Full Throttle (18 page)

Decided, he strode back into the bedroom and dipped
to pick up his jeans. Sammy watched him and Josh could have sworn he saw some
light fall from her eyes. He stabbed his leg into the trousers and buckled up
his belt, keeping his eyes low, his attention off the bed, and the woman, he
wanted to climb back into.

He picked up his t-shirt and shoved it over his head.
All the while, he felt like the lowest arse-hole ever.

“So, that’s how one night stands work, then?” Sammy
said quietly from the bed.

Josh glanced up and saw Sammy sitting up with the
covers held around her, blocking her body from his view. Her green eyes were
sad, her shoulders low, her hair all mussed up, and he had never seen anything
more beautiful, or more heart breaking before.

He nodded, hating himself anew. Sammy didn’t deserve
this. She wasn’t a woman to use up and throw away. But if he got back in that
bed, he wasn’t sure he would ever want to get back out. And Sammy deserved
better than him, better than a tattooed ex-criminal that was jilted a year ago.

“We agreed
,
it would only
be one night.” He forced the words past his disgusted chest.

Sammy tilted her head to the side and nodded. She
tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and looked at her hands as they twisted on
the covers. Josh, with everything in him, forced himself not to go to her, not
to fold her into his arms and promise not to leave. And wasn’t that fucked up?
All the time he’d been with Penny, he never once felt like comforting her the
way he
needed
to comfort Sammy. All
this time he’d believed there was no one out there better for him than Penny. How
wrong he had been.

This was dangerous territory, a no-man’s-land where
Josh never wanted to be ever again.

Josh backed up and turned to the door. He glanced
over his shoulder and regretted the look of shocked embarrassment on Sammy’s
face.

“I have a bit of work to do, so, I’ll go
downstairs.” He tugged the door open and cringed when Sammy softly replied
in
et
.

“Okay.”

****

Sammy flopped back on the covers when Josh closed
the door. She stared at the white wood ceiling for a long moment, trying to
corral her useless disappointment into something that didn’t threaten to make
her cry.

We
agreed
,
it was just one night.
His
words tumbled around her head and battered against her mind and Sammy couldn’t
believe how stupid she had been. All the while, Josh had been making moves on
her, trying to sleep with her. Just a
one-night-stand,
and she had let her emotions get in the way. Had she believed sleeping with him
would make him want her more?

“What an idiot.” She whispered into the quiet air.

He probably would revel in telling his mates he bedded
a geek girl, math teacher.
Though that thought stung.
Sammy shook her head. She didn’t know Josh well, but he didn’t strike her as
that kind of person. No, Josh probably just wanted to sleep with her because
she’d thrown herself at him.
And that, she couldn’t deny.

Sighing heavily, Sammy swiped her sex-tousled hair
off her face and stared at the window. Her body still fizzed in places touched
by his, her core still pulsed in remembrance of how wonderful and masterful he’d
been making her climax like she never had before. Josh was a man who knew how
to bring a woman to orgasm, and she, stupidly, confused his prowess for
feelings.

Sammy pressed her palms into her eyes and sat up,
“Stupid, stupid.” She growled. Her body pulsed in a low pain, her bruises
suddenly reminding her of their places. Sammy peeled back the covers and
sighed.
Funny how she’d forgotten about her injuries when
Josh had his mouth on her.
Sammy felt an answering twinge on her clit as
memories of his mouth, teeth and fingers flew through her mind. Yeah, he was
good.

Sammy slowly lowered her casted leg out of the bed
and hobbled to the bathroom, gripping and holding onto furniture all the way.
She leaned over and turned the taps on, needing a bath desperately. Sammy stood
at the edge and tried to work out how she was going to get in, when the door to
the bathroom opened. She turned to see Josh watching her, his big body in the doorway,
his jaw clenched tight as he glanced at the bath and then back to her.

