Page 1 of Sexting the Tattooed Outlaw
CHAPTER 1
KAY
It’s been almostten years, but I’d recognize Sam Wallace anywhere.
Some things never change. Most noticeably, his size.
Sam’s a big guy, tall and wide and thickly muscular in a way you don’t see very often. Not quite the physique of a body builder, but big enough to require him to duck when walking through low doorways.
I hold my breath, staring through the front windows ofFiction & Foamas he saunters across the little gravel parking lot.
Surely he wouldn’t have the nerve to come in here.
Doesn’t he know where he is?
He’s not just in Wild Bronco. This coffeeshop is Beaumont turf, and he should know he isn’t welcome here.
My heart skips a beat as he comes closer. He’s still got the same piercing electric blue eyes framed in dark lashes. Once upon a time, those eyes did me in.
Not anymore.
Yeah, it’s true. When I was a teenager, I was hopelessly in love with Sam. A guy who never saw me as anything more than his boss’s daughter, an annoying chubby girl who always seemed to be in the way while he did chores on my family’s ranch.
Even back then, with my wild teenage fantasies, I understood that certain lines weren’t crossed.
Boss’s daughter being one of those lines.
The other being that Sam was the hot, older bad boy at school that all the girls were crazy for…and I was an overweight nerd with glasses and a stutter.
Flash forward to now. I lost the glasses and got speech therapy for my stutter. My acne cleared up and I don’t wear dark, oversized clothing to camouflage my curvy figure anymore.
I’m a grown ass woman now, dammit. Yet still, just glancing across a parking lot at Sam seems to have brought me back to being sixteen and hopelessly in love.
I’m frozen on the spot, staring at the man striding toward me through the large glass windows.
He’s the same…but different. His shoulders got broader, if that’s even possible. He’s filled out around the middle more – not quite a Dad Bod, but bulky enough for me to tell he’sall mannow, no longer the teenager I once knew him as.
He’s got a beard now, too. It's the same deep auburn shade as his hair. And he’s got even more tattoos than he did when he left town. His arms are covered in them now, with a few reaching past his wrists and winding down the backs of his hands.
I hold my breath as he reaches for the door handle. Maybe he’ll stop short. Maybe he’ll realize what a stupid idea this is, and turn back.
I just can’t believe he’d have theaudacityto step foot onto the property of a Beaumont after everything that happened.
I can’t.
…But sure enough, that large tattooed hand wraps around the door handle and pulls. And then he enters my world again for the first time since abandoning me a decade ago.
He gets to the front counter before I can intercept him, greeting the friendly face of my newest employee, a wide-eyedhigh school student who seems mesmerized by the man in front of her.
I can’t say I blame her. It’s the same way I used to react to Sam.
Sam’s massive, muscular frame seems to fill the little pink cafe. I can smell him from here. Evergreen and spice. The same as always. Funny how scents can evoke vivid memories, things I haven’t thought about in years. My cheeks grow hot and there’s a funny feeling in my chest, something that feels a lot like regret mixed with a bit of anger.
“Um, welcome to…uh…welcome to Fiction & Foam!” My employee stumbles through the greeting I trained her to give customers. “Can I get you started with an apple pie latte?”
“No coffee for him,” I cut in, coming to the counter to meet Sam.
My trainee widens her eyes at me. I’m sure she’s surprised; I’m the queen of customer service, able to get even the crankiest of caffeine-deprived customers to crack a smile.
