good actress she was.

  But he had to find a way to confirm his suspicion. It came to him in a moment of clarity, and he knew what he had to do.

  The car pulled up to the jazz club, and Sam followed Delaney out of the car. The club’s entrance was down a flight of stairs that led to the outside basement door of the building. They entered and had their IDs scanned. He heard the jazz band playing in the other room. He and Delaney stood at the edge of the room while he quickly scanned the crowd. Then he spotted Millie’s blond head at the end of the long bar.

  He looked down at Delaney and cocked his head toward the bar. She nodded and then followed as he pushed his way through the assembled crowd. Millie and Will had managed to secure two stools at the crowded bar, and Will jumped up as they approached immediately offering his stool to Delaney.

  Sam noted that Millie wouldn’t even look at him, seemingly entranced with the band at the front of the room. He wasn’t going to chicken out now. He took a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet and put it on the bar. “Get me a beer and whatever you want,” he said to Delaney. Then he turned to Millie. “Want to dance?”

  He knew that would get her attention. “You don’t dance,” she said with a slightly mocking tone.

  “You’d be surprised what I do now,” he said with a confident grin. Then he took her hand and tugged. Millie slid off the stool and followed him leaving a baffled Will in their wake.

  There were several couples already on the dance floor, although not nearly enough for Sam’s liking. But he plowed ahead because he needed to fix whatever had happened between them. He waited too long for this opportunity, and he wasn’t going to lose it over some stupid misunderstanding.

  As soon as they stepped onto the dance floor, he pulled her against him and began to move in time to the music.

  “You’re being rather rude to my friend,” she said, turning her cheek to him.

  He noticed that, despite her sharp words, she matched his footwork keeping perfect time with him. He made a mental note to send a thank card to Victoria for forcing him into dance lessons right after he signed on with her.

  Sam eyed Will over Millie’s shoulder. He appeared to be enthralled in conversation with Delaney. “Will doesn’t appear to be too torn up about it.”

  “So what, you think you’re charming now?” Millie asked.

  He pushed her into a quick turn and then brought her body right back around tight against him. He caught the sound of her breath hitching in her throat as he stared down into her stormy blue eyes. “I know I’m charming.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Is this some kind of game you’re playing with me, Sam?”

  His hands slid down to her hips and he swayed against her leading her around the dance floor. “I don’t play games. You know that. You know better than anyone what I want.”

  Her face softened for just a moment. “What exactly is it you want from me then?”

  He leaned forward pushing her back just far enough so that he could grasp her thigh, and then he pulled her leg up against his hip. She relaxed into him as he slid her across the dance floor, and he twirled her again. This time as he brought her back against him, he saw the small smile on her face. He knew that Millie loved to dance. She told him that there was a feeling of reckless abandon that she felt whenever she turned her body over to the music. It made her feel free. As they moved across the floor completely attuned to the music, he understood exactly what she meant.

  Then he leaned next to her ear and grazed her earlobe with his teeth. He felt the shivers travel down her body as he did so, and it made him crazy. “I want what I’ve always wanted since the day I first saw you, Millie. I want you. All of you. Every part of you.”

  “What about her?” He barely heard her whispered response.

  “You are the only one I want,” he said, hoping the truth of his words conveyed the conviction of his emotions. He wanted to erase any doubt that he had an interest in Delaney from her mind. He couldn’t back off now.

  The song ended, and Millie took a small step back from him. He could see the mix of emotions that crossed her face. Then a look of determination settled there. He put his hand against the small of her back and started to lead her off the dance floor. It was time for him to roll the dice.

  “One drink, and then you’re going to say you have a headache. I’ll offer to take you home so Delaney and Will can stay and enjoy the show. Then we’ll go back to your place and continue this conversation. When we’re through, you aren’t going to have any question about what I want.”

  Millie ducked her head, but she didn’t say anything. Sam felt a rush of anxiousness wondering if he had miscalculated. Then he saw her small nod of agreement. He wanted to leave right that minute before Millie had the chance to change her mind. He spilled his guts out to her, and now was open and vulnerable. She might not know it, but she could crush him in an instant. He buried that doubt away. He was going to push her until she pushed back.

  When they returned to Will and Delaney, Sam found his beer waiting for him. Millie sat on the bar stool, and he positioned himself behind her. Although his hand rested on the bar, her back rested against his arm, essentially tucking her body against his. Other than a raised eyebrow in his direction, Delaney said nothing about the new arrangement. From the way that Will kept looking at Delaney, Sam didn’t think that the other man cared either.

