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I do not own Glee or the characters, neither do I own Wishing For Us.

Another long chapter.

"So, I wanted to see if you were almost ready to leave. I thought we could go somewhere and talk," Sam said intently, but fully aware that Mercedes' friends were still gawking...and probably listening.

"Um, sure," she blurted out quickly.

'Way to sound too eager. Couldn't I have at least pretended to think about it for a moment?' she thought.

When he gave her a pleased smile and took her hand in his firm grasp, she had to bite her tongue to contain her moan of pleasure, at the physical contact with him.

They wished her friends a good night and he led her towards the nearest exit.

To her, it seemed surreal to depart as a couple with him. And she almost wilted on the spot, when he pulled his keys from his pocket and the sound of the doors unlocking on a Ford truck a few feet ahead, filled the air.

Sam opened the door, and then gave Mercedes a boost onto the leather seat of his truck.

The move may have taken her by surprise, but she was grateful, because otherwise, she would've been doing an ungraceful leap, since the truck was much higher from the ground than her car.

He such a gentleman, he remained at her side while she carefully tucked her dress around her legs.

When she was finished, he leaned across and buckled her seatbelt.

"All set?" he asked sweetly.

'Yes...but I could spread my naked body across the hood of your truck and you could take me right now,' she thought. But in reality, she replied with a simple,

"I'm good. Thanks, Sam."

Sam walked around to the other side and settled into the driver's seat.

And Mercedes was embarrassed to admit, that even the loud throttle of the truck turned her on.

"I really appreciate you agreeing to come with me," he said as they merged into traffic. "We could go to my house, or if you're not comfortable with that, then there's a diner a few blocks down, that has decent coffee."

'The safe answer is the restaurant,' she thought. But she wasn't hungry, and caffeine was likely to keep her up all night. Plus, if she was honest, she was very curious as to where he lived.

And of course, it would be much easier to talk without a bunch of strangers sitting close by.

'Like you really care about that. You just want to go home with him.'

"Your place is fine," she replied, trying to sound casual.

But truthfully, she hadn't said those words to anyone since Matt died.

'Don't go there. You're doing nothing wrong,' she internally reasoned.

When Sam turned off the highway on the Garden City Beach exit, Mercedes assumed he lived in one of the nearby high-rise condominium buildings.

But they bypassed the last ones without slowing down. And instead, they rode for a few more miles, until they passed through the gates of Sea Crest Village.

The houses weren't mansions like some in the area, but they were considerably out of her price range.

She knew that Sam was a vice president for The Puckerman Group, and it was obvious he made a good living, if he was able to afford a home in this subdivision.

He pulled into the driveway of a house with a stucco and stone exterior. Next, he clicked a button on the bottom of his rearview mirror and the double garage door opened.

"Home sweet home," he quipped, as he cut the engine of the truck and came around to her side once again to offer assistance.

The moment she was out of the vehicle, he took her hand and led her towards a door to the left.

He promptly unlocked it and they walked in.

Mercedes blinked a few times when Sam flipped on the light.

They were in a kitchen with tons of dark cabinets and gleaming beige granite countertops.

He pointed out a barstool, saying,

"If you want to have a seat, I'll get us something to drink. What would you like? I can make coffee or I have orange juice, Coke, and bottled water."

"I'll just take water," she answered as she looked around the kitchen.

The space was almost as big as her living room and kitchen combined. And the taupe color on the walls made it appear warm and inviting.

However, there were no pictures on the walls, nor any clutter, other than a loaf of bread on one counter.

She watched as he opened the refrigerator and got two bottles out.

He put one in front of her, before opening his own. Then, he took the seat next to her.

Mercedes stifled s gasp of pleasure, as the side of Sam's muscular leg rubbed against hers, in the close confines of the bar area.

If he was affected, she didn't know, but he nervously cleared his throat, before turning sideways to face her.

"Mercedes, I need to explain a few things to you, and I hope that you won't be too angry with me..."

When he paused, eyeing her expectantly, she murmured,

"Okay...go ahead."

She couldn't imagine what he had to say that might piss her off.

Okay, sure, they had gotten married in some drunken moment of insanity, but otherwise, they didn't even know each other well.

Sam ran a hand through his hair, causing the scent of his shampoo to invade her nostrils.

And she was so busy inhaling his masculine fragrance, that she jolted slightly when he began speaking again.

"That night in Vegas, you weren't the only one drinking too much because you were upset. I'd had some bad news just a few hours before my flight and I wasn't in the best condition either."

Alarmed, Mercedes put her hand on his arm, fearing the worst.

'Oh my God! I hope he's not sick.'

