cameras.
Despite his most honorable intentions now, his dick leaped up, refusing to accept the possibility of a world where it wouldn’t be summoned to immediate service. Sam wasn’t a fool. She had to feel his immediate response. She laughed deep in her throat and—impossibly—wriggled closer to him.
His fingers closed around her hips, warning her, holding her steady. She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. There were questions in her gaze, a hint of indecision.
But she was the one who stepped closer to the unmistakable tent in his jeans. She was the one who slipped her hand behind his neck. She was the one who tightened her fingers in his hair, pulling him back into a kiss that was a thousand degrees hotter than before.
She teased his lips with hers, urging him to hold her closer. Her tongue was quicksilver fast, darting out as if she’d discovered a new toy. He growled at the invitation and shifted his lips to the sensitive hollow beneath her ear. She moaned—a sound that he’d only heard before in a bedroom—and her head lolled back, giving him better access, exposing the long line of her throat.
Flash!
The light was so bright, he was blinded. He slammed his eyes closed, even as Sam stiffened in his hands. She cried out, and she tried to pull away, but his instinct was to wrap his arms around her, to protect her with his body.
Flash!
Another brilliant stroke of light, and his hormone-staggered brain finally recognized the flash of a camera. He heard the click then, braced for the next explosion just a second before it came.
“Goddammit!” he shouted, even as a shadow detached itself from the darker shapes of the shrubs beside the front porch. “Come back here!” He could have thrown himself down the steps, but that would have meant shoving Sam aside, tossing her away.
A car door slammed, and the SUV came to life with a roar. The headlights were nowhere near as bright as the camera flash had been. Tires screeched as the driver took the corner at breakneck speed. DJ could do nothing but stare as the vehicle disappeared into the cool April night.
CHAPTER 4
Getting to First! shouted the headline.
The News & Observer featured a thumbnail picture on the front page, sending readers over to the Life section. There, a huge photo occupied most of the space above the fold—Sam’s face turned up to DJ’s as their lips locked. Her eyes were closed, and his left hand was splayed across the back of her head. They looked like a classic couple on the cover of a trashy romance novel.
The newspaper’s wittiest writers had summarized a dozen scandals for past beauty queens, ranging from multiple drunk driving busts to shoplifting convictions to becoming pregnant in the middle of a reign. The paper concluded that Sam being caught kissing a sexy, unmarried baseball player was hardly the worst thing that could have happened.
But Sam knew the truth. In the world of the Summer Fair, a picture spoke infinitely more than a thousand words. Judith Burroughs wasn’t going to care that Sam hadn’t been intoxicated, that she hadn’t stolen property, that there was no possible way she could be pregnant.
Sam’s worst fears were confirmed by a phone call at seven o’clock sharp. That made two mornings in the past week that she’d been responsible for getting Judith out of bed before noon. Somehow, she was pretty sure the consequences would be worse for a second violation.
Sam wasn’t disappointed. Walking through the hallways of the Summer Fair offices, she tried to hold her head high, but she couldn’t overlook the clusters of gossiping staff members. Two people here. Three over there. As Sam drew near, the whispers trailed off. One enterprising woman managed to change the tone of her speech dramatically, pretending to deliver the punchline to a joke.
But Sam knew she was the only real punchline that morning.
Judith was waiting in her office.
As the director of the Summer Fair stood, the reek of
Despite his most honorable intentions now, his dick leaped up, refusing to accept the possibility of a world where it wouldn’t be summoned to immediate service. Sam wasn’t a fool. She had to feel his immediate response. She laughed deep in her throat and—impossibly—wriggled closer to him.
His fingers closed around her hips, warning her, holding her steady. She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. There were questions in her gaze, a hint of indecision.
But she was the one who stepped closer to the unmistakable tent in his jeans. She was the one who slipped her hand behind his neck. She was the one who tightened her fingers in his hair, pulling him back into a kiss that was a thousand degrees hotter than before.
She teased his lips with hers, urging him to hold her closer. Her tongue was quicksilver fast, darting out as if she’d discovered a new toy. He growled at the invitation and shifted his lips to the sensitive hollow beneath her ear. She moaned—a sound that he’d only heard before in a bedroom—and her head lolled back, giving him better access, exposing the long line of her throat.
Flash!
The light was so bright, he was blinded. He slammed his eyes closed, even as Sam stiffened in his hands. She cried out, and she tried to pull away, but his instinct was to wrap his arms around her, to protect her with his body.
Flash!
Another brilliant stroke of light, and his hormone-staggered brain finally recognized the flash of a camera. He heard the click then, braced for the next explosion just a second before it came.
“Goddammit!” he shouted, even as a shadow detached itself from the darker shapes of the shrubs beside the front porch. “Come back here!” He could have thrown himself down the steps, but that would have meant shoving Sam aside, tossing her away.
A car door slammed, and the SUV came to life with a roar. The headlights were nowhere near as bright as the camera flash had been. Tires screeched as the driver took the corner at breakneck speed. DJ could do nothing but stare as the vehicle disappeared into the cool April night.
CHAPTER 4
Getting to First! shouted the headline.
The News & Observer featured a thumbnail picture on the front page, sending readers over to the Life section. There, a huge photo occupied most of the space above the fold—Sam’s face turned up to DJ’s as their lips locked. Her eyes were closed, and his left hand was splayed across the back of her head. They looked like a classic couple on the cover of a trashy romance novel.
The newspaper’s wittiest writers had summarized a dozen scandals for past beauty queens, ranging from multiple drunk driving busts to shoplifting convictions to becoming pregnant in the middle of a reign. The paper concluded that Sam being caught kissing a sexy, unmarried baseball player was hardly the worst thing that could have happened.
But Sam knew the truth. In the world of the Summer Fair, a picture spoke infinitely more than a thousand words. Judith Burroughs wasn’t going to care that Sam hadn’t been intoxicated, that she hadn’t stolen property, that there was no possible way she could be pregnant.
Sam’s worst fears were confirmed by a phone call at seven o’clock sharp. That made two mornings in the past week that she’d been responsible for getting Judith out of bed before noon. Somehow, she was pretty sure the consequences would be worse for a second violation.
Sam wasn’t disappointed. Walking through the hallways of the Summer Fair offices, she tried to hold her head high, but she couldn’t overlook the clusters of gossiping staff members. Two people here. Three over there. As Sam drew near, the whispers trailed off. One enterprising woman managed to change the tone of her speech dramatically, pretending to deliver the punchline to a joke.
But Sam knew she was the only real punchline that morning.
Judith was waiting in her office.
As the director of the Summer Fair stood, the reek of
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