“You weren’t going to ask for my help?” He
said,
his frown deepening as he spoke.

Sammy used her hands to cover
herself
up, though she didn’t know why considering that not half an hour ago, he’d had
his mouth all over every spare inch.

“Uh, I thought I could do it alone.” She replied.

Josh walked in, bent and touched the water, and rose
up. Sammy tipped her head back, suddenly feeling very small as she stood naked
next to his fully clothed body. Josh looked down at her for a long moment, his
gaze dark, as if annoyed, and then he picked her up.

Sammy was mortified, yet aroused. It was confusing
to have him so close, touching her naked body while he was fully clothed. It
also felt wrong to let him touch her after he had made it clear he was no
longer interested in her. But she couldn’t deny
,
having him help her was nice.

Josh placed her into the water, taking care to keep
her casted leg out. He held it over the side, reached for the small stool in
the corner and gently laid her cast over the soft padded seat. Sammy kept her
eyes low, her head bowed, as she waited for him to leave. When the bathroom
door closed, Sammy breathed for the first time since he had walked in.

Chapter
Seventeen

Ten minutes later Josh sat staring at his laptop
screen, not reading the many backed-up emails displayed. His mind tumbled over
and over the image of Sammy’s crest-fallen expression, when he had callously
said those words to her after their amazing sex. He couldn’t wipe the feeling
of being a bastard from his chest and the guilt was eating him up.

But it was the right thing to do.
Right?
Of course, it was. Sammy didn’t need to have him in her life, no matter how
much Josh suddenly wanted to be, or how much she seemed to want him there. They
would not be good together.

Would they?

Josh brushed his hand over his face and sighed into the
quiet, early morning, living room air. He blew out a deep breath and tried to
force his focus back onto his work, but he couldn’t get his mind past Sammy—or
rather the sex they had just shared. Josh turned his attention back to his
computer and began to read through his emails again. He opened a red-flagged
mail and groaned when he saw that it was a high-priority mail. His supplier
needed him to pop by to see his delivery of stock.

Josh checked his watch and saw it was just 8a.m.,
and fired off an email telling his supplier that he would have to wait until
tomorrow, when his forty-eight hours with Sammy were up.

Josh sat back after he clicked send and pondered the
feeling of dread that lit inside his chest. One more
day,
and Sammy no longer needed to be in his life. Josh ran his hands over his face
and groaned tiredly. He didn’t like that
thought
at
all.

He got up and moved to the kitchen clicking on the kettle.
He needed a strong coffee. The fridge left him uninspired by the healthy
contents, and he closed the door, making a mental note to go to the shops and
stock up on proper food. What he wouldn’t give for a fry up right now.

He turned back to the kettle just as it clicked off
and the red, flashing number three on the answer machine caught his attention.

Josh paused for a moment.
Should I listen to the messages?
He turned his head and glanced at
the bottom of the stairs. Though Sammy had talked to him about her stalker,
Josh still felt she was holding back
.
Maybe I can help her figure out who is stalking her?

Surely, he owed her his help after causing her to
crash her bike. Decided, and ignoring the guilt about prying, Josh pressed the
play button.

The first message was a long, drawn out silence.
Tension filled Josh’s chest as he listened to the message. The longer the tense
silence went on, the longer Josh knew this was her stalker. Though the bastard
made no sounds, there was no doubt in his mind this message was designed to
intimidate, to frighten, Sammy. Josh was incensed. He waited with his hands
balled into fists for the message to end. All the while, he gritted his teeth
and stared at the machine, hoping he could hear something that might give him a
clue. Two fast beeps indicated the end of the massage and Josh swore.

The second message was from Sammy’s boss, the head
of her school. The very well-spoken woman rattled on. “So pleased you’re
alright. The message was given to me this morning about your car accident, and
your subsequent leg injury…”

So Sammy hadn’t told her boss she had been riding a
motorbike?
Interesting.
Was she ashamed? Josh ground
his teeth again, but forced himself to listen more.

