Chapter 27

            Sam was lost. The minute their lips touched, he knew that it was all over for him. He had wanted to make it a gentle, questing contact, just a taste of her. She had looked so beautiful, so caring sitting there beside him, like she knew the demons he faced and sympathized. The day had taught him that life was precious, and so were the connections that it brought. He hadn't wanted this one to pass him by. 

            But he had underestimated what that soft contact would do to him. It speared him clear to his heart. The touch and the taste and the feel of her; he just couldn't get enough. What was more, she was kissing him back, stealing what breath he might have had in his lungs with her delicate exploration of his mouth. Soon, it wasn't enough. He wanted to be closer, needed to feel her in his arms, but they couldn't do that on the stairs.

            He gently broke off the kiss, and took her hands and pulled her into a standing position. When she looked up at him, and he saw the emotions reflected in her eyes, he lost his voice. He remained trapped there in the glorious warm depths of her gaze as they both stepped down to the landing. They didn't make it any farther before he pulled her into his arms. She melded against him as if they were meant to be that way. When their lips met again, the kiss was deeper, more intense.

            She moved her arms up and around his neck, holding him. Her touch was electric, and her giving was healing. All of the lonely places inside of him felt as if they were being filled with something golden and good. He held her tightly, not wanting to let go. She was like a lifeline, a precious gift to his wounded heart.

            And then she pushed him away. His initial feeling was abandonment. But as he saw her expression change, and he struggle to pull herself together, his other senses kicked in and her noted the sounds. He had a faint recollection of knock at the door, but that was gone and now the keys were being inserted into a lock. Someone was at the door.

            Sam, figuring it was Mark, settled against the wall weakly, trying to regain his equilibrium while Robyn deactivated the alarm and went to the door. He heard Mark's laughing greeting which was abruptly broken off before he walked farther into the house.

            Sam soon found himself face to face with his suspiciously grinning friend. "Did I miss something?" he asked, shooting a knowing look between the two of them. Not really waiting for a response, he glanced down at his watch. "Because I could leave, you know. Actually, one of us probably should considering Beth will be getting out of school pretty soon."

            Sam wasn't able to conceal his surprise. How could he have forgotten what time it was? Beth had been his reason for coming home. His eyes met Robyn's and he mentally amended that thought. He couldn't deny that the idea of having Robyn here as well hadn't made coming home all the more appealing.

            "No, we will," Sam said, ignoring Mark's self-satisfied grin. He made the response half question as he looked toward Robyn, who nodded in response. He figured that if Mark went, she would have gone with him. And he really wanted to be with her, alone, if only for the time it took to get to the school.

            "Let me grab my shoes," Robyn said and disappeared in the direction of the den.

            "Will you be here when we get back?" Sam asked Mark, hoping to forestall any of the questions that he knew were coming. The situation was too new for him to provide any kind of reasonable answers.

            "Heck yeah," Mark responded, then glancing briefly back to check on Robyn's location, he continued, "You're falling hard for her, aren't you?"

            Sam didn't know why, but that wasn't one of the questions that he had been expecting. A dozen insecurities flowed through him as he realized the answer that his heart was already giving him. Could he really pursue this? It wasn't simply a question of asking Robyn if she was willing to see if what they felt would lead anyplace. The answer already mattered too much.

            The plain truth stared him in the face. He wasn't falling hard for Robyn Sommers. He had already fallen. It scared him to death.

            "Mark, I think I'm in trouble," he admitted. He didn't know if he could handle exposing himself so fully to someone again. The old scars started to ache, and he felt the barriers beginning to rise.

            Mark opened his mouth to speak, but clamped his mouth shut at the sound of approaching footsteps.

            Sam looked up at Robyn's approach. Something in her eyes spoke to him. He felt the barriers crumbling. And when she neared, she gently brushed her hand into his. It was a brief but deliberate move. It took all the pains away.

            She looked back into Mark's somewhat stunned expression. "We'll be back," she said. "Watch out for the security alarm. It isn't set."

~*~(chapter 27b)~*~

            As she walked out to Sam's truck and got in, all Robyn could think about was how it had felt to be in Sam's arms, kissing him. The images and feelings echoed through her mind, making it difficult to concentrate on anything else. It seemed that everything that had happened since she'd first seen him working on that sculpture in a circle of light had led to that moment. It was a strange thought since she considered herself to be such a practical person. But there was something about Sam that touched a tender place deep within her, pushing that practicality aside.

