Seducing Sam by Angela Verdenius Page B

right?”
    “Right.”
    “Right.”
    Turning her hand, she linked her
fingers through his and squeezed gently.  “Thanks, Sam.”
    Hell, that little squeeze of his
hand had warmth spreading right up his arm, and when she smiled so gently, he
had the sudden urge to lean across the table and kiss her, to touch his lips to
those inviting, plump ones, to drown in her soft brown eyes and-
    “You are such a good man.  I just
know we’re going to be friends.”
    That was like a dash of ice water
to his rapidly heating ardour.  Just like that - fizzzzzz!   Heat chilled
down.
    Mustering his professional shield,
he smiled at her, released her sweet little hand, sat back, raised his mug in
salute and said, “Friends.”
    Well, look at him, tough man, good
man.  Freakin’ idiot .  But then Carly smiled again, her shoulders
relaxing, and the warmth in her eyes was so genuine, so happy, that he tamped
down his irritation and smiled widely at her.
    “Friends,” she echoed, and clinked
her mug to his.
    How the hell he managed to swallow
he’d never know.  Just like he didn’t know why he felt a little down, a little
deflated.  It wasn’t like there was actually anything to be inflated about, was
there?  Damn, he needed Alan right now.  No, he needed someone to talk to who
didn’t have his head screwed on slightly sideways.  The only advice he’d get
from his idiot friend would be dirty and screwed.
    Taking off his glasses, he
polished them on his shirt.  Maybe he should just go home, have a cold shower,
find some common sense in his peaceful garden with SJ for uncomplicated company.
    “Hey, man.”  Ed entered the
kitchen.
    Welcome diversion.  “Hey, Ed.  How’re
you feeling?”
    “Like shit this morning, but not
too bad now.”
    The skinny, tattoo-laden bloke was
still a little pale, but apart from that, he looked normal.
    Crossing to the table, Ed grabbed
Sam’s hand and shook it.  “Thanks for last night, man.  Really appreciate it.”
    “No worries.”
    “Shitty thing to do to Carly.”  Ed
ruffled her hair, skilfully avoiding her hand when she went to slap his.
    Sam slipped his glasses back on
and crunched into another biscuit.  “You had a rough day.”
    “She told you?”
    “Only that you’d had a rough day.”
    “She’s a good kid.”  Pulling out a
chair, Ed flopped down into it.
    Carly rolled her eyes.  “Thank
you, Uncle Ed.”
    “She doesn’t deserve to have to
put up with that kind of thing.”
    Interested despite himself, Sam
waited, but when Ed said nothing further, he switched his gaze to Carly.  She only
shrugged.
    One thing he was discovering was
that she didn’t open up easily to people, so he guessed if he wanted to know
what had happened to Ed, he’d have to wait and see, because sure as God made
green apples, he wasn’t going to ask.  He never pried into people’s business
and he wasn’t about to start now.
    Friends respected friends’
privacy.  Friends .  There was that word again.  It was a good word. 
Yes, it was a good word.  Friend.  So he wasn’t sure why he wanted to grimace a
little when he thought about it.
    Man, he must be coming down with
something, or maybe it was the tea making him a little jittery.
    “By the way,” Ed said casually, “you
know a tall redhead?”
    “No,” Sam replied.
    “Va-va-voom figure?”
    It kind of sounded familiar…
    “Because there’s one standing at
your front door.”
    Okay, that kind of rang a bell…
    “She’s looking pretty pissed off,
too.”
    The ringing of the bell became a
clanging of warning.  “Uh-oh.”  Sam, sprang to his feet.  “Shit!”
    Ed grinned widely.
    Startled, Carly pushed upright. 
“Is everything all right, Sam?”
    “Damn it.  My date!”  Dorothy! 
Saturday night!  Oh shit .  “Sorry, gotta go.”
    Feeling like an idiot and a prick
all rolled into one, Sam hurried from the house and across the street.  Yep,
Dorothy was standing on his veranda, her arms folded and