*4*

Sam stretched as she woke the next morning. She felt more rested and relaxed than she had in a long time despite a raging headache assaulting her. Sam slowly opened one eye but closed it quickly as the rays of sunlight were like knives stabbing into her brain. She groaned quietly burying her head in her pillow when a hand that wasn’t hers brushed her thigh.

Only barely suppressing a shriek of surprise Sam felt a stubble-covered chin brush against her shoulder that made her shiver with delight and the muscles of her lower belly clinch with yearning. Carefully she moved over closer to the edge of the bed so she could turn her head and look at the man that lay next to her. A small smile broke across her lips as she remembered what happened the night before. Even though he was asleep with his face smashed against his pillow he was still so sexy.

Her face warmed with a hint of embarrassment as she remembered everything she had done last night even if it was the most incredible night ever. Her body grew warm and the longing to repeat it all washed over her. With a deep breath to calm her raging hormones, Sam turned back around, trying not to wake him. She looked at the clock on the nightstand near her and jumped out of the bed, her plane was going to leave in two hours!

Sam cringed as she heard the man groan. He rolled over still asleep and she let out a sigh of relief. As much as she wanted to spend all her time repeating what they’d done last night again…and again, she was convinced he wouldn’t feel the same now that he was sober. Sam had always heard of the beer goggle effect and didn’t want to ruin her experience with his look of rejection once he saw her.

Being as quiet as she could, Sam tiptoed around the bed grabbing her clothing, and rushed to the bathroom. Sam dressed quickly and finger brushed her hair so that she at least appeared somewhat presentable. She quietly snuck towards the door. With one last glance at the sleeping man, she left the room quietly.

A half-hour later Sam entered her hotel room in a rush and Tabby gave her a stern look. “Finally, damn I was starting to think you planned on staying here.” 

Sam blushed for the millionth time in twenty-four hours. She dashed over to the dresser and ripped open the drawers. She threw her clothes into her old brown suitcase while Tabby stood there with her eyebrows raised and foot tapping. “Well?” 

“Well, what? I am afraid I don’t know what you are talking about,” Sam replied with a mocked look of confusion on her face as she finished emptying the dresser.

“Samantha Isabel Peters, You know perfectly well what I am talking about. You spend the night with a cute guy which you just met last night, and are playing dumb with me! Spill it!” Tabby insisted with slight irritation.

Sam giggled as if she was a giddy teenager while attempting to zip her overfilled suitcase. “Well,” she started slowly. “It was awesome and probably the most amazing night of my life. I can’t believe it happened,” she confessed with a dreamy look in her eyes. Tabby gave her an “I told you so” look. Sam released a playful sigh and hugged her friend. “Okay, you were right. This was a good idea. Now, let’s hurry we have a plane to catch.”

Monday morning came all too soon as Sam smashed the snooze button of her alarm clock. She wished she didn’t have to go to work. The hangover was gone, but she still felt tired from the entirety of the weekend. Sam groaned and buried her head in her pillow, but a smile crossed her face. She remembered the events of Saturday night and her body instantly started to awake with desire at the memory. Sam now understood how a woman could become addicted to a man. It was a good thing he was so far away because Sam was already on her way to becoming a junkie on the pleasure he gave her in just one night.

She closed her eyes and remembered all she could about the man and what he made her feel. Sam’s body burned with arousal, but her alarm clock rudely brought her back to earth. Sam glared at the little black device with irritation. “Fine, I am going,” she snapped feeling frustrated. Getting up from the bed, Sam thought the woman that got to have that grade A man every day could call herself a very lucky woman. How she’d love to be that woman!

A pang of longing and loneliness hit her as she realized it would never be her. She would never have a man like that ever again, or even a night like that again. Her smile dimmed at the thought as she walked into the bathroom. Tabby was probably right; Sam would end up being one of those old ladies with a hundred cats. She shuddered at the thought and got into the shower. As much as she loved cats, she didn’t like the idea of becoming the cat lady.

Shaking away the dark thoughts, Sam focused on the new employee her father was so excited about. From what she heard, the guy was supposed to be a big deal in the accounting world and her father was lucky to have gotten him to agree to work for the company. Sam’s only hope he wasn’t some cocky jerk that expected everyone to treat him with some kind of royal treatment. He probably was. He probably knew how much of a big deal he was and was going to make sure everyone knew it.

Scowling at the idea of having an entitled brat at work, Sam got out of the shower and dried herself off. It was a shame she couldn’t call in sick or something but she knew her father wouldn’t allow it. With one last sigh, Sam wrapped a towel around her and left the bathroom, passing a glance at the clock on her nightstand. “Crap, I am running late, Dad’s going to kill me!” Sam dashed to the dresser, thanking God she always prepared her clothes the day before.

She threw the towel on the bed and dressed in record time only to rush back into the bathroom. She pulled her wild brown locks into a tightly organized bun. She debated on eating something or just heading to work for a moment then decided against breakfast grabbing her keys that sat in a little china bowl on a table near the door.

As Sam parked the car in the parking lot and ran to the office, she took a glance at her phone and smiled triumphantly. She was right on time. The smile faded though as she remembered that her father demanded she come in early today. Oh well, it’s not like he should be surprised at this point, Sam thought as she walked inside.  She gave Mrs. Simpson a quick good morning and started to dash to her desk when she noticed her father was stomping in her direction.

He may not be surprised, but he could still be pissed. Obviously. Her father stopped just before her and raised one stern eyebrow at her and a hard frown crossed his face as he awaited her explanation. “I am sorry Mr. Peters. My alarm clock went all funky on me,” she lied, smoothing out the little wrinkles in her clothes caused by her rush. That seemed to calm him slightly and Sam allowed herself a small quiet sigh of relief.

“Well David has already arrived and met everyone except you,” he stated bitterly. She was just about to apologize when Tabby came up to them. Sam shot her friend a bright smile and good morning. Tabby was like an accountant wizard and Sam didn’t understand why her father made such a big deal about this David guy when he had her.

“Good Morning Mr. Peters, Sam may I have a word with you please,” Tabby said, giving Sam a look she didn’t quite understand.

“Does it have to be now Tabitha?” Her father asked with an air of impatience.

“Yes!” Tabby said almost with a sense of urgency. “I mean yes sir, it’s important,” she added more calmly. Sam eyed her friend suspiciously as her father sighed, and nodded.

“Hurry up, we have work to do and you still need to meet David,” he told her harshly then turned around and walked back to his office.

Before Sam could ask what was going on, Tabby grabbed her shoulders and pushed her towards the bathrooms down the hall. “What the hell, Tabbs? What’s wrong?”

“David Andrews…you know the new guy,” Tabby started, nearly bouncing in place from excitement.

“Yeah what about him? Is he a real ass?” Sam asked, not sure what about this guy could have her friend reacting this way. 

Tabby shook her head. “No, it’s not that, it’s him!” Her voice rose to a squeak. 

Still very confused, Sam asked, “Him who?”

A wicked glint erupted in Tabby’s eyes and a sly smile slipped across her full lips. “David Andrews is….”  She paused looking excited.

“Tabs, I love you, but we have work to do. He is what?”

“Your hottie from New York,” she answered slowly.

Sam stared at her, taking a moment to fully process what Tabby had said then she could feel the blood literally drain from her face. “What?” she managed to squeak out. She had to have heard her friend wrong. That wasn’t possible. Not even fate could be that cruel. No, she had to have heard her wrong. Totally. Dead Wrong.