"Oh no, Sam, what happened? Are you all right?"

He covered her hand with his, giving it a gentle squeeze. Instead of removing it, though, he left his hand there, as if grateful for the contact.

Mercedes was stunned when Sam said,

"I have a daughter. She's six years old, and her name is Cassidy."

"Wow! I had no idea," she said. And without thinking, she asked, "Are you married?"

Rolling her eyes at her own stupidity, she added,

"I mean, obviously you weren't already married, or you wouldn't have married me...right?"

'Wonderful. I finally land a husband only to find that I'm part of a harem.'

Sam gaped at her before he managed to stutter a response.

"What? No...God no, Mercedes. Mel...Melanie...was just a one-time thing. I've never been married before. Hell, I've never had unprotected sex either, but that didn't stop her from getting pregnant. When she told me, I didn't believe her at first. I supported her through the pregnancy and went to the appointments, but I insisted on a paternity test when Cassidy was born. She's my child, and I love her more than anything in the world. And I've always been involved in her life and have continued to provide for her financially as well. And her mother hasn't worked since she was born."

Uneasy, Mercedes glanced over her shoulder before asking,

"Do they live here with you? I mean, I know you said that you never married, but, is this their home too?"

Shaking his head immediately, he said,

"No, they've never lived with me. Cassidy spends the night as often as her mother will allow, but that's about it."

Confused, Mercedes asked,

"Don't you have a custody agreement or something like that in place?"

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, looking exhausted as he admitted,

"No. We've never had a formal agreement through the court. I've always paid Melanie well above what a court-mandated child support payment would be, and outside of occasional difficulties, she's mostly let me see Cassidy on a regular basis. In the last year, though, that has changed. She's been using our daughter as a bargaining chip to get what she wants. And it reached a head the day I left for Vegas."

Mercedes felt as if she was intruding on Sam's privacy, but since he'd brought the subject up, she felt at ease enough to ask,

"What does she want from you?"

Sam chuckled, although there didn't appear to be much amusement in the sound.

"Nothing simple, I'm afraid. She is demanding either an absurd amount of financial support...or marriage. And the whole thing has really shown me how vulnerable I am, in regards to my parental rights where Cassidy is concerned. So I've filed for official joint custody. Since then, it's been nothing but threats from her. She wants to portray me as the absent, playboy father, while she's the devoted stay-at-home mother. She has even filed papers requesting that she be granted sole custody, which is just her way of trying to get what she wants from me."

"Holy shit!" Mercedes blurted out, before she could stop herself.

"Exactly!" Sam agreed. "I guess, there is a certain irony in the fact that I have one woman demanding I marry her and I actually tied the knot with another, on the day she had me served."

Biting her lip as she mulled over his revelation, Mercedes kept coming back to one thing.

"If you were so against getting married...even to keep your daughter...then what could have possibly made you agree to a quickie exchange of vows with me? I know we were both drinking and not thinking clearly, but were you really so out of it, that it suddenly didn't seem so bad to be tied down?"

Sam swallowed audibly before getting to his feet and pacing the tiled floors.

After a few passes around the area where Mercedes sat, he halted and stared right at her.

"Who am I kidding? You're not just going to be angry with me, you're more than likely going to loathe me when I tell you this next part. I can't believe I did something so fucking selfish and desperate. You're right, my judgment was obviously impaired, and I'd like to think that had something to do with it, but still, I knew what I was doing for the most part and that makes me a bastard. Mercedes, I..."

Dropping her head in her hands, Mercedes choked out,

"You married me because of Cassidy. You needed a stable image for the courts. And if you've already got a wife, then Melanie can't keep pressuring you to marry her."

His harsh inhalation told her that she'd hit the bull's-eye.

She heard him moving towards her, and seconds later, his hand was on her shoulder.

She flinched away from his touch.

"Don't. Please go back to where you were so we can finish this conversation," she snapped, as she raised her head, only to glare at him.

He immediately backed away, putting some much-needed space between them.

"Why didn't you marry Melanie instead of me. At least she's not a stranger to you. And you liked her well enough to sleep with her at some point."

"You already think I'm an asshole," Sam grimaced. "So I might as well be completely truthful. Melanie was nothing more than a casual dalliance...a one night stand. And we've never had any type of relationship otherwise. She's a good mother but she's also a vile person. Still, it has actually been surprising to me that she loves Cassidy so much, because she's one of the most self-centered people I've ever known.

If she and I ever got married...everyone, including Cassidy...would be miserable. She and I can barely be in the same room together for five minutes without arguing. She thrives on drama and strife, and I don't want to expose my daughter to any more of that, than she's already seen. I've thought about it countless times since she started pressuring me, but I keep coming to the same conclusion...that it would be insanity to agree to her demands.

