“What makes you ask?”

Sam waved his finger at her like a pendulum. “You can’t answer a question with a question. That’s breaking the rules. Now answer the question.”

She sighed, her shoulders sagging slightly. “I talked to my mother this afternoon.”

“And?”

“She’s arriving next week.”

“This worries you why?” He’d heard scant little about her family. He’d noticed that every mention of her mother produced a frown.

“She’ll meet you, Sam, and she’s going to—”

“Going to what?” he asked, his grip on her hand tightening.

“Judge you.”

Sam held her gaze. “And that bothers you?”

She didn’t meet his gaze. “Yes, because I’m afraid she’ll scare you off and you won’t have anything more to do with me and that would devastate me.”

“Beth, babe. Listen. Your mother might be a dragon lady, but she isn’t going to run me off.”

“You haven’t met my mother.”

“Beth, listen to me.” He tucked his index finger beneath her chin and raised her head so she couldn’t avoid looking at him. “Your mother isn’t going to influence my feelings for you one way or the other.”

Hope widened her eyes. “Promise.”

“Promise.” Sam hated the thought of Beth stressing about this.

Leaning forward, their foreheads touched and Beth whispered, “I’m holding you to that promise, Sam.”

“You do that.” The temptation was to kiss her. He thought about it often enough; in fact, it’d been paramount on his mind for several days now. Slightly lifting his head, he rubbed his nose against hers and then, because he couldn’t resist a second longer, he pressed his mouth to hers. It seemed Beth, too, had been waiting for this moment with the same eagerness as Sam had. As soon as their lips met, she released a low groan and parted her lips, welcoming him. Sam wound his hand around the back of her neck, his fingers tangling with her hair as he slanted his head slightly. She placed her hands against his chest and then gripped hold of the fabric of his shirt, clinging to him.

Delicate as she was, he didn’t dare kiss her the way he wanted to. The hunger was there, the need, the desire, but he restrained himself, lightly brushing his mouth over hers so they were barely touching. Gradually he pressed more firmly, rubbing the slick moisture back and forth until he swore he’d never experienced a more erotic kiss in his life.

When he broke away, his breathing was irregular and harsh. He held her for several heart-throbbing seconds while he regained his composure. It took him that long to find his voice.

“I better go.” He continued to hold her, finding releasing her harder than ever.

“Okay.” She, too, continued to cling to him. Expelling her breath, she eased away and whispered, “That was nice.”

“That was more than nice,” Sam said, and kissed the top of her head as he pushed back. “It was wonderful.”

Beth’s eyes remained closed. “I’ve been wanting you to kiss me forever. What took you so long?”

Sam grinned. Good question. “The hell if I know. All I can say is that it was worth the wait.”

Her smile widened. “Yes, it was.”

Friday Sam knew Beth was scheduled to be discharged from the hospital and transported to the rehab facility. Sam wished he’d taken the day off so that he could be with her, which didn’t make sense. Sunshine was sure to go with her. Still, he remained distracted, concerned about Beth. The kiss changed things between them. He found it impossible to stop thinking about Beth and wanting to kiss her again and again. All he knew was that within a matter of a week she had become important to him. More important than was logical or reasonable.

Despite all their differences, he was drawn to her in ways that he hadn’t been to a woman in longer than he could remember. Okay, he could remember, but that was a relationship he’d prefer to forget.

Her smile was part of the attraction, he knew. Her entire face lit up with happiness whenever he came to visit, as if she’d been waiting all day for just that moment. The irony of it was he’d been the one who could barely wait to get to her. Her smile had a way of hitting him square in the chest. God help him, he could live a year on one of her smiles.

They also shared a love of music. Sam had none of the formal training she’d received. He’d taught himself how to play the guitar and mostly played by ear, although he’d learned to read sheet music by watching YouTube. Her knowledge was extensive, but she’d never made him feel inferior or like less of a musician. He felt a certain sense of pride knowing his playing relaxed her enough to help her fall asleep.

Leaving her was hard. Often he stayed as long as an hour after she’d drifted off, doing nothing more than studying her. Yup, he had it bad. For most of his adult life, Sam had avoided relationships, or ones that lasted more than a few days or, more accurately put, nights. Everything was different with Beth. He was different with Beth. She was concerned about him meeting her mother. Well, he wasn’t turning tail no matter what. He didn’t know what the future held, but he was fairly certain Beth would be part of it.

Irrational as it seemed now, when they’d first met he hadn’t noticed or appreciated how beautiful she was. Her beauty wasn’t classic, with high cheekbones and perfectly shaped facial features. Hers was subtle and delicate, which helped explain why it took him longer than it should have to notice. He was touched that she clearly made an effort with her hair and makeup for him. It wasn’t necessary. All he saw was Beth, and it didn’t matter to him if she had on lip gloss or if her hair was combed.

Even the guys in the shop had noticed the change in him. Sam blew them off and shrugged off their good-natured ribbing.

“Going to see your girlfriend tonight?” Bob Unger asked as they started cleaning their stations at the end of their shift on Friday.

“Who says I got a girlfriend?” Sam demanded.

“Hey, Sam, we’re your friends. You don’t need to hide anything from us.”

“Yeah, Sam. I see you sneaking off during lunch and talking on your cell.”

“When we gonna meet your girl?”

Grinning, Sam ignored them. He dug his truck keys from his pocket and headed out of the garage. “Have a good weekend.”

“You aren’t joining us for a beer?” Bob asked, his mouth hanging open in surprise.

Sam had been the one to instigate the Friday-night beer time with the guys. “Can’t tonight,” he called over his shoulder as he climbed into his truck. He was in a rush to get to Beth.

“Yup, it’s a woman. Only time any of us miss a Friday night is when a woman’s involved.”

Sam didn’t answer. No need. His friends had him pegged.

Once back at the house, Sam quickly showered and changed clothes, anxious to get to Beth. This was a big day in her recuperation process and he wanted to be sure the transition to the rehabilitation center had gone smoothly.

As soon as he found her in her room her eyes lit up, followed by that beautiful smile. That did it to him every time.

“Sam.”

“Hey.” He stood just inside the door, drinking in the sight of her. He walked up to the bed and took hold of her hand, marveling once more how dainty it felt in his much larger one. Hers was soft and perfectly shaped, delicate against his callused, grease-stained fingers.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“I am, too.” And it was the honest-to-God truth. He badly wanted to kiss her and leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on her cheek.

For half a second she looked disappointed, and then, in a rush, she asked, “You have your guitar with you, don’t you?” It was as if she couldn’t get the words out fast enough.

He’d kept it with him nearly all week. “It’s in my truck.”

“Wonderful. Would you mind carrying me into the foyer?” She lifted her arms, waiting for him to lift her off the bed.

Sam hesitated. “Shouldn’t you be using your walker?”

“Probably,” she agreed, lowering her arms, “but it would take me twenty minutes to get from here to the lobby, and by then I’d be too tired to play.”