Page 100 of Surprised By Love

I can feel the heat from his eyes roaming over my body and it’s doing crazy things to me, but I have to work and so does he. Passing him the coffee and muffin, I whisper. “Stop it. I’m working.”

He grins and kisses me goodbye with plans to call me later. As he walks past the woman at the table, he nods his head. “Morning, ladies.” He reaches the door and looks back at me, and winks before exiting the diner.

“You two are way too cute!” Tiff comments as she grabs a glass from under the counter.

I laugh. “Yeah, we are. Aren’t we?”

“Mm-hmm. Did you have a quickie in the office?”

I bark out a laugh. “No, we didn’t have a quickie. We didn’t go to the office, we talked for a minute. I told him about them.” I gesture to the table with my eyes.

“Oh, I bet that went over well.”

“Yeah, not so much.”

“Well, for what it’s worth. I think the two of you are great together, and I see amazing things happening for you.”

I smile at my new best friend. I sure hope she’s right. It’s about time things turn around for me and Amelia.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Sam

It’sfivethirtyinthe morning and I’m at the diner, mixing up another batch of cinnamon raisin muffins, singing and dancing to my playlist.

My playlist is a mix of every genre you could think of, and it has always driven my sisters crazy when we were in the car, and it was my turn to pick the music. They never knew if they were going to hear country, jazz, rock, eighties or pop.

When the first notes of one of my favourite Carrie Underwood songs come on, I grab my spatula and bounce on the balls of my toes, spinning around, singing about slashing tires and keying cars.

This was my anthem when I found out Derek was cheating, like I’m sure it’s every scorned woman’s song since its release. I don’t have to worry about it with Josh. Now I sing it because I like the song.

The next song starts, and I return to the counter. Swaying back and forth, stirring the bowl full of batter to Belinda Carlisle. Singing about getting weak makes me think of Josh, and a huge grin spreads across my face. Never in a million years did I think returning to Sunset Creek would result in me falling madly in love. But it has, and I am. I haven’t told Josh yet, but I will soon.

I close my eyes and let out a content sigh. When I open my eyes, a sudden flash of nausea hits me. I grab the edge of the stainless-steel counter and close my eyes, taking in a deep breath.

I’ve been feeling kind of off the past few days. Amelia was home last week with a stomach bug, so I upped my dose of vitamin C and drank more water than normal. I must have caught what she had. I hate being sick.

It might not be so bad. Living with Vicki means I have someone who can take care of Amelia for me if I’m bedridden.

Whenever I got the flu with Derek, it didn’t matter. I had to be up doing all my regular wifely duties, including cooking and cleaning. He was busy with school or work; he didn’t have time for that. When I was ill, he slept in the guest room so he wouldn’t catch it by sleeping beside me.

The more I think about it, the madder it makes me.

I grab a couple of saltine crackers out of the cupboard and take a seat. I haven’t eaten yet this morning. Maybe I’m just hungry. Ever since I had Amelia, I always felt slightly nauseous if I hadn’t eaten in a while. So, I bet that’s it. I’m hungry.

The door to the back entrance opens and Sloan walks in, whistling. As soon as he sees me, he rushes to my side. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yes. Just a little nauseous because I’m hungry.”

“Are you sure? You look a little flushed.”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

He pats me on the shoulder. “I’m going to scramble you up some eggs. Those crackers won’t do the trick.”

I turn to him as he enters the walk-in fridge. “You don’t have to. I’ll be fine.”

“Yes. I do. If your sister comes in here and you are eating crackers when you could eat an actual breakfast, she’ll have my ass,” He laughs.

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