Page 5 of Conquer

Two

Sam

“Samara Branch?”

The sound of my name pulled me out of the depths of those eyes and back to the present.

I studied the man who’d spoken.

At first glance, I would have said his face was nondescript, but at second, I saw the little bits of character, the crooked nose that had clearly been broken before and the bottom lip that was slightly fuller than the top.

After my second look at his face, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he wanted people to see him as nondescript, though in reality, he was anything but.

Though I wanted to linger, I broke my gaze away from his face and took in the rest of him. He was five eight, maybe five nine, which put him close to a foot taller than my own five feet. Heavily built, almost stocky, though I could see there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. He was dressed in boots, jeans, and a tight T-shirt, and I was again struck by the feeling that he was trying to blend in.

It wasn’t working on me.

In fact, I was even more aware than usual, acutely aware in fact, though not for the reasons I should have been.

Even in my relatively staid area of investigation, I came across all types of men, every type you could ever imagine. None of them, not a single one, not ever, had affected me as much as this stranger did.

I had no idea what the source of my instant attraction to him was and doubted I’d be able to figure it out. So instead of even trying, I asked, “Who are you?”

Though my heart was pounding wildly, my voice was calm, authoritative.

My insides were anything but, but after moment I realized that I was right outside the state investigator’s office. Probably not the place where an ambush would happen. And besides, I’d been so fucking distracted by this man, he could have done anything at all to me by now if he’d so wanted.

“Can I have a few moments of your time?”

It took me a few moments after he’d spoken to realize I had confirmed my identity, which hadn’t been my intention. I was not handling this well and needed to get it together.

“Do I know you?” I asked.

“We haven’t met,” he responded.

A truthful answer. If I had met this man, there was no way I’d forget it.

I took a step back, not because I felt threatened but because I needed to do something, anything, to get myself back on solid ground.

He noticed, but didn’t say anything.

I didn’t either. I’d already said too much, and I wouldn’t say more. He seemed in no rush to either, but I held firm, letting the silence stretch.

It was odd, being here in front of the office but solely focused on him. I had no idea how long we stood that way, but he finally spoke.

“You don’t know me, but we have…common interests,” he said.

He was calm, way too calm, and I both envied him that and reminded myself I needed to keep my guard up.

“How can we have common interests if I’ve never seen you before?”

“Quite easily,” he said.

The response was so vague it was essentially meaningless. Nevertheless, my immediate thought was of Santo, but no one knew about my interest in him.

My suspicion rocketed even higher, and I took yet another step back.

“Everything okay, Sammy?”

---