“Sam…”
This time, when I attempted to jostle away from him, Sam allowed me down on my feet without any resistance. I adjusted my skirt neatly down to my knees and plopped down on my chair with a sigh and eyes closed.
“I have a theory.” He began. “You didn’t kiss me because you were drunk. You kissed me because you’ve been fantasizing about it since the day you met me. The alcohol simply made you brave enough to cave in. You wanted to kiss me, Lucille.”
That’s ridiculous. How could I have wanted him for two years and not be conscious of it? My brain, my body, my heart, one of them would be agreeing if it was true, right?… Right? Perfect, I can’t even answer myself about myself. What the hell was wrong with me? It was like Sam had shut down all my senses and hijacked my vulnerable hormones.
I felt the chair swivel a little and when I opened my eyes, I saw Sam crouched before me and made the mistake of looking into his beautiful eyes. It was so easy to get lost in them that it felt like intruding when in fact, it was him who was invading my personal space.
My fingers went into his hair to brush the locks I had tousled. “What is this, Sam? What are we doing?”
“I don’t want to put labels on it. I just know I want more.”
“I can’t.”
“Because of Joe?”
“Because ofme.Because I don’t know if I do or don’t have Joe. Because anything more with you could put a huge dent in my career. Because nothing should have happened between us in the first place. There’s just too many reasons why I can’t.”
“You know I’d never mess with your career.”
“We can’t let this go on. We’ve got to work together every single day. We must go through meetings with just the two of us in a room and stay focused. No more kissing, no more teasing. We need to go back to being strictly professional.”
“That’s impossible now.”
“Why not?”
Just then, my desk phone rang, startling me out of my skin. Damned phone, I still didn’t want interruptions. Definitely not at this moment.
Sam made to stand up but my steady hand pressed on his shoulder held him crouched. I wasn’t ready to let his comment be cut off by the ringing phone. “Why not?” I repeated.
“Because I wasn’t your morphine, sunshine. I was your shot of adrenaline. I resuscitate you. And soon, you’ll need more of my dose. You won’t be able to resist me.”
His hand settled on my knee, stroked my skin there and went up, beneath my skirt. Oh, dear. There were so many colourful butterflies in my stomach all of a sudden. I didn’t even know I had caterpillars waiting to metamorphose before Sam’s last words and touch.
Forcing myself out of the reverie, my feet planted on the ground to push my chair backwards, successfully escaping Sam’s touch and I picked up the phone to accept the now much-appreciated interruption.
“Hello Lucy,” came the voice from the receiver.
“Joe?” I checked my phone. It was on and there were no missed calls or messages. “Why are you calling my office?”
Sam stood up quickly as if wary that Joe could have seen him through the phone.
“I’d like to schedule a meeting with you and Sam. Urgently.”
* * *
Chapter Six
“Didn’t he hint what this is about?”
My only answer to Sam was a quick shake of my head.
Sam and I sat opposite each other at the grand table in the conference room. Both of us were restless and anxious, awaiting the arrival of the man who was currently on neither one of our good books.
“Is it eleven-thirty yet?” I asked.
Sam checked his watch. “Two minutes past.”