SAMANTHA: Never Say Never (The Powell's Book 2) Read online

  “It was implied, Adam. Why now? Why all of a sudden?”

  He couldn’t tell her that the thought of her with Ashby again made his ass itch. He never did care for the man. Never trusted him. There was just something about him.

  “Adam! Are you listening to me?”

  “No. Sorry, suga’, what were you saying?”

  “Ugh!” she cried, throwing up her hands.

  Ooh, bad move, he thought. Her breasts bounced up and down.

  “Are you wearing a bra under that uniform?” he asked, staring at her chest.

  “Oh for Pete’s sake, you’re acting like a horny teenager!” Samantha fumed.

  “Who the hell’s acting? I may not be a teenager, but I’m sure as hell horny. You do that to me,” he said, advancing on her.

  “Adam, that night was so long ago, I barely remember it,” she said, avoiding eye contact with him.

  Ouch, he thought. That hurt.

  “Oh really? You don’t recollect me asking ‘how do you want it?’ and you asking for it fast and hard, Samantha? You don’t recall screaming my name when you climaxed? In fact, several times, to be exact, both the climax and the calling of my name. Or, how about, you on top of me, riding me, and me buried inside of your softness to the hilt. Baby, I felt your womb that night, and you say you don’t remember. Bullshit,” he whispered softly, minimally containing the rage that consumed him.

  Adam took hold of her hand and placed it on his hardness while simultaneously cupping her softness through her jumper.

  “See, suga’, you may not recall, but this right here,” he said, pushing on her vagina, “this remembers me. Every ridge, every blood vessel, the size, and the width of me, even if your head is telling you it doesn’t remember. No, ma’am, that’s one lie I won’t allow you to get away with.”

  His member throbbed against her hand, and he could feel the heat of her womanly core pulsating against his hand. She was just as turned on as he was.

  Adam pushed against her hand and nearly cried out when she gripped him.

  He unzipped her jumper, pushed past her flimsy panties and soft curls, and inserted one digit into her womanly core; her juices soaked his fingers.

  “Feel that, Samantha,” he said, pulling out of her and pushing back in. Her soft moans egged him on. His hand grasped her mound and pushed down while simultaneously pushing his middle finger in and out of her wetness.

  “Oh my God, Adam!” she cried.

  “Ride it out, suga’,” he whispered.

  “We can’t,” she moaned.

  “I’m not. You are,” he chuckled. “Now go with the flow.”

  Her breath was coming out in soft pants. She vibrated against his hand. Samantha was riding his hand hard. Adam pushed into her once more before covering her mouth with his. She screamed her release into his mouth. Beautiful, he thought. She forgot, my ass.

  Adam waited until her breathing stabilized before removing his lips from hers. “See, suga’, you don’t get to use my body to replace another man’s and tell me you don’t remember our night together. I can tell you this: mission accomplished. He’s been replaced.” He spoke quietly, removed his finger from her, zipped up her jumper, and then turned on his heels and walked out the door. It shut with a thud.

  Samantha jumped at the door closing. Adam had all but slammed the door shut.

  “And I thought he was one of the good guys,” she murmured to the empty room.

  Adam leaned back against the closed door and breathed. He’d gotten angry. He ran his fingers through his rumpled hair and sighed. “Damn, what a mess,” he whispered, and then pulled out his cell phone to call for a car service. He’d wait outside. He didn’t trust himself to not do something stupid again if he went back into Samantha’s house.

  He hoped he hadn’t awakened Princess when he slammed the door. Male pride is a dangerous thing and she’d bruised his. With a deep sigh, Adam tried to turn off his thoughts and wait for the car service. He needed a stiff drink in the worst way. It was almost a half-hour before the car service showed up.

  Chapter Three

  It had been two weeks since her encounter with Adam. She’d stayed away from anything family related to keep from running into him. By her estimation she’d made a mess of everything. It was wrong of her to use Adam that night. Considering the ladies’ man that he was, she’d thought he wanted to forget about their encounter just as much as she had. Especially since he’d never brought it up again. Besides a few awkward times everything was good, or so she thought.

