Lush Curves (Dangerous Curves 8) のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 20

Sam waited for the coffee to be poured, then waited again in line to pay. The whole time, he shot Annie surreptitious glances, stole sneaky little glimpses of her as she sat in a booth across the room.She looked good, he was happy to see. Much better than three years ago, which wasn’t surprising considering what she’d been going through then… but even if he removed the criteria of dark circles under the eyes, and deep worry lines, and permanent exhaustion and messy hair, Annie still looked light-years better.She was a bit curvier, more lush and rounded, like she’d taken the time to sit down and have a few decent meals every once in a while. Her hair was cut a bit shorter now, and that brought out a gentle wave that hadn’t been there before. And her eyes – those eyes as deep and blue as the ocean – were calm now, less troubled, more joyous. On the whole, she looked healthier and happier, and Sam believed that when a woman looked like this, so natural and real, she was at her most bea

“I’m not being sweet, Annie.” He sounded almost angry now, and she was caught by surprise again at this kind, gentle man actually showing anger. “I’m telling you what I think about you. What I’ve thought for a long time. Since the first time I saw you, actually.”“The first time?” Annie recalled how she’d shown up in the E.R. in her stained, unflattering waitress’ uniform – God, I think that was the night that idiot threw a plate of fries at me, got off a direct hit, and the ketchup ended up everywhere – looking like nine kinds of hell. “That’s impossible. I was a walking disaster area.”“You were beautiful. Strong and sweet, so damn scared but so giving to Jax and Noah. You think I didn’t see that, Annie? See your gentle, bright, compassionate side?”“Uh.” Annie looked down, looked away from those amazing eyes just burning a hole through her damn soul. “Uh…”“I did. I saw it every single time that I looked at you, Annie. Christ, honey… it was all that I saw.”Annie froze. Did Doctor

“Well…” Again with the hesitation, but this time she waited patiently. “Well, I wonder how you feel about Chorus? Like, do you want to go there?”“Uh,” she said, now totally befuddled about just what the actual hell this phone call was all about. “Well, sure. I mean, unless there’s some reason that you don’t want to go there? Did it get shut down for a food poisoning violation, or something?”“God, never. But… well.” Sam sighed a bit. “It’s very – it’s crazy high-end.”“Oh. Right.” Annie narrowed her eyes. Was he saying that he didn’t want to splash out on her? “You want to take me for pizza instead?”“I want to take you someplace fit for a princess, Annie, because you deserve to be spoiled and pampered. But –” He stopped again.“But what?” “But – I didn’t think for one minute that maybe you’d be worried about your clothes. And I wanted to apologize for that, because I don’t want to cause you one damn second of stress, not ever. So are you? Worried?”“Oh, Sam.” Annie felt tears prick

And she really did, she knew it with every inch of her body and being: Jax Hamill was a rough man with a rougher past – he’d beaten a man to death, after all, although it had been the man who had killed Jax’s mother, so Annie kind of supported what he’d done, in parts – and he had shady and violent connections through his bar, Dangerous Curves. But when it came to Sarah, Noah, Annie, and his friends, the man was nothing but fiercely loyal and protective. He’d paid for all of Sarah’s care when she’d been beaten into a coma, he’d paid for her months and months of physical therapy, he’d supported Annie and Noah during Sarah’s recovery, he still kicked in for Noah’s stay at Carly’s Place. But his generosity with money wasn’t the main reason that Annie had grown to adore Jax… it wasn’t even how he took care of and cherished Sarah, though that was amazing. No, if Annie had to pick just one reason to admire and love this hard, harsh man, it was because of how Jax was with Noah.Despite the

“But… why lie?” Sarah asked. “I mean – it’s great that you’re dating someone, Mom. Why is this a secret?”“Well…” Annie floundered. “I just – I wasn’t sure that you’d approve.”“Approve?” Sarah echoed. “Why do I need to approve, Mom?” She gestured at Jax. “God knows I didn’t ask you what you thought of Jax before we started dating, and God also knows that you didn’t approve… not that I cared, mind you. He was hot.”That broke the tension a bit, and they all grinned at each other, remembering that awkward first meeting, thinking about how far they’d all come since then. “Anyway,” Sarah continued. “I’m thrilled that you’ve got a date on Friday, because let’s face it, you’re long overdue for a night out. Who is he?” She gave her Mom a saucy grin. “Anyone we know?”“No,” Annie said firmly. She may have had to come clean about the actual existence of the date, but there was no way in hell that she was sharing the identity of said date. “Just a guy who comes into the diner every once in a