Wait for Me / Trust in Me by Samantha Chase Page A

knee throbbed, and all Lucas wanted to do was howl and rage at the unfairness of it all. He’d been a professional football player, dammit! He’d made more money than he’d known what to do with, and had his pick of women any night of the week. Now look at him: he was sitting in a secluded house in the mountains unable to walk across the room and face a tiny slip of a woman.
    Thoughts of their earlier kiss came to his mind and Lucas gave a mirthless laugh. He’d known that Emma was attracted to him well before this weekend. He’d seen it in the way she would watch him or smile at him whenever he went into the office. But when he’d touched her, especially this morning, he’d discovered just how much he wanted her. He wanted Emma with a fierceness that had nothing to do with the way he’d been denying his body for way too long and everything to do with the woman before him.
    What was he supposed to do now? If things had been different, if there’d been no tow truck to disturb them, Lucas had no doubt he’d have taken Emma to bed and not let her up until it was time to take her home after the roads had cleared. In the span of a few short hours, however, everything had changed. Her opinion of him certainly had, and Lucas was in too much pain, mentally and physically, to deal with seduction.
    Turning his head, he glanced at the bedroom door and wondered when she was going to come back out.
    On the other side of the door, Emma lay curled up on Lucas’s bed. What had possessed her to go on such a rant? She was normally way more even-tempered. She certainly never pushed someone when they were down, and Lucas was most certainly down. He didn’t deserve her cruelty, he deserved compassion. Had she given him any? No. That was a bitter pill for her to swallow.
    While her job was certainly not a factor in what had just transpired, Emma couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen come Monday morning when she was back in the office and Mr. Montgomery found out how hideously she’d treated his son. She groaned and curled up even tighter on the bed.
    The clock read that it was barely one in the afternoon, and between the disturbed sleep the previous night and the emotional toll of their argument, Emma decided that with nothing else better to do, she’d give in to the urge to nap. Maybe everything would look better after she’d slept and cleared her head a little.
    It wasn’t the coward’s way out, she reminded herself, it was simply a matter of doing what was necessary to not make this bad situation even worse.

Chapter 6
    The sun had nearly set by the time Emma opened her eyes. She sat up slowly and glanced at the clock, surprised to see it was nearing five. When was the last time she’d indulged in an afternoon nap? Too long ago to remember.
    Standing and stretching, she walked to the wall of windows and blinked hard. Surely it couldn’t be snowing again? It was too dark and shadowed for her to tell for sure, so Emma walked over to her bags, pulled out some clothes to change into, and went into the bathroom to freshen up. Maybe some cold water on her face and clean clothes would wake her up from what was turning into a nightmare.
    How much longer was she going to be stranded here with Lucas?
    When she stepped out into the living room, Lucas was exactly where she’d left him earlier; the only difference was that now he was watching the large plasma TV that was mounted on the fireplace mantle. There was a football game on—she had no idea if it was actually football season or if he was watching old footage of his own career.
    She hoped it was football season.
    Lucas turned his head when he heard the bedroom door open. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do or say, so he chose to wait and let Emma take the lead.
    â€œIs that snow I’m seeing coming down again?” she asked.
    â€œâ€™Fraid so,” he said cautiously, not sure