  She’d purposely retreated to the comfort of her home. She and Kayla spent their days going on long drives, to the park, swimming, and playing in the back yard. She enjoyed spending this alone time with her daughter. During racing season she’d had to leave her mostly in the care of others. Her family and the Westbrooks were saving graces in helping with Kayla’s care.

  Now that her sister, Tracey, wasn’t racing anymore for a while, Samantha could enroll Kayla in day care and work on some projects she’d put on hold before and after Kayla’s birth.

  “Men are strange creatures,” she voiced.

  “What, Mommy?” she heard Kayla ask.

  Samantha looked over at her sweet baby girl and smiled. Kayla was the joy of her life, and Samantha would protect Kayla’s life with hers.

  Kayla was sitting on the carpeted floor, playing with her number puzzles.

  “Nothing, sweetheart. Are you having fun, sweetie?” she asked, and walked over to sit next to Kayla.

  “Yes, Mommy,” she answered, fitting two big puzzle pieces together.

  “Good,” she said. “Mommy has to get dinner started. Okay?”

  “Okay. Hot dogs!” Kayla chimed in excitedly.

  “No hot dogs, young lady. If it were up to you we’d eat hot dogs every night.” She smiled and ruffled her daughter’s curly locks. “Stay in here and play with your toys while Mommy gets dinner ready.”

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  Samantha got up to make dinner just as her landline rang. It had to be her parents. They were the only ones who still called her landline. She rushed over to answer the wall phone.

  “Hello,” she called into the phone.

  “Samantha dear, why are you keeping our grandchild away from us?” her mother’s voice came through the receiver.

  Samantha had to smile at her mother’s dramatics. Barbara Powell was a first-class drama queen. She and Tracey teased her relentlessly over her flair for the dramatic. She fake-fainted every other week. Sometimes twice in one week, depending on what was going on.

  “Hello, Mother. I am not keeping your grandchild away from you. Kayla and I were just having some Mommy and me time before she starts day care,” Samantha smiled.

  “That’s why I’m calling. Your father and I would like Kayla to spend a few weeks with us, or at least one week, Samantha.”

  “I don’t know about that. I don’t want to be away from her for that long a period of time,” Samantha protested.

  “Child, please, we are your parents! We raised you just fine. Kayla will be fine with us. You can’t keep using your daughter as a shield, you know. Get out, have some fun. Enjoy life. You have a child, that doesn’t mean you have to stop living,” her mother said.

  She loved her mother dearly. She always knew the right things to say.

  “I believe I’ve lived enough; that’s how I got Kayla in the first place,” Samantha snickered.

  “Phooey, you’ve beaten up on yourself enough. Now are you going to let our grandchild visit us or not?”

  “What’s going on? Is Daddy trying to show off my daughter again? He does know she’s not a trophy, right?” Samantha teased.

  “We can’t help it if our granddaughter is gorgeous. Besides, Bernadette is coming, and she must see my baby,” her mother rushed on.

  Bernadette was her mother’s twin sister. They were as different as night and day.

  “Um hmm, I knew it was something like that. You’re trying to show Auntie up,�
� Samantha chuckled. Letting her parents take Kayla for a week or two would free her up to get some things done, and to think clearly. She was all discombobulated because of the recent events. “How about we drive down on Friday?”

  “What? You’re letting her come?” her mother stammered.

  “Yes, you did ask for her; or was that a ploy?”

  “No, no. I just didn’t know it would be this easy. I thought it would take a little bit more pulling of teeth.”

  “Nope. Not this time. We’ll leave Friday morning,” Samantha said.

  “Samantha, I don’t like you making that long drive alone. Maybe your brother can drive down with you,” her mother said.

  “Mom, Declan has a job, remember? I’m a big girl and capable of driving myself and my daughter, Mother,” she said sarcastically.

  “Don’t get fresh with me, young lady. You know we worry. It’s a long drive and there are a lot of crazy people out there. You can’t be too careful,” she said.

