I know I made everyone wait a long time for this one…sorry. Also, I hope to still
have the next installment ready by the end of the weekend. As usual, feedback is highly
appreciated. I especially like hearing what your favorite parts of the stories are!
You can let me know either by writing me and e-mail at [email protected] or by leaving me a message on the NBK message
board. Well, on to Sam and Josie. Enjoy!
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Josie could feel Sam's eyes on her as she negotiated her way up the front porch and into the building, but she didn't dare turn around to acknowledge him. She had the feeling he would be embarrassed if he knew she was aware of his staring. She smiled to herself in amazement at the thought that Sam couldn't keep his eyes off her.
Josie put her key in the lock and turned the doorknob, pushing the door open. She groped along the wall to the right of the doorway until her hand landed on the light switch. As she flipped it up with a tiny 'click', light glowed in her kitchen and in the small foyer area where she stood. Then, crossing the room, she turned on the light to the right of her loveseat. Kneeling on the seat cushions, she peeked out the window to watch Sam's progress with the items from the car.
Sam had precariously balanced every item from the backseat of the car in his two hands: her suit jacket was draped over his right forearm and he was holding both her briefcase and his duffel bag in that hand. His left hand was closed around the neck of the wine bottle, and the large take-out bag was balanced on the crook of his elbow. He had rested his chin on top of the food package in order to keep it steady. He stared at the open driver's side door frowning, eyebrows furrowed, as if he were trying to figure out how he was going to close the door without losing hold on his unsteady armful. Finally, he balanced on one foot momentarily while he shoved the door closed with the other.
Josie shook her head, grinning, and headed quickly to meet him at the front door. Sam sent her a grateful look as she opened it when he approached. "Here, let me take some of that," she suggested, reaching her hands out toward him, but he shrugged her off, saying, "Nope, it's okay. I've got it as long as you get the doors for me…"
Josie obliged him and he followed her into the apartment. As she closed the door behind him, he continued to the breakfast bar to unceremoniously dump his cargo on the counter. Together they began to sort through the items, each claiming their own things. Josie turned to hang her jacket on a hook next to the door and then placed her briefcase on the floor beneath it. When she turned back toward the kitchen, she noticed that Sam had already unzipped his bag and was rooting through it for his toiletries. He placed each one found onto the counter until his pile was complete.
Scooping them up, he asked Josie, "Mind if I put this stuff in your bathroom?"
With mock sarcasm, she replied, "Yes, I do. Sorry, you can't…" Then, rolling her eyes and grinning, she said, "Of course I don't mind, silly! Go right ahead." She gave him a little playful shove from behind in the direction of her bathroom.
Sam nodded, but did not reply. He simply walked off toward the bedroom and disappeared through the doorway.
Sam entered the bathroom and shut the door. Then he placed his toiletries in an untidy heap on the vanity to sink down on top of the closed toilet seat, sighing heavily. His thoughts the last few minutes had been filled with Lara and his relationship with her. He felt guilty thinking of Lara while he was with Josie, even if his musings about Lara were troubled at best.
Lara and Josie really were like night and day, he realized. Lara was refined, sophisticated, and upwardly mobile. He and Lara had been the classic "opposites attract" pair. But as the newness and excitement of their relationship wore off, she'd started to view him as too rustic –not cultured enough for her taste. It was then that Lara began her all-out campaign to rehabilitate him. For his own good, she'd assured him.
His trips to New York City became a tortuous, unending circuit of dinner parties and charity events, Broadway shows and operas. And all the while, he was secretly yearning to stop at Madison Square Garden to catch a Rangers hockey game, or go to Shea Stadium to watch his favorite baseball team, the Mets. But there was no chance that he'd persuade Lara to go with him. She would never even have considered being seen at such a "low-brow" place.
By the end, Lara had complained about or belittled so much of whom he was and what he liked that he had started to wonder if maybe she was right about him.