We literally hate each other. And the only reason she wants to be my wife, is for some misplaced obsession with wealth and social status. I know I'm likely overreacting and I won't lose Cassidy, but I can't stand the thought of dragging her through a court hearing. And I'm afraid that Melanie will go through with it just to get back at me."

Feeling her heart squeeze in self-pity, Mercedes asked,

"So you listened to my pathetic story about losing Matt and wanting to be married, and had a sudden bright idea? Kind of, a kill two birds with one stone thing?"

"Mercedes, no," Sam said imploringly. "We were both crying in our beer or whatever we were drinking that night. You were melancholy over losing your fiancé and your dreams of a life with him, and I was upset over the situation with my daughter. I was just drunk enough to think that it sounded like the answer to both our prayers. You're a beautiful woman, and most men would jump at the chance to get close to you...me included."

Out of all the bombs he'd dropped on her so far tonight, that one was by far the most astonishing.

Her heart skipped a beat, at the sincerity she thought she heard in his voice.

Because, no matter how messed up this whole situation was, he seemed to genuinely find her attractive.

'You're pissed at him, remember? Don't go drawing hearts with his name written in the middle.'

Mercedes listened to her thoughts and forced herself to take a hard line.

"We need to speak with a lawyer about the best way to proceed with a divorce. You may think it's the answer, but I don't see our marriage doing anything but complicating matters with Melanie. There is no way she's going to believe that you fell in love and tied the knot, just hours after she served you with legal papers."

"That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about," Sam began uneasily. "I know you assumed in the hotel room that we'd had sex and I didn't say anything to the contrary. But we didn't have intercourse. And yes, we can file for an annulment if that's what you want to do."

Mercedes could only gape at him, opening and closing her mouth, as she struggled to process his words.

"I remember some of that night, Sam! You had your head between my...you know, below the belt. And I definitely had my hands on your...that area as well."

Leaning against the counter, he said,

"I'm not going to lie, Mercedes, we were all over each other when we got to the hotel room, and it was damn hard for me to stop that night. But there is no way I could've had sex with you, without knowing for certain that you were one hundred percent coherent and willing. Plus, I didn't want our wedding night to be something, that neither of us couldn't fully remember, because we'd had too much to drink."

Was she crazy to feel disappointed that he hadn't gone all the way with her?

Despite how bizarre the last few days had been, she'd felt a certain happiness and satisfaction, when she thought about him being inside her.

Sure, she hadn't been able to recall that exact event, but she'd remembered enough to feel certain that it had been amazing.

And now, she was more than a little upset, to discover, that what she had assumed had happened...actually hadn't.

Leave it to her to get married and have a wedding night that didn't include the big moment.

"Well, thanks," Mercedes grumbled before she could think better of it.

Sam quirked a brow as if baffled by the note of unhappiness in her voice.

"At the risk of you slapping the shit out of me, can I ask you a question?" he asked.

"Sure."

She waved a hand. She didn't think things could get much worse, so what did it matter?

"Did you like the idea that we'd slept together that night? I don't know you that well and I may be reading you wrong, but you seem...let down...when I thought you'd be relieved."

'Please, ground, open up and devour me. Don't leave me here to answer this humiliating question,' Mercedes thought.

Of course, her silent prayers went unanswered and Sam stood there waiting expectantly.

'Oh hell, here goes nothing.'

"I wasn't exactly...unhappy about finally having sex again after three years...even if I didn't recall sleeping with you. But it made me feel as if I'd finally started to move on, away from the suspended state I'd been in for far too long. I knew the marriage wasn't real and that you'd want out as soon as possible, but still, you jarred me awake. Even with the uncertainty between us, I've felt more alive since Vegas, than I have in a long time. So yeah, as insane as it may sound to you, I do feel as if a weight has been lifted off me."

'And there you have it, folks. The speech that will send Sam Evans running for his life, in the opposite direction from the insane woman before him.'

But to her surprise, instead of looking at her as if she was nuts, he walked to her side and pulled her from the chair and into his arms.

"Hell baby, I'm sorry." He held her so tightly, it was a struggle to breathe. "I've messed this up in every imaginable way, haven't I? I know it's a lot to ask, but please don't hate me. We might not have known each other for long, but I do care about you. You're probably the strongest woman I've ever met, and I regret screwing up my chance with you."

Mercedes couldn't help it, she started laughing.

Actually, it sounded more like a pained wheeze, since he was still squeezing the life out of her.

She twisted until he loosened his grip slightly.

