Free Worth the Risk by Robin Bielman Page B

clumsily behind his steadfast strides.
    Samantha weighed her options on the short walk to her room. From a purely physical standpoint, she wanted to make love to Dean all night long. But from an emotional standpoint, she wasn’t sure she could handle the ramifications.
    Would she ever be rid of her attachment to him if she succumbed to what he offered? She didn’t think so, but she felt like she couldn’t stop herself. The pull to be with him was too great. She wanted Dean no matter his intentions and even if it meant trying to forget him all over again.
    “You know we really shouldn’t be doing this,” she voiced, hoping that if she said the words out loud, some sense would come back to her.
    “We shouldn’t?” He paused, his relaxed shoulders stiffening.
    “I want to…”
    “But?”
    But what? Should she put her feelings on the line? Confide her desire to have him for much longer than one night? Tell him how she’d never gotten over him? How she loathed and loved him?
    God. She still loved him.
    She hoped she meant more to him than just a quick hook-up, but he seemed unbothered by the short time they’d have together—and unaffected by the fact that they were after the same lucrative job opportunity. He’d simply asked her to spend a little more time with him.
    And that’s what she planned to do. If she didn’t, she’d regret it. “But nothing. Forget I said anything.”
    Arriving at her door, Dean reached out his hand to stop her from sliding in the key card. “It’s not nothing. If there’s something on your mind, please tell me. I care more about you than you could possibly know.”
    What did that mean? Had he missed her as much as she’d missed him? Had he been heartbroken when he misinterpreted what he saw between her and her cousin? Emotions she had no business second-guessing assaulted her, and for one long beat she wanted to ask him exactly what he meant.
    Fear held her back. “It’s okay.” She smiled, hoping it reached her eyes without revealing her true feelings.
    “This has been one hell of a day,” he whispered, “and I want to make your night just as memorable.”
    She had no worries he’d do just that. When she thought back, tried to remember happy times, it wasn’t to childhood occasions like birthdays or other family celebrations. It was to her summer with him.
    She pressed her lips to his, deciding to stop thinking so hard, then turned to open the door.
    They tumbled inside, anxious to put an end to the foreplay that had taken place all day. Dean moved swiftly, his hands circling her waist as the front of his body embraced her backside, connecting them like dancers in perfect sync. His lips tickled the nape of her neck, distracting her from finding the light switch. They shuffled to the bed, where he let go, allowing Samantha to fall to the mattress.
    Turning over, she looked up at him and found his hungry eyes darker than she’d ever seen them. This wasn’t their first time, but it was new. When they’d first met, he was young, cocky, charming. Now he was more virile, more potent. And she couldn’t wait to feel his body deep inside hers.
    The setting sun allowed a hint of light to stream in through the uncovered window. The glow cast a halo around Dean’s head and she wondered if Cupid had hid somewhere in the room—because she’d just been struck with a sharp point in her backside.
    “Ouch!”
    Oh, hell. It wasn’t Cupid’s arrow, but the damn umbrella she’d bought yesterday morning, and which now was lying on the hotel bed. She reached behind her and pulled it out.
    “You okay?”
    “Just removing the umbrella that decided to introduce itself to my ass.”
    Dean laughed. “It’s never a dull moment with you.”
    “Yeah, I’m a regular one-woman show.” She flung the umbrella to the side and flashed a look of embarrassment before bringing her head down.
    He lifted her face and peered at her with lighter, more thoughtful eyes. “You’re the most