With Josie, things were completely different. Even though she tended to be shy, Josie was also friendly, sensitive, soft spoken, and softhearted. They were very much alike and had a lot in common. Josie did not make fun of his fear of heights or that he was from Wisconsin. She didn't seem to mind that he liked to play hockey, that he was a teacher, or that he felt uncomfortable in tuxedos. She understood his friendship with Maria and Luigi and didn't think it was odd that his closest confidante was his sister. Josie believed in him and was supporting him without hesitation in his time of need. And she made him believe that maybe he was lovable just as he was.
Still, he had lingering doubts. Lara had accused him of many things the night he'd called to end their relationship. After hearing those damning words replayed in his head a few thousand times, he feared that some of her arguments might have been true. Maybe he was childish and immature…maybe it was selfish of him not to compromise, not to change, when those things made the person you loved unhappy…maybe he did have the wrong priorities… And now, he wondered, how would those failings affect his relationship with Josie?
This was one of those times when Abby's living so far away really gnawed at him. God, he missed her. She knew just how to make him laugh, no matter how terrible he felt. And she had a way of getting inside his head and figuring him out when he couldn't. He could use some "figuring out" right now.
Sighing again, he got up and started to arrange the assorted bottles and his shaving kit neatly on the counter. He knew that the answers to his questions would not just magically appear; he would only find them out in time.
Josie had just unpacked the brown bag that held the food from Luigi's and was in the process of fitting the square Styrofoam containers into her fridge when Sam emerged from her bedroom. Studying him, she noticed that he looked rather melancholy, as if something were troubling him. As he approached her, she asked, concerned, "Sam? Are you okay?"
Still mulling over his dilemma, Sam didn't hear her at first, but then he responded distractedly, "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He grabbed the handles to his duffel, carried it to the far end of the sofa, and dropped it onto the floor next to it. He sat momentarily to remove his shoes and placed them neatly next to his bag. Then he wandered over to the other corner of the room and knelt to watch Rosie and Goldie as they meandered around the tank.
Something was definitely bothering Sam, Josie decided. And apparently he was not yet ready to talk about it. That's okay, she reassured herself; everyone had a right to be upset from time to time. She just wished she knew why Sam was upset so she could help.
Josie returned to the task of cleaning off the breakfast bar. She pushed her purse off to the side, up against the sidewall of the pass-through. Then she placed her hand around the neck of the champagne bottle and picked it up, intent on putting it into the fridge with the other items they had brought home from the restaurant. Halfway to the open door, she stopped, looked down at the bottle, and then looked over at Sam's dejected, lonely form hunched in front of her turtle tank.
A plan began to form in her mind, although she wasn't at all sure if she would end up regretting it in the morning.
Sam had been so charming and happy at dinner, Josie thought. Maybe she could get him to relax and get a little of that happiness back if they continued the celebration here at home. But, Josie considered, playing Devil's advocate with herself, maybe opening this bottle wouldn't be wise… After all, both she and Sam had drunk at least two glasses of wine with dinner. And she knew that she did not have much of a tolerance for alcohol, since she rarely drank more than one glass of anything. But still, the wine had been with dinner, and at least an hour had passed since then…
Making her decision, Josie closed the fridge door with a firm click. Placing the bottle back on the counter, she crossed the kitchen and opened a cabinet door, standing on tiptoe to reach the champagne flutes collecting dust on the top shelf. She removed two and then carried them over to the sink to rinse and dry them. Then she rummaged in her utensil drawer, looking for the corkscrew.
Hearing the loud jangle of silverware in the kitchen, Sam stood up and looked over at Josie. She was searching in one of the drawers for something. Walking over to the side of the breakfast bar, he leaned over it and asked, "What are you looking for?"
Josie looked up at the sound of his voice. He was wearing a sweet smile, but his eyes still contained some of the sadness she had seen in his stature moment earlier. Seeing his expression close up gave her more resolve to follow through with her plan. "I was looking for my corkscrew. I thought maybe we'd open this," she explained, gesturing to the bottle.
