Conviction (Club Destiny 1)

Standing in front of the full length mirror on her bathroom door, Sam criticized her appearance. She could do casual – she even pulled her hair back into a ponytail. This would have to do.

As soon as she made it to the living room there was a knock on the door. She anticipated Logan, but when she opened the door she almost jumped out of her skin.

It wasn’t Logan.

“Samantha Kielty? My name is Darien. I’m Mr. McCoy’s driver this afternoon. He asked that I come up and get you. Are you ready?”

Ready? No way in hell was she ready to see Logan again. Well, maybe she was. Regardless, she was going to go anyway.

“I believe I am.” She smiled, wondering what Logan was up to. He sent his driver up to get her. Interesting. She grabbed her purse from the bar, tossed her cell phone inside and then locked the door behind her.

When she got to the sleek, black limousine out front, she fully expected Logan to be inside. To her dismay he was not. When Darien opened the door for her, she noticed a single red rose sitting on the seat with a note attached.

Looking forward to today. Just sit back and relax for the next twenty minutes.

~Logan

Sam couldn’t hold back her surprise when the limo pulled into the marina in just under the amount of time Logan referenced. The lake. Holy crap. Not a good idea, but how in the world would Logan know how deathly afraid of water she was.

Hmmm.

How could she break this to him? Maybe the hyperventilating would be a dead giveaway.

Sam tried to control her breathing as she remained seated in the limo. A moment later the back door opened, and Darien took a step back so she could exit.

“Your destination, Ms. Kielty. I hope you enjoy your day.”

“Thank you, Darien.” Grabbing a couple of dollars out of her wallet, she went to hand them to Darien for a tip.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Darien said kindly but didn’t reach for the money. “Not necessary. Mr. McCoy has generously taken care of the tip. Have a wonderful time.”

Staring blankly at the handsome driver, Sam tucked the money back in her purse and smiled. If she could manage to make it to the boat, she might consider the day a success.

A quick look around the line of docked boats and Sam spotted Logan standing on one of the piers. With constant encouragement from herself, she started his way, but when she came to where the sidewalk ended, and the pier began, she stopped cold. No amount of encouragement was going to help her now. She wasn’t going any further. She couldn’t. Her brain was already malfunctioning just at the nearness of the water.

“Hey, beautiful. You ready?” She heard Logan’s deep voice as he came closer. He must have noticed she was no longer walking although she had seen him.

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? We’re going out on the lake. To do that, it’ll be easier in the boat.” Logan attempted humor, though his voice held a touch of concern.

Sam could feel his eyes as they roamed over her. He was probably trying to see if there was something physically wrong with her. He wouldn’t find anything, but if he looked close enough, he’d see she was trembling.

“I just can’t.” Sam knew the words were no more than a harsh whisper, but it was the best she could do just to speak.

She took the chance and looked from the water, up into the greenish brown of his eyes. She knew what he’d see when he looked at her. Cold, breath-stealing fear.

“Are you scared?”

“To death.”

“Of the water? Or the boat?”

“Both.” After all, the boat was on the water, wasn’t it?

~*~*~

Logan was torn between pulling Sam into his arms, greeting her appropriately, and trying to help her overcome her apparent fear of the water. The conversation wasn’t moving particularly fast, and he feared the trek to the boat would likely take twice as long. He decided not to rush her. They had all day, and he needed Sam to trust him.

Instead of urging her toward him, he took the few steps that would close the gap between them. He took her hand in his and pulled it against him, being careful to remain on the sidewalk where she had stopped, raising her chin so she had to look at him.

“You’re safe with me, you know that right?”

When she looked up at him, she wasn’t smiling, and her eyes were bright with fear.

“I just can’t go out on the water.”

“You don’t even want to try? I promise you won’t have to get in the water, nor will you come in contact with it at all.” He couldn’t resist the urge to kiss her so he planted his lips gently on hers and felt the jolt to his system. Hell, they didn’t need the boat, he was content just standing there holding her.