Modern Romance March 2015 Collection 1. Кэрол Мортимер

way he had made Samantha and Daisy suffer, in the past, and now!

      Did Sam trust Xander? It had been so long since she had relied on anyone. Since she had trusted anyone enough to rely on them; she had thought she could trust and rely on Malcolm once, and look how well that had turned out!

      ‘Don’t think about the past for now, Samantha,’ Xander encouraged as he obviously saw, and guessed, the reason for her frown. ‘Just concentrate on whether or not you trust me to find a way that will free you, and Daisy, of your ex-husband’s hold on you once and for all.’

      Did she want Xander to do that? Was this the answer, the miracle, she had been praying for earlier?

      Did Sam really have any choice but to trust Xander, when her own and Daisy’s future hung so precariously in the balance, once again because of Malcolm’s threats?

      She moistened the dryness of her lips before speaking. ‘Why would you even want to help us? It isn’t your problem.’

      ‘I’m making it so,’ he insisted grimly.

      Sam looked at him wonderingly. ‘You really are a sheep in wolf’s clothing, aren’t you?’

      His mouth twisted wryly at that description. ‘I’m actually a wolf in a wolf’s clothing. But even wolves have a heart, Samantha. And, for obvious reasons, I utterly despise bullies,’ he added harshly. ‘So...’ he straightened ‘...will you let me help you?’

      Sam looked at him for several long seconds before she slowly nodded her head. ‘He gave me until the end of the week to make my decision.’

      ‘Big of him.’

      ‘He seemed to think so, yes.’

      ‘I’ll have something in place by then,’ Xander assured her grimly.

      ‘Then, yes,’ she accepted huskily. ‘Yes, I’ll gladly let you help me, if you really want to.’

      ‘I want to.’ He nodded tersely.

      * * *

      Sam lived in a state of trepidation for the next four days. Malcolm had given her until the end of the week to make her decision, but she knew him too well to believe anything he said, and lived in fear of him waiting for her at Daisy’s school again one morning or evening.

      And she worried even more when the days passed and she heard nothing further from him.

      Xander had assured her he had the situation under control, when Sam had voiced her concerns a couple of days before, adding that he would have some positive news for her by the end of the week.

      But he must also have been concerned Malcolm might turn up again at Daisy’s school because he had insisted on accompanying them in the car to and from school these past four mornings. Much to Daisy’s delight.

      And so giving Sam another worry—that her daughter was becoming altogether too attached to Xander. They all ate their meals together now, and had done since Sunday morning when Xander had insisted he would be eating all of his meals in the kitchen in future. And it was Xander who Daisy was eager to see when she came out of school every day. Xander that Daisy asked to read her a story every night before she went to sleep.

      Which was exactly what he was doing on Friday evening while Sam cleared away in the kitchen after dinner.

      It was all a bit too cosy for comfort.

      Sam’s comfort, at least; Xander and Daisy seemed perfectly happy with the arrangement.

      So, along with worrying about Malcolm, she also had the extra worry of how Daisy was going to react when the two of them had to move out of Xander’s apartment in just over a week’s time.

      Not that Sam didn’t completely understand Daisy’s infatuation; she was afraid she had one of those going herself where Xander was concerned.

      As if by tacit agreement, the two of them hadn’t spoken again of the things Xander had told her of his childhood. But the knowledge of those shared confidences was there between them, nonetheless, creating a subtle but discernible shift in their relationship. There was an unspoken companionship between them now, coupled with that underlying physical awareness. The latter on Sam’s part, at least.

      Xander had made no attempt to step over the line with Sam again, and that was despite the fact that his desire was more than obvious every time she helped him in and out of the shower!

      And was that disappointment she was feeling?

      Because Xander hadn’t made a single attempt to kiss her again?

      Was she actually feeling a little jealous of the closeness that existed between Xander and Daisy?

      No, not jealous exactly; how could Sam possibly resent any kindness and affection Xander might show towards Daisy? It was just that she ached to be closer to him herself.

      ‘Everything okay?’

      She almost dropped the plate she was placing in the dishwasher at Xander’s unexpected reappearance in the kitchen. Usually she was able to hear his progress down the hallway on his crutches, but the daily physio sessions were going so well that the physiotherapist had advised just yesterday that he need only use the walking stick now. After which Sam had been caught out more than once when Xander appeared unexpectedly in a room.

      She placed the plate in the dishwasher before straightening, her gaze focused somewhere over Xander’s left shoulder as he stood in the doorway; she was far too physically aware of him after her recent thoughts. ‘I was just wondering what Daisy and I should do over the weekend.’

      Xander stepped fully into the room, immediately dwarfing what had previously seemed a spacious room. ‘Strange, the two of us were just discussing that too. Daisy would like us to take her to the cinema tomorrow and then she suggested we all go swimming.’

      Sam’s heart sank at the thought of a Xander-filled weekend; hours and hours when she would have to hide the growing feelings she had for him. ‘I really appreciate all the time and effort you’ve taken with Daisy this past week—’ she began.

      ‘But?’ He quirked one blond brow.

      Sam still couldn’t look at him directly, that disturbing awareness of him thrumming beneath her skin. ‘But perhaps you shouldn’t spend quite as much time with her as you do? Daisy shouldn’t come to rely on your attention so much,’ she added regretfully. ‘We’re going to be leaving here at the end of next week, and—’

      ‘And you think I’m then just going to forget all about her, is that it?’ Xander barked harshly, more than a little insulted by that assumption. ‘You said you trusted me, Samantha,’ he said gruffly.

      ‘I do trust you.’ Samantha chewed on her bottom lip. ‘It’s just—I appreciate the time you’ve spent with Daisy, I really do. It’s simply that I know you’re still incapacitated, at the moment, and can’t do the things you usually do,’ she hurried on as Xander scowled. ‘That it must be boring for you being stuck in this apartment all the time, as well as frustrating. But you’re improving rapidly, and once you’re completely fit again, you’ll obviously want to return to your own life, and—’

      ‘And then I’ll no longer have time for Daisy, is that what you’re saying?’ Xander realised that he and Samantha had deliberately not discussed personal subjects again since revealing so much about themselves to each other on Monday. Possibly because neither of them were used to doing that? But Samantha’s implication now, that he was just going to cast Daisy aside like a pair of old shoes once he was fit again, was hardly fair.

      He had grown genuinely fond of Daisy. For herself. But also, Xander knew, because she was a miniature version of her mother.

      He had grown more than a little fond of Samantha too. In fact, the desire he felt to make love to her was now a physical ache that he lived with on a daily basis. A desire he was determinedly denying himself from even attempting to satisfy, because he knew he shouldn’t take advantage