Sam looked at Josie curiously. She didn't seem the type that liked to drink all that much, and now, after already having had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner she was suggesting more? Something didn't add up. Maybe she didn't realize how potent wine could be. Walking around the counter to enter the kitchen he asked, "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, we did finish that bottle at dinner…"
"Yes, I know, but Maria said that you can't truly celebrate without champagne, and I, for one, am in the mood to celebrate. After all," she said, placing a hand on each of his cheeks, "look what I have to celebrate!"
A happy spark glowed in his eyes for a moment as he turned his face to place a kiss on her left palm before pulling her hands down to hold them in his. "I don't deserve you," he said solemnly.
"Yes you do," Josie insisted. "We deserve each other. It's about time we were happy, don't you think?"
Sam started to get that wistful look back on his face. He seemed as if he were going to speak, but Josie, afraid of what he might say, cut him off. "So, anyway, I was thinking we could have just one glass. Since it has cooled off outside, I figured I could light a small fire in the fireplace and we can just sit and toast to each other's company. We don't have to talk; we don't have to do anything; we can just be together."
Sam looked at Josie with a thoughtful expression. She seemed so genuinely happy he was with her tonight, and he had to admit that her idea sounded pretty romantic… "Okay, count me in," he agreed with a smile.
"Great!" Josie enthused. "Now…can you help me find my blasted corkscrew?" She pulled her hands free from Sam's to rummage around in the drawer again for a moment. Finally, she threw her hands up in disgust. "Ugh! I can't find it!"
Sam watched this scene unfold, amused. Then, placing a staying hand on Josie's shoulder, he explained, "Josie, you don't need a corkscrew for a champagne bottle… Look." He unwrapped the foil from the top of the bottle to expose a mushroom shaped cork. "You push against the cork like this…" Sam grunted as he put force against the protruding edges of the cork with both thumbs. Suddenly it gave way, shooting toward the ceiling with a loud pop. Josie jumped a little at the sudden noise. "See?" He stood, holding the bottle up in triumph –until he noticed the liquid starting to fizz out of the top. "Whoops," he said as he ran over to the sink to hold the bottle above it until the overflow stopped.
Sam looked sheepishly over his shoulder at Josie and then they both burst out laughing. Then Josie shook her head with a smile and patted Sam on the arm. "I'm going to go and see about that fire," she said, and then she squeezed by him, allowing her hand to slide from his arm across his back as she passed.
The feel of Josie's fingers lingered on Sam's skin where she had touched him. He closed his eyes for a moment to savor it. He was still amazed that just a simple touch could have so much impact on him. He couldn't believe his good fortune in finding such a wonderful woman who seemed to be as much in love with him as he was with her. And that was saying a lot, he thought, because when he loved, he put his whole heart and soul into it. Apparently, so did Josie.
Sam turned and carried the bottle back to the counter and then put his right hand around the stem of one of the glasses. Tipping the glass at an angle to minimize the fizz, he proceeded to pour the golden, bubbly liquid into it until the flute was about ¾ full. Tilting it back to upright, he placed it on the counter and poured the other glass. Then, he looked on the counter for the cork. It wasn't there.
Placing the bottle back down on the counter next to the glasses, Sam began to scan the floor for the lost item. He finally found it just outside the kitchen in the entryway to the living room. He bent down on one knee to retrieve the cork. As his fingers closed around it, he looked up to observe Josie. Crouched before the fireplace, she was still in her work pants and top, but in stocking feet. Her discarded shoes lay in a heap beside her. She used the poker to rearrange the kindling as it began to catch the bigger logs on fire. Reflections of gold and orange flickered over her face and sparkled in her hair and eyes as she watched the flames grow in the fireplace. It was a beautiful sight; one that Sam knew would be etched into his memory forever.
He watched her for another moment, then he stood and reentered the kitchen, not wanting to be caught staring at her. He rinsed off the cork in the sink and then pushed it back into the top of the bottle. Then he grabbed a flute in either hand and walked around the breakfast bar and into the living room.
Josie was just settling on the floor with her back against the sofa facing the fireplace when he entered. He sat down beside her, stretching his legs out in front of him and crossing them at the ankles. When he had settled in next to Josie, he gave her the glass from his left hand and then put that arm around her to snuggle her close. Josie rested her head against his shoulder. They sat in companionable silence for several minutes, each sipping from their glasses and staring into the fire.