  “I will be fine, Mom. Leave Declan alone. He has enough on his plate with Powell Industries.”

  “Okay, call me when you get on the road,” she said.

  “Will do. Love you, Mommy. Tell Daddy I love him and will see you all Friday evening.”

  “Bye, darling.”

  “Good-bye, Mommy.” She smiled and hung up the phone.

  “Pop pop, Mommy!” Kayla said excitedly from across the room.

  “Yes, baby, how would you like to go see Gma and Pop pop?”

  “Yay!” Kayla cried.

  “Okay, baby, calm down. Mommy will have dinner ready in a minute,” she said, turning to take out the ingredients for her meatloaf.

  Samantha had the meat in the oven and the vegetables on in no time. She’d make some homemade mashed potatoes, too. Kayla loved mashed potatoes.

  Just as she put the potatoes on to boil, her cell phone was ringing.

  “Oh goodness, you’re popular today, Samantha,” she said, walking over to the center island and retrieving it.

  “Samantha Powell,” she called into the phone.

  “Hello, Sam,” the voice on the other end said.

  Samantha stiffened. “Daniel?”

  “The one and only. We need to talk,” he said.

  “We don’t have anything to talk about, Daniel,” she said.

  “Yes, we do. We left things on a bad note. I’d like to make amends,” he said.

  “A bad note, Daniel? Seriously? I mean really?”

  “I know. I know. Seriously, Samantha, I’d like to see you.”

  “How’d you get my number?” she asked.

  “Samantha, you never changed your number. It’s still the same,” he snickered.

  “Yet it has taken you what, over two years to use it. Now all of a sudden you want your day. I don’t think so, Daniel. You said all there was to say the last time we spoke. Trust me, your words will forever be engraved in my memory,” she snapped.

  “Okay. You got me there. I just want to talk. Please,” he pleaded.

  “No. Good-bye, Daniel,” she snapped, and disconnected the call.

  How dare he call me like we’re on good terms! she thought. No, he evoked too many feelings in her, both good and bad feelings. Her life was already on course. Samantha didn’t need or want him complicating it any further.

  Samantha rushed over to the stove to check on their meal. Since the food was not ready yet, she decided to call her sister.

  The phone rang a few times before her brother-in-law Shane answered.

  “Hello, Samantha,” she heard Shane’s sexy southern drawl. Samantha could envision his smile.

  “Hey, Shane! How are you doing?”

  “Okay. If you’re looking for Tracey, she turned in early. She’s still not feeling well,” he said.

  “Aww, it’ll get better,” Samantha said.

  “I sure hope so. It comes upon her suddenly, morning, noon, or night,” Shane said, his voice sounded strained.

  “I’m sorry, Shane. Do you want me to come stay with her for a while?”

  “No, sweetheart. You have little beauty to keep you busy.” Samantha could hear the smile in his voice.

  “She’s a handful, but it would be no problem. Kayla’s going to stay with my parents for a week or two Friday. I can drop by afterwards, if you want,” she said. “Besides, I would love to see my big sister.”

  Samantha heard the pause on the other end of the phone. She hoped she hadn’t given anything away in her voice.

  “Is everything okay, Samantha?” Shane asked.

  “Everything’s fine. Why do you ask?” she responded.

  “Just curious. You can come by anytime you feel like it, you know that. We’re family. You don’t need an invitation,” Shane said.

  “Uh, yes family do, otherwise you’d have people at your house every day,” Samantha smiled. She so loved her brother-in-law.

  “That’s only my pain-in-the-ass brother,” Shane chuckled.

  Samantha halted at the mention of Adam’s name. “Oh, Adam’s there?” she asked, hoping that Shane didn’t hear the hesitation in her voice.

  “No. In fact, I haven’t seen him in a couple of weeks. Called and said he had some business to take care of in Buckhead, and wouldn’t be around for a bit.”

  Samantha knew that Adam had a co-op in Buckhead, Atlanta, but he didn’t spend much time there, as he was Shane’s PR person. Although Shane had retired from the racing circuit, he still had a considerable amount of endorsement deals.

