Page 95 of Scandalous Lover

ChapterThirty-Two

Naomi

Sam pulls his belt buckle open with his lips still pressed to mine.

I thought I felt a hint of hesitation before he gave into taking his pants off.

And when he took his shirt off.

And at every step of the way since the first moment we met.

But he keeps going. So I allow him to lead me.

I know this is a lot for him. He’s got a lot on the line. But so do I.

It’s not the same, I tell myself.

Mine might be worse.

Because while he’s falling into the arms of his best friend’s little sister, something that seems to scare him enough to make him hide, I’m taking the heart of a good, kind man and using it for what could be some sort of rebound as I crawl from the ashes of my ruined life.

He’s a lifeline.

One that feels really, really good.

I feel safe with Sam.

But I know damn well he’s not safe with me.

This man needs a trustworthy, dependable woman to settle down with and start a life together.

A family.

And the only thing I’ve ever succeeded in settling was the tab at the end of taco night with the girls.

Panic rises in my chest as I allow my brain to drag me down a dark path to a future where I’ve let this guy fall for me, let him ruin his working relationship with his best friend, and then I’ve just bailed. Because that’s what I do.Because online I’m fun and pretty and perfect but in real life, I’m nothing. My own father never wanted me.

“Sam.” I start to pull away, but he holds me close. “Sam, maybe this…”

“Tell me to leave,” Sam says into my collarbone as he holds me against his body.

I shake my head. I’m never going to do that.

“Naomi, I’m standing here in my underwear with a hard-on that’s been screaming your name for months now. If I’m leaving, I need to do it now.”

I shake my head again.

Fuck it.

“Don’t leave.”

“Oh? And what should I do instead?”

I can barely hear myself think over the blood pounding in my ears. This Sam, this unleashed, wild Sam, the one that only seems to come out at times like these, I’m addicted to this guy. Nice guy Sam is great, but this guy? He’s the stuff my dreams are made of.

“Take them off,” I hear myself say, trying not to yell over the noise in myhead.

He obeys, and it’s all I can do not to fall to my knees and admire him. Taste him.

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