Winter Hopes (Seasons of Love) by Jennifer Gracen Read Free Book Online

driven him wild.
    She’d sent two pictures. In the first one, she wore a dark purple T-shirt and jeans, sitting on an ornate iron bench in a yard filled with flowers, smiling her low key smile. The tag under it read, “In Jane’s backyard, September.” In the second photo, she sat on a plush brown couch. She had on a loose black tank top and khakis and held a cute bronze-haired boy in her lap. Her broad, bright smile relayed great affection and pride. “Andy and me, August.” She'd obviously wanted him to see her son, to remind him that she came with strings attached. Andy was adorable, and with the exception of his blue eyes looked a lot like his mother.
    Sam liked both pictures. He gazed at them at length, memorizing the details of her face.
    He swiveled his chair around and stared out the window of his office, unseeing. His mind went back, remembering the wedding weekend yet again, thinking about the time he’d spent there with Lydia.
    He smiled as he recalled the first time he’d seen her, laughing at herself in the lobby of the hotel. How she looked in the garden when they sat and read together; how the sun shone off her hair, bringing out remarkable highlights of red and gold. Discreetly watching her throughout the out-of-towner’s dinner, trading smiles from opposite ends of the long, crowded table. Standing next to her at the jukebox in the bar, joking with her as she pondered which songs to pick. The first time he’d reached for her hand as they sat and talked quietly on a cushioned bench in the hallway. How utterly gorgeous she’d looked at the wedding, draped in an elegant burgundy silk dress. How she felt against him as they danced. The spark in her eyes when she pulled him into the shadows outside for their first kiss. How she felt beneath him as they moved together in bed. When he closed his eyes, Sam could almost recall how soft her skin felt, almost hear her sighs…
    Remembering her instantly aroused him, and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He grunted aloud, mildly embarrassed with himself. He felt like a teenager in the throes of puberty, pathetically at the mercy of his hormones. He’d had bouts of lust knocking him around like this since Lydia had driven away from him at the hotel on Sunday afternoon. Talking to her each night since, getting to know each other more, had been great. But getting through the next ten days like this? His hormones were in overdrive, to the point of major distraction. Sometimes, the rushes of pent up desire were so strong, he could barely concentrate. It was ridiculous.
    With new resolve, he picked up the phone and dialed.
    “Hey, Sam.” Hailey’s sleek voice was almost a purr. “How are you?”
    “Fine, thanks,” he replied. “Are you busy tonight?”
    “Actually, I am,” Hailey said, slightly apologetic. “Late dinner with some girlfriends. But, for you? How about a lunch date? It’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen each other… truth is, I was thinking of you just yesterday.”
    “That’d be great,” Sam said.
    “How’s twelve o’clock sound?”
    “Perfect. Um… meet me at the Omni?”
    “Oooh, sure,” she cooed. “Been a while since we’ve gone there. I’ll meet you in the lobby at noon.”
    “Great,” Sam said, before he could change his mind. “See you then.”
     
     

CHAPTER FOUR
    SAM SAT ON one of the couches in the spacious, grand lobby of the Omni Chicago Hotel, tapping his fingers impatiently against his leg.
    At precisely twelve o’clock, from behind him, a familiar female voice purred in his ear. “Hey, sailor.”
    Sam glanced up over his shoulder and smiled. “Ms. Monaghan. Pleasure to see you, as always.” He rose from the couch and kissed Hailey on the cheek, then stood back to look at her. Hailey was five-foot-ten, thin and long legged, with straight blonde hair cut bluntly at her jawline and blue eyes so pale they were almost gray. A strikingly attractive woman at forty-one, she was divorced and childless