Finally, Sam spoke. "Josie, something's been bothering me tonight."
Without moving her head or looking at him, she replied matter-of-factly, "I know."
"I…I just feel so guilty. I mean, here I am sitting snuggled up in front of a romantic fire with the most wonderful woman in the world and all I can do is think about my ex-girlfriend," he admitted.
"What do you mean?" Josie asked, fear creeping into her voice.
"Well, ever since Lara came up in conversation at dinner, my mind has been going around in circles thinking about her. About how different the two of you are. About how she used to make me feel when I was with her, as opposed to how I feel when I'm with you. I felt so constricted with her, like I was never free to be myself. But yet, she always made me feel like she knew what was best for me, and she had a knack for making me believe it. I keep wondering what I did to make things go so wrong with Lara, and when they went wrong… Or were they always wrong and I just didn't see it?" Sam took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't know… Does this make any sense?" he asked her, pulling back a little so that he could see Josie's face.
Josie relaxed again and heaved an internal sigh of relief. "Sam, you did spend the last five years of your life emotionally attached to Lara. I would think it's only natural that it would take a while for you to come to terms with all the emotions connected with ending that attachment."
He looked at Josie thoughtfully for a moment before he responded, "Yeah, I suppose you're right. I hadn't really thought of it that way." Then, he closely examined her face and asked, "Are you sure this doesn't bother you?"
In response, Josie laid her head back on Sam's shoulder. "No, it doesn't bother me. I think I would worry if you didn't do some soul searching about it, you know?"
He snuggled her back next to him again and rested his head on hers. "Okay." He stared into the fire and thought about how caring and understanding Josie could be, how soothing she was. Suddenly, he felt like a heel for being so preoccupied with his problems and wanted to make it up to her. He said to her softly, "You know, we never did make that toast."
Josie looked down at her glass and then held it up for Sam to see. She replied jokingly, "Sorry, but I'm out of 'toast'."
Sam realized his glass was empty, too. Damn. He glanced over at the bottle sitting on the counter, thinking. He pondered the wisdom of his idea of having more to drink and then decided, 'Oh hell, why not?' Disentangling himself from Josie, he said, "Well, I can fix that." He stood up and sprinted over to the breakfast bar, grabbed the neck of the champagne bottle, removed the cork, which he left on the counter, and then returned to their spot on the floor with the champagne bottle.
Josie couldn't help but smile at his boyish exuberance and held out her glass to him. He wrapped his hand around hers on the glass, tilting it so that he could pour. He stared deeply into her eyes for a minute before releasing his hold on her. Then, he poured some of the champagne into his own flute.
As Sam turned to set the bottle aside, Josie laid a hand on his other arm and said, "Hold on a sec." She got up and padded across the room to turn off the lights and then crossed to the stereo to turn the radio on low. Finally, she returned to settle in next to Sam again.
"Mood lighting and music?" Sam commented with a smile.
Josie blushed a little and shrugged a shoulder in response. Shyly, she asked, "So, what do you want to toast to?"
Sam made a show of rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Then he answered, looking Josie right in the eye, "How about…to penguins," he smiled playfully, "true love, and Shakespeare…"
Josie's heart thudded in her chest at the romantic words and sexy gleam in Sam's eyes as he continued to gaze at her. Breathless, she couldn't speak. She simply lifted her glass and stared back, entranced. Their glasses touched with a gentle crystalline ring, barely heard over the soft strains of a Celine Dion ballad. Eyes locked, they both drank from their flutes.
Josie felt a moment of panic as they lowered their glasses and Sam's potent look intensified. She suddenly realized she was in the midst of an ultra romantic moment with the man of her dreams and she was absolutely certain he was about to kiss her. And once she started, she didn't know if she would be able to stop. She took another nervous sip from her glass.
