toward the castle. “He protects the boy in the castle.”
“From what?”
He looked up at his dad and squinted against the sun. “From what, Dad?”
“Girls.”
She laughed and lightly socked him in the stomach. He grabbed her hand before she could pul away. “You’re cold,” she said.
“The other day at the Key, you said I was hot.”
With her free hand, she pushed at the strands of red hair blowing across her face. “And today you’re filthy.”
Sam wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her heels. He pressed his dirty sweatshirt against her and laughed. “You’re too clean. I like you better when you’re dirty, too.”
“Sam!” She pushed at his shoulders and tried to squirm out of his hold. But Sam was bigger and tal er, and she didn’t stand a chance. He tightened his grasp and lifted her until her toes dangled above the sand. His heated breath whispered across her chil ed cheek, “Wanna get real dirty with me?”
She grabbed onto his shoulders, afraid if he didn’t stop she’d get warm al over. That she’d
His lips brushed the corner of her lips. “Just a little dirty, then?”
“Stop, Sam. You’l confuse him.” Like the confusing, hot riot tumbling in her stomach.
He raised his head and said as he stared into her eyes, “Are you confused, Conner?”
“Yes.”
Sam looked over her shoulder, but he didn’t let her go. “What about?”
“If the castle doesn’t have a door, how wil the boy get out to ride the dragon?”
Sam smiled and lowered Autumn, slowly sliding her down his body until her feet touched the sand. “There’s a hidden door that the people who live inside know about.”
“Oh.” Conner nodded as if that made perfect sense. “I’m cold now.”
Autumn looked over her shoulder at Conner. “You wanna take a bath?”
“Yeah.”
She stepped out of Sam’s warm arm, and together the three of them walked up the trail to the beach house. Like they were a family. The family she’d longed for when she’d carried Conner in her womb. The family she’d desperately wanted for her child, but that hadn’t happened. They weren’t a family, and they never would be. Sam was Sam. A spoiled athlete, so used to getting everything he wanted, when and how he wanted it, that he had no clear boundaries.
Autumn was a working mom with very clear boundaries. Or at least she did when Sam wasn’t around touching her and whispering in her ear. Maneuvering her before she realized she’d been maneuvered.
Like before.
“Are we going to Paddie’s?” Conner asked, as they entered the house.
Autumn closed the sliding glass door behind her. “I think your dad probably has better things to do.”
Sam glanced up at Autumn through his clear blue eyes.
“At home.”
His brows lowered a fraction, and he looked at Autumn for several long moments. “Yeah. I gotta get back.”
“No, Dad.” Conner hugged his wet leg. “You can sleep in my bed.”
“Thanks.” He placed his hand on Conner’s hair. “But I have some stuff to do.”
“Tel your dad good-bye, and I’l go run your bathwater.”
She moved toward the back of the house and walked into the bathroom. She was doing the right thing. Setting boundaries for Sam. Putting a protective distance between him and her. It was best for her. For Conner, too. Best not to confuse him because even though he said he wasn’t confused at the moment, he would be. She ran four inches of warm water, then shut off the faucets.
“Get in there and get the sand out of your ears,” she told Conner as she moved into the living room.
“Okay. Bye, Dad.”
“Bye, buddy.” Sam had changed into dry pants and a black polo and stood in front of the sofa, stuffing his duffel. He glanced up as Conner ran from the room. “You blow hot and cold faster than any woman I’ve ever known.”
“And you come on stronger and more intensely than any man I’ve ever known. But we both know that it doesn’t last with you, Sam.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“We’re talking about my fear that Conner wil wake up one morning, and you won’t be around.”
“Are you back to that?”
They were always back to that. And maybe it was a little bit about her, too.
“Conner is my son. I’m not going anywhere. I know I haven’t always been the best father, but I haven’t been as horrible as you paint me either.” He shoved the sweatshirt into the duffel. “But this isn’t about Conner. It’s about last night.”
Partly that was true. “It can’t happen again.”
He looked up, his brows lowered over his blue eyes. “Why not? I had a good time, and I know you did, too.”
She couldn’t deny that but… “There are consequences to that kind of fun.”
“You can’t keep using Vegas like a shield.”
“I’m not.”
He returned his gaze to the bag. “You are, and it’s getting old.”
“It’s not something a person just gets over.”
“It’s not something
How could she get past it? She’d patched around it. Sewn her life back together, but it was stil there. It didn’t hurt, but it couldn’t be forgotten like it had never happened. The little boy in the bathtub was a constant reminder.
“But now I see that you want me to pay for Vegas for the rest of my life.” He picked up his duffel. “Tel Conner I’l cal him in a few days.” He walked out of the house, and Autumn stared at the closed door. Was he right? Did she want him to pay for the past? Forever?
No. She wasn’t that sort of woman, but she also wasn’t the sort to whom forgiveness came easily. Not that he’d ever asked for it. The Tuesday after Moclips, Natalie picked Conner up from kindergarten and took him to the Key Arena to practice with Sam. Around five, the assistant returned him home. Several days later, Natalie picked up Conner and his little backpack to spend the weekend with his dad. That same Friday night, Autumn met with the Ross twins at a bridal store downtown so that Bo could try on dresses. Chelsea was stil waiting until after her breast reduction surgery to try hers on, but she had plenty of advice for her sister. One gown was too poofy, and yet another too plain. They bickered about everything, and Bo tried on at least ten dresses before she walked from the fitting room in a sleeveless gown with an Empire waist and beautiful draping.
“Oh, Bo,” Chelsea sighed. “That looks beautiful on you.”
And it did. Perfect for a woman of her build. There was enough built-in boning that the top kept her heavy breasts lifted and covered while the draping elongated her body.
That night, Autumn checked the home phone to see if Conner had cal ed. He hadn’t, and she went to bed missing him. The next day she cal ed vendors, checking in and touching base regarding an intimate Christmas charity event she’d been hired to manage at an estate in Medina. The hostess requested trays of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres be served an hour before the sit-down dinner for thirty. They’d planned on the standard four servers, but Autumn hired six. There had been times in the past when she’d had a last-minute no-show, and it was always better to err on the side of caution. Always.
By the time Natalie dropped Conner off Sunday afternoon, it became very obvious that Sam was avoiding her. Things between them had gone back to the way they were before the Savage wedding. Back to neither her nor Sam
