"Is something wrong?"
He smiled. "Only if you're not okay."
"Don’t you want to take care of that?”
He shook his head. "No. It's not actually why I came here."
He lifted my hands to his lips, kissing one and then the other, and my heart completely betrayed me by swooning.
Annoyed by that, I snapped at him. “Then why are you here?"
He sighed but didn't move away. "I was invited to a Thanksgiving party by a friend of my Uncle. I wanted to see if you would go with me."
That had to be the Friendsgiving party.
"I know you said no dating, but I thought we could go as friends. You could be my plus one."
“Why do you need a plus one?" I wasn't planning on bringing a date, although I’d already said I wouldn’t go if Sam went. Then again, the reason for my not going wasn’t a factor anymore.
He gave me a lopsided smile. "In my experience, showing up single to a party filled with couples usually ends in my being set up on blind dates. Sometimes, the blind dates show up at the party.”
I wondered how often that had happened to him.What did Sandra think of that?God. I shook my head, not wanting to think of Sandra.
"And you don't want that?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"I'm sure there's plenty of other women who would be happy to be your plus one." Although the idea of his being with another woman did not sit well with me. Ugh! Jealousy didn't bode well for my plans to keep him emotionally away from me.
He released my hands, stepping away and adjusting his dick.
I was about to offer to take care of it for him when he said, "I know you don't want to hear this, Kate, but I don't want another plus one. I don’t want another woman." He watched me for a moment as I stared at him, not sure what to say but doing all I could do to keep from launching off my desk and throwing myself into his arms.
Finally, he said, “Let me know.” Then he turned and left my office.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Sam
I think I was able to escape the Sea Siren without anyone noticing that my dick was so hard the tip was nearly sticking out of the waistband of my slacks. Except for Kate, of course. I hadn't gone there to give her an orgasm, but I couldn’t deny that I was pleased with the way things had gone. I was making headway. Of course, I had thought this before, so I tempered my enthusiasm.
I hadn't gotten an answer to whether she'd go to the Thanksgiving party, but even if she said no to being my plus one, I figured she'd go because she was friends with so many of the people who would be there.
"Teeny, tiny step forward, Sam," I said to myself as I shifted in the front seat of my car, waiting for my erection to go down so I could put my seatbelt on.
I replayed our encounter in my mind. I had figured she'd be wary at seeing me, but she had been pissed. When she accused me of lying to her about the property up the street, my initial instinct was to give up. It was clear that everything I did, or that she thought I did, was viewed with suspicion.
But then I remembered what Harper had told me about what happened to Kate after I left. She had good reason to be skeptical of me based solely on the way I had abandoned her five years ago.
But with what her grandfather did was added on top of that, it made sense why she was so hard and closed off. I needed to be patient and to continue to show her that I wasn't the man she thought I was.
One thing was for sure. She might not be ready to let me in again, but she did enjoy having me touch her. I wanted so much more, but for now, that would do.
Thinking about the way she had grabbed my shirt and tugged me to her had my slowly deflating dick rising again. I considered going back inside and asking her to take care of it, but I didn't.
I had given her something she needed without taking anything in return. It was a small thing, but maybe it would be the start of her recognizing that I wanted more than sex from her.
She knew that, of course, because I told her so. But she needed more than my words. She needed to see and experience my feelings for her.