Sam smiled softly at Josie's nervous gesture before he gently removed the glass from her hand and set it aside, along with his own. He reached over to place his right hand on the side of her face, his palm resting on her cheek. Then he turned so that he was half leaning over her, and bent his head in close to her, his lips just inches from hers.
Josie was helpless to do anything but stare deep into Sam's beautiful eyes, darkened to green from his desire. The smell of his aftershave surrounded her, sending her pulse racing. Sam looked down at her lips longingly for a moment and then returned to her eyes, questioning. As his thumb stroked gently back and forth against her cheek, Josie knew she could not hold out against the wondrous feelings swirling around her any more. She closed her eyes let out a breathy sigh in response. Sensing her surrender, Sam leaned in and covered her lips with his own.
Sam's kisses were soft and tender as he gently coaxed a response from her. He slid his hand up to bury it in Josie's hair. The silky softness of it made him shiver and he pulled her even closer. Josie snaked her left arm around his back to pull him even closer. Then, as she began to trace lines slowly up and down his back with her fingertips, he deepened the kiss, allowing his desire to sweep them both away in its wake.
Josie was utterly lost in Sam's kiss. She basked in the warmth of his longing, and felt herself yield to his ardent embraces. No one had ever made her feel this way: completely vulnerable and powerful at the same time. It was incredible; she never wanted it to end. But after several more mind-blowing kisses, Sam pulled back and away from her. His eyes were closed and he was out of breath, as was Josie. Her eyes fluttered open and locked with Sam's. They were glittering with unspoken passion. Breathlessly, Josie simply said, "Wow."
Sam smiled gently and agreed. "Wow about covers it." Their eyes met again, and Sam felt himself giving in to those wondrous feelings again. But, he caught himself at the last moment and sat back, breaking the eye contact. He reached over and handed Josie's glass back to her and he noticed that she took another nervous sip from it. Then he grabbed his glass and did the same.
Darn. That had been close, he thought. Granted, it had only been one kiss, but it was the kiss in combination with the wine, and the music, and the fire…and his beautiful Josie looking so sweet and shy and yet utterly sexy all at once. The intermingling of temptations had almost been his undoing. She seriously tested the limits of his self-control, and she didn't even realize it. God help him if she actually tried to tempt him…he didn't know if he could resist.
Needing to do something to break the spell that was slowly weaving around them, he stood up, walked over to the loveseat, and sat. He gazed out the window at the waning moon, still high and bright in the sky.
He heard Josie's approach and steeled himself against the touch of her hand that he knew would come. She placed a soft hand on his left shoulder; it was matched by her soft voice. "Are you okay, Sam?"
He turned and pulled her down to sit in his lap and gave her a quick hug. "Yes, I'm fine. I just needed a little breather, that's all."
Josie knew just what he meant. Sam was way too dangerous to her senses. In a way, she was glad that he had stopped when he had, because she now realized that she would not have been able to.
"What do you want to do now?" Josie asked innocently.
Besides more of that kissing? he let himself think, but didn't dare say. "I don't know," he answered evenly. "Did you have something in mind?"
After a thoughtful moment, Josie looked back over her shoulder and suggested, "Let's play Truth or Dare…but without the dares," she added when she saw Sam's eyes darken dangerously.
Sam grinned at her unusual request. "Why Truth or Dare?" he questioned, curious.
Josie looked a little flustered, and motioned for him to let her off his lap. He complied, and she sat down in the corner of the loveseat, a little distance away from him. She looked down at her hands and then up at him, babbling nervously, "Well, I was just thinking; you know what they say, 'In vino, veritas.' In wine, there is truth."
He thought her habit of defining word origins or spouting quotes when she was nervous was very cute. Amused, he replied, "Yes, they do say that, don't they? But what is the fun of Truth or Dare, if there are no dares?" He was teasing her now.
"The fun—" she poked him in the ribs a little with her foot before leaning over her shoulder to turn on the side table light, "—is knowing that you can ask just as embarrassing a question of the other person and they will have to answer it."
Hmmm, Sam thought, this could be rather interesting after all. He curled himself up into the other corner of the loveseat and said, "Okay, You're on…"
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