Little Moments

Samantha Brown (aka)- Samantha Belmont- Cut herself off from her parents ten years ago, because they interfered in her life. Software writer, shy , absentminded and has some secrets that keep her from trusting men, her world is her work and she rarely comes up for air.

Mark Calaway- Newly retired wrestler, moves to Tampa to be closer to his friends. Kevin has the perfect place for him to live ,in a duplex with Kevin's shy sister in law.

Summary- When Mark and Sammy are tricked into sharing a duplex, will these two hit it off or will Mark's grumpy ways and Sammy's hidden secrets and fear of men, keep them apart.

Sammy looked up from her computer and looked out the window, it was daylight, what the hell, she had started working at dusk last night, she shrugged and got up stretching, she was like that got lost in her work, for hours, days, even whole weeks, but this was what made sense to her, numbers, lines of code, it always made sense, she didn't have to think about that, it was people that didn't add up for Sammy.

She got up and went down the hallway to the bathroom and shed her clothes. She yawned as the hot water hit her and stretched again.

She had been here a month and surprisingly she liked it. She smiled as she thought of Kevin, her brother in law was a sweetheart, she didn't like men as a general rule, steered clear of them, but Kevin was like the big brother, she had always wanted, he was very kind to her and was always checking on her, he was the one who had offered to let her stay in the duplex, it was in sight of his and Mia's house, she wanted to pay him for staying here, but he had frowned at her, saying she was family and he wasn't charging her.

Kevin was a good guy , and she loved being right next to her sister and Seth , she had also became quite friendly with Bailey and Scott and Emma was a sweetheart. Sammy often gathered the kids up and they played on the beach in the afternoons.

Kevin had told her he might rent the other side of the duplex at some point, but he assured her it wouldn't be to anyone he didn't know, she smiled as she got out of the shower, Kevin was very protective of her, he had chased her father off the other day when he showed up.

Ever since she had come back, her father had harassed her to come back home, start working in the family business, she refused, she knew he was going to drive her crazy when she came back, but Sammy had just wanted him to drop the custody suit against Mia, and it had worked, she had to just keep telling her father, she didn't want any part of him or his business. Sammy had made a agreement with him over the custody suit, she had to visit once a week, but thats all she did.

Mostly the man just resigned himself to calling her and trying to catch her out shopping, his one run in with Kevin had seemed to scare him to death and he steered clear of her home now.

Sammy didn't go out much anyway, she could drive, but she didn't like to, most of the time she just caught a ride with Bailey or Mia when she need to go shopping, her driving skills were minimal at best, her skills at anything other than programming were minimal, if she wasn't passionate about something, she didn't bother with it enough to get better at it, Sammy was just like that.

Sammy threw on some baggy shorts and a too big tank top and walked down to the kitchen, she look at her cabinets like they were aliens and finally opened them, she took out the lone tea bag, she was out of coffee, she grabbed the tea kettle and put water in it and sat it on the stove and then looked for a loaf of bread, she found one piece and sighed and laid it on a paper towel, when the tea was done, she would make toast.

Sammy went back to her laptop and got back to work, waiting for the water to boil.

Mia threw the pan at Kevin. "How could you." She demanded.

Kevin frowned. "Mia stop throwing things and listen."

"Kevin, you know how Sammy is, she's going to freak." Mia said sitting down at the kitchen table.

Kevin sat down. "Mia, I know Mark is a little rough around the edges, hell so was I, but he's a good guy and I cant be here all the time, he'll keep an eye on her, if your sorry ass father messes with her, he'll squash him like a bug."

Mia looked at Kevin and smiled, she knew he was concerned about Sammy. "Well I just think you should have warned her first that he's moving in next to her."

Kevin took her hand and kissed it. "Trust me, everything will be fine."

Mark pulled up in the driveway of the duplex, it was nice, it was a huge house, he guessed thats why it had been made into two apartments, Kevin told him he could stay here as long as he wanted, and he knew Kevin wasn't charging him nearly what this place was worth.

