Page 36 of Finding Her Leading Man

But he didn’t reach for her like she’d expected. Wanted.

He continued down the stairs. “We don’t want to miss breakfast.”

She almost called him on his quick change, on that shift from kissing her neck to backing off. Her head didn’t make a bit of sense. She acknowledged it. Wanting him and then pushing him away. That’s all she’d done.

No more. He’d put it in her court. She had the ball.

She stomped down the stairs after him and into the dining room. A few other individuals staying at the bed and breakfast ate at various tables alone. Trevor stood beside the table with his mother, pulling a chair out and motioning to it for Samantha.

Back off?

She huffed and walked up to him, determined to show herself…something. The drive to touch Trevor was consuming. The need to feel desirable. Worthy. Important. And, of all things, strong enough to move on without Jasper.

In a handful of long strides, Samantha arrived at the table, but she didn’t sit. She stepped close to Trevor, rose slightly on her toes, and kissed him. On the mouth.

Nothing passionate or intense, but a “good morning” kiss appropriate in a public setting. The simple press of her lips wouldn’t win any awards, but it sent a jolt of lust through her body.

With significant effort, she pulled back.

His eyes were dark and heavy. His hands gripped the back of the chair he’d pulled out for her until his knuckles turned white.

“Good morning,” she said with a bright smile.

He blinked. “’Morning.”

Amelia didn’t look fazed. “Sit down, Samantha. Let’s talk about the song you’ll sing.”

She sat, aware of Trevor’s gaze on her and ignoring it. At least she’d keep up the ruse until she went to work. Work was a distraction away from Jasper. Now, she needed it to keep her hands to herself with Trevor. Funny how life shifts in a blink.

13

Samantha’s phone rang again. Five times the darn thing had rung, and five times she’d ended the call without answering. She had nothing to say to her agent.

Pacing the floor of her room, she’d wasted her hour break from the diner with stressing about why Zara kept calling.

It rang again. The number that came up wasn’t her agent’s number. It was a different area code. Her heart thundered. What if something happened to her parents? Brothers? She slowly slid her finger across the screen.

“Hello?”

“Sam? Don’t hang up.” Zara’s voice came through the line and rammed Samantha in the stomach. She reached for the desk in her room, something sturdy to hold. Pain, dull at first, flared. She reached for her antacids and remembered Trevor took them. She might have another pack in the bathroom.

“Why are you calling me from a different area code?” It was the only civil thing she could think to say. Why was she civil?

Zara sighed, a whooshing sound that came through the phone. “I’m using one of the cast member’s phones since you won’t answer mine. I have two important things to discuss.”

Of all the times that Zara had spoken with her, never once had she apologized. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”

“Your wedding dress is getting in the way in my apartment. I’m going to ship it to you and wanted your address.”

The air left the room. The pain in her stomach turned into an icy numbness. Samantha sat down on the edge of the bed. “I…I don’t want it here.”

“I’m going through all my closets and only keeping what brings me joy in life. This isyourwedding dress. According to the book I’m reading, I should give it to charity, but that seems a little sad. You really liked that wedding dress.”

Samantha pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. “I did like it. Before I found the groom cheated on me.” She waited through the long beat of silence that followed. Would Zara apologize?

“You’re being a little dramatic, Sam. It’s nothing more than a dress, and I’m shipping it to you. I don’t care if it stays at whatever podunk post office and you never claim it, I need it gone. Now, on to the second reason I called you. You have an obligation to sing at the Broadway Patron’s Dinner in two weeks—”

“No.”

---