Page 79 of Breaking the Ice

“Alright, alright. Have you got a pen?” She waited for him to grab one. “Take these ones down… three, nine, one, nine, seven, three, four, three.”

“What are these for?”

“For Bob. Tell him he can get me on that number when he fires your sorry ass.”

Then she dropped the receiver back on its cradle with the greatest satisfaction and burst into the hugest grin. “Did you hear that?”

Samantha clapped her hands excitedly as she walked toward Nick, too energized with jubilation and vindication to stay still. “Ray is positively peeing his pants. Not long now.”

Then, with her excess of energy, she launched herself at his chest, her hands clasping around his neck, hugging him tight. Friends hugged, right? After a beat he picked her up so her feet just lifted off the floor and twirled her around.

“That’s wonderful news.”

Samantha looked up into his handsome face as he let her go. She was breathy from the laughing and the twirling and the excitement and her heart was full looking at him,sharingthis moment of triumph with him and hell if she didn’t want to justpush up on her tiptoes and kiss his lips off. Even if it would complicate her feelings even more.

The way he was looking at her mouth, she was certain he felt the same way.

Except when she raised herself up, he awkwardly stepped away and she stumbled a little, her cheeks flaming at the rejection. Man, had she readthatone wrong.

She brushed her hands down her jeans, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her. “I’ve got some… cataloging to do… out back.” Samantha pointed behind as though he’d forgotten where the cataloging happened. “I’ll just… attend to it.”

And she turned on her heel before she did something awful likecry.

Samantha was leaning against the sink, her back to the door when she sensed his presence a few minutes later and she gripped the metal of the sink hard.

“Sam.”

She shut her eyes. “It’s okay, Nick. You don’t have to say anything.”

“No… I do. Look. I’m sorry about before. I wanted to… I didn’t trust myself not to…” He stopped on an exasperated-sounding sigh. “Damn it, will you turn around.”

Samantha wanted to face him about as much as she wanted a hole drilled in her head. But she turned anyway, because it was best to just get this over with. “What? Just say it.”

He looked like he was trying to find the right words and Samantha girded her loins.

“I think you’re gorgeous and sexy and amazing. And Isure as shitdo not want to set you up on another date. In fact, when I think about you with someone else, I want to smash things.”

He shoved a hand through his hair and Samantha realized her sister was right. The blind date thinghadpushed his buttons.

“But,” he continued, “it looks like you’re about to get your career back and I’m back to Canada next month andnotinterested in babies and so I thought it might be best to take a step back and not complicate things.”

Samantha knew he was right. He’d made it very plain that recreation, not procreation, was his thing, which certainly wouldn’t keep her eggs happy but suddenly she just didn’t care. At least not more than she cared about these wild, tangled feelings for Nick.

And suddenly a weight lifted off her shoulders. “So… what you’re saying is you wanted to kiss me before, you were just being a good guy?”

“Shh.” He laughed. “Coach wouldn’t be happy if that got out. But yes.” Pushing off the doorframe, he strode to where she stood, stopping a foot away. “I want to kiss you all the damn time. I want to doeverythingwith you all the damn time.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and quirked an eyebrow. “Your turn now.”

Samantha smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Me too.” God help her. “All the time.”

They grinned at each other for a few moments. “And the baby thing?”

She shrugged. “It seems my body is more into you than procreating right now.”

His smile was slow and lazy then, like he knew this was the moment to seize and he was going to grab it with both hands. “So… where to now?”

Samantha didn’t know. The fact that someone like Nick had confessed an attraction to her was a head spin. Someone with her inner monologue was always going to find it difficult to compute that a gorgeous hunk of manhood could be in to her. So maybe it was best they didn’t go straight to the end goal like they had the night of her birthday.

“Do you mind if we take it slow? In case you hadn’t noticed, I have hang-ups.”

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