Disclaimer: West Wing and its characters do not belong to me.
Author's Notes: Thanks to JenB for beta reading this for me! Your help is greatly appreciated!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed!
''''''''''''''''''
"Sam, please." She opened her eyes to stare into his. "Make love to me."
Sam's eyes searched her as he continued his gentle caresses on her arm and scalp. "Are you sure?"
In response, Zoey's lips crashed onto his. One of her hands slid from his hair to stroke down his back. She played with the hem of his shirt for a few seconds before sliding her hand under it. She edged her hand around to his chest, gasping into his mouth as his muscles flexed under her fingers.
Sam ran his hand down her back to cup her bottom. He nipped at her bottom lip as he lifted her, one of his hands stroking her right leg, gently urging her to wrap both legs around his waist.
He sat her down on the edge of his bed and knelt down before her, reaching out for one of her sneakers. He slipped both the shoe and sock off of her foot, stroking his thumb along her instep.
Zoey's eyes fell shut as she arched her foot into Sam's hand.
He moved his fingers up to her arch as he pulled her other shoe off with his free hand. He pressed a kiss to her ankle, moving upward to stroke along her jean-clad legs. Nudging her sweatshirt up with his nose, he kissed her belly button, his hand coming up to push the shirt up.
Zoey tugged at the snaps on Sam's shirt. She pulled away from his so that she could shove the shirt over his shoulders and down his arms. "Are you sure you're in your forties," she teased, running her hands over the sculpted planes of his chest.
"I could ask the same about your age. I swear you look about seventeen most of the time." In one motion he pulled her sweater over her head and tossed it across the room. "I have to assure myself that this is okay."
"It's more than okay," Zoey said, leaning forward to claim Sam's lips.
Sam pushed her onto her back, hands roaming over her body, the control he'd been firmly holding onto for weeks finally gone.
Zoey clung to him, both of them frantically tearing at their clothing, hands exploring restlessly.
"God, I love you," Sam whispered raggedly, his hand moving up her thigh.
Zoey whimpered and arched into his touch, no longer capable of rational language or thought. She kept her eyes locked on his, almost getting lost in their depth as he slid into her body.
With his last rational thought, Sam paused, staring down into Zoey's eyes. He had to make sure that she was still with him, still okay. The pleasure on her face had him moving deeply within her, desperate for more, desperate for her to come apart in his arms. And then she was sobbing his name, still staring deeply into his eyes.
Afterward Sam gently rolled onto his side, pulling Zoey with him, arms wrapped tightly around her.
Zoey cuddled even closer, nestling against Sam's chest. After a few minutes she lifted her head so that she could meet Sam's eyes. "Thank you," she said softly. "That was… after what happened I didn't think I could ever… thank you."
Sam traced a finger over her kiss swollen lips. "Zoey. We've covered that you don't need to thank me. I love you. More than I imagined I could love, I love you." His hand slid up her cheek to wipe away a tear. "I should be thanking you; for giving me the gift of trusting me more than you've ever trusted anyone. I can't know just how difficult that was for you Zoey."
By now tears were coursing freely down her face. She reached up to dash at them but Sam caught her wrist. He kissed her wrist and the palm of her hand before setting her hand back against the sheet. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before moving to the corner of one eye and on to her cheek, gently kissing away each tear. After the tears were gone, he leaned over to grab a t-shirt off from his nightstand. He carefully pulled it over her head and eased back down against the pillows with her cradled in. He stroked her hair until he felt her breathing turn even in sleep and then closed his own eyes.
''''''''''''''''''''''''
The next morning, Sam slipped into his bedroom and quietly shut the door. Zoey was curled up on her side, her hair splayed across the pillow. He set the tray he was carrying on the nightstand and carefully climbed onto the bed, trying not to disturb her.
He glanced at the clock and smiled. It was 9:30. She had told him that she never slept more than an hour or two and that was after tossing and turning for hours. She'd slept soundly, curled up in his arms all night long. Maybe she was finally going to be able to catch up on some of the sleep she'd lost during the last few years.
He'd been a little worried about nightmares. During the last few weeks she'd had them less often but tension seemed to trigger them. After her reaction to the crowds at the airport, he'd been sure that it was going to be a bad night.