Kevin said someone was living on the other side, but they worked all the time and was quite, that suited Mark fine, and then he had his two best buddies near by, it seemed perfect.

He got out of his truck and seen the Infiniti parked in front of his truck. He was going to grab some of his stuff when he seen black smoke coming from the other side of the duplex, he ran up the stairs and started banging at the door, when there was no answer and he tried the door, it was unlocked, he walked in to find a teapot smoldering on the stove, the kitchen filled with smoke.

Mark pulled the kettle off the stove and put the kettle in the sink. "Damn idiot." He muttered wondering who the hell could not smell or see all that smoke, he walked into the living room to find Sammy on her laptop, not even noticing he was there.

Kevin sure as hell didn't tell him he would be living right next to Sammy. "Hello!" He bellowed

Sammy was so startled she fell off the edge of the chair she was sitting in and hit the floor with a bang, she looked up at the big man and was about to scream, when she realized two things, it was Mark, and she knew he was Kevin's friend, he wasn't going to hurt her, and two the house was smoky. "Umm how did you get in?" She asked her voice little more than a whisper.

Mark crossed his big arms looking at her with disapproval. "Your front door was unlocked, and you just about burned your kettle up, lucky I saw the smoke." He snapped.

Sammy got up, embarrassed, these kind of things happened to her a lot, her brain seemed only able to focus on one thing at a time, when she had hopped back on the computer, she had forgot all about the tea and toast. "I just sorta lost track, I was working, I forgot about the teapot."

Mark shook his head. "I'm going to be living next door, I sure don't want it burned down, maybe you should pay more attention."

Sammy stopped and looked at him. "Next door, the next apartment?"

Mark nodded. "Yes, and I don't want to die in my sleep from asphyxiation."

Sammy blushed, she did things like this all the time, she would have to be more careful, the big man wasn't pleased. Mark just shook his head, just what he needed to be living next door to a dingbat.

"I'll be more careful." She promised.

"See that you do." He snapped then turned on his heel and left.

Sammy sighed and went in the kitchen, she tried to clean the kettle up some and then shrugged. She needed to go to the store anyway, she would go see if Mia was at home.

Sammy was bummed out that the first thing she had done was make a bad impression on her new neighbor.

Sammy knocked on Mia's door. Kevin opened the door smiling, he opened the screen "C'mon in sweetheart."

"Hey Kevin, is Mia here?"

Kevin shook his head. "Sit down, have a cup of coffee."

She sat down and took the coffee gratefully, she had been out a couple of days. "You want a sandwich?"

"I don't want to be a bother." She said.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Hush, you look like you've lost more weight since last week, you need to eat." He scolded.

"I know I know, I just forget." Sammy said sipping the coffee.

Kevin sat the sandwich in front of her and she picked it up taking a bite."Thanks."

"So you didn't tell me your friend Mark was moving in." She said.

"You okay with that, I don't want you upset." Kevin said pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"It's fine, he's a friend of yours, so he must be okay." She said smiling.

Kevin smiled. "He's a bit of a grump, but he's okay, Mia and Seth went to pick up Emma from pre-school and their going to the zoo."

"Shoot, I must have just missed them, I was going to ride to the store." She said getting up and putting the plate in the sink.

Kevin gave her a look. "You don't have a crumb of food in the house do you?"

Sammy blushed, she felt stupid, its just she didn't think about things like that till she was out of everything. "Umm I have a piece of bread."

Kevin crossed his big arms and frowned down at her. "Sammy, you have to come up for air sometimes and eat, honey, all you do is sit in front of that computer and work, thats not good for you."

Sammy nodded. "I know, I just get lost sometimes."

Kevin's expression softened, Sammy hid from the world in her work. "I know, look I have to stay here, I'm waiting on a package, but I know Mark is going back out in a while."

