James turned to Sam. “Is there a way I can reach you to let you know how it goes with my dad?”
Sam slapped her forehead, a gesture Ryan found rather endearing, despite how pissed off he currently was.
“Right, how forgetful of me.” She picked up her purse and began to rummage in it for her business card. “One sec, let me find a card.”
Ryan glared at the woman, disgruntled at how easily she was playing into this bastard’s hands. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his own business card.
“Here’s mine.” He had the satisfaction of seeing the man knocked off kilter. Grabbing a pen off the table, he scribbled his personal number as well and handed it over, mouth twitching with the urge to smile evilly. “It has my cell as well, so please, feel free to reach me anytime.”
Glad to see the back of James Caine, Ryan finally felt some of the tension ease off his shoulders.
“That went well,” Sam’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. She gave him a happy smile that caused a tight feeling in his chest. “Do you think James’ will be able to talk his dad into looking at the proposal?”
“Hopefully,” he replied, sinking back into his chair, resisting the urge to massage the ache in his chest. “Depends on the existing relationship between them though.”
He should know this, since his relationship with his own father was basically shit. If it were him having to present an unwanted proposal to Bradford, he’d be shot down before he could even open his mouth.
Sam poured some fresh tea into her cup, all the while pondering his words. “I suppose. We can only wait and see.”
He took a deep breath and leaned forward. “Thank you.”
Her gaze shot up to his, brown eyes searching and seeing the sincerity in his eyes. She lowered her gaze back to her cup. “You’re welcome.”
Eyeing Sam’s empty plate, he asked. “Do you want anything else?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
He waited while she finished her tea, watching as her eyes darted round the restaurant, studying the other patrons. Her words in the car came back to him and he grimaced.
She thinks I don’t like her?
He shook his head in exasperation. For a woman he didn’t like, she occupied his thoughts about seventy percent of every waking hour, kept him awake at night with the memory of how it had felt to be inside her that one time. And when he finally got some sleep, dominated his dreams, causing him to wake up with a raging boner each damn morning, which led to cold showers, which in turn caused his mood to sour every morning by the time he reached the office.
He didn’t like that she was smitten by Prince Charming, or the way she gave him her best smile – one that caused a damn ache in his chest.
Speaking of, that James fellow was someone he had to keep an eye on. For one thing, the man was too smooth, too charming to be real. For all the charm he oozed in spades, there was something about the dude that left him unsettled and he didn’t trust him near Sam.
He glanced at the woman in question and revised his opinion. In the few weeks he’d known her, she had proven time and time again to be capable of holding her own against whatever challenge tossed her way. He still remembered the way she’d handled that idiot at the restaurant, the way she also stood up to him and he had no doubt she would be able to handle James easily.
She’s so different to Nicky, he mused, taking advantage of the fact she was engrossed in people watching to study her face. And the difference was not just on a physical level too. Nicky had always struck him as the type of woman that needed to be protected and sheltered. She would never in a million years have stood up to Treffen if she’d been in a similar situation. It would have been up to him to leap to her defence.
Uneasy at the direction of his thoughts, he shifted his gaze just as his phone beeped an incoming message from Haley.
Are you on your way over?
Consulting the Breitling on his wrist, he was startled to see it was just ten minutes till noon. He cursed under his breath, realizing they’d spent more time at the museum than he’d originally anticipated. He still had to drop Sam off at the office first before going over and that would take the better part of an hour.
I’m running a little late, will be there by one.
He sent the reply and shoved his phone back into his pocket.
“Do you have somewhere you need to be?” Sam asked. Ryan’s head jerked up to find her studying him, head cocked to one side.
“Yeah, but I’ll drop you off first.” He replied, his tone apologetic.
“No, it’s okay,” she waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “You go on ahead; I’ll call my driver to come pick me up.”
He considered this for a minute. That meant leaving her here to wait, and the idea didn’t sit too well with him. She’d done him a huge favour in the first place and it wouldn’t be good to abandon her like that.
“There’s no need to trouble the man,” he said, signalling a passing waiter for the bill. “I’ll drive you back, there’s no hurry.”
She looked about to protest, then changed her mind and shrugged. The waiter approached with the bill and she reached into her purse to pull out a credit card.
Ryan’s eyes narrowed and he reached out to cover her hand holding the card. “I’ve got it.”
Her startled gaze shot up to his and an instant flash of awareness seemed to travel through the point of contact, searing them both. She pulled her hand away and stood in a rush.
“I need to use the restroom.” She announced and was gone before he had a chance to say anything.
The bill settled, Ryan headed out to the parking lot to wait for Sam beside his car, mind a jumble of thoughts and feelings he couldn’t quite organize.
****
Finding a parking spot at the airport on a normal day was difficult enough, but ten times worse in inclement weather such as this. Peering through the windscreen, cursing the ineffective wipers that merely shifted the pouring rain from one spot to the other, Ryan slowly eased the car around the parking lot for the third time, silently praying to find a spot.
His prayers were answered as a minivan pulled out and he quickly rolled in to replace it. A crack of thunder sounded overhead, and out the corner of his eye, he saw his passenger flinch.
“You okay?” He turned to look at her, worry and apology in his tone.
“Yes,” Sam gave him a reassuring smile that didn’t fully ease the guilt that ate at him. “The thunder just caught me off guard.”
“The whole damn storm caught us off guard,” he grumbled, which earned him a chuckle from her. The bright and sunny day had suddenly given way to this storm just as they’d left the restaurant and even after three hours, still showed no signs of letting up. To add icing to the cake, the road back to the office was blocked off, due to a car accident, the traffic murderously slow.
After an hour of waiting, Ryan was resigned to the inevitable.
Sam was going to meet his mother. Even now, the thought was enough to make him shudder.