Rachel Gibson - Any Man of Mine

Sam? Autumn couldn’t remember a time when Vince hadn’t referred to Sam as “the idiot” or worse. Something was very wrong. Like maybe Vince had fallen and hit his head really hard and not only given himself a black eye, but brain damage as well. “He’s in L.A. Why?”

“I wanted to talk to him. When will he be back?”

“Tomorrow night sometime.”

“That’s too late. I won’t be here.”

“Why?” She rose from behind her desk. “Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving town.”

“No!” Her jaw dropped. “Why?” Why was her life turning to crap all at the same time?

“I have to do something.”

“What?” She moved around the desk toward her brother.

“Nothing I can talk about.”

“Are you running from the law?”

“No.”

“An angry girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Boyfriend?”

“NO!”

She placed her hand on her chest, and concern for her brother pushed her own troubles aside. “I’m your sister. You can tell me anything, and I’ll always love you. No matter what.”

“I love you, too, but there are just some things it’s best you don’t know.” He put up one palm. “I’m not going to talk about it. So don’t ask.”

Sometimes he was so secretive, it drove her crazy. “When will you be back?”

“Soon.” He pulled out a thick envelope. “Give this to Sam.”

The envelope was filled with money, and she gasped. “When did Sam loan you this much money?”

“Just tell him thanks.”

“What did you do?” She looked at the envelope in her hand and wondered why her brother would need so much money. Had he gotten kicked out of his apartment or gambled or hired a soldier of fortune from the back of one of his magazines? No, Vince wouldn’t hire someone to do his dirty work.

“Sam bailed me out of jail Monday.”

“What?” The possibility of jail hadn’t entered her head. Sam hated Vince. Why would he bail him out? “What happened? Are you okay?” she asked through a haze of stunned disbelief. Then she listened as Vince told her about getting into a fight with a bunch of bikers and getting arrested.

“Why didn’t you run away?”

He frowned. “I don’t run.”

“But that was three days ago. Why didn’t either of you tell me?” Okay, so Sam wasn’t speaking to her but, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Sam doesn’t want you to know. I think he loves you and doesn’t want you to worry about me.”

She wasn’t so sure Sam loved her. Not after their last conversation. She wasn’t sure like her brother seemed to be.

“I don’t want you to worry about me either.”

She looked at him standing there, her big hard-nosed brother. The back of her throat hurt, and her eyes watered. Again. She didn’t want to make his life hard for him. Harder than it already was. “What will I do without my big brother?”

“Don’t cry.” He enfolded her in his big arms. “I’m not leaving forever.” He leaned back and looked into her face. “Maybe Sam isn’t as big an idiot these days.” He wiped her cheeks with his thumbs. “He’ll look out for you and Conner.”

She was confused and scared for Vince. “You like Sam now?”

“Hell no, but the bigger question is, do you like him?”

Of course she liked Sam. She loved him. She couldn’t help it. She loved the sound of his voice and the smell of him on her pillow. She loved that under all that muscle and enormous ego, there was a kind man with a giving heart. She nodded.

“Then you have to think about forgiving him, because sometimes a person needs to hear you forgive them so they can start to forgive themselves.”

She looked into her brother’s troubled green eyes and wondered if he was talking about Sam or himself.

Sam walked into his loft and knew something was different before he turned on the lights. It was 3:00 A.M., and Conner’s jacket was tossed across a barstool, and his door was ajar. He looked inside at his son curled up in his bed, asleep.

Sam was exhausted, and sore as hell. He’d played the shittiest games of his career consecutively because he hadn’t been able to clear his head of Autumn. He was living in a gray fog, but he was fairly certain it wasn’t his night to have Conner. Not unless Autumn needed someone to watch their son. Natalie’s door was shut, and he moved into his room and flipped on the light. In the middle of his dark blue quilt, Autumn lay curled up in his bed. Her red hair fanned out across his pillow. If he hadn’t been standing up, with his duffel in his hand, he might think he was dreaming the whole thing.

“Autumn?”

She stirred, and her green eyes fluttered open. A smile tilted up the corners of her mouth.

The duffel hit the floor. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.”

“Why? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to see you, and you’re obviously avoiding me.”

He looked around. “How did you get in here?”

“You have your ways. I have mine.” She stretched her arms, and it looked like she was wearing a white hockey jersey. “And aren’t you glad you didn’t come home with some other woman?”

“There is no other woman.”

“I know.” She sat up, and the quilt fell to her lap. She was wearing that damn Pittsburgh jersey. “Vince left town.”

He shrugged out of his blazer. “Why?”

“He said he had something to do. I’m very worried about him.”

“He’s a big boy.” Were they really talking about Vince? “He’ll be okay.”

“Why did you bail him out?” She swung her bare legs over the side of the bed. “You hate Vince.”

“But I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

His chest felt like he’d cracked a few ribs. Sore like someone caught him in the corner and punched the wind out of him. He pointed at her. “Then why are you wearing Crosby’s jersey?”

“ ’Cause the last time I wore it, you threatened to tear it off me if you ever saw it again.”

He smiled. “Is that what you want?”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“What else do you want, Autumn?”

“Me and you and Conner. I want us to be a family.” He sucked in a breath as she unbuttoned his shirt. “I want to always be here when you get home. I want to hear about your day. I want that for the rest of my life.” She kissed the hollow of his throat.

“If you want that for the rest of your life, you have it.” He grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. “I want you to always be here when I get home. I want to hear about your day. I love you and I will love you for the rest of my life.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn’t want to choke up. He didn’t want the woman he loved to see him cry like a girl. “You and Conner, that’s all I’ll ever need.”

“No, that isn’t all.” She brushed his hair from his forehead. “I love you, Sam. I fell in love with you five years ago, and you broke my heart. For a long time, I couldn’t get past that, but I’ve fallen in love with you again. Only harder and deeper and more maturely this time. You don’t need my forgiveness for the past. Like you said, we were different people then, but if that’s what you want, if that’s what you need, then I forgive you.”

He lowered his face to her neck and breathed in the scent of her warm skin. He hadn’t realized how long he’d waited to hear those words. Didn’t know how much he wanted to hear them until she’d spoken them. He ran his hands down the back of her jersey and grabbed two bare cheeks. “You seem to have lost your panties again.”

“Oops. I bet that happens around you a lot.”

“Not anymore.” He slid his hands up her smooth back. “You’re the only woman I want around. The only woman I want to see drop her panties. The only woman I’ve ever really wanted.”