19 Headed for Trouble by Suzanne Brockmann Page B

remind me of Scarlett Johansson,” Sam heard him saying to the girl. “Youmust get that all the time—you
don’t
? Really? You look a
lot
like her …”

    Sam was almost completely packed, but he wasn’t going anywhere without Jules. He stood in the bathroom. It didn’t make sense to pack up his toilet kit, only to unpack it again tonight when he went to bed. His clothes were no problem. He could easily live out of his suitcase. He’d look slightly more rumpled than usual, but …
    “I got you on the four o’clock flight to London.” Jules stood in the door.
    Sam looked at him in the mirror. “I’m not leaving you behind.”
    Jules nodded. “I appreciate your loyalty, but Chloe had a little confession that, well, she asked me to share with you.”
    Sam waited.
    “The bride and groom have apparently eloped,” Jules told him. “The wedding party is indefinitely postponed. Your services are no longer needed—as of last night, as a matter of fact.”
    “What?”
    “Apparently Chloe neglected to tell her sisters about this, too. She wanted to stay a few extra days, and … She’s young and misdirected. Apparently she’s got quite the crush on you, cowboy.”
    Sam used one arm to sweep what Jules would call his “products” off the sink counter and into his bag. “The four o’clock to London will only get me home in time if nothing goes wrong,” he said tightly. No delays, no canceled flights, no screwups between connecting flights. “And I’m still not leaving unless you’ve got a flight out of here, too.”
    “Yeah, about that,” Jules said. “Confession part two.Apparently she hired those men to, well, as she put it, make me go away.”
    Sam looked at him. “Young, misdirected—and vicious.”
    “She is a little socially disengaged,” Jules said. “But she’s leaving, too. With her sisters. I thought I’d hang for a few days. Maybe get to know Paolo a little better.”
    “Paolo?” Sam asked.
    “He owns that restaurant,” Jules admitted. “While you were washing out that cut on your hand, we got to talking and … he, um, offered to give me cooking lessons.”
    Sam laughed. He hadn’t even realized that the restaurant owner—an older man with gray at his temples, good-looking in an Italian Tom Hanks kind of way—was gay. “That’s a new way of saying it.” He sobered fast. “Are you sure you want to …?”
    “Sweetie, the only thing I’m
absolutely
sure about is that I don’t want a beard,” Jules said.
    “I shouldn’t have said that,” Sam told his friend. “I didn’t mean it. But I worry about you.”
    “I know. I forgive you. I just … I want a relationship with someone like Paolo who’s not afraid to be himself,” Jules said. “God, I really want someone I’m in such a hurry to go home to that I’ll pack in that horrific way that you just did.” He laughed, but then sobered. “You know, before? When you asked me what I want? I want what you have with Alyssa, Sam. I want what Max has with Gina, what Jack has with Scott. I won’t have that with Ben.
Or
with Robin, who’s in fucking London right now promoting his latest movie, so I’m
not
going to London with you, even if it’s only to catch a flight to New York, thanks but no thanks.”
    Maybe Alyssa was right. It sure seemed that all roads led back to this Robin guy.
    “I remember,” Sam said, “being in love with Alyssa,but she didn’t want anything to do with me. I was so desperate not to think about her, and … Nobody could compete. Messing around with other women didn’t help. It only made me miss her more. Plus the other women usually ended up hurt, which sucked.”
    “I hear what you’re saying.” Jules nodded. “And I appreciate your candor. But you need to go, or you’re going to miss that plane.”
    Sam grabbed his bags. Opened the door. “Thanks again for everything.”
    “I’ll give you a call in a coupla days,” Jules said. “Kiss the shit out of Alyssa for me,