I kiss the tip of her nose. "Why don't you have a shower while I go out there and try to talk Cameron out of making scrambled eggs with cayenne pepper in them and hot sauce on top."
She laughs as she hops off the bed. "Better get used to the spicy stuff if you want to join this family."
"I can handle all the spicy stuff. You know that."
And yes, we both know I wasn't talking about food.
Sam throws on a robe and grabs some clothes, then sashays across the hall to the bathroom. I get dressed and venture into the living room where the other Lockharts have already gathered. Ella and Lily are playing a board game I don't recognize, and they seem to be having a jolly good time considering how much they giggle. Cam and Amy have taken over the kitchen, and I think they're making some sort of egg dish. I'm hardly a foodie, so I can't figure out exactly what they've got in that frying pan.
Chuck and Judy sit on stools on this side of the island, watching their son and his wife whip up breakfast.
I perch on the stool beside Chuck's. "Good morning. What's for breakfast?"
"Frittatas," Chuck says. "That's our best guess, anyway. Cam isn't exactly a gourmet chef, and Amy seems to have her doubts about whatever that is in the pan."
Cameron glances over his shoulder at his father and puckers his lips. "Itisfrittatas, Dad. And who said Amy has her doubts? She loves my cooking just as much as I love hers."
"That's your story, hey?"
"It's a fact." Cam waves a spatula toward his wife. "Tell them, Amy. I rock the frittatas."
Their discussion keeps going, but I'm not actively listening anymore. I like to just watch these people, the way they interact with each other, their teasing sarcasm, the way they act as if I've always been a member of their family. Not that I am now. But they treat me like I am.
Sam ambles out of the hallway, now fully dressed, and stops at my stool. She wraps an arm around my waist, leaning into me. When she smiles at me, I smile right back. I might actually be grinning like an idiot, but I don't care. Warmth spreads through me, and I can't stop looking at her. When she kisses my cheek, I get an odd fluttery sensation in my chest.
Oh yes. I am definitely in love with Samantha Lockhart.
Chapter Eighteen
Sam
We spend the entire morning with my family, though honestly, it feels like Ben has become a part of our family despite the fact my parents and my brother met Ben less than a week ago. They love him, I can tell. Cam shows his affection by mercilessly teasing Ben, but my boyfriend can handle it. He teases Cam right back. Dad expresses his fondness by smacking Ben on the back so hard that the poor guy stumbles. Dad only does that once in a while, and I think my guy is getting used to it.
I wonder what Ben's family would think of me.
Just before lunch, we all go outside to play in the snow. Cam and Dad insist that kind of thing is strictly for children and "silly grown women." Well, I am proud to be a silly grown woman. I know when to be serious, but I pride myself on my ability to enjoy any activity with gusto. When I'd first met Ben, he hadn't seemed like the gusto type, but I'd been wrong about that. Maybe he's different here with me in New Hampshire, but I doubt that. He's a massage therapist. That doesn't sound like a job for an uptight guy.
Ben is definitely not uptight.
We find a nice, big open area behind the house that has a good slope for sledding, then we get out the sleds and have fun. Luckily, my grandfather loved this kind of activity, so he left several types of sleds in the shed behind the house. Ella and Lily take the disk-shaped models while Cam commandeers the traditional wooden one. That leaves an inflatable sled for me and Ben to share. My parents opt for watching the rest of us from the comfort of lawn chairs, and they seem to be having a great time, laughing and cheering us on.
I love sledding with Ben. Because it's fun, yes. But I also love having him behind me, his body cradling mine while we zip down the slope. We pass by Ella and Lily, Cam too, and reach the bottom first. But we're having so much fun that we don't slow ourselves down fast enough, and we tip over into the snow. Still, that makes us laugh. No one has ever made me laugh as much as Ben does.
He winds up on top of me because I somehow got flipped over when we fell off the sled. Not that I mind being pinned down by Ben's hot body. The inflatable sled lies on top of us, the perfect cover for making out so no one can see that's what we're doing.
When Cam plucks the sled off us, he catches me and Ben in the act. We're kissing, not having sex. But my brother pretends to be horrified, making a ridiculously exaggerated face. "You nearly killed my sister with your bad sledding skills, and now you're molesting her in front of everyone. I should rip you a new one, pal."
Cam's squinty glare is so phony that nobody could mistake it for an actual threat. He waggles his eyebrows too, which makes it crystal clear he's teasing my boyfriend.
Ben picks me up and sets me down on my feet, then he brushes snow off my hat and coat. "You're a beautiful snow angel."
Cameron pretends to gag. "Don't make me hurl."
"How about a sled race?" Ben asks. "Just you and me."
"You're on. Be prepared to lose, Romeo."
"Oh, you're the one who will be flat on his arse in the snow watching me cross the finish line."