  “Samantha?” she heard Shane call.

  Shaking her head she thought to herself, Oh, good Lord, my head is all messed up. “I’m here. Listen, I have to go, Shane. I think I’m burning Kayla’s dinner,” she said quickly.

  “Okay, suga’, talk to you soon. Remember, stop by anytime.”

  “Will do. Bye,” she said, and then disconnected the call.

  She rushed over to the stove and turned off the oven and the potatoes. Samantha began to quickly prepare their plates. She put Kayla’s in the freezer to cool for a bit before strapping her in her booster seat at the table.

  Chapter Four

  Daniel was pissed. Samantha wouldn’t have anything to do with him, and the media kept hounding him about his loss to Tracey Powell. Humpf, how the hell did they think he felt after losing not once, but twice to her? He’d kicked up a fuss and started the rumor of Shane giving her the win on her first race. To his dismay, Tracey had quickly dispelled that rumor by kicking his ass on the track for a second time.

  He really disliked the Westbrooks. When Declan and Mr. Powell Sr. had asked him to come on board the Powell camp, he’d jumped at the chance. At first it was under the guise of training Tracey, and then he’d been added to the roster. Their hope had been that she’d quit and he’d take over, but the stubborn Tracey wasn’t having it, and now the two families, the Powells, and the Westbrooks had joined forces.

  Oh yeah, he’d suspected Shane and Tracey’s relationship a while ago, and that was one of the reasons why he’d pursued Samantha. To his surprise, Samantha had become one of his best bed partners. As inexperienced as she was, she was an eager learner. Willing and ready to please, or so he thought. That had quickly changed when they’d both gotten careless, and she’d announced that she was pregnant. Not wanting to be the father of anyone’s child, he’d demanded she abort the baby. Daniel had tried reasoning with her, but his attempts only pushed her further away from him.

  The last straw was when Samantha had finally agreed to meet him at his hotel room to further discuss the situation, only to show up and find him there with another woman. One look at him and the woman and she’d known they’d had sex. How was he to know that Samantha would actually show up? She hadn’t on several other occasions. That night Samantha had left him a voice message saying that he’d gotten his wish. She’d abort the baby because she didn’t want any baby of hers growing up knowing that his or her father was a first-class ass who didn’t know how to keep it in his pants.


  Hell, she’d known how he was before she’d slept with him. He liked sex and was proud of it. The fact that he’d started a long-term relationship with her didn’t mean he had to give up other women; at least that was how he saw it.

  Daniel had made the decision long ago that he never wanted children. He just didn’t see the need. He liked his life as it was; free to do what he wanted, when he wanted. Kids required too much attention, attention that would be taken away from him. He was an only child, which was great. He never did like sharing his toys. No reason to change now that he was an adult.

  He’d asked around, and knew that Samantha wasn’t seeing anyone. In fact, most said that until this last race, she’d practically disappeared from the racing circuit. He was in town for a while, and didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t pick up from where they’d left off. Sure she was still pissed at him; however, she still wanted him. Of that he was positive.

  An all too knowing smile covered his lips. “Yes, my dear Samantha, you will be mine again. Other than the obvious, you have something I want, and I intend to get it no matter the cost,” he whispered to the empty room. The cynical smile that covered his lips broadened.

  Samantha was no longer living at her old place, which presented a problem. Daniel had no idea where she lived, and he had yet to encounter someone ready and willing to give him that information. It was as if everything was a big secret with her. No matter; Daniel had ways of getting what he wanted. He always did.

  “Hello, Daniel,” he heard the sweet sound of a female voice coming from behind him.

  Daniel turned and looked into the smiling face of Camille—or was it Cynthia? He couldn’t remember which; frankly, he didn’t care. Daniel did know that her first name started with a C. He’d hooked up with her on several occasions, in different states. She was a groupie for sure. A good lay, but a groupie nonetheless.

  “Where’d you come from?” He gave her his signature smile.