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chance, she were to fall in love with such a man, his mother would be
running their lives for the rest of her days.
No thank you.
No way.
Sam glanced pointedly down at her ruined clothing. I m sorry, but
I m afraid I have to cancel our date. I ve had a bit of an emergency.
Mrs. Wilson harrumphed and shot her a murderous look. Well, you
should have given notice if you couldn t make it before dragging us all the
way here from Boca.
Didn t the woman understand the meaning of the word emergency?
Mama? Are you in here? Marcus invited himself into her home, too.
Anger rising in her chest, Sam was certain she hadn t heard a knock
and even more sure that she hadn t invited him inside.
I m in the kitchen with your so-called woman and the other man s
she s stepping out on you with. Mrs. Wilson still invaded Sam s personal
space, breathing down her neck with her fiery accusations. She s just
informed me that she s standing us up.
Furious now, Sam, put her fists on her hips and faced off against her
date. I was just telling your mother that I suffered an emergency and I
won t be able to join you for dinner. And I don t appreciate how either one
of you barged into my house uninvited or how you brought your mama
along on our so-called date without telling me.
Well, I never! Mrs. Wilson joined her son and patted his hand
solicitously. Don t fret none, precious. We ll find you a nice, clean woman
with whom to settle down. Someone who won t step out on you.
Clean? As if she was morally filthy? As if she had a dread disease?
Samantha? Marcus sounded like a lost puppy dog. You re really
standing me up?
Duh! Sam looked down at herself disbelievingly. Do I look ready to
dine out? She was really mad that he didn t seem a whit concerned about
how she d come to appear like this. At least Dylan had shown ample
concern.
We can cancel our reservations and go elsewhere....
Dylan stepped forward and curled his fingers around Sam s elbow.
The lady said she has an emergency. We were just on our way to the
hospital. Don t you see the blood?
FORBIDDEN FRUIT Ashley Ladd 49
Marcus s eyes opened wider then as if he truly saw her for the first
time that evening. I m her boyfriend, I should be the one taking her.
Marcus wasn t taking her anywhere ever again. Or his batty mother.
And he had a lot of nerve calling himself her man after only one date.
Goodbye, Marcus. Dylan s got it handled.
She could almost feel Dylan s chest puff out with pride behind her
and she had to tamp down a small thrill that threatened to run away with her.
Well, if that s the way it is, we re leaving. Mrs. Wilson harrumphed
and shooed her son out the door.
Dylan followed them to the front door and locked it. He doesn t have
a key, does he?
She scowled at him, wishing he hadn t gone all Cro-Magnum again.
No. Of course not.
Well, you re dating him.
This was only to be the second date. Exasperated, she stared at her
friend, wondering what it was about his gender that made her want to scream
and tear out her hair?
His gaze dueled with hers. Are you going to tell me why you look
like a bloody, drowned rat?
Did she have to? She d never hear the end of the teasing about
blowing up labs. Shuffling her feet, she averted her gaze, and found a very
fascinating piece of ceiling to gaze upon. Uh, there was a bit of an accident
in one of my classes today.
What kind of accident?
Exasperated, she bit back a sigh. The dolt was going to make her tell
him. He just had to hear the words come out of her mouth. W-well, one of
my students science projects sort of & blew up.
Dylan stared at her in disbelief for several moments and then hooted
and doubled over with laughter. So you admit it. You blow up labs.
Immensely offended, she elbowed him hard in his ribs, not feeling the
least bit sorry for the fool. I didn t. My student did. She had one of those
exploding volcanoes that are only supposed to bubble up a bit. Only it shot
out all over the entire room, set off the fire alarms and the fire sprinklers,
and now, my job s on the line.
Dylan s laughter instantly faded into concern. And then you came
home to find your porch had collapsed.
She swiped at her forehead. Yep. That pretty well sums it up. Except
for then those maniacs had to barge in and start hurling ugly accusations.
FORBIDDEN FRUIT Ashley Ladd 50
I m having a really stellar day. Tired and in despair, she slumped against
the wall. Actually, she was having a stellar year.
Poor baby. How about you get cleaned up and we get your porch
supplies. We ll grab a bite of dinner while we re out.
She didn t have the heart to eat, but she nodded. Since she couldn t
avoid the repair now, she was anxious to get the construction under way.
* * * *
Dylan feasted his eyes on a very clean, but very sober Samantha as
she picked at her pizza, pulling off the pepperoni instead of eating it on the
pie.
What are you looking at? Almost feral, she snarled.
Luckily he knew she was up to date on her rabies shots. A stunning
woman.
Her mouth gaped open and her guard relaxed for a split second. Then
the annoying shutters came down over her eyes again. Not now.
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