"No don't bother him, I guess I'll just have to drive today." She said

"No no, its fine, I know he said he was going to the grocery store, its no bother." Kevin said going to call Mark.

Sammy sighed, she didn't want Mark to tell Kevin what had happened, she already felt dumb enough.

Sammy sat there twiddling her thumbs, nervous, she knew Mark would tell Kevin what a dummy she was, like Kevin didn't already know.

Kevin came back in. "It's no problem, scoot though, he's leaving in a few minutes."

She was surprised when Kevin didn't say anything about the whole incident. Sammy jumped up giving Kevin a quick hug. "Thanks."

Kevin patted her back. "No problem, come by tonight for dinner."

"I'll try." She said as she ran out the door.

Kevin shook his head, she was a sweet girl, just a little absent minded.

Sammy ran in her house and pulled her clothes off throwing them on the floor, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a tank top that fit and ran a brush through her short curls. She grabbed her bank card and some cash just in case and stuck it in her back pocket and ran back out her front door, Mark was leaning on his truck. "Whoa, lock your door, you have your keys?"

Sammy stopped and ran back in the house and grabbed her keys and came back out locking the door.

Mark walked around the truck and opened the door for her. "Thank you." She said and got in.

Mark just shook his head, she was a real feather brain, Kevin said she did computer programs, he seen the type before, book smart, but no common sense.

Mark got in and looked at her. "Seat belt."

Sammy blushed and put the seatbelt on, he must really think she was a dummy.

Mark backed out of the driveway. "So why don't you drive?" he asked as he started down the road.

"Well I can, just don't like too, I don't know, it overwhelms me." She said, she knew it sounded stupid, but she just hated driving, she felt unsafe , out of control, like anything could happen.

Sammy knew she had some issues, she just chose not to deal with them, she pushed the bad stuff to the back of her mind.

Mark glanced at her, seeing she was staring at her hands, he didn't make any comment about her driving, it just proved his point that she was a nut.

The rest of the ride was silent, he pulled up into the grocery store parking lot and Sammy groaned inwardly, why did it have to be this store, Belmont's any store but this.

"Problem?" Mark asked seeing the look on her face.

"Umm no." She said and hopped out of the truck before he could get out.

Mark got out. "I'll meet you out here, is a half and hour fine?" He asked following her.

"Yeah, that fine." She said and hurried off.

Mark shook his head, she was a weird one. Mia got a cart and started throwing stuff in the cart, she just wanted to get out of here as quick as possible, she knew dad had hundreds of stores, but it still gave her the creeps.

She slowed down and looked in her cart, coffee, juice, bread, peanut butter, oranges and apples, she needed some cheese, crackers and cold cuts." She headed off to round up those things.

She also grabbed some tea and milk, then grabbed some carrots and celery to munch on.

Sammy knew she should have wrote a list, she couldn't remember if she needed anything else.

Sammy grabbed some shampoo and soap and figured that was it and headed for the check out.

She figure she was right at a half an hour and rolled her cart outside, she sighed this is where she always had trouble, she could never remember where the car was parked, last time Mia had come looking for her because she was wondering around in the huge mall parking lot looking for Mia's Tahoe.

Sammy sighed, trying to remember what color his truck was, she thought it was black, she walked this way and that way, but didn't see him or his truck. It was hot and she was getting tired and frustrated, Mark might get pissed and leave her.

She wondered around what seemed like forever when she heard him yelling. "Dammit, where have you been?" Mark shouted.

Sammy was relieved to see him, but she wasn't so happy to see how angry he was. "I'm sorry I forgot where you parked."

Mark had to bite his lip hard to keep from yelling at her, but he kept telling himself this was Kevin's sister in law, he knew Kevin thought a lot of her, he grabbed her cart and started rolling it toward his truck.

Sammy kept her tear filled eyes down, she had really screwed up with Mark, he would probably run when he saw her from now on.