As if conjured by my thoughts, Sam appeared in the doorway. He’d finally shed the worry from earlier, and he looked happy but ready to fall over from exhaustion.
“Everything okay out there, Sam?” William stood, leaning back to stretch. He groaned and I had to fight the urge to make a crack about him being an old man.
“Yeah, I was just…” Sam’s gaze drifted to the boys who were still playing on the floor.
“Do you need to unwind for a minute? You’ve been running around all night. You must be exhausted,” I asked, already crossing the room to Sam. If we didn’t have an audience, I would have taken him by the hand and forced him to relax for a few minutes. “I bet the boys wouldn’t mind playing for a few more minutes.”
Sam shook his head. “Thank you, Sir, but I have too much work left to do.”
I slid my hand around to the small of Sam’s back. “Let us worry about that, boy. You need to sit down before you fall over.”
William pursed his lips to keep from laughing as I urged Sam to play with Corey while we cleaned up. And yeah, so I might have almost told him ‘the Daddies’ were going to clean up, but I’d caught myself before making a fool of myself. I turned back when I reached the entrance to the playroom, winking at Sam when he gave me a sleepy smile.
“Something I should know?” William asked as we wandered through the bar—him picking up glassware and me collecting empty bottles. There wasn’t much to clean, which was shocking with as busy as it had been.
“Nope, just thought I’d help out. He looked ready to fall over,” I pointed out. William tossed me a rag from the wash bucket, and I started wiping down tables. William followed, putting up the stools. “Not going to lie, I’m interested, but that’s as far as anything’s gone. I’m not even sure if the feelings are mutual.”
“If it makes you feel any better, Sam wouldn’t have listened to you if there wasn’t a spark there. But he’s guarded. If you try to move fast, you’ll spook him.”
“Good to know. Slow won’t be an issue,” I promised him. William followed me to the front door, unlocking it so I could get out. I pushed the door open, then turned back. “Any other tips to help me stack the deck?”
“Yeah, don’t expect anyone to make this easier on you.” I flipped William off and he chuckled. “Seriously though, you need to tread carefully. Jack has a way of hiring complicated boys, and Sam’s got things he doesn’t share easily. If you’re not willing to stick by him once you learn who he is, walk away now.”
Well, that didn’t sound ominous at all.
William held up his hand to silence me before I could reflexively say there was nothing about Sam that could scare me away. “I’m serious, Theron. It’s not my place to say anything, but I want you to think long and hard about why you’re attracted to him. If it’s only skin deep, walk. Now.”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond before stepping back into the bar and closing the door behind him. I stared at the heavy wood plank, wishing like hell I could figure out the hidden message it felt like he was giving me.
