Free Worth the Risk by Robin Bielman Page A

another guy, so I left.” His pride had taken a big hit when he saw her with someone else so soon after they’d been together. Maybe that made him an ass, since he’d thought it was okay to leave her. But he’d changed his mind. He’d missed her. And she’d moved on.
    She searched his face, shook her head. “That’s impossible.”
    Was she saying there hadn’t been anyone right after him? He pushed that thought aside, because if his eyes had been deceiving him that night…
    “I wasn’t with anybody during law school.”
    This completely derailed him. “Tall, black hair, big build, wearing an old Cubs sweatshirt and had his arm around you in a very intimate way.”
    Sam pushed him in the arm. “You big idiot! That was my cousin . He was a year ahead of me and probably consoling me over a class. Or you. Those first few months are sort of a blur.”
    Dean rubbed a hand across his jaw. “Me?” Regret flooded him. He’d been too cocky to approach her that night. He’d wanted her to continue thinking she didn’t matter to him, when the complete opposite was true. What an idiot he was.
    She stared at him like he’d just asked if bears had fur.
    “You didn’t exactly tell me how you felt either, you know.” Dean wondered deep down if she’d loved him. But wasn’t that part of the reason he’d fled? He’d never been a coward until that day at the airport. Afraid of the depth to which they’d connected and how that might affect his future.
    Rather than argue with him, she said, “I guess we both could have done things differently.”
    “Yeah.”
    Silence splintered the confessions between them. There was nothing else to say, really. They couldn’t change the past. Dean slipped his seatbelt back on and turned the key in the ignition.
    Samantha leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Today was great.”
    He appreciated the way she focused on the present and let their misunderstanding from five years ago fall away. “You’re welcome.”
    She leaned back in her seat and put her feet up on the dashboard. “Once again, Mr. Malloy, you’ve succeeded in expanding my horizons. We’d conquered the earth, and now the skies. What do you have in store for me next?”
    Her words and posture were casual, but if he didn’t say what was on his mind, he knew he’d regret it. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to see the inside of your hotel room.”

Chapter 7
     
    The elevator door closed, trapping Samantha and Dean alone for the ride up to the fourteenth floor of her hotel. This was no parabola, but the air in the small confines of the space felt so charged, Samantha doubted her feet were touching the floor.
    “Room service sounds good to me, too,” she said.
    “Good, because I’m hungry for much more than food.” He pressed her back against the cold metal rail, his body cornering hers. Lifting one arm, he placed his palm on the wall just above the left side of her face. He leaned in close, her thigh now snug in the crux of his legs.
    With his devilish smile, he made her pulse quicken. She felt her nipples tighten and tingles radiate out from their peaks. An unwonted flutter settled low in her belly and a craving for more blunted all thoughts of reason. When his warm breath touched her neck, dizziness overcame her.
    Was she really about to do this? Despite his apology and their misunderstanding from five years ago, Sam still wasn’t sure she could trust that Dean had no ulterior motives to this seduction.
    He steadied her with his other hand, gently cradling her lower back. The feel of his arm around her added to the surrender taking over her body. She let her head fall back, her neck becoming a pliable muscle she couldn’t hold upright. With his eyes glued to hers, he came forward and nibbled on her bottom lip.
    Ding . The chime of the elevator door stopped any further interaction. Dean pushed away from the wall and led her down the hallway—her walking rather