Heaven and Hell (Heaven and Hell #1)(69)

I tried to tell myself this was a leftover from being a commando, trained to be aware of every nuance of your environment so you were not taken off-guard.

But he’d got out of the Army ages ago and we were in Crete, not Afghanistan. Sure, there were always a variety of dangers anywhere you were but, unless we were behind closed and locked doors to our rooms, this was Sam’s constant state.

And I’d overheard what I overheard Sam and Luci talking about and, try as I might, I couldn’t un-hear it. Sam didn’t mention it. In fact, he continued to be open, honest and communicative but… not. I freely mentioned him being an ex-commando, usually in a teasing way, he’d grin, smile, even laugh. But he wouldn’t share.

Maybe he thought I knew, considering I’d internet stalked him, it would stand to reason that I’d read the book about him (which I had).

But as our time together wore on, as I learned more about Gordo and how deep their connection was, but only through fun stories of what men got up to when they were carousing, not war stories; as I learned about his brother Ben, but only amusing stories of brothers getting up to mischief and not how he was lost or how Sam felt about that; and absolutely nothing about his time or activities in the Army, why he got out, anything, it became less about him thinking I already knew (when I couldn’t possibly) and more about him keeping things from me.

And, considering a great deal of the time we shared included intimate moments and quiet conversations where he guided me through stories of Cooter, what Cooter had done, how I’d felt, why I’d made the decisions I’d made and Sam had gone to great lengths to assure me my behavior was perfectly natural, my decisions were rational based on my circumstances, my actions were understandable considering they were self-preserving and I shouldn’t beat myself up about them, it was clear he was not shying away from deep, meaningful, revealing conversations.

They were just all about me.

On this thought with my sunglassed eyes trained on the waters of the pool, my cell beside me rang. I picked it up and looked at the display seeing it said “Paula Calling”.

I was surprised, it was way early at home. I was also freaked because it was way early at home.

I flipped it open and greeted, “Hey, honey.”

“Problem,” she announced, sounding frustrated.

Oh man.

“What?”

“Well, the other person bidding on that unit at The Dorchester upped their offer by ten K. Ten freaking K! Again! The text just came in. Just now. You made your last bid two days ago and they’re texting me at the five o’clock in the freakin’ morning!”

I closed my eyes.

I had been on the phone quite a bit since our last full day in Lake Como. These conversations included chatting with Celeste who was making it clear our relationship was not going to die after I left Lake Como (for which I was thankful). They also included chatting and texting with Luci, who was making it clear she was intent on building her relationship with me right along with Sam even if she and I were in different countries (again with the thankful part). And they also included talking to and texting Paula about The Dorchester unit.

I’d made five thousand dollars more than asking price on my house in the end, which was awesome. I had my deposit. Paula was sorting all the mumbo jumbo. I was ready to roll.

But even though the housing market had been stagnant (or worse) for over a year, not only did I do well on the sale of my house, now I was in the bidding war to end all bidding wars to get that unit.

A unit I hadn’t even seen.

I’d finally offered asking price, thinking that would end it. They’d countered with ten K more. At Paula’s suggestion, I’d countered with five thousand more. Now they were countering with ten thousand more.

That meant The Dorchester unit would go, currently, for twenty-five thousand more than the list price.

That was insane.

But I wanted it, my house was sold, once Paula sorted the mumbo jumbo we would close then I’d have no home, not to mention I had the money.

I had no clue what to do.

I opened my eyes and informed Paula of this fact in those exact same words.

“It’s all about how much you want it,” Paula replied. “There’s nothing like The Dorchester anywhere around. The only other condo unit is totally not as cool or well-kept as The Dorchester and it’s all the way out on Six which is, like, at least a fifteen minute drive from Kroger and that’s not during rush hour. But it’s way cheaper and I know they have several units on the market. You could go for a house but you said you don’t want to deal with a yard. You could move out of Heartmeadow but then I’d have to kill you. So, really, how much do you want it?”

It wasn’t just that.

Sure, I had bunches of money but if I kept throwing it around, I wouldn’t have any at all. And I’d quit my job before going on vacation, not because I didn’t like who I worked with, just that I never liked what I was doing, as in, at all. It bored me stiff and I had a new chance at life, so I decided I’d go for it, whole hog. I had thoughts of going home from my vacation and going to school, getting a degree or learning a vocation. I just had no idea what degree I’d get or what vocation I’d learn. I’d quit dreaming years ago, I never imagined I’d have this opportunity and not only that, but the sky being the limit. Heck, I could even go for a master’s degree, become a lawyer (not that I wanted to do that), pretty much anything.