She shifted toward him and the sheet covering her slid down several inches. He ran his hand down the sleeve of the large t-shirt she wore, finally sliding it over to trace the Princeton logo on the front of the shirt. He'd slipped the shirt onto her the night before just in case her agents needed to disturb them for some reason.
Zoey tensed and then one of her hands grabbed his, stilling it. Her eyes opened slowly, apprehensively and then filled with relief when they landed on his. She let her eyes fall closed again as the tension drained from her body.
Shit, Sam thought. "Zoey," he said quietly.
"I'm sorry," Zoey said, opening her eyes. She sat up, self-consciously tugging the sheet up. It's just… sometimes when I wake up it takes me a minute to remember where I am. When I felt your hand just for a second it was like…" she trailed off, looking down. "I'm sorry."
"Remember, last night I told you that you don't need to thank me?"
She nodded.
"You don't have to apologize either. Okay?"
"Okay."
Sam lifted her chin so he could meet her eyes again. "This was your first night here, your first night with me. I should have known you'd be a little disoriented when you woke up. I'm sorry for not thinking about it." He leaned forward to gently kiss her. When he pulled back he gave her a small smile. "Now, while you were lazing the morning away in bed I went to a bakery to get breakfast. We've got orange juice, coffee, croissants, and fresh fruit." He leaned over to grab the tray.
Zoey breathed in deeply. "Those croissants smell yummy."
Sam took a sip of his orange juice. "I called the kennel and made an appointment to pick Rebel up this afternoon. I also need to stop by the market and run a few other errands. Would you like to come along?"
She hesitated for a moment. "Could we try it and if I need to I can come back and you can finish up without me?"
"Of course."
"I'd like that." She grinned. "I can't wait to meet the rebellious dog."
He mock scowled at her. "Impertinent."
Her grin broadened. "What was it Donna used to say to Josh? Oh, yes. Impervious." She laid her orange juice glass on the tray and scooted to the edge of the bed. "I'm going to use your shower."
''''''''''''''''''
Sam pulled the car into the parking lot of the market he preferred. Cars pulled into the slots on either side of him and Zoey's agents stepped out of the vehicles. He climbed out of the car and went around to open the door for Zoey, absently watching as the agents scanned the lot.
They stepped into the store flanked by agents and several checkers glanced at them curiously. Sam chose a basket and headed toward the bakery. As they walked, Zoey eased closer to his side, acutely aware of the attention she was receiving.
Sam tossed a loaf of bread into the basket and continued on to produce, ignoring the stares directed at them.
As Sam selected the ingredients for salad, Zoey turned toward a display of citrus in the corner. She braced her hands on the edge of the counter and closed her eyes, taking in deep even breaths. There really weren't that many people here and at this time of day during the workweek most of them were either elderly or mothers with small children. Not threatening at all. And, even if one of them did want to harm her, with Sam and her protective detail here, she was safe.
"Zo," Sam said softly. After he was sure he had her attention, he gently stroked his hand up her neck, stopping at her chin. He tilted her face toward his and leaned in so that nobody could overhear him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I am. For a second I doubted it, but I'm great."
"Good." He toyed with a lock of her hair and pressed a quick, gentle kiss to her lips. The flashes on several cell phone cameras went off, causing Zoey to freeze for several seconds before relaxing into Sam again. "Ready to smile for your fans?"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, the fans who've watched every movie I've made."
"I'll get you for the sarcasm later." He tried for menacing but spoiled it by chuckling.
"I'm sooo scared," she taunted before stepping back and turning around. She was pretty sure nearly every customer in the store was now in produce. A few pretended to be examining a product but most didn't even give the pretense of doing anything but staring at her and Sam. She saw several cell phones pointed at her and was pretty sure a few of them were videotaping.
Scanning the crowd, Zoey flashed her biggest grin and sauntered toward the shopping basket Sam had parked a few feet from them. Suddenly the staring, pointing, and whispering weren't bothering her. The entire crowd was smiling and several of them were waving. Just by being here and by being friendly toward them, she'd made their days. They'd be telling the story of seeing her in the grocery for years to come. She'd forgotten that it could feel like this.
Sam set a bag of tomatoes in the basket and took Zoey's hand, moving farther into the store, the growing crowd following behind at a, mostly, discreet distance. After today there wouldn't be much chance of keeping their relationship quiet. These people probably didn't have any idea who he was but a bunch of pictures had already been taken and many more probably would be before they left the store. Within hours the media was going to know Zoey was in California with him.