            "Please tell me you're not sorry." Sam's voice interrupted her thoughts. He hadn't looked at her as he spoke, but busied himself with maneuvering the vehicle out of the driveway.

            "No, I'm not sorry," she told him, smiling when he turned to look at her. "It was . . . very nice, and I enjoyed it very much."

            Halfway through backing out of the drive, Sam touched the brakes a little more sharply than he needed too. Surprised morphed into a teasing smile. His gaze lingered a moment before he resumed the action of driving.

            "Very nice, huh?" he asked. "I suppose I should be happy with that since it has been a while. Must be like riding a bicycle." He shot her a smoldering glance. "I'm sure I could improve with practice."

            Robyn felt something catch in the vicinity of her heart. She would like nothing better than to help him with that practice. But there were other things to consider. "Practice would be great," she said in a subdued tone. "But, you need to know that this changes things."

            Sam reacted to her tone, his smile fading. "Changes things how?"

            Robyn sorted through all of the possible ways to tell him that she was too involved with him to be objective any longer. What was happening between them warranted more than the agency's standard response when a client wanted to fraternize.

            "I want you to kiss me again," she said, fighting a smile when he did a double-take. "I want to feel your heart pounding against mine. I want to --"

            "Whoa . . . " he raised a hand in surrender. "Can we maybe hold off for a bit while I'm trying to drive." He softened the words with a warm look in her direction. "I could see trying to explain what happened to the police when I run off the road."

            "But you see my point," Robyn said. It pleased her that he was clearly affected by what she'd said. "While I'm distracted by those things, I can't efficiently do what I've been hired to do."

            "Does this mean that you'd have to leave?"

            Robyn could see that he was already starting to tense up. She wasn't sure how much arguing it would take to have someone else come into his home, if it would even be possible. She began to worry that all of the progress that had been made would be lost. And then there was Beth to think of.

            "I'll talk to my father. I'm sure we could arrange to have someone additional added, but he'd remain on the outside. He'd watch the house at night. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm not entirely sure that dad hasn’t already put something like that in place. And I could continue what I'm doing with Beth."

            Some of the tension left Sam's shoulders. "You're going to tell your father about us?"

            "You're not afraid of my father are you?" she teased.

            "Yeah. Your dad is scary. He said that before he started with personal security that he did dangerous things. Now, I don't know exactly what that means, but I can guess. He probably knows half a dozen ways to take down a man in under 2 seconds."

            Robyn laughed. "Actually, more like a dozen ways. But that's not important, he's a pussy cat. Besides, he already knows. Or suspects."

            Sam turned toward her, his mouth dropping. "How can he possibly know?"

            "I've given up trying to figure that out. Professor X, remember? But he asked me about it earlier."

            Sam nodded, apparently coming to terms with the idea. As they'd reached the school, he pulled into a parking slot, cut the engine and turned toward her. "So we're going to pursue this?" he asked.

            Robyn looked back at him. "I think we should go slow."

            Sam seemed to digest that for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak, but appeared reluctant to voice what was on his mind. He looked away for several moments, and then back at her. The storms were building again. "There is something that you should know, too," he said. "I don't know how to do this only half way. If this is just a temporary thing, something to pass the time, please just . . . just tell me to stop now."

The vulnerability that he was openly exposing touched her deeply. She knew how difficult that was for him to do. He had been such a solitary figure for so long. It wasn't that she hadn’t had other clients who were vulnerable, or even alone emotionally. She had, and though she had been concerned for their welfare, she had always managed to maintain a professional distance. But somehow, in a short span of time, Sam and his daughter had come in and wrapped themselves around her heart.

"I'm not the kind of girl who falls in love with her clients," she said carefully, meeting his gaze head on. "That's just not the kind of person that I am. This thing that's happening between us is beyond the job, it's something very special to me. I want to know where it goes."

The distance between them closed as they leaned in toward one another. Their lips met with no less fire than before. It was the ringing of her cell phone that interfered this time. They pulled apart reluctantly and shared a secret smile. She looked at the little screen which told her that it was a call forwarded from her home number.

As they got out of the truck, she answered. She was surprised to hear Steve's voice on the other end of the connection.