rested on the back of the booth above Riley's shoulders. It was very cozy.
"Bring you a bottle of the house wine?" Mary asked.
Sam turned to Riley. "Is that okay with you?"
"You go ahead Sam; I'm on backup call tonight so I'll have to pass." As she
spoke, Riley unconsciously laid her hand on Sam's arm.
"We'll pass Mary. Bring us both an ice tea please." She glanced over at Riley to
see if that met her approval. Riley nodded her thanks.
All the tension from the condo seemed to have dissipated. They laughed and
talked easily during dinner. Sam told stories of her experiences as a police
officer and of growing up with Jess and Frank. The plates were cleared away
and they sat having coffee.
"So you've met my sister and brother. What about you do you have any
siblings?" Sam asked.
"No I'm an only child." Riley said looking sad.
"That must have been lonely growing up. Even with all we fought, I love my
sister and brother like crazy. Our folks always accused us of prematurely aging
them with our antics. Guess your folks never accused you of that huh?" Sam
laughed.
Sam sobered when she noticed Riley's stricken look.
"What's wrong?" she asked concerned.
Riley was fighting to control her emotions. She swallowed hard before turning to
face Sam.
"My folks died when I was a kid, my aunt and uncle raised me."
"Oh God, I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Sam felt terrible that she'd brought up such a painful subject.
"It's Okay. There's no way you could've known." Riley assured. "I don't get a chance to talk about them much. I still miss them terribly."
Sam's heart went out to Riley, she could feel the pain radiating off of her.
She was never sure later what prompted her to ask. She met Riley's eyes. "Tell
me about them."
Riley looked hesitant for a moment but saw the honest interest in Sam's eyes.
Her aunt and uncle never wanted her to talk about her folks. She hoarded her
memories of them; it was all she had left. She found herself wanting to share
something so precious to her with Sam.
"My dad grew up in LA. My grandfather was a lawyer. He met my Mom in high
school. They were high school sweethearts and married not long after
graduation. My grandfather wanted my Dad to follow in his older brother's
footsteps and become a surgeon. My Dad refused, he had always dreamed of
owning his own garage to repair and restore classic cars. They moved to San
Diego and my Dad worked at a local Ford dealer, restoring cars at night and on
weekends. He made a name for himself and finally convinced my grandfather to
help him buy his own shop. It was a booming success. He had people bringing
classic cars to him from all over California to repair and restore. My Mom worked
as the receptionist and bookkeeper for the garage. They'd been trying for years
to have a child and had pretty much given up; then when my Mom was thirty,
she got pregnant with me. It was a hard pregnancy and the doctors told her she
would never have any more children. My Mom always told me she didn't care;
she had me and that I was a special gift from God." Riley got a little choked up
and stopped to drink some of her coffee. She looked at the table not making eye
contact with Sam.
Sam put her finger under Riley's chin bringing her head up until their eyes met.
"They obviously loved you very much."
Riley smiled even as several tears leaked out. She took a deep breath before
continuing.
"I was very close to both my folks but I was a real daddy's girl. I went
everywhere with him. He always said 'Any where I go my girl can go' I even went
to the barbershop with him. My mom had a real fit one time when I convinced
him to let the barber cut my hair real short. We used to work on cars and go to
all the ball games together. I was a real tomboy back then." Riley's voice trailed
off it was obvious her emotions were getting the best of her.
"Tell me the rest." Sam quietly encouraged.
"When I was 10 I begged my folks for weeks to let me spend the night at my
friend's house. It was so cool. There were six siblings spaced two years apart.
I'd never been exposed to anything like that before. They finally gave in and let
me spend the night. They decided to drive up the coast for a romantic dinner
and some time together. Coming back it was very foggy. A semi-truck hit a car
and over turned. It caused a multiple car pile up on I-5." Riley's voice started to
hitch as the tears poured down her face. Sam had to struggle to understand her.
"My folks were killed instantly when a second semi couldn't stop and ran over
their car."
Sam gathered the now sobbing Riley in her arms. Several people in the
restaurant glanced over to see what was wrong but quickly turned back to their
meals when Sam glared at them.
Riley savored the comfort of Sam's arms as she struggled to get her emotions
under control. She looked up and happened to catch a glimpse of another patron
watching them. She stiffened slightly suddenly remembering they are in the
middle of a restaurant. She could hear her aunt's scolding voice. 'You're making
a spectacle of yourself in public Riley'.
She reluctantly pulled away from Sam. Her face flushed with crying and
embarrassment. She couldn't meet her eyes.
"I'm so sorry. Here I am pouring out my life story and making a spectacle of
myself. I didn't mean to embarrass you." She kept her eyes firmly on the table
not wanting to see the disapproving light in Sam's eyes. "I'm sorry." She
whispered.
"Riley look at me." Sam waited. Riley still wouldn't look up. She gently lifted her chin looking into sad violet eyes. Riley was amazed by what she saw in Sam's
eyes all the caring and compassion. It made her start to choke up again.
"I'm glad you told me. I'm not embarrassed by honest emotion. You lost
something very precious to you when your folks died. Never be embarrassed by
what you felt for them."
