Rainshadow Road (Friday Harbor #2)(60)

“Probably one of my crew,” she heard him mutter.

“Can you—”

“No.”

He pushed away from the bed and went to the bathroom, and she heard the sound of water running. By the time Sam emerged, Lucy had managed to pull the covers over herself. His face was hard, his jaw set. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Lucy bit her lip before asking, “Are you angry because of what you started, or because you didn’t finish?”

Sam sent her a brooding glance. “Both,” he said, and left the room.

* * *

As Sam went downstairs, the vicious ache of arousal was nothing compared to his scalding emotions. Anger, frustration, severe unease. He’d been so close, too damned close, to ha**ng s*x with Lucy. He’d known it was wrong and he hadn’t cared. Why had Lucy done nothing to stop him? If he didn’t get control over the situation, over himself, he was going to make a serious mistake.

Reaching the front door, he opened it and was confronted by Lucy’s sister, Alice. An incredulous scowl spread across his face. For one longing moment he let himself imagine the pleasure of booting her off his front porch.

Alice stared at him coldly, tottering on impractical high heels. Her hazel eyes were large and heavily rimmed with glittery purple liner, startling in the narrow framework of her face. Her lips were lined and coated with hot pink. Even under the best of circumstances, Sam would have found her annoying. But having just been dragged out of bed with Lucy, with his body still screaming to go back and finish the job, Sam found it impossible to muster even the bare minimum of civility.

“We don’t encourage people to drop by without calling first,” he said.

“I’m here to see my sister.”

“She’s fine.”

“I’d like to see for myself.”

“She’s resting.” Sam stood with one hand braced on the doorjamb, blocking her way.

“I’m not leaving until you let her know that I’m here,” Alice said.

“Lucy has a concussion.” With no small amount of self-derision, he added, “She can’t handle any kind of stress.”

Her mouth compressed into a hyphen. “You think I would hurt her?”

“You’ve already hurt her,” Sam said evenly. “It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out that shacking up with Lucy’s former boyfriend means you lose your place on the short list.”

“It’s not your place to judge me or my personal choices.”

True. But considering the fact that Alice’s affair with Kevin had led to a chain reaction that had ended in Lucy recuperating at Sam’s house, he figured he had a say in the matter.

“As long as Lucy’s under my roof,” he said, “it’s my job to look out for her. And your personal choices haven’t struck me as being all that great for Lucy.”

“I’m not leaving until I get to talk to her.” Alice raised her voice and directed it into the entrance hall behind him. “Lucy? Can you hear me? Lucy!”

“I don’t care if you stand on my porch caterwauling the rest of the day—” Sam broke off as he heard Lucy calling from upstairs. Giving Alice a baleful glance, Sam said, “I’m going to check on her. Stay there.”

“Can I wait inside?” she dared to ask.

“No.” He shut the door in her face.

* * *

By the time Sam returned to the bedroom, Lucy had dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a T-shirt. She had heard enough of the commotion downstairs to know that Alice had dropped by without warning, and that Sam hadn’t taken it well.

Still giddy with nerves, Lucy couldn’t decide how to feel about what had just happened between them. Mostly she was dumbfounded by her reaction to him, the blood-hot pleasure that had obliterated every thought.

As Sam approached, she felt rampant color race over her skin. His gaze slid across her, and a frown notched between his brows. “How did you get those clothes?” he asked. “I left them on the dresser.”

“I didn’t put any weight on my leg,” Lucy said. “It was just a step and a hop away from the bed, and then I just—”

“Damn it, Lucy. If that foot touches the floor again, I’m going to…” He paused, considering a variety of threats.

“Send me to bed without dinner?” Lucy suggested gravely. “Take away my cell phone?”

“How about a good old-fashioned smack on the ass?”

But she had seen the flash of concern in his eyes, and she knew what was behind his annoyance. She dared to give him a small smile. “Holly told me you don’t believe in spanking.”

As Sam stared at her, the tension eased from his shoulders, and the hard lines of his mouth softened. “I might make an exception for you.”

Her smile lingered. “You’re flirting with me again.”

“No, I’m—” The front door rang impatiently. “Jesus,” Sam muttered.

“I probably should see her,” Lucy said apologetically. “Would you take me downstairs?”

“Why do you want to put yourself through that?”

“I can’t avoid Alice forever. And Mom’s coming out the day after tomorrow. It would make her happy if her daughters were at least back on speaking terms.”