Zoey dropped some feta cheese into the basket and turned to whisper to Sam. "I think they're multiplying."
He chuckled. "Several of them have slipped toward the back of the crowd to call in reinforcements."
She glanced back at the throng, grinning. Several employees of the store had joined the group. "I wonder if the manager has checked the safety codes to see how many people can be in each section at one time." She laughed. "I doubt he's ever had to check that before."
He shook his head. "You're forgetting that this is Southern California. Celebrity sightings in stores really aren't as uncommon as you'd think."
"So I'm a celebrity now?" She mock pouted. "How come you've never asked me for my autograph?"
He leaned in so that his mouth was only an inch or so from hers. "Why would I need your name on a piece of paper when I've got you, love?"
She closed the distance, gently nibbling on his lip before pulling back. "I love you Sam." Before he could do anything but blink, she'd turned toward the dairy case. She chose several individual yogurts, carefully balancing the stack and she walked back toward the basket. As she went to set them inside, the top yogurt toppled over and rolled a few feet away.
A little girl standing at the edge of an aisle dropped her mother's hand and ran to pick up the yogurt.
The mother called out to her daughter as two of Zoey's agents moved forward the stop the child. Zoey quickly waved the agents off.
"I brought you back your yogurt."
"Thank you." Zoey knelt down next to the child, grateful that she'd decided on jeans instead of a skirt. "What's your name?"
"Allie." She smiled shyly. "You're Zoey."
Zoey nodded.
"My mommy said that your daddy is in charge of the country."
"For a few more weeks he is."
The child nodded wisely. "She said that too. Your daddy's done a lot of good stuff."
Zoey smiled wistfully. "Yes, he has."
"That must be so cool."
"Yes, I guess it is." Impulsively, she reached out to draw the girl forward for a hug. "Thank you," she said again. She stood back up and dropped the yogurt into the basket as the grinning little girl ran back to her mother.
Several checkout lanes were open when they reached the front of the store and none had lines. They slipped into the nearest lane and paid for the groceries before heading back to the house.
"So, what's next?" Zoey asked as she helped him store the food in the kitchen.
"I need to pick some things up at the dry cleaners and drop by the rental agency to make arrangements for them to find someone to lease this place. By the time I'm through it should be time to get the dog."
Zoey carefully stacked yogurt in neat rows in the fridge. "I enjoyed grocery shopping." She glanced over her shoulder with a self-deprecating smile. "I guess that proves I don't get out much." She turned back to her task. "It's been years since I've had that much fun in a public place."
"But too much of a good thing is still too much."
"I'm finally starting to feel like me again." She closed the fridge and stood up, taking a few steps closer to Sam. "It feels so good. I don't want to take the chance of losing this feeling, of losing me again."
"You're worried about pushing too hard, too fast."
She nodded.
"I understand. I'll do my errands and then we can spend the evening together. You haven't been out on my beach yet."
"That sounds amazing."
"Good." He grabbed his car keys from the counter and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll be home soon."
''''''''''''''''''''
Zoey sank down in the bathtub, sighing in bliss as she breathed in the lavender fragrance of the bubble bath. She leaned against the back of the tub and closed her eyes.
She'd been anxious about this trip, had even thought about calling it off several times. Which, she thought with a grin, would have pleased her parents immensely. That probably was a good part of the reason she was here. She was still striking out against them, especially her father.
When her dad had called the family together to announce that Leo had convinced him to run for president she'd gone from confused, to shocked, to angry in a matter of minutes. How dare her father and Leo make the decision to throw her life, and her sisters' and niece's lives, into chaos without even asking their opinions? After the campaign had started, after she'd really started to see just how affected their lives were going to be, the rage had built but at the same time shed been awed by the whole experience. By the time they'd made it to the White House, the awe had pretty much pushed the rage out. Oh, there had still been times when she'd balked at the public attention, the press scrutiny, the safety precautions, but she'd been proud enough of her father to ignore her other feelings most of the time.
Little by little, her anger had started to creep up on her again. Roslyn started the onslaught but every time her father and the administration were dragged through the press, being torn into pieces, a little more anger oozed back into her. Her mind had whispered that if he had decided to run people wouldn't have shot at her boyfriend, if he wasn't president they wouldn't be saying such awful things about him and about her mother, about Leo.