"It's rather amusing," she chuckled, "That you want a chance with someone you're already married to. I mean, I know it's fake, but it just struck me as hilarious."

He relaxed against her, and once again, she was certain he pressed his lips against the top of her head in a quick kiss.

"I couldn't care less if you laughed your ass off at me. It's better than you chasing me around this kitchen armed with a knife, which is what I was expecting."

Mercedes sagged against Sam's chest, allowing herself the pleasure of letting him support her, while she savored his masculine scent.

"You know, I've gone from being shocked to pissed, then sad, and now I'm not sure where I am." Sighing, she asked, "Could I see a picture of your daughter?"

He pulled back, looking down at her in surprise. Then, he dropped his arms from around her and removed his wallet from his pocket.

Opening it, he took out a picture and looked at it for a moment. And Mercedes could see how his face softened.

He loved his daughter, there was no doubt about it. The caring expression on his face said it all.

He handed it almost reverently to her, and then said,

"This was taken just a few months ago at the beginning of the school year. She was so damn excited to be starting first grade. She held my hand on the way to her classroom and told me that she was a big girl now, but she could still be my baby when she wasn't at school." Giving a wry smile, he added, "I almost lost it right there. Just the thought of her growing up and not needing me anymore, was about more than I could stand."

Mercedes tried to swallow past the sudden lump in her throat at Sam's admission.

What would it be like to have a son or daughter to cherish, as he so clearly did Cassidy?

Her hand shook slightly as she raised the picture, because she already had a sense, that whatever she saw there, was going to change everything.

She studied the little girl, who was a miniature version of her daddy with his blonde hair and green eyes.

But what really captivated her, was the girl's sweet smile complete with a missing front tooth.

That was all it took.

She was a goner.

Right there in that kitchen without ever having met Cassidy, she fell in love with her. And because of that and the sappy smile that still lingered on Sam's lips, she shocked herself when she said,

"I'd like to help you. I agree with you, your daughter doesn't deserve to be put through a drawn-out custody battle if it can be avoided."

Sam's mouth dropped open and he gawked at Mercedes in disbelief.

"I...you'll...what?" he stammered, clearly thinking he'd misheard her.

She looked one more time at the picture she was clutching, before handing it back to him.

"Your daughter is beautiful, Sam, and I can tell how much you love her. And the circumstances in which we got together are so unreal, that just maybe it was fate. Since we're already married, if there's a way I can help you, I will. I can't let you lose time with your daughter."

Mercedes was shocked speechless when his eyes teared up and he made no move to hide it from her.

The fact that her offer deeply moved him was readily apparent.

"I don't know what to say," he finally admitted huskily. "I never dared to even hope, you'd be anything other than furious with me. But here you are wanting to help me instead. I'm just...blown away by you, Mercedes. If possible, you're even more beautiful on the inside than you are on the outside. I don't want to take advantage of you, though. I feel as if I've already done far too much of that. So just say the word and I will contact my lawyer and have annulment proceedings started immediately, with no ill will toward you whatsoever. Actually, I should insist upon that anyway. This is far too much to ask of you and I'm afraid..."

"Sam," she interrupted. "I want to do this so stop trying to talk me out of it. Unless you've changed your mind and want to end the marriage. If that's the case, then please say so."

"That's not it at all," he said quickly. "I'd have you moved in here tonight if it were up to me."

At that, Mercedes squared her shoulders and moved towards the door they'd come through earlier.

"Then let's go. I'll keep my apartment, of course, but we can get some of my clothes tonight and anything else over the weekend."

As she hurried towards Sam's truck, she had to wonder if she'd completely taken leave of her senses this time.

He'd given her an engraved invitation to an annulment and she'd insisted on being his fake wife for the foreseeable future, because of a little girl's smile.

And even as she tried to convince herself it was selfless on her part, she knew that was a lie. For reasons that even she couldn't begin to comprehend, she longed to experience as much time with Sam as she could, before this fake relationship self-combusted...even though her attraction to him scared the hell out of her.

He was so damn irresistible, though.

And that she was willing to do something like this, showed her how truly lonely she'd been without Matt.

'You're in over your head here.'

Mercedes did her best to push that negative thought aside. She was helping a friend just as anyone else would...right?

Hey, there's been a volcanic eruption in one of the neighbouring islands and because of how the wind is blowing, my island has had significant ashfall. The entire day today, looked as though it was night. I have never seen anything like this before. There is so much ash on my porch and in my garden. Wow! And now it's raining. Anyway, my prayers and thoughts are with the lovely people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines...especially my in-laws there.

Stay safe friends!

Do you guys prefer longer chapters? This one was much longer, but I decided to cut it. Let me know.

Thank you!