Page 57 of Samuel

“Then why are you acting so weird?”

“I just… with us,” she looked around the room, out through the open door before continuing. “Going on that date… Kissing… I just… it’s just?—”

“Oh,” he chuckled, his eyes going wide as he clearly registered what the problem was. “I understand now.”

“What?”

Sam stood, walking over to her desk where he rested his hip against the edge by her keyboard. His finger settled under her chin and lifted so that her eyes had to meet his.

“You know exactly what, Bluebell. You need that type of help, you need somerelief, I’m here. Not Jake. Not any other man. Me.”

He chuckled as he pressed his lips to hers. Evie’s body leaned forward, ready for more. Ready to jump on and ridethe sexy cowboy who had been filling every moment of her naughty fantasies.

“I made myself clear, yes?” he asked as he pulled away.

The only response she could manage was a whimper.

“Ow, these dang shoes are getting too small…” Evie muttered to herself as she slipped off the forest green flats she’d paired with her outfit for the day. She could slide them back on if someone else came into the office, but she doubted she’d be bothered for a while. While Sam had hovered after the girls left, making sure she ate some of the watermelon he brought down from the house for her, he didn’t kiss her or bring up their conversation again. And now he was back out, working on replacing a portion of fencing with Zeke and Derrick.

It was for the best. She needed to dive back into the banking statements and figure out how money was going missing. Evie’s first goal was to find when the money discrepancies started. If it had been going on for years, there would hopefully be a trail they could follow. If it was only when Evie started, she feared it would be more difficult to find the culprit.

Hours passed by, and Evie seemed to get nowhere. She managed to identify a few invoices that didn’t match their payment amounts, but without Sam there to verify if there was an updated invoice, or something else she was missing, she couldn’t assume it pointed to more embezzlement.

Shep’s growl grabbed Evie’s attention.

“What’s going on, buddy? Do you need to go?—”

Oh, no no no no no! The adorable ever-growing ball of fur had gone positively feral with one of her shoes! Evie could already see the fabric changing color as his drool soaked it.

She jumped up from the desk and started chasing after him.

“Hey, you little rascal! Give me back my shoe!” The puppy barely acknowledged her as he took off into the barn. The fluff ball went as fast and as far as his puppy paws could take him, clearly thinking she was trying to play a game with him. Evie chased him past the horse stalls, out the back door, and around front to the ranch trucks.

Shep bounded back into the barn and Evie knew it was a losing race, but she loved those dang shoes and wasn’t quite ready to give them up to puppy teeth. Her foot slid on the loose gravel outside the front entrance and her lungs squeezed painfully as she tripped over the threshold.

Evie’s eyes slammed shut as she braced to hit the concrete. Instead, warm, rough hands slid around her waist, yanking her into a wall of solid muscle. Leather and salt and swirls of coffee wrapped their way into her lungs as she opened her eyes.

“Christ. Are you okay?” Sam’s worried tone melted its way into her heart.

“Fine, ” she answered as she tried to haul oxygen into her lungs. “Sorry about that.”

He set her on her feet, hands lingering a second longer than necessary before pulling away. She hated that he’d let her go.

“What the hell were you thinking running in here like that?”

She huffed, straightening the bottom of her shirt that had gone all wonky when he caught her. “Well, if you must know, that furry menace of yours stole my shoe and was using it as a chew toy. And you really should get that ledge of concrete looked at. It’s a tripping hazard. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to find him and get it back. It’s one of the only shoes that still fits my feet.”

Sam chuckled and Evie’s eyes snapped into a scowl.

“Aren’t you supposed to be out in the pasture with Derrick and Zeke?”

“They’re done for the day and I just got back. It’s a good thing I wasn’t still out there.” His eyes held a challenge as he placed his hand over the baby. Her body swayed towards him, unable to resist melting into his touch.

“Yes. Thank you, Sam.” She leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. The prickly whiskers of a two-day-old beard tickled her skin and set her whole body on fire.

“You missed, Bluebell.”

“What?”

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