“Oh my God, Mom!” A myriad of emotions washed over her. Concern over her nephew was the most prominent, but she couldn’t help feeling irritated that her elderly parents had to deal with this instead of her sister or her worthless ex-husband. She, at least, had to be there to help them deal with some of this. While her mom sounded calm enough, Nellie heard it in her shaky words: she was worried. “What hospital are you guys at?”

“Nellie, you have to work in the morning. You don’t have to come down here.”

“What hospital, Mom?” she asked a little more firmly this time.

Sam had already walked away before she’d even ended the call. As she walked back into the room, she saw him rushing back to her with his keys in hand. “You can tell me about it on the way.”

He sounded so resolute that she didn’t bother telling him that he didn’t have to take her. Obviously, he’d balk at the suggestion that she could take a cab to save him the trouble. Not only did he take her but he hung around, meeting her parents and Gus in the process and then drove her home when it was all over. She’d already explained when he picked her up why her home wasn’t the same one he’d picked her up and dropped her off at last time. It was easy. She gave him the same reasoning she’d given Roni that night. She’d wanted Roni’s take on her outfit.

It was way past the time she thought she would’ve been home now, but at least Gus was fine. Sam walked her to her door.

“Interesting night out,” he said with a smirk.

“I’m sorry it turned out this way,” she said, turning to him with a wince.

“Don’t be,” he chuckled. “I got to spend more time with you and even got meeting your parents out of the way.”

The way he said that as if it were a given—something that was bound to happen—made her feel a little weird. “Thank you so much for everything, Sam.”

His smile went serious suddenly, and those crystal blue eyes stared at her now as they stood silently staring at each other. Before she could get her thoughts together or even think of a reason to protest, his lips were on hers, and he kissed her softly. She almost let him go on—let him slip his tongue into her mouth—but she couldn’t. The knot was instantly at her throat and she pulled away.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered quickly. “I said I’d be patient, but I couldn’t help myself. I’ll try harder. I promise.”

She shook her head, angry with herself. Letting loose? What a joke. She couldn’t even bring herself to let another man’s tongue in her mouth. Who was she kidding when she talked about wanting to free her spirit? “It’s okay,” she insisted. “It’s just that—”

“Shh,” his finger touched her lips. “You don’t have to explain. I understand. I get it—baby steps.” He took her hand and kissed it. “This is all I get for now, and I can live with that. Whatever it takes.”

He smiled, making those amazing eyes sparkle. “Thanks for understanding.”

Once inside with Sam out of sight now, she stood there in the middle of her dark living room. She brought both hands to her face and kept them there for a long time as she took in the day’s events. For as much as she’d talked down how good-looking Sam was, she couldn’t deny it any longer. Sam was hot, and she was certain Roni would agree. Her mom had used the word hunk when she’d had a moment alone with her at the hospital and she’d seen the looks from the table full of women at the brunch last week when they’d walked past them. He’d turned a lot of heads that day and even in the emergency room tonight.

Not only was he hot but he was sweet and was asking her to trust him already. Any other woman would jump at the chance. Yet here she was, once again consumed with thoughts of that other hunk in her life—the unattainable one, for what she needed anyway.

She should be grateful that she had such a sweet and gorgeous distraction now. Instead, all she could think of was that in less than a week she’d be in a car with Abel for four hours. Even though she said that they’d be keeping it strictly business, she already knew that the minute she saw him she’d melt, and if he even tried to kiss her, all bets would be off.

Chapter 15

It had been just over a week since Abel had last seen Nellie and his insides were going wild with anticipation. The whole way to her place he’d driven over the limit. He still hadn’t figured out how he was going to make things work with her, but one thing he was certain of was that he was determined to figure it out. This past week alone had been proof enough that he wanted, no needed her in his life. But he damn sure wasn’t sharing her with anybody. So he had to figure something out.

He honked at the idiot in front of him driving way too slow. The way he was feeling now was further confirmation of how crazy he was about her, because he couldn’t drive fast enough to be near her.

The moment his car was in her driveway and turned off, he jumped out and rushed to her front door.

“Come in!” she called out from somewhere inside. “I’m just packing some last-minute things.”

Hastening his step as he walked through her living room and into her bedroom where her voice had come from, his heart sped up as well. As he came around the corner and into her room, their eyes met and she smiled. Beautiful. With three long and quick strides, he was at her side. Fear of rejection or not he went for it.

“God, I missed you,” he said, slipping his hand behind her neck and kissing her deeply.