Free When We Met by Susan Mallery Page A

“I haven’t bought Playboy since I was nineteen. You’re a very strange woman and I don’t understand your shoe obsession.”
    She smiled. “But that’s not why you want to talk to me.”
    â€œNo, it’s not.”
    Sam crossed to the glass door of the conference room and looked into the hall. Taryn didn’t think he was watching for anything in particular. Obviously whatever he had to say was difficult for him. With Sam, it could be anything. Jack tended to tell her everything, and Kenny shared the normal amount, but Sam often kept things to himself.
    â€œHow was the game this morning?” she asked, both to help him relax and also because there was an off chance he might mention Angel, and she would like that.
    She’d been so careful not to stare while walking into the building. But once inside, she’d positioned herself so she could see the game. Angel had played well and the man looked good in shorts and nothing else. It was enough to give a girl ideas.
    â€œGood. Intense. Have you met Consuelo?”
    Taryn nodded. “Yes. I know who she is.”
    â€œPlays a hell of a game.” He grinned. “I want her on my team all the time.”
    Taryn had a feeling that if Sam asked, Consuelo would say yes, even if she were engaged. As a rule, women liked Sam. He was quiet but intense. Handsome. For those who found big men intimidating or just too bulky, Sam was the perfect combination of lean and muscled.
    Taryn knew the basics of his past. How he’d grown up in a close, athletic family. His father had played professional basketball in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Sam’s mother had been an Olympic equestrian. His sisters had excelled at sports, but Sam, the youngest, had been sick as a kid. Sick enough that he never got to do anything.
    He hadn’t blossomed until college, when he’d discovered he could kick a football better than nearly anyone else. She’d often wondered if the transition from nerdy to hunky had been difficult. With the sudden availability of all kinds of women had come the issue of trusting them. Something Sam had learned the hard way he couldn’t always do.
    Now she studied him before asking, “Are you seeing anyone?”
    He glared at her. “What? No. And I’m not talking about it.”
    He was nothing if not private, she thought. “Don’t bite my head off. I was just asking. It’s been a while. Unless you were seeing someone and didn’t want us to know.”
    â€œYeah, because that went so well last time,” he muttered.
    He had a point there. In his previous relationship Sam had been determined not to let anyone know he had a woman in his life. Unfortunately he’d kept so quiet, not even Kenny and Jack had known. So when the woman in question had come on to them, they’d seen no reason to refuse her invitation. Individually, of course. It was only later they’d discovered they’d inadvertently slept with their best friend’s girl.
    Sam had dumped her as soon as he found out and had accepted his friends’ apologies. But since then, he’d stopped seeing anyone. Taryn understood why but believed Sam needed to get over it. When he wasn’t in a relationship, he could get solitary and moody.
    â€œEverything okay with the business?” she asked.
    â€œFine. We have a good client base and they mostly pay on time.” He drew in a breath. “About the client party,” he began.
    â€œWhat? I thought I made my position clear. You three decided to have a big party. I didn’t want to. I’ll be there, I’ll smile and I’ll look pretty, but that’s it.”
    Sam held up both hands. “You’ve said that before. I’m saying I need help. It’s a big event to plan. I need some recommendations for someone to help me. And not Dellina.”
    â€œWhy not Dellina? She’s great. And suck it up, big guy—she’s