Lucky Like Us

chapter Thirty-Three

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ELIZABETH AND TYLER had gone over the plan and the layout of the hotel ballroom a dozen times last night. He showed her how to wear the wire, so the FBI heard anyone with her. Once they finished, she turned in early. Stressed about the ball on Friday and worried about Sam, she let the quiet settle around her and tried not to think. She hadn’t slept without Sam in the two weeks she’d been home from the hospital. No surprise she had trouble falling asleep, tossing and turning most of the night and wishing for Sam and his warm, strong body wrapped around hers. At one point during the night, she’d thought he’d come home and kissed her, but she must have been dreaming, because when she woke in the morning the bed beside her was still empty.

Sam didn’t come home in the morning like she expected. By the time she and Tyler arrived home from the bakery after lunch, she still hadn’t heard from him. Afraid to ask Tyler to find out where he was, she wanted Sam to know she trusted him. Just when she thought she couldn’t handle her overwhelming worry, Sam not being home, and everything planned for that night, the phone rang.

Please be Sam. “Hello.”

“Hey, sweetheart. Is Tyler behaving himself? He better be, or I’ll kick his ass.”

“He’s a perfect gentleman. He only kissed me twice since you left.”

“What?”

“He kisses me on the head each time I feed him. It’s kind of cute.” Sam wouldn’t want to hear that, but she didn’t want to lie. Besides, she found Tyler’s affection sweet. She thought of him as a brother. “Are you on your way here?”

“No. I’ve been up all night. I’m closer to the penthouse than your place and I need to crash for a couple hours. Jack, Jenna, and I will pick you up in the limo. Will that work for you?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to ask Tyler. He’s supposed to go ahead of us to make sure everything is okay at the hotel.”

“He’ll have time. Jenna wants to talk to you before we leave your place tonight.”

“Why does she want to talk to me?”

“I don’t know. She’s being very secretive about the whole thing. Knowing her, she’s about to make one of your dreams come true.”

Elizabeth didn’t know what that could be, or why Jenna would do anything for her. They’d only spoken the day she’d left the hospital. She’d find out later. “I’ll be ready when you arrive. Sam?”

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“Did everything go all right last night?”

“Better than all right. I’ll tell you all about it later.”

“So you’re okay?”

“Yes, sweetheart. I’m fine. Were you worried?”

“Just a little.” More than a little, actually, but she wasn’t about to tell him. She was used to seeing him with the gun strapped to his belt. Seeing him put on another gun told her he was expecting trouble, and that hadn’t sat well with her. She’d also missed having him in her bed last night.

“I hate to admit it, but it feels good knowing you’re worried about me and want to know if I’m okay. I missed you. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay. I love you. Bye.” She hung up and immediately realized what she’d said. She looked across the dining room table at Tyler, who’d been sitting there listening the whole time. “Did I say ‘I love you’ to him and hang up?”

“Yes you did, darlin’.” Tyler gave her a huge smile. “You look so pretty when you’re in shock,” he teased.

“Oh, God. What have I done?”

“You told him the truth when your defenses were down. He’s probably as stunned as you are.”

“Stunned. Great. Maybe he didn’t hear me. Maybe he’ll think I didn’t mean it. You know, it was part of the goodbye.”

“Maybe nothing. He heard you loud and clear, and I bet he’s happy as hell. He’ll probably gloat about it for a month.”

“Sure he is. What man wouldn’t want to hear the woman he’s been seeing for, what, less than a month really, is in love with him. He’s probably running as fast as he can. He probably won’t even show up tonight. You’ll be my date.”

Tyler chuckled and gave her a huge grin. “I’d love to be your date, but I’m afraid you’re stuck with Sam. If my guess is right, you’ll be struck with him the rest of your life.”

She laid her head on her arms on the table and groaned in frustration and embarrassment. “I really screwed this one up. Couldn’t I keep my big mouth shut? Couldn’t I wait to tell him in, oh, say a year? He must think I’m crazy.”

His smile broadened when she looked up and glared at him. “I have to say, I’m enjoying sitting on the sidelines of this game of love. You’re a great match. Maybe I’ll get lucky one day.”

Frustrated, she stood and went into the kitchen. She needed to work off some of her energy and think about everything. She’d come up with an explanation for what she’d said if he asked. Maybe he wouldn’t ask. Maybe he’d let it go. That’s it. They’d pretend it never happened.

She aimlessly took canisters out of the cabinets.

“What are you doing?” Tyler asked.

“What would you like? A pie, a cake, maybe some cookies? Oh, I’ll make them all and you can decide once they’re done.”

Too much was happening all at once; she needed to sort it out. They had the ball tonight, a murderer wanted her dead, Jarred was stalking her and deluding himself into thinking they’d get married, Sam’s sister-in-law wanted to speak to her, and—oh yeah—she told Sam she loved him. Good God, what a day.