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calling Sam earlier and letting him know she’d be here, but in the end, she’d decided to simply show up. Maybe there would be such a crush of people that he wouldn’t even notice her. The thought of that was both comforting and distressing.
Anxiety built within her as she stepped into the offices and checked her coat at the reception area. She was saved from further wondering about whether she’d see Sam when she approached the wall of glass looking into the massive conference room. Even though both the conference room and this neighboring open space were packed full of people, her gaze landed on Sam almost instantly. He was standing right in front of the open glass doors talking to Zoey Beringer, and he wore a teasing grin on his face.
When Zoey said something to him and he slid his fingers under her chin, Diane stopped dead in her tracks, instant confusion racking her body.
She’d never really taken note of their friendship during prior social events. Honestly, she’d never really taken note of Sam, other than in purely objective recognition of how handsome he was. But there was something intimate about the way the two of them looked at each other, how close they stood to one another. It made Diane’s chest constrict in a wholly unexpected way.
Holly hell, she was jealous.
The knowledge floored her. Discomfort rolled through her as she stood there debating whether to walk away or enter the room. She was saved the trouble of further contemplation when both Zoey and Sam glanced over at her.
A feral look overtook Sam’s face and he almost instantly took off in her direction. Zoey called something to his back, but he didn’t respond, simply stalked toward her with single-minded intensity.
Diane’s breath caught, and primitive fear curled low in her stomach. He looked like a starving beast hunting down his meal. The instinctive urge to flee nearly overcame her, but from the way Sam’s nostrils flared, something told her he would enjoy the chase.
He stopped in front of her, his eyes drinking her in. “I wasn’t sure you were coming.”
“Sorry,” she murmured. “About not responding to your texts. I just…”
“You weren’t sure you wanted to meet me.”
Since his words weren’t a question, she didn’t bother trying to refute them. Her eyelids fluttered down. “It’s a lot to handle. I...I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“That was the whole point. Wasn’t it?”
“You’re right.” She let out a wry laugh. “Guess I’m not so good at being bad.”
“Oh, I’d dare to say you’d be pretty good at it if you decided you really wanted to,” he murmured, his voice low and husky.
His tone provoked a response from her body, making her soften. Making her wet.
When she dared to drag her gaze back to his, she found him staring at her, his blue eyes swimming with some dark emotion. But then, as if sensing he was frightening her, he slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks and took a step back. “Have you been to the offices before?”
“Yes. Back when…” She trailed off when she realized she’d been about to say when she was dating his brother. Somehow, that didn’t seem like the right thing to bring up.
When Sam’s mouth twisted into a wry grin, she had the feeling he’d guessed her hesitation.
Diane caught a glimpse of Andrew inside the conference room. He was standing with a group of people, drinking a glass of champagne while his arm rested on his fiancé’s waist. He let out a loud laugh, and she realized she’d never seen him look happier. He was clearly a man in love.
While she was happy for him, she couldn’t help but be envious, too. He looked like a man who had everything he wanted out of life, whereas she couldn’t even figure out what she wanted right now.
“I’ve actually only been here once,” she said to Sam. “And I never made it past the reception area.”
What did that say about her so-called relationship with Andrew?
“I’ll
Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Danica Winters, Casey Dawes