His Marriage to Remember - By Kathie DeNosky Page 0,23
neither she nor Sam had a lot to say. She knew she had acted irrationally, but her nerves were getting the better of her. For the past twenty-four hours she had been under a tremendous amount of stress, pretending that nothing was wrong, that they were still happily married. Unfortunately, Sam didn’t remember that wasn’t the case and seemed to be launching a sensual assault that was threatening to drive her to the brink of insanity.
Then there was the matter of hiding the truth about their relationship without lying to him. When he had asked her about her wedding and engagement rings, she had told him the truth. Three months ago when she moved out of the house, she had taken them off and left them in a small black velvet box on top of the dresser. She had forgotten to find them and put them back on. But she’d had so much on her mind, trying to make sure Sam didn’t overdo things, pretending that everything was all right between them when it wasn’t, that it was nothing short of a miracle she could remember her own name, let alone her rings.
When she drove up to the side of the ranch house and parked the SUV, she was surprised when he didn’t immediately open the door to get out. “Is something wrong, Sam?” she asked, hoping the vertigo hadn’t returned.
“You tell me, Bria,” he answered, turning to look at her. His eyes held hers and until that moment, she hadn’t really understood what it meant to feel as if someone’s piercing gaze went all the way to her soul. She did now.
She caught her breath. Had he remembered something? Maybe a fragment about their marriage being in trouble?
“I don’t know what you mean, Sam.”
“There used to be a time when you loved for me to let you feel how much I want you. Loved for me to show you what you did to me and how much you tied me in knots.” He shook his head. “Now you get jumpy as hell if I get within ten feet of you, and try to put as much distance between us as you possibly can.”
She should have known that he would start questioning why she kept sidestepping his advances. “Sam, I—”
“Is there someone else?” he interrupted, his tone holding a hard edge that she had never heard before. “If there is, I can tell you right now the son of a bitch is in for the fight of his miserable life.”
“No, Sam, there’s never been anyone but you,” she said honestly. “You’re the only man I’ve ever wanted to be with.”
He must have heard the truth in her words, because his tone softened. “Then what’s the problem, sweetheart? You know you can tell me anything.”
Bria closed her eyes for a moment as she fought the urge to throw herself into his arms, to have him hold her and her hold him until all their problems melted away. But that was something she simply couldn’t allow herself to do. It had never worked before and she knew it wouldn’t work now. His accident hadn’t been the solution to what was wrong in their relationship, it had only added another complication.
“I guess I’m just letting my nerves get the better of me,” she finally managed to say.
She wasn’t lying. Her nerves had been stretched to the breaking point ever since she watched the bull run him down, and they hadn’t gotten any better since coming back to the ranch. Having to watch every single thing she said to him was like walking a tightrope with no safety net.
“I’m sorry you’ve had so much to deal with lately.” Leaning across the console, he gave her a kiss so tender it brought tears to her eyes. “When we go upstairs to bed, I’m going to hold you until all that worry melts away and you feel secure again.”
“I don’t think…that would be a good idea,” she said haltingly.
“I do.” He sounded so sure, it was hard for her not to believe that it was all that simple.
The feel of his gentle kiss and his heartfelt pledge to make her feel safe caused her chest to tighten. Why hadn’t he been there to tell her something like this when she had lost their baby? She had needed his strength and comfort then more than she ever needed anything in her life and he had been somewhere out on the West Coast, playing nursemaid to a herd