  He and Millie didn’t say much else other than taking turns keeping either Will or Delaney talking. Otherwise, he listened to the music and enjoyed the feeling of having Millie close to him. He thought of all the times the previous summer that he had been this close to her, but was too afraid t
o make that one last move that would cross the distance between them. When he finally did screw up the courage, it had been too late. It was a mistake he intended to remedy.

  As the music continued, he felt Millie’s body relax against his. He wanted to wrap his arm around her and firmly establish that she was his, but he forced himself to remember that he didn’t know that for certain yet. What he did know was that he was less than an hour away from finding out one way or the other, and he wasn’t going to miss it.

  Eventually his hand shifted from the bar to the small of her back, and he gently began to rub lazy circles at the base of her spine. At first she tensed, but then her body relaxed again. He felt the heat of her skin through the thin fabric of her dress, and he found that he couldn’t stop thinking about slowly unwrapping it from her body. It seemed as if it took forever to finish the drinks in front of them.

  Millie put a hand up to her face and squeezed the bridge of her nose. It was his signal.

  “Something wrong?” he asked, just loud enough that he knew that Will and Delaney would overhear.

  “I haven’t had anything to eat tonight, and that glass of wine went straight to my head,” Millie said. “It gave me a roaring headache.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that,” Delaney said.

  “Let me take you home,” Sam and Will said at the same time.

  Sam gave the other man a warning look that Millie must have recognized.

  “Oh, no. That’s okay, Will. Sam will take me,” Millie said.

  Sam almost laughed. They were playing out almost the exact same scenario that the three of them had been in several nights before. He reminded himself that he was the winner in that situation as well.

  “Perhaps you could make sure that Delaney gets home alright,” Sam suggested.

  The inquisitive look that Delaney gave him over Millie’s shoulder told him that she probably saw right through their little ploy. He winked at her, hoping she’d understand. Delaney paused, and then put her hand on Will’s shoulder.

  “I’m not quite ready to go home yet. I’d love to stay and have another drink. Would you want to stay with me?” she purred.

  “Of course,” Will stammered.

  Sam didn’t wait around after that. They said their goodbyes quickly, and then he and Millie made their escape. He followed her out the door of the club and into the humid summer evening.

  She whipped around to look at him. “God, Sam. You are such an ass! What was that in there? Do you really expect me to swoon like some fan girl?”

  He grasped her face and pulled her close. “For once, just shut up, Millie.”

  His lips found hers. He was tired of waiting.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  She saw a side of Sam that she had never seen before. The man who walked into the jazz club was strong, possessive, and aggressive. When she saw him she felt his magnetic pull, and suddenly it didn’t matter what happened before. If he called, she could come. She wouldn’t be able to refuse him.

  The weak rebuttal on the dance floor was meant only to buy time for her to get her head straight. The way that he pressed his body against hers set her body on fire. She had watched Sam attempt to dance on the small wooden dance floor at Lula’s in Bleckerville almost every Saturday night all summer long. They joked constantly about his two left feet. But the way he moved her around the dance floor that night was as if he had been made to dance that way just for her.

  Although she had just one drink, she felt drunk. She was drunk on desire and a longing for something that she finally admitted that she was ready for. She felt the electricity between them, and that’s why she didn’t refuse when he told her how the rest of the evening was going to go down. When he told her that he wanted her, all of her, she felt like her mind was blown.

  The sentiment was so raw and so primal that it connected with a place deep inside of her. She felt the need for him burning in her core, and she wanted him too. She wasn’t even going to pretend that wasn’t the case anymore.

  It pleased her when coming off the dance floor he stationed himself behind her. She saw Delaney’s questioning glance and the look of surprise on Will’s face, but she found that she didn’t care what they thought. Sam’s words held a promise that she intended to collect on.

  There was a small part that she felt was still expected to play. She knew that Sam thought she would fight him, but she suspected that he would like it. They were about to add a whole new dimension to their relationship, and she wanted him to know that although she was all in, she wasn’t a pushover.

  That’s why as soon as she exited the club, she turned on him. She questioned his motivation, and it delighted her when he stepped close and took control, just like she’d been hoping that he would. She barely even noticed that he gently pushed her into the waiting town car a moment later. She only knew that his hands seemed to be trying to cover every inch of her body, and her desire to fight was gone.

