Page 51 of Takeover
A glance at the alarm clock told Michael they still had a while before they needed to be up, even if they were to go fetch good coffee. He pulled back the covers a bit. “Come back to bed.”
Sam’s expression was akin to the rest of him, messy around the edges. He shook his head. “Need to think.”
The ice that had melted away returned to grip Michael’s heart harder. “About what?” He already knew the answer.
Sam didn’t frown, not quite, but his posture, the whole of his body seemed to twist, then still, but not into relaxation. “This,” he said. “Us.”
Michael hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until he let it out. He rubbed his face with his hands and tried to calm his pulse. “I’d tell you to stop thinking, but I doubt that would work.”
Sam chuckled. “No, it wouldn’t.” He took Michael’s hand and entwined his fingers. “I’m moving to Boston.”
A chasm opened up beneath Michael and he fell, hard and fast, tumbling into the unknown. The bed remained. Sam remained. Everything was where it had been before those words had been spoken. Michael tried to yank his hand away but Sam held him tight. His head hammered, ringing from the inside out. “Boston? Why?”
“I’m taking a job there.” Sam crawled onto the bed and knelt in front of Michael, never breaking his grip. “At least that had been my plan before I came here.” He took Michael’s other hand.
Michael’s arms shook. Hell, his whole body shook. They’d come this far and now he would lose Sam? After last night? “And now?”
“I don’t know.” Sam pulled Michael forward into his arms until they held each other. “I had it all planned out. It would be the best thing for both of us. Then I walked into this room last night. And this is… what we have…” He seemed to search around for a word. “Shit.” Sam kissed Michael’s shoulder. After a moment, he continued. “When we’re together, when we’re like this, everything is simple and right. When I step outside the room, into the rest of the world, it’s all so fucking complicated.”
Sam trembled, whether from the cold of the room or from the conversation, Michael couldn’t tell. He pulled the covers up around them.
Fear was as potent as ice. He didn’t want to be having this conversation. But he’d promised he wouldn’t run again, and Samwashere talking with him. “I thought you had to stay until Sundra buys Four Rivers or the company folds.”
“Sundra’s buying. It’s a done deal. They’ll announce on Friday.” That pronouncement should have been joyful, but there was no emotion in Sam’s voice. “There will be three weeks or so until the acquisition. End of July.”
Three weeks. The tightness and frost in Michael’s heart crept into his lungs. “And you’re gone once they come in.”
“Of course. That’s the way these things work.”
Off to another company to become someone else’s corporate savior, leaving Michael and Four Rivers behind. Just like that. “Do you want to go?”
Sam sat back a little, and peered at Michael. “Are you asking me if I want to leave you?” A hint of annoyance creased his brow, entered his tone.
A spark of hope leapt into Michael’s soul and he tried not to cling to it. “If I weren’t in the picture, would you want to go to Boston?”
Sam got the distant look that meant he was thinking. Considering. “Their technology is interesting and something that should be doing well in the marketplace. Their leadership has let the company down. I know I can make a difference. If this were six months ago, I’d jump at the chance. It’s the kind of opportunity I live for, what I do best.”
Michael caressed Sam’s face. “Do you want to stay?”
Sam closed his eyes. “I can’t. For your sake, I can’t.”
For a moment, those words stilled Michael and his heart contracted so hard, he thought blood would stop pumping. But leaving him wasn’t Sam’s entire answer—the love that lurked behind that statement kept him breathing. He stroked Sam’s cheek. “That’s not the question I asked.”
Sam opened his eyes. They were still brilliant, even when they conveyed exasperation and pain. “I know what you asked. God, yes. Yes, I want to be with you. It’s just not possible.”
The response tied knots in Michael. Sam wanted to stay, wanted to be with Michael. “Why isn’t it possible?”
Sam lifted Michael’s hand from his cheek, his face a mix of fear, hope, and sorrow. Sunlight filtered in around the edges of the curtains, gilding lines across the bed. “They’re going to make you site manager.”
Those were the last words Michael had expected to hear. He spat out two of his own. “What?Why?”
Sam shrugged. “Pittsburgh will become an R&D lab for the next generation of Sundra’s routing products. They won’t need a CEO, maybe not even a VP, but the office will need someone to oversee and manage the team there. You’re the obvious choice for that role.”
What did it have to do with them? How didthatchase Sam away? “How the hell did I become the obvious choice?” Michael reeled. Too many pieces and not enoughsense.
Sam coughed a laugh. “By doing your job well. You’re the person everyone at the office respects.” He paused and added, “Plus you impressed Greta quite a bit with your knowledge.”
Well, shit. “I hate management.”
