He’s always checking out chicks, and every time I see him out somewhere he’s with a new woman,” Sam said indignantly.
“So? Maybe he just hasn’t met the right woman yet,” Delaney said.
Before he could tell her how wrong she was, what sort of trouble she was inviting, she shoved him out of her bedroom and shut the door in his face.
3
CRACKING OPEN ONE of the beers he’d brought down, Sam paced back and forth across Delaney’s jarrah wood floor, sucking in beer and trying to breathe out tension and frustration. He was supposed to go back upstairs to his own apartment—the way Delaney had yelled through her closed bedroom door that she’d see him at work tomorrow had been something of a giveaway in that direction. But he wasn’t going anywhere. He was worried about Delaney going out with a bona fide lady’s man like Jake. The guy was six foot, solidly built, and Sam knew from listening to the girls in the office that they thought he was dreamy. Delaney wouldn’t stand a chance against a practiced make-out artist like that.
He could hear the sound of the shower as Delaney got ready for her date, and he tried to keep himself from imagining what she was doing in there. What she looked like naked, those perky, high breasts of hers slick, the nipples pebbled from the water’s warm touch, how she might slide her hands down over her hips and round over that perfect butt…
What was wrong with him? Why was he suddenly having these intimate, crazy-making thoughts about Delaney? She was like his sister. He wasn’t supposed to care that she was a woman. It just wasn’t a factor in their relationship. At least, it never had been. But all of a sudden, it was as though someone had ripped down an invisible force field that had been between them and he was seeing her for the first time.
And Delaney was definitely a woman. A beautiful, desirable woman.
And Jake the sales rep was going to take her out tonight and do his best to get inside the tiny, lacy scraps of silk he’d seen Delaney sorting through earlier.
It made Sam so angry that he almost threw his beer bottle at the wall. The tempo of his pacing increased. She couldn’t go out with Jake. It was a simple as that. Once she got out of the shower, he’d talk sense to her, and she could call Jake and give the guy the brush-off. Then Sam would take her out for burgers or something. They’d have a few beers together, and get things back on their old, solid footing.
The clock in Delaney’s open-plan kitchen read just five minutes shy of eight by the time she emerged from her bedroom. She came wrapped in a cloud of perfume and precious little else from what he could see.
The dress she was wearing was the color of autumn leaves—a dark, burnished orange—and it set off Delaney’s tan perfectly. It had tiny spaghetti straps and a tight bodice that hugged her breasts, then it swooped down over her hips to end a bare few inches below her butt.
“You cannot be serious,” Sam said before he could help himself. He’d planned on staying calm, being the voice of reason. But Delaney could not go out in public in that dress. For starters, it almost certainly violated several decency codes. And it would definitely pose a medical risk for elderly males. Surely she didn’t want to be responsible for giving some randy octogenarian a fatal heart attack?
“Sam, if you haven’t got something nice to say, go home,” Delaney said wearily.
He’d hurt her feelings. Again. Determined to get this right, he crossed to her and put both hands on her shoulders. She tried to twitch out of his grasp, but he just held her more firmly.
“Laney, you look amazing. Hot. Too hot, in fact. There is no way Jake will be able to keep his hands off you,” Sam explained honestly.
“Did it ever occur to you that I might not want him to?” Delaney said, pushing his hands away.
“Well…no. Why on earth would you let a guy like Jake take advantage of you? He’s not good husband material, Delaney, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Because you’re such a great judge of that, right?” she challenged him.
Sam pulled his dreadlocks off his forehead, frustrated that he couldn’t seem to get through to her.
“He’s going to look at you in that dress, and all he’s going to think about is sex,” he finally said. There, he couldn’t be more blatant than that.
“Good,” she replied.
“What?”
“I said good. I have had sex before you know, Sam. I do know what goes where. I have needs, too,” she said defiantly.
She pushed her hair behind her ear, and he saw that she was wearing slinky silver drop earrings that drew attention to her long, slim neck. She was so fine and sleek and strong. She was way too good for Jake the rep.
“I don’t know what to say to you,” Sam said after a long silence. “If you’re willing to just put yourself out there like that…I can’t protect you.”
“I didn’t ask you to! I’m a grown woman, I can take care of myself,” Delaney all but shouted back at him. Her cheekbones colored up nicely, and her breasts seemed in imminent danger of popping out over the top of her dress.
While he was giving himself a mental bitch-slap for looking in the first place, Delaney crossed to the door and opened it wide.
“Out. Now,” she said unequivocally.
Sam opened his mouth to deliver one last warning, but she glared at him and he closed his jaw with an audible click.
Feeling distinctly hard done by, he moved past her and out into the hall.
“I just hope you know what you’re doing,” Sam said.
“Hey there, Sam,” a voice said from behind him, and he turned to see Jake approaching down the corridor.
The cheesy schemer was dressed like Mr. Slick from a fashion catalogue, and he was even carrying a bunch of flowers. Sam felt his lip curl as he eyed the other man.
“Jake,” he managed to bite out. Jake offered his hand, and Sam stared at it for a beat before reluctantly shaking hands. He made sure he squeezed the other guy’s knuckles good and hard, though, just so Jake would know who he’d be dealing with if he got out of line with Delaney.
“Sam was just leaving,” Delaney said meaningfully.
Sam twitched, but he knew he had no choice. She was right—she was a grown woman. A fully grown, fully adult woman. With needs, she’d said.
Great.
“Delaney—you look sensational,” Jake said, bending to kiss her hello.
Sam felt the lip curl make a return appearance as Jake’s arms slid around her, his hands lingering way too long on her lower back. Sam knew exactly what the other guy was thinking: how much small talk do I have to fake before I can get my hands on that amazing caboose?
If he stayed any longer, Sam knew he was going to do something really, really dumb.
“Have a great night,” he said sourly.
Then