:…
anyway, just let
us know when you’re ready to come back. I can give you a week’s paid leave,
after that, well, don’t stress now. We will talk when you’re better.”

Two fasts beeps again and Josh tensed for the next
message.

The knowledge that Sammy hadn’t told her boss about
her bike riding made Josh wonder why. Maybe she wanted to appear professional,
not want to show her reckless side to a school of youngsters. Josh relaxed a
little. That sounded more like it. Surely, she just wanted to set an example to
her students.

The third message stared with a deep and definitely
male sigh. Josh felt his shoulders bunch and his fists returned. “Hi, Sammy,
its
Giles,” the deep voice said in an extremely well-spoken
tone. “Uh, Mummy told me about your … accident.” The voice sighed and breaths
pushed across the receiver, making the sound distort a little.

Josh glared at the answering machine and hated the
feeling of jealousy the rippled through his body.

“I hope you’re okay,” Giles continued. “I knew your
wild streak would get you into trouble. “ He hummed as if disapproving.

Josh scowled. But he was mollified, because
obviously Sammy wasn’t ashamed of her bike, since she had told this Giles guy.

“Uh, I know you said you were not interested in any
more dates, but, umm… I think you barely gave us a chance… Look, I’ll put
myself out there.
If you would like to go out on another date,
a meal out.
I can get reservations at Stoneleigh’s.”

Josh knew
Stoneleigh’s,
it
was a swanky place he would never look right in. The place was for the rich,
for the upper crust, and Josh was certainly not that.

He glanced down at his torn jeans and sighed. Did Sammy
usually date guys who took her to places like Stoneleigh’s?

”Of course she does, dick head.” He groaned,
suddenly irritated by that fact.

What
do you care? You just fucked her and told her no more because you knew you
weren’t good enough for her
. And though this message just confirmed
that, it also served to show him he’d grown a little possessive streak when it
came to Sammy
.

Josh ran his hands over his face and sighed. The
message rattled on in the distance, and Josh got the gist of it. Posh-boy wanted
a date with Sammy. Sammy had already said no. And why that knowledge gave Josh a
little jolt of relief, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. But, feeling slightly
better, Josh finished making his tea.

The messages came to an end with three clear beeps
and he breathed deeply. But, nothing, not even the knowledge that Sammy had turned
down posh-boy, was enough to wipe that eerie, silent, threatening message at
the start from his thoughts.

He heard a heavy slosh sound from upstairs and Josh pushed
off from the side. He shook his head, already knowing her enough to figure out
she would try to get out of the bath alone. Again, regret for treating her so
callously burned in his chest as he jogged to the bottom of the stairs,
chastising himself inwardly as he went to her aid.

When he entered the bedroom, he could see through
the small crack in the door that Sammy was indeed trying to get
herself
out of the bath, but she was failing miserably. Her
hands were gripping the side of the bath and her casted leg was flung over the side
as she tried to keep it dry. Her hair was wet and every time she tried to pull
herself up, her grip slipped and more water sloshed from the bath, creating a
wet pool of water on the floor. Josh groaned and pushed the bathroom door open.
Sammy lifted her head, surprise and embarrassment shining in her gaze.

“I told you to call for me.” He dipped and tucked
his hands under her body. Sammy resisted for a moment, but when her wet hand
slipped once again on the side, she hastily held on to him.

“I’m sorry, I just hate this.” Sammy said.

Josh sighed, sensing her frustration, and carried
her to the bed. He did his best to ignore the feeling of her wet, warm body in
his arms, but failed miserably as his dick jumped to life beneath his jeans. He
placed her on the bed and turned to grab a towel from a neat pile on a chair.
He handed it to Sammy and watched shamelessly as she tried to cover herself up.
But even he—the fucking idiot who bedded her and dumped her—couldn’t fail to
miss the sadness in her gaze.