  He leaned against her pressing her body into the soft leather of the seat as he captured her lips again. She arched back against him, and his hands slid underneath her. She let out a small gasp when he pulled her hips forward so that she was almost completely trapped beneath him.

  A small voice in the back of her mind told her that they should stop. They were in the backseat of a car, hardly the most romantic location. But the voice she always used to listen to, the wild one, told her that it was possible that she was about to have the most amazing experience of her life. She just needed to lay back and enjoy it.

  Sam’s hand traced the bare skin between the top of her thigh high boots and the hem of her skirt. His fingers pushed the skirt higher even as his lips began their exploration of the area underneath her earlobe. Shivers of delight spun out from everywhere he touched her, and she felt the moistness between her thighs.

  “I can’t wait to get you alone,” he whispered in her ear before gently tugging on her earlobe with his teeth. “I’ve been dreaming about doing this for months.”

  This was Sam, the voice in her mind whispered. A week before she thought that she’d never see him again. Now, as his fingers made their quest toward that part of her that ached for his touch, she found that she didn’t want to be without him again.

  She gripped his biceps as she felt his fingertips skim across and tease the skin of her inner thigh. All she’d have to do would be open her legs another inch, and he’d have full access to that most intimate part of her. His lips returned to hers, and she felt his gentle nudging. That’s when she heard her phone start to ring.

  “Ignore it,” Sam said.

  Millie did as he asked, but then it was quiet for only a moment before it rang again. She knew that it was one of three people, none of whom she wanted to intrude on that moment.

  “Give me a second,” she whispered against his lips. She pushed herself up in the seat despite Sam’s protests and took a deep breath before reaching out to pick up her purse. It had fallen to the floorboard in their frantic entry into the car.

  She pulled the phone out of her purse and saw Josh’s picture on the screen. She could see Sam’s face in the darkened interior of the car. His frustrated look told her that he expected her to take the call. Until that moment, she thought that she would take it as well. Then Millie made a decision.

  Showing Sam the screen, she then hit the power button and shut the phone off. When his lips covered hers again, she willingly parted them for him, running her hands through his thick, wavy hair. She didn’t resist when he pulled her toward him again. A knock on the partition of glass between the front and back seat brought them both out of their lust-filled fog.

  She peered over Sam’s shoulder and smiled. “We’re here.”

  Sam looked at her with such longing and desire that she shivered again, and it definitely wasn’t from a chill in the air. His thumb traced her lower lip, and she playfully nipped at it drawing a small groan from Sam’s lips.

  “You bet, baby. We’re finally here,” he said pensively.

>   Suddenly, the enormity of the threshold they were about to cross hit her. She had two choices. She could stop and run, or she could dive through it. Millie leaned across Sam’s lap and then took hold of his tie. She pulled his head to hers and put her forehead against his. Then she brushed her lips against his cheek and across his lips.

  “What do you say? Let’s get this show on the road,” she said. Her voice was husky and low.

  Sam knocked on the glass, and Millie heard the window slide down, but Sam’s eyes never left hers. “Bobby, you can go ahead and head home. I won’t need you anymore tonight.”

  Millie didn’t hear Bobby’s reply. Sam popped the door open and stepped out onto the sidewalk. He extended his hand to her, and she put her hand into it. She could feel the strength in his grip as he pulled her from the car and into his arms. There was no where else she’d rather be.

  The journey up to Millie’s apartment was a blur of kissing, caressing, and soft whispers of what was to come. Sam’s head was filled with nothing but thoughts of Millie. So far, everything about her had exceeded his wildest dreams, but then he didn’t think anything could have prepared him for the reality of the woman in his arms.

  They fell through the door of her apartment, and she laughed when they tumbled onto the floor in a tangle of limbs. He found her lying on his chest staring down at him. Her hair was a cascade of wild curls around her shoulders, and it fell down to tickle his face. He pushed the hair away so he could see her clearly. The moonlight coming from the windows in the living room lit up her face, and he thought that she looked like an angel.

  “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispered.

  She bit her lower lip, and he found that he wanted to nibble on it and taste her for hours. He didn’t think that he’d ever get tired of kissing her, but now his body was ready for more. She put the palms of her hands down on the outside of his arms and braced her body above him, but the more sensitive parts of their bodies still brushed against each other. He couldn’t help but buck his hips gently against hers. He enjoyed the way her eyes widened as she felt how hungry he was for her.