Free Wanting Forever (A Nelson Island Novel) by Diana Gardin Page B

going to set him aflame as well. Two could play at this game.
    She descended the staircase to find him waiting for her by the front door. Ashley was standing next to him, smirking as she watched Aston walk down the stairs. One look at Ashley told Aston her friend knew exactly what she was doing with her outfit…and liked it. Aston narrowed her eyes, and Ashley laughed.
    “Well, y’all have fun, okay? I can’t wait to see your new look, Sam. You’re in good hands with my girl Aston here. But I think you know that, now don’t you?”
    She opened the front door and left before Aston could throw her another dirty look.
    “Well,” Aston asked Sam. “You ready?”
    “You recover fast,” Sam commented.
    She didn’t miss his eyes roving up her legs as he took in her appearance. She smiled. The boy was taken, but he wasn’t dead.
    “Recover? From what?”
    “You seemed kinda ill in the kitchen awhile ago. You feeling better?”
    “Oh, that,” she said cheerfully. “All better. You mentioned the word shopping, and I perked right up.”
    Sam’s head fell back as he laughed. “I’m so glad I could help you out, Princess. Now, I have a feeling that going shopping with you on my Harley isn’t a good idea. We’re coming back with a bunch of stuff, aren’t we?”
    She recovered quickly from the thought of sitting on the back of his bike, and then chuckled at the worried tone in his voice. “Oh, tons and tons. We’ll take my car.”
    He nodded and held the door open and ushered her through it. She couldn’t remember the last time Princeton had held a door for her. As she brushed past him, she received a delicious whiff of his scent: outdoorsy, fresh, and all-man.
    Driving down the state highway with Sam in her silver BMW M3 convertible, the top down, the wind blowing through their hair, Aston’s heart lifted and all of the worries she had about her father and Sam floated away. Her gaze drifted over to him, and she saw that his soulful eyes were burning into hers.
    “What?” she asked curiously.
    “You weren’t sick earlier, were you?”
    Startled, she looked back at the road. “No.”
    “That was more like shock I saw on your face. Right?”
    Aston saw him reach for her hand, which was resting on the gearshift. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt the heat from his skin when his hand neared hers, and then he pulled it away. He fisted it on his lap.
    When she glanced over at him again, his jaw was clenching. The little muscle there was pulsing gently. His eyes focused on the road ahead of them.
    “Sam, I heard what my father said to you in the office. I was shocked because I’d never heard that story before. He never told me.”
    She felt him staring at her. “But you two seem so close.”
    “That’s what I thought.”
    Sam was silent for a moment. “Sometimes stories like that, the ones that make you feel uncertain about the person you are inside…sometimes it’s easier to share them with a stranger than with the people you care about.”
    “Maybe,” she agreed. “Or maybe you just bring something out in people, Sam. Something that makes them want to unveil themselves in front of you.”
    She almost couldn’t hear his voice over the wind roaring in her ears. “That’s funny. That’s how I feel about you.”
    She glanced over at him again to see him staring at his fisted hands. “Does that make you feel guilty, Sam? Talking to another girl isn’t cheating on your girlfriend. She’s not here. If you need someone to talk to…well, you can talk to me.”
    His eyebrows lifted. “Really, Princess? I thought you didn’t like me.”
    She bristled. “It’s not that I don’t like you. You’re just somehow working your way into my father’s heart and his company. I don’t like it. But I feel sorry for you. My father was right. You’re holding something in, and it’s not healthy.”
    “Oh, you’re concerned about my health now?” He laughed.
    She pursed her lips and continued to