Page 38 of Surprised By Love

“Max stay.” He sits and waits as I zip up my bomber jacket with the Sunset Police patch on the sleeve, pull out my gloves and put them on before taking hold of his leash and head down the street.

I know it’s only a matter of time before our first major storm hits. I’ve already set up emergency packs at the station for when the weather gets bad. Even though it is a small town, we’ve had our fair share of car accidents and ice storms.

I remind myself we need to place some signs around the creek and pond so we don’t have people trying to go skating out there when the ice hasn’t completely hardened yet. Normally, by mid-December, the weather has been cold enough for the creek and pond to freeze so we can enjoy some ice skating. We set up a makeshift rink in the middle of the park every year, but some prefer the pond.

Max stops to relieve himself on a tree when I look up and notice we are down the street from Sam’s place. Damn, that girl won’t stay out of my head and as if I conjured her up, I see a car pull up in front of her house.

The driver’s side door opens up and my heart stops.

Miles Brooks.

He closes his door and walks over to the passenger side and opens the door. I hold my breath, waiting to see who is in the car with him, but my gut is telling me I already know.

He holds a hand out and next thing I know, Sam is stepping out of the car.

Dammit.

Am I too late? Have I missed my chance with her?

She looks beautiful. Her hair is down and in curls and she has on what I assume is a long black dress. I can’t tell for sure since a pale grey peacoat covers her upper body and falls to her hips.

I wait patiently as Miles walks her to the door.

I wait with bated breath. Is he going to kiss her? Is she going to let him? I don’t know if I want to see that, but I can’t look away.

I feel like a damn stalker.

If she kisses him, do I still take a chance? Do I fight for her? I’ve never fought for a girl before, but there’s something about Sam that makes me want to do whatever I have to do to make her mine.

Miles walks up the stairs behind her. I don’t know what he says, but she laughs. Oh, this is not good.

Oh God. He’s leaning in to kiss her. I can’t look away. I try to swallow, but there is a lump in my throat.

She turns her head, and he kisses her cheek.

Oh. Thank God!

I let out my breath. That’s a good sign. Maybe she’s not interested in him. She would have let him kiss her on the lips if she was interested, right?

Maybe I still have a chance. Tugging on Max’s leash, I turn to head back to my parent’s house. I need a plan. I need to make Sam mine.

Chapter Fifteen

Sam

Iopenthedoorand step inside. Hanging up my jacket, I walk into the living room, where I see Vicki sitting on the couch.

“Please tell me you were not sitting here waiting for me to get home?” I shake my head, taking a seat beside her, kicking off my heels. I raise my feet, resting them on the coffee table.

“N...no. I was just drinking a coffee.”

“Uh-huh. Don’t believe you.” I laugh. “I’ll admit it is weird coming back to this house after a date. There’s a little déjà vu going on, but it’s you sitting here waiting and not Grams.”

“Yeah,” Vicki chuckles. “Grams was the worst. It didn’t matter if it was your first date or your twentieth. She was always sitting here waiting for us to get home. Then she’d ask us a million questions when all we wanted to do was go upstairs to bed.”

“Speaking of… Is Amelia upstairs?”

“Yeah, last I checked, she was playing with some of her dolls. That was half an hour ago.” Vicki takes a sip of her coffee. “So. Don’t leave me in suspense. How was it?”

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