She'd started rebelling against all of it. Her clothing, the clubs she chose to hang out in, even her boyfriend, were selected to annoy her father as much as possible. And then she'd been kidnapped. She shuddered, quickly pushing away thoughts of that time. She still wasn't up to thinking about those days, might not ever be up to that.
For several days after she'd been rescued all she'd wanted was her family. And, at first, it had seemed like they all felt the same. Then her father had started talking about taking the presidency back, about the American people needing him more than ever after such a crisis. He hadn't seemed to consider that she might need him or that her mother might. Then the pressure had started for her to make an appearance, just a quick one, everyone had assured her. The public needed to know that she was alright. She had wanted to scream that she didn't care what the public needed, that she wasn't alright and didn't want to pretend she was. Instead she'd done as she was told, and had continued to do so for years, while inside the anger, resentment, and fear had built and built.
She'd wanted to come here but her father being against the trip had cinched it. It had taken a small child, a stranger in a grocery store, to make her realize how she was behaving. None of the things that had happened to her had been her father's fault. He had done an amazing job as president, had accomplished so much. She should be proud of him.
As a small child she'd been very close to her father, a real "daddy's girl". She was naïve enough to think they could get back there in an instant. It would take time and work but now, for the first time in years she felt like it was possible. She might be able to have her daddy back, finally.
She heard a car door slam outside and dog bark. Sam was home. After stepping out of the tub she wrapped a towel around herself. She thought about going out to meet Sam like this but instead went to her suitcase. A couple of her agents had been with her from the beginning and the others had been on her detail for awhile. At least two of her agents were on duty at any given time and they had to stay pretty close to her. They followed her into public restrooms and stood directly outside the stall, they stood with her sisters or friends as she modeled clothing at stores, they'd even come into her bedroom while she slept when there were threats or other security concerns. Yet she still blushed at the thought of being less than modest in their presence. Who was she kidding? They knew where she'd slept last night.
She quickly pulled on a pair of leggings, a sweater, and her sneakers and after running her brush through her hair, went looking for Sam. She found him on the floor in the family room with his dog sprawled out in front of him, legs kicking in the air while Sam scratched his stomach.
At her footsteps, Sam looked up and smiled. He reached out with his free hand, beckoning her to join him. As she approached the dog looked up, cocking his head, but made no move to stop her. She dropped down next to them, curling her legs under her.
Sam gently tugged on a damp lock of hair. "Did you have a nice bath?"
She nodded. "I love your tub. Actually, I love your whole bathroom."
He raised an eyebrow in question.
"The bathrooms in the Residence are nothing to sneeze at but your bathroom here is huge and that tub is breathtaking. You could hold a party in it."
"Which is probably what it was built for."
Zoey's eyes widened and she blushed when she realized the innuendo in her own words.
Sam chuckled and leaned forward to kiss her.
The dog, obviously not happy at being forgotten, let out a low, playful growl.
"Rebel, sit."
After the dog had responded, Sam gestured toward Zoey. "Rebel this is Zoey."
Rebel held out his paw and Zoey laughed as she reached out to shake it. "It's nice to meet you." He gave a small yip as if in agreement.
She released his paw and reached out to scratch his ears. "What kind of dog is he?"
Sam shrugged. "I got him from the shelter. He was born there but by the time I got him his mother had already been adopted. The manager said she thought he might be part lab with a bit of hound and who knows what else thrown in."
"He's cute."
Rebel gave another yip of agreement.
She chuckled. "Smart too."
"My sister Olivia called me a little while ago. She invited us over for dinner tomorrow. Her husband gets off work at 5:00 and they usually have dinner at about 6:30. I thought, if you're okay with going, that we could spend most of the day packing and leave at about 4:30."
"Like I told you last night, I'd like to meet your sister. Dinner with her family sounds fun. I'd love to go."
"Good. I'll call her back while you spend some time with Rebel." He patted the dog's head. "After being in the kennel so long I doubt he'll allow us to leave him alone any time soon."
"Will he be going to Olivia's with us tomorrow?"
"Probably. The girls adore him so I usually take him along. They would have loved to have kept him while I was out of town but their cats aren't as fond of him as they are," he said with a grin.
"I'm sure," Zoey said with a chuckle.
"I also need to call my agent. What would you think about making dinner together after my calls?"
"I'd like that."
He stood up. "I'll be back in a bit."
''''''''''''''''