Free Explosion of Love (The Armstrongs Book 6) by Jessica Gray Page B

house. He knocked on her bedroom door, but she refused to answer him.
    He shoved his hands through his hair in frustration. “Sam, I’m going to take a shower. We need to leave when I get out.” 
    The shower would give both of them a little more time to cool off. He was now outright mad at her. Why won’t she talk to me about what happened?
    As the cold water beat down upon his body, his anger disappeared and he got aroused at the memories of the night before and how wonderful making love with her had been. But if she won’t talk to you when she’s upset, do you even have a chance at a relationship? What if she runs away every time you have a little disagreement? Does she do that because she thinks you’re not worthy of her love?
    His doubts turned his arousal back to anger and he exited the shower, determined to make her speak to him. He stopped outside her bedroom door and knocked once more. “Sam, open the door.”
    Before trying to handle the knob he counted to ten, shocked when it turned at the first attempt. He opened the door and then stood, his mouth wide open. Her suitcase and all of her belongings were gone. She dumped you.
    His anger grew. She’d not only dumped him, but also his parents, who were looking forward to meeting her. Her running away would humiliate him in front of his parents and his youngest siblings, Allison and Terrence.
    The thought of cancelling crossed his mind, but his family was too important to stand them up over a woman – even if that woman was Samantha. He jumped into his truck and drove to his parents’ house, where his mother was waiting for him at the front door. “Where’s Samantha?”
    Grant had been expecting this question, and gave her the only reasonable explanation he could think of. “She received an urgent call from her agent and had to return to New York right away.” He wasn’t positive that was exactly what had happened, but she wasn’t at the beach house and he assumed she’d gone straight to airport and caught the first plane back to New York.
    His mother looked skeptical and disappointed. “And it couldn’t wait until tomorrow? I would have liked to see her again.”
    “I guess not.” Spying his sister and brother across the room, he excused himself and joined them. Grant was in a foul mood the rest of the night and didn’t talk much.
    His sister Allison filled the void, her vivacious energy helping to cover up his silence. Allison lived next door to his parents and absolutely loved the small-town life of living in Sandy Beach. She was a budding artist, specializing in watercolors and landscapes, and during the day worked in a souvenir shop at the Marina.
    She and Terrence were the only kids who had inherited their mother’s creative gene. The others, including Terrence’s twin sister Reese, took after their father Mitch, who owned a windsurfing and sailing school and didn’t have a creative bone in his body.
    Allison knew every single person in town and most of the visiting tourists. She regaled the family with story after story, but Grant barely listened. He’d thought he was in the clear, until his mother pulled him aside after dinner.
    “Grant, what’s really going on?”
    Grant played dumb. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mom.”
    “Don’t give me that. I know you. You’ve been sullen all evening and have hardly spoken a word unless it was to answer a question. What’s going on between you and Samantha?”
    “Nothing.” he told her. He’d thought maybe there was, but now he wasn’t so sure anymore.
    “I’m not buying it. There’s definitely something different about you; and while I like Samantha, I don’t think she’s the right girl for you.”
    “Don’t take this the wrong way, Mom, but this is my business. Not yours.”
    “Grant, I love you and don’t want you to get hurt. If Samantha hasn’t learnt to control her temper, you’re better off without her.”
    “I love you too, Mom. Thanks for dinner. And