Riley couldn't believe it. Sam wasn't angry with her for crying in public. Riley
could still vividly remember one of her first experience with her aunt and uncle.
They'd gone out to a fancy restaurant not long after the funeral. Riley had seen a
little girl hugging her dad and become upset. She missed her parents and her
aunt and uncle were very unaffectionate people. When Riley had started to cry
her aunt had jerked her into the bathroom and scolded her for crying in public
and embarrassing them. They had left the restaurant without eating and her
uncle had sat her down and lectured her on the appropriate behavior in public.
Mary chose that moment to interrupt. "Is everything all right here?" She asked
quietly.
"Yeah we're fine. How about bringing us another cup of coffee? Does that sound
good to you Riley? She asked.
Riley glanced up shyly at Sam then over to Mary. There was no censure on her
face only honest concern. Mary smiled gently at Riley. Riley smiled back before
leaning back to rest against Sam.
"Yes, that sounds good."
"Thank you." Riley told Sam when Mary walked away.
"For what?" Sam inquired.
"For not being angry with me or embarrassed that I broke down in public. I am
sorry I've done that to you twice now."
"You don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm pleased you trusted me enough to
share that with me. There is no shame in tears Riley, you didn't embarrass me."
"Wel now that I bored you wit
my life story I guess it's time to go." Riley said
"You could never bore me Riley." Sam's expression was serious. She gently
stroked Riley's cheek. "But if you're tired we should head back."
"I'm on backup call and suddenly I do feel kind of drained." Riley smiled
sheepishly. "I do want to thank you. It's been a long time since I was able to talk
about my folks. It felt good."
"Any time. I enjoyed our dinner and I want to know more about you." Sam
assured her.
Riley laughed. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into with a request
like that."
Sam smiled in return. "I look forward to it. Come on let's head back to Del Mar
so you can get some sleep."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The drive back to Del Mar was pleasant. Riley shared with Sam some of her
childhood memories of her parents. She had all these memories bottled up
inside and no one to share them. Sam was more than happy to learn everything
she could about Riley. She did notice that Riley made no mention at all of her life
with her aunt and uncle.
Sam walked Riley back to the steps just outside her condo.
"Would you like to come in for a bit?" Riley invited.
Sam felt her earlier discomfort returning and didn't want to go back into the
sterile condo.
"I should be getting back and you need your rest." Sam hedged.
Riley looked disappointed but acquiesced. They turned to go up the steps to
Riley's door. She cursed under her breath... "Damn."
"What's wrong?"
"I forgot to turn the porch light on. The doorways are in an archway and very
dark."
"Come on I'll walk you up." Sam offered.
They stood on the last step before the dark archway in the glow of the security
lights.
"Well goodnight." Sam leaned down to kiss Riley goodnight. Riley had a sudden
flashback to the night Keith confronted her kissing another date. She stiffened
and pulled back glancing around nervously. Sam couldn't help feeling hurt she
wondered if Riley was really serious about being involved.
"Well good night then, thanks for a pleasant evening." Sam said as she turned to
walk away.
Riley grasped hold of her forearm. "Wait!" She stepped up into the darkened
archway and pulled Sam with her. As soon as they were out of the light, she
reached up and tried to pull Sam's head down. Sam resisted until Riley pressed
her body into her. Sam gave in with a groan her lips met Riley's in a passionate
kiss. Riley escalated the kiss pressing her tongue into Sam's mouth. She
wrapped her arms tightly around Sam then her hands slid down to grab Sam's
butt and squeeze. Sam's arousal soared. She dueled with Riley's tongue before
chasing it back into her mouth. Riley kneading her ass was making her crazy,
she pushed Riley back against the door and brought her hands up to caress her
breasts through her shirt. Riley moaned and pressed closer to Sam her body
pulsing with incredible feelings. Sam was rapidly loosing control. She parted
Riley's thighs with her knee then thrust her leg hard between hers. She gasped
in pain as she pressed into Riley's center. In the heat of the moment, she'd
forgotten her leg. The shooting pain down her thigh rapidly reminded her. She
pulled away from Riley trying to gain control of herself. The sudden jolt of pain
helped clear her head. She couldn't believe how far things had gone. Much
longer and she would've taken Riley right here in the archway. It scared Sam to
realize how out of control she'd been. No one had ever made her forget her
surrounds so completely. Riley whimpered when she pulled away. She wasn't
aware of what had happened. Her body was caught up in the whirlwind of
sensations. She finally realized Sam was no longer kissing her and stood
rubbing her leg. Concern for Sam instantly cooled her libido.
"What happened? Are you alright?" Riley asked with concern.
Sam tried to laugh but it came out a croak. Her arousal was acute despite the
pain. "My leg just decided to remind me of its presence. I'm fine."
"Come inside let me look at it and make sure you're okay."
Sam had a brief flash of Riley kneeling between her legs looking at her incision.
"In A Heartbeat" отзывы
Отзывы читателей о книге "In A Heartbeat". Читайте комментарии и мнения людей о произведении.
Понравилась книга? Поделитесь впечатлениями - оставьте Ваш отзыв и расскажите о книге "In A Heartbeat" друзьям в соцсетях.