Bunking Down with the Boss

He swept a quick gaze over her body as if he had to make sure himself. She must have passed inspection because he set the extinguisher down and assessed the damage to her cabinets.

Caroline glanced at her once-tidy kitchen, where just minutes ago everything had been neat and organized. Now, the place looked like a disaster, but her kitchen was still standing, and so was she. “What are you doing here?”

He turned to face her, his lips quirking up in a charming smile. “Apparently, putting out your fire.”

Tears stung her eyes, from the smoke and the flames and from the relief she felt at this moment. She gazed into Sam Beaumont’s dark-brown eyes, seeing not the hard man who had refused her yesterday, but a man who appeared genuinely concerned. He’d shown up in the nick of time.

And Caroline owed him. But he still hadn’t explained what he was doing here.

“Want to tell me what happened?”

Caroline shrugged, numbed from the thought of what might have happened. The little appliance mishap might have escalated into a full-blown house fire if Sam Beaumont hadn’t shown up. “I guess the toaster oven overheated. It’s old and I should have known the other day when…it…sparked…that I…” A lump formed in Caroline’s throat. She couldn’t finish her thought.

Sam took her arm gently and guided her out of the kitchen. “Let’s get away from this smoke.”

He opened the back door and they both stepped outside. The fresh air was like a balm to her out-of-whack nerves. She breathed in deeply.

“Wanna sit?” he asked and led her over to the back-porch swing. She sat down, and to her surprise he took a seat right next to her.

Still reeling in shock, Caroline remained quiet. It had been so long since anyone had taken care of her. So long since she didn’t have to think or make decisions. She needed peace, just for a moment.

And Sam Beaumont seemed to understand. He sat beside her in silence.

Morning birds chirped, their song a harmonious cluster of sounds that soothed. Caroline closed her eyes, breathing deeply, listening, fully aware of the man next to her.

He’d been a major part of the reason she hadn’t slept last night. Since her husband had left nearly two years ago, Caroline hadn’t had any physical contact with a man. She hadn’t been held intimately. She hadn’t been kissed.

Sam Beaumont had reminded her of all the things she was missing. He’d taken her into his arms, pulled her close and brought his mouth to hers. He’d made her feel feminine and alive with just one kiss. He’d sparked something in her that Caroline had buried a long time ago. She knew she was no longer that young, naive, innocent girl who believed in happily ever after. No, a bad marriage had erased all of those thoughts, but she hadn’t realized that she’d been dry, like an arid desert, wasting her womanhood away.

Sam Beaumont’s kiss, the look in his eyes, right before their mouths touched, was enough to remind her that she wasn’t just a single mother raising a daughter alone, but a woman, through and through.

Enough of a woman to realize that the man sitting next to her was sexy as sin. The tight fit of his jeans and the broad expanse of his shoulders hadn’t escaped her.

“It’s nice out here,” he said.

Caroline nodded in full agreement, but then she turned to look at him as curiosity set in. She asked once again, “What are you doing here?”

He didn’t hesitate this time. “I could lie and say I was passing by on my way out of town. That’s what I’d planned on saying. But the truth is, I found your ad in the newspaper and came out here deliberately.”

“Why?” Caroline asked, realizing she should be concentrating on how to fix her newly burned kitchen cabinets instead of shooting the breeze with Sam Beaumont, but somehow she couldn’t quite tear herself away. She had questions for him and she hoped he would give her the satisfaction of truthful answers.

“I came here to apologize.”

“Oh.” It was the last thing she expected him to say. Caroline wasn’t accustomed to having men apologize to her. Gil hadn’t had the civility or manners to do so. His arrogance wouldn’t allow it. Caroline only saw her husband’s good side when he wanted something from her. And sadly, she hadn’t realized his tactics until after he’d abandoned his family. She’d been blinded by love, or what she’d thought was love, and now, as she gazed into Sam Beaumont’s dark eyes, she wondered if she could believe him.

“I stood behind your door, ready to knock, when I heard the explosion. Then I heard you scream. Your door was open, and, by the way, you should keep your doors locked, especially when you’re all alone out here. The rest is history.”

Caroline stared out into the morning light, squinting her eyes and holding her breath. “You say you came to apologize?”

“I was way out of line yesterday. It kept me from sleep last night and I knew I had to make it right.”

So, she hadn’t been the only one who hadn’t had a good night’s sleep. She felt herself softening to him. It seemed he had scruples and a conscience, but she wasn’t letting him off so easily. She’d learned her lessons the hard way. “I see. So was it your refusal, the kiss or your arrogance that you’re apologizing for?”

Sam chuckled and lifted up from the swing to lean against the porch post. He faced her squarely. “I deserved that.”

“I know,” she said, but a smile she couldn’t contain emerged. There was something extremely charming about the man, yet, Caroline wouldn’t let her guard down completely. She stood up to face him. “What I can’t figure is why you kissed me.”

Sam’s gaze traveled to her chest as sunlight beamed down. She felt piercing rays of heat, not from the sun but from his direct perusal.

He ran a hand down his face and finally, he lifted his eyes to hers. “You’ve got, uh, something wet splattered on your blouse.”

Caroline glanced down. She’d been through too much this morning to be embarrassed, but the fact remained that she’d been splattered with cooking spray, and grease stains made her blouse almost transparent. And of course, the moisture had hit the most protruding target. Her breasts. She folded her arms over the wet area, hiding what he’d already seen. “Hazards of wet cotton.”

Sam agreed, “Yeah, what a bummer.”

She caught his smile, but he had the good grace to maintain eye contact with her.

“Will you answer my question?”

He set both hands in the back pockets of his jeans and sighed quietly. “Why does a man kiss a beautiful woman?”

Caroline soaked up the compliment. Oh God, did it feel good to hear those words. Yet she steeled her resolve, not letting him off the hook so easily. She had to know. “You tell me.”

Sam averted his gaze, looking off in the distance. She doubted he was studying the scenery. After all, broken-down barns and stables, along with a neglected yard chock-full of weeds, weren’t all that interesting.

“Okay,” he said, “you deserve the truth. It was a test.”

“And I passed? Or failed?” Caroline tried to make sense from his words.

He shook his head. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but the test had nothing to do with you. It was my test. I had to know something.”

“What? What did you have to know? I offered you a job and you kissed me? What kind of test was that?” Caroline asked, exasperated. She didn’t understand any of this. The man seemed to be speaking in riddles.

Sam just stood there, looking guilty.

It was that look that got her to thinking. Then, as if a light clicked on in her head, she figured it out. “You kissed me to see if you were attracted to me,” she stated with certainty. “And…and once you did…you accepted the job.”

Sam’s mouth twisted.

“Meaning, you decided you could work with me…because…because…” Caroline blinked her eyes, keeping both fury and tears in check as the niggling truth began to surge forth in her mind.

“Look, it was a mistake, a damn fool thing to do. But you’ve got one heck of an ad campaign, lady, walking up to me in that bar claiming you’re looking for a man. I’m just looking for work. Period.”

“I could have phrased that better,” she said defensively, “but you had no right to put me to your test.”

Caroline closed her eyes, willing away the pain as realization dawned quite clearly. Sam Beaumont had made her come alive last night, with a hungry mouth and steady embrace. He’d made her feel things she hadn’t felt in years, while she, on the other hand, had been so uninspiring that he’d decided he could work with her. She wouldn’t be a temptation at all. Caroline Portman wouldn’t shake his resolve in any way.

Caroline didn’t think her day could have gotten any worse. Sam Beaumont had touched her last night with an embrace and sexy kiss that had revived what she believed dead inside in one quick unexpected moment.