Maya turned to Ben. “That actually sounds really great. God knows Samantha could use that lesson. I’m just not prepared to stay over. All my stuff is at Ami’s.”
“Not a problem.” Ben jut his chin to Sam. “As I’m sure you know, Sammy’s dad is a doctor. I’m sure our Boy Scout here is prepared with an extra set of scrubs. Right, Sammy?”
“Uh, yeah. As a matter of fact, I am.”
“It’s settled!” Ben clapped his hands together. “Awesome! Let me get changed.” Ben rummaged through Sam’s boxes until he found a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom.
Left alone again, Maya turned to Sam. “It’s okay. I don’t want to be in the way.”
“Nonsense. You won’t be.” He cleared his throat. “You can sleep in my bed.” He closed his eyes, grimacing, and ducked his head. “What I mean is, you can sleepwith Samanthain my bed.” He held his hands in an I-mean-no-harm manner, as the heat rose to his face. “I’ll take the bed in her room.”
“What about Ben?”
“Ben sleeps on the floors of mud huts in Africa. He slept out here when Dad stayed over.” Sam dismissed that whole thing with a shrug. “And you really don’t want to miss the show in the morning.”
“How are your mom and dad?”
Sam shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “Fine. Dad went home after that day in the coffee shop, and they’re working things out.”
“What about you and your mom?” She regarded him with genuine concern. Even after everything.
“What can I say, Maya? She loves Samantha and Samantha loves her. Mom will spend her life regretting what she sacrificed in terms of her granddaughter. It seems cruel to add to that.” Sam grinned at her. “You’re avoiding the question. Staying or not?” Every part of him wanted to step closer to her, touch her. But he held himself back, lest he scare her away.
Maya bit her bottom lip and Sam sensed victory. She finally grinned back at him, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “I do like the way you think. I certainly wouldn’t want to miss the intoxicating aroma of greasy eggs and bacon and potatoes at the crack of dawn.” She laughed, and Sam wanted to listen to that sound all day. “I assume your pots and pans are just as noisy as they were for Ben?”
She was staying over!Sam couldn’t help the huge smile that took over his face. “Oh, yeah they are.”
SAMTHREWOFFthe covers and stretched out on his back. His feet hung over the edge of the bed. What had he been thinking when he bought this bed? He thought he’d never be the one sleeping in it. He tried to distract himself with thoughts of work—getting new clients and deciding where to open up the new office—but every thought evaporated into smoke and the only thought that remained was of Maya sleeping in the next room, inhisbed.
He got out of bed and was in front of his bedroom door, his heart thumping against his chest, before he had a chance to think too much about it. He knocked softly, but no answer. The thumping slowed. Just as well. What was he thinking would happen anyway? He turned to go back to the spare room, when the door opened. Maya stood there in his olive green scrubs, her hair pleasantly tousled, looking wide-eyed and awake, and Sam went weak from how beautiful she was.
“Hey.” She leaned on the door. “Can’t sleep, or do you need a shirt?” How was it that she could be so sassy in the middle of the night?
He missed a beat before speaking, since his words were caught in his throat. “Can’t sleep.”
“Me, either.” The door did not budge.
“How about a drink?” Sam tilted his head toward the kitchen.
“What about Ben?”
“He sleeps like the dead.”
“Okay, but you’re going to have to put this on.” She rolled her eyes as she grabbed a T-shirt from his room and tossed it to him.
Sam poured them each two fingers of bourbon. Maya held hers and leaned against the kitchen counter.
“HERE’STOTEENAGERS.”Sam raised his glass and Maya raised hers as well, a smile playing at her lips. They both drank. Maya swallowed hers easily. “I don’t think I knew you were a bourbon drinker.”
“Lots of things you don’t know about me.” The smile made a full show of it, even lighting her eyes.
“I’d like to know all those things.” Sam gripped her gaze in his. The smile faded, replaced by caution. “Anyway—” He changed the subject so she didn’t run off. “I found a place in Queens that I really like for the practice.” He spoke in hushed tones, a sliver of moonlight their only light.
“In Queens?” Every part of her, her face, her voice, her gaping mouth, looked like she was overflowing with excitement at this news. It was everything Sam could do to not kiss her. “Samantha will be thrilled.”
“Well.” Sam found his voice after a moment. “Let’s not say anything until I can make it official. I’m signing papers this week.” He took another sip of the warming liquid. Actually, he had still been deciding between that place and a place in Manhattan, but when her eyes lit up like that, he’d made his decision. It was the best thing to do. For Samantha, of course. They sipped in silence for a moment; the moonlight silhouetted Maya’s profile and Sam was taken back to the first time he saw her like that. It had been the night of their first movie together. The night he fell in love with her.
Maya continued to sip her bourbon slowly, looking a bit more relaxed. “You know, I’m very proud of you. It isn’t easy to make a huge career change. Here you are, going after what you always wanted.”
