Page 17 of This Loving Feeling (Mirror Lake)

Good thing she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet because she suddenly felt queasy. It was a scandalous shot. A shame, because her hair looked really good in that picture and in an alternate universe, she would have been proud to show it around. She blinked as she looked at the bottom of the screen. It had been retweeted a thousand times.

Athousand?

Before she could process that, her phone rang. Harris’s name lit up on the screen. The old ladies stopped their chatter, no doubt sensing some big, juicy conversation.

Sam watched the phone buzz in her hand. She didnotask for Lukas to kiss her in front of the entire school, and now, apparently, most of the world. She’d been an innocent bystander. Harris would understand that, right?

Of course he would. He was the love of her life and he of all people would understand. She would tell him it was all a mistake, a silly stunt, and he would offer wisdom in that soothing tone of his.

“My God, Samantha, what is going on there?” Harris’s voice was higher pitched than usual and irritated. Okay, so he didn’t sound very happy. Or forgiving. Or in the mood to soothe. The ladies stared like they’d heard every word. Which they probably had, because Harris was practically shouting.

She wanted to tell him she had nothing to do with it. That she’dhadto go up there, and she couldn’t possibly have predicted that Lukas would kiss her. For longer than was appropriate. In front of the entire student body. Who had happily tweeted and Facebooked and Instagrammed it into the wild.

But she couldn’t say that. Not only because it sounded weak, but because another emotion besides embarrassment over the ridiculous picture was engulfing her.Guilt,which had settled in her stomach like a lump of sodden oatmeal. She might not have been able to predict that audacious kiss, but dammit, it had been one hell of a kiss. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t stop replaying it over and over in her mind. And she was so, so afraid she’d actuallyenjoyedit.

Sam got up and walked through the aisle of the diner and out onto Main Street. She stepped into an alley between two brick buildings and took a deep breath. “It’s not what it seems.”

“What do you mean?”

“The kids were chanting to get me up there, so I went, and Lukas thought he was being funny. I never thought it would go that far.”

She heard a heavy sigh that made her cringe a little. “I was hoping to get engaged soon, Sam, but I’m afraid to say that this sets us back. I can’t possibly ask you to marry me with this bad publicity. A man like me with a big political career in front of him has got to be very, very careful. And so do you.”

Sam rubbed her forehead. “I’m so sorry.” She would never want to derail his career. Yet his words galled. He was basing when he popped the question on bad press? On how she presented herself publicly? That hurt. She tried to understand. This was the man she loved. His career was stressful and important. His life was a clean slate, and he wanted to marry someone who had one, too. And up until yesterday, except for that old trouble in high school, she did.

Harris cleared his throat, a habit he had when he was all business. “It’s just that I don’t like him being back here, Sam. The last time he came back I almost lost you.”

Aww. His words touched her and deflated her anger. Hedidlove her. He was worried about losing her. She opened her mouth to say he didn’t have to worry about that when he spoke again. “I don’t want you near him, okay? That guy’s bad news.”

For a town the size of a football field, that was pretty near impossible, unless Lukas was a recluse. Which, if she was lucky, he just might just be, because he’d always been a loner. “I’ll do my best. Are you still coming next weekend?” She wished Harris didn’t have to be in Boston, working on a court case. She needed to see him now, to be with him. He would put this all in perspective and those rogue thoughts of a certain tattooed rocker would be driven right out of her mind.

“I’ll be there Sunday morning and we’ll spend the whole day together. I can’t wait to see you, sweetheart.”

“Me, too.” Harris would come, and everything would be all right. Wouldn’t it?

When Sam reentered the diner and took her seat, Jess shot her a concerned look. “I’d get you a drink if they sold liquor here,” she said in a low voice, then louder, “How about a shot of espresso?”

Gloria didn’t give her a chance to answer. “Your boyfriend is jealous about that kiss.”

“A little jealousy is good,” Alethea said. “It makes a man realize what he’s got, if you know what I mean.” This was accompanied by a knowing nod, to which the other women solemnly bobbed their heads in return.

Effie, her lovely, white-haired grandma, eagerly piped in. “Maybe this little incident will help Harris see how special you are.”

“If he thought you were special,” Gloria said, “he’d buy you a tiara. All the princesses get one. The man you love should treat you like royalty.”

“This isn’t England, Gloria,” Alethea said. “American men don’t even know what tiaras are.”

“Well, maybe they should,” Gloria said. “Does he know what an engagement ring is?”

Not even five minutes, and this was getting out of control. “Gran, Harrisdoesthink I’m special,” Sam said. “Just because he tells me in private doesn’t make it any less meaningful.” It troubled Sam that Grandma Effie, who loved everyone and who never had a bad word to say, disliked Harris. Maybe because she’d always distrusted wealth. Effie didn’t understand that Harris had pickedher, plain old unremarkableher, who’d been raised by her grandma and her crazy band of brothers, who’d never been anything special.

After she’d been bullied in high school, she never thought she’d find someone who wouldn’t judge her, who wanted her for who she was, much less find a decent, respectable man who met everyone in her family’s approval ... well, except Effie’s, that is. Or at least, Effie was the only vocal one about her feelings. Sometimes her sisters-in-law cast each other worried looks when they thought she wasn’t looking. It was just their way of wanting to make sure she was happy and being treated well, and she was. She really was.

“I don’t blame him for being upset,” Sam said. “What Lukas did was outrageous. It was completely inappropriate. I mean, I’d be angry, too.”

Alethea spoke next. “I like men who are brazen and bold. Besides, who can resist a handsome Greek man like that? Even if he does have tattoos everywhere.”

“I certainly wouldn’t even try to resist him,” Jess said, after which Sam elbowed her in the ribs. Whose side was she on, anyway?

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