Page 35 of Stand

She shouldnothave done that. Or did he do it? Who’d kissed who?

Whom, Cat’s voice sounded in her head.

God. Cat. And the rest of that house. And Ty’s kids! How could she have forgotten, just because he’d looked so good and been so open with her, that he was part of a world she could not enter?

Her fingers went to her lips, which still throbbed from his slow, thorough kisses. Not like last time. Closed mouth, as though they had all the time in the world to discover more. And Sam, who hadalwaysbeen the aggressor, had let him take the lead because she trusted that he knew what was better for them than she did. None of this was good for either of them.

She covered her eyes with one hand. How was she going to look at him now? Scratch that. How was she going to look at everyone else in the house? Alyssa and Matt, or Jake and the twins? Typical Sam, Cat would say—and so would Megan, when Cat told her. How could Sam tell them that she’d been staying away from thoughts of Ty’s body for almost every one of the hours she’d known him? That she knew full well how not to react to a good-looking guy, no matter the signals he’d sent her way? She’d known he’d found her attractive in spite of himself, and she wasn’t about to force anyone to do anything.

So with all that, who had kissed whom?

Thank God she was going home tomorrow. She had to be at work next Monday. That gave her five days to do a three-day drive—if she drove all day. She’d hoped to do more stopovers this time and have a couple of days to get set up at home before driving down to the camp. Given the circumstances, however, she should probably get a few miles in this afternoon.

But she hated the thought of leaving Alyssa with her dour father and injured brother, no matter how slow and addictive Ty’s kisses had been and how badly she should get away from him.

Another vehicle, a dark-red truck with a noisy exhaust, drove by, making her jump. Shit. That photographer had taken a picture of them kissing. Why? Ty was divorced. He had every right to kiss whomever (see, Cat?) he liked.

That poor, poor family. Sam was finally pulled out of her own confusion to consider their future. What else could go wrong for them? How long would Julia keep this up? Apparently, she had quite some power, even from jail. Or were her parents on Ty’s case? And for what? What had Ty ever done but be a conscientious, faithful, fucking incredible father?

Oof. Where had that come from?

She shook out her hair from the sweat that the June lunch hour—or Ty’s heat—had caused to gather on her neck.You don’t have to have designs on him to think he’s a good father.

That wasn’t why, and Sam tried to be honest with herself at all times. It was the spark she’d gotten whenever he touched her. It was how very different he was from that kid she’d ignored in high school, and yet how much of that kid had remained in his thoughtfulness, his careful observation of his surroundings, his gorgeous light-blue eyes?

Dammit, Samantha.

To distract herself, she picked up the tray of drinks and fruit and walked around to the back of the house, where the patio door was open with only the screen to keep the bugs out.

Alyssa’s voice drifted outside. “He’s cranky, Dad. Don’t go up there yet.”

Sam lurked instead of walking in. Unfortunately, Cairo sensed her and came to the screen door, wagging his tail. She shushed him and kept out of sight. The group inside the house seemed to assume he was looking out at a squirrel or something in the backyard.

“I have to, Lyss,” Ty said. “He needs his meds. They’ll help.”

“He told us to stop baking ’cause it smelled too good and it hurts to eat.”

“I should have thought of that,” Cat said.

“It’s okay,” Ty said. When he wasn’t in front of her, Sam could concentrate on the sound of his voice. She liked it. It was low and velvety. A voice you could sink into.

She shook her head.Not. The. Time.

“We’ll go home this afternoon, anyway,” Ty was saying.

“Already?” Cat said.

“Ohno, Dad!” Alyssa said at the same time.

“We can’t impose any longer,” he repeated. “Look, go take Matt this glass of juice, and I’ll be up in a second.”

Alyssa grumbled, but when Ty spoke again, Sam assumed that his daughter had left the kitchen.

“Someone’s following me and taking pictures,” he said, his voice low.

“Ohno!” Cat said, echoing Alyssa. “Why?She’sthe one who did wrong!”

“Her family’s always supported her—as they should, I guess.”

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