The Tycoon's Tender Triumph Page 0,33
before, she felt pretty and sophisticated. And more than ready to face Sam.
Or so she thought. When the doorbell rang, her fingers immediately started shaking once again. She hated that but it couldn’t be helped. Picking up her black coat from years gone by, she hid her hands under the coat as she walked through the cozy, lived-in family room with the tattered but extremely comfortable furniture to answer the door.
She hid her gasp as she took in Sam, in all his amazing glory as he stood there in a tuxedo and a dark, soft, cashmere coat. He was stunning, she thought as he ducked to walk through the doorway, taking off his cowboy hat as he entered.
“You look nice,” he said, his eyes traveling up and down her body. “Very nice,” he repeated, “even though it’s not red.” He stepped forward and took her coat, something Chloe wasn’t anticipating. There was nothing she could do but give it to him so he could hold it for her as she slipped her arms through. “Thanks. You look rather dashing yourself,” she said breathily.
“Let’s go,” he replied, a moment before his hands landed on her shoulders. Her back was facing him or she would have seen it coming but as it was, she almost yelped when she felt his warm lips against the back of her neck. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. Too sexy,” he explained as he stepped back, then took her hand, placing it on the crook of his arm as he led her out the door.
The evening turned out to be magical. On the drive to the dinner party, Sam went out of his way to make her feel comfortable. He asked her about her training regiment for the horses, gave her tips, told her about one of the guests that would most likely be at the dinner who would probably have some good ideas since he was a professional horse trainer as well, working for one of the other ranches. She asked him about the social issues that might come up at the dinner and his responses had her holding her sides with laughter when he gave her some insider information on some of the people there.
She felt grateful that he seemed to be backing off of the sexual side of their relationship.
At the house, Sam came around to the side of the car to help her out but she was already standing beside the car. That gave him an excuse to look her up and down one more time and all the sexual tension came right back.
The hostess greeted Sam warmly and then turned to Chloe, greeting her with an effusive welcome as a servant took her coat. Chloe wished she could have kept the coat because as soon as it was gone, Sam had more skin available to touch since the dress was sleeveless with a low back. And the dratted man used every opportunity to take advantage of the cut of the dress.
By the time dinner was served, Chloe was a nervous wreck and almost spilled her water when she tried to pick it up.
Thankfully, Sam was seated at one end of the table and she was at the opposite, which gave her a little time to get herself back together. She was also seated between two gentlemen who were very interesting and both had great stories to tell about when they started their own businesses. She kept her eyes off of Sam for the whole meal and was very proud of herself for accomplishing that small miracle. She told herself she was absolutely not going to look down the table and watch him be charming and entertaining to the beautiful women on either side of him and was grateful for the two men who were able to keep her occupied, even if her mind wandered to the opposite end of the table to wonder what Sam’s companions were discussing with him. Would they both give him keys to their hotel rooms? Or did they live around here? And did Sam already know how to get to their houses?
When the meal was over, she heard Sam excuse himself and thought she’d have several more minutes without his disturbing company. She was wrong though. He wasn’t just excusing himself, he was telling the hostess that they were leaving early. In fact, he marched right down the length of the dining room, took her arm and pulled her out of the room and away from the other guests.
“What