Her gaze jumped away. “I’m not allowed to go to the bridge anymore.”
Using her chin, I tipped her head back. “Good,” I breathed, kissing her forehead.
“You haven’t been going up there either?”
“I’ve been there every night, but that’s not the view I’ve been missing.”
Her cheeks pinked, and her eyes smiled.
Her mouth didn’t.
Because it was suddenly on mine.
Her tongue invaded my mouth as mango overwhelmed my senses. Levee. My whole body slacked as I slid a hand down to her ass.
“Uhhh…” Meg’s voice stole my attention and reminded me that we weren’t alone the way I so fiercely wanted to be.
Levee giggled and tucked her face into my neck.
“Hey!” I greeted Meg awkwardly.
“Nice to see you too, Sam.” She rolled her eyes then flashed them to Levee’s back in a silent question.
I shrugged. “Well, it’s good to know your loud-mouth brother at least takes attorney-client privilege seriously.”
“Shut. Up,” she whispered. “Ryan knew about this and didn’t tell me!” Her face morphed from humor to anger.
“Yep.” I rubbed it in just to be sure Ryan thoroughly got his ass handed to him later.
“Mom,” Morgan choked.
We all looked down at her, including Levee, who spun in my arms. Morgan’s face was pale as tears welled in her bright-blue eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Meg asked, settling on the bed next to her.
“Does this mean that Levee is going to be my aunt?” A trail of tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Well…” Meg stalled then leveled me with an annoyed frown. “Sam? Levee? You got an answer here?”
Levee blew out a sigh of relief. “Maybe.”
Panic followed by a tinge of elation filled my chest as I swung an incredulous glare in her direction.
She shrugged then went back to talking to Morgan. “But maybe not. You mind if I step outside with Sam and talk about that?”
Morgan jumped to her knees and folded her hands in a prayer. “Oh, please say yes, Levee. Please. If you’re my aunt, you get to come to dinner at Nana’s every Sunday. And Christmas. Oh my God! Christmas is so fun. Sam always shows up smelling like smoke, but I promise I’ll put a toothbrush in his stocking in case you want to kiss him some more.”
Levee bit her lips to stifle a laugh.
“Uncle Sam, did you bring a ring? You need a ring if you’re going to marry her.”
I threw my hands up in defense and slowly backed toward the door. “I have no idea what you are talking about right now.”
Meg doubled over in laughter as Morgan’s expression turned murderous. “Girls need a ring! Come on, Sam. My friends would die if Levee was my aunt. Don’t mess this up for me.”
Levee barked a laugh. “Yeah, Sam. Don’t mess this up for her.” She flipped her hand up for a high five, which Morgan enthusiastically returned.
“Don’t encourage her,” I whisper-yelled at Levee, but the huge grin I was hopeless to hide gave me away.
After offering Morgan a quick hug, Levee headed toward the door, bumping my shoulder as she passed. “Come on, Sam. We need to talk about this ring.” Just as she got to the door, she shouted, “See ya later, Morgan!”
“See you at dinner on Sunday!” Morgan casually called after her.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the exchange, and as the door clicked behind her, I heard Levee laugh as well.
I quickly kissed Morgan on the top of her head then pulled Meg into a hug. “Thanks for the text.”
“You have so much explaining to do,” she bit out but immediately started shooing me out of the room.
I wandered into the hallway, where I found Levee whispering with Devon.
“Sup, big man.” I clapped his meaty shoulder, looping the other arm around Levee’s waist.
He glowered at me, but his words were for Levee. “We need to go. Time’s up.”
She shyly peeked up at me. “You want to maybe…come back to my place for a little bit so we can…talk.”
“Yeah. Sounds good.” I dug my car keys out of my pocket, and Levee’s whole face lit up.
“I’m riding back with Sam!” she announced, bouncing on her toes.
“No,” Devon snapped.
“Yes.”
“No,” he replied firmly.
“Yes,” she repeated with a smile.
“I’ll take you both back, but no way in hell am I letting you go with this guy alone.”
Offended, I jumped in. “Hey! What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
Neither of them acknowledged me.
“Too bad you don’t get a say in that.” Levee grabbed my arm and dragged me away, leaving Devon cursing behind us.
As we marched down the hall, I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I’m parked in the back lot.”
She slammed on the brakes and groaned in frustrated. With a quick U-turn, we headed back toward a hopeful Devon.
He opened his mouth as we got close, but Levee interrupted him as we breezed past.
“Nope. Still riding with Sam. Don’t forget Henry’s dinner.”
“Goddammit,” he seethed through gritted teeth, but Levee seemed unfazed.
Well, okay, then. I guessed she was riding with me.
“FUCK. ME,” SAM moaned when I mounted him just as he slid behind the wheel of his Jeep.
“If you insist,” I mumbled, crushing my mouth over his; smoke still lingered on his lips.
“Levee,” he warned as I dropped a hand to his zipper. Grabbing my wrist, he attempted to stop me, but I retaliated by gliding my hips over his stiffening dick. “Shiiiiit.” He gave the fight up and kissed me, thrusting a hand into my hair to use it for leverage.
With a gentle tug, he turned my head and latched onto my neck—nipping and sucking his way up to my ear. The bite of his hand in my hair sent blood rushing to my clit while his breath against my ear forced chills down my spine.
“Come back to my place. It’s closer than yours.”
“Okay,” I answered without a single second of hesitation. I’d go wherever he wanted just as long as he was going too.
Shocked, he held my gaze. “Are you allowed to do that?”
“I’m a big girl, Sam. I’m allowed to do whatever—or whoever—I want.” I went back in for another kiss, but Sam lifted me off his lap and deposited me onto the passenger’s seat.
“Put your seat belt on,” he growled, adjusting his pants.
Sam’s Jeep was exactly what I would have expected from him. It was older but in perfect condition. There were no windows or doors to shield us from the sure-to-be freezing wind, but the idea of freedom was more than worth the price. A loud beat from his speakers filled the air the second he started the engine.
“Sorry.” He turned it down as he slammed the five-speed into reverse. Tossing his arm around the back of my seat, he zipped us out of the parking spot and onto the streets of San Francisco.
With my hand on his thigh and the wind whipping through my hair, Sam navigated us back to his place. I was going to look like a shivering, matted poodle by the time we got there, but I couldn’t have cared less. Sucking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and smiled to myself. I didn’t ever want to leave that moment. And that was the first time in as long as I could remember when I could honestly say that.
Something happened when I was with Sam.
I didn’t know what that something was, but it happened all the same.
He wasn’t a magical fix. I knew that the free fall was still waiting for me at the end of the night. But I didn’t feel like I was plummeting when I was with him.
“What are you smiling about?” Sam asked when we pulled up to a red stoplight. His hand sifted through my hair then gently wrapped around the back of my neck.
Like a kitten, I purred, leaning into his touch. “Mmm, the way I feel right now.” I opened my eyes to find him watching me with a content grin.
“You’re beautiful,” was